Mystery Grandmother

[carolann]

Hi everyone, wondered if anyone could help me I have been searching for information on my grandmother,Ihave been told she was born in India, but I can't find her birth certificate,found her marriage certificate which says she was married in Bombay. I am also told she was born 1902, her marriage cert says dob 1905, her death cert says 1897. I've been to search the BL IOR with no success.I'm beginning to wonder if she was born elswhere, I've checked the Scottish records and had someone check the English. I don't know where to go from here, does anyone have any ideas?

[Wirral]

Was your mother the child of British parents who happened to be in India at the time of her birth? Have you checked the Consular Births & Armed Forces births? Or even the Marine Births - maybe she was born onboard during the journey to India? What was her father's occupation? Did she have any siblings? They might give clues to her records.

[carolann]

Thanks Wirral for your reply,I don't know if her parents were British or not, I have her fathers name and done a search for that but came up with nothing.My grandmother told her son (my father) that he was a District Commissioner in India I had a search drew another blank.I don't think she had any siblings but who knows! I have not checked the births you have mentioned , where would I get hold of these ? I stay in Scotland so visits to London are not to frequent

[Wirral]

The records are held at libraries that have the GRO (General Register Office for England & Wales) BMD indexes. I am hoping to go to Liverpool library on Friday. They have the records on microfiche. If you post the details or send me an email through this site, I'll have a look.

[Wirral]

Hi Carol

I've looked through the records at the library, but no sign of Violet Beatrice Bond, or indeed any Bonds born in India. I looked at the Consular, Regimental, Army & Marine Births for about 1890 - 1910, but no luck. :(

[carolann]

Wirral, thank you so much for taking the time to search. I'm not really sure where to go from here, need to get my thinking cap on, I'm not going to give up the search, a bit frustrating though!

[Geoffers]

My grandmother told her son (my father) that he was a District Commissioner in India
Have you tried the India Office Records?
http://www.bl.uk/collections/orientaloffice.html
These are in Euston Road, London

Geoffers

[sandiep]

have you discounted violet beatrice bond born 1900 in Romford or the one in 1905 from shoreditch?
would you believe the one born 1900 in census her father was "JAMES Bond"

Their was also a Violet Beatrice Bond born 1800 in Croydon her father Henry was a Colonial Broker could mean he went overseas?

sandie

[carolann]

I had a visit to the british Library a couple of weeks ago spent the whole day searching through the India office records and found nothing. Sandiep, where did you find the 1900 entrys for Violet ? they sound interesting.I think the 1800 one would probably be to early, a James bond, mm! or should I say 007 lol!

[sandiep]

slip of fingers I meant 1880 not 1800 the other ref were on Ancestry but should be on the FreeBDM I think and 1901 census
1900 Oct Quarter Romford Essex 4a 538
1903 Jul Quarter Shoreditch London Middx 1c 61
1880 Jan Quarter Croydon Surrey 2a 237

1901 James age36
Alice 25
Reginald 3
Ida A 2
Violet B 6mths all born Ilford James was a General Labourer

ref for Violet born 1900 on 1901 census
RG13/1648
Registration district: Romford
Sub-registration district: Ilford
ED, institution, or vessel: 7
Folio: 176
Page: 45
Household schedule number: 290

Henry age 51
Louisa age 49
Margarieta age 23
Violet B age 21
Jessamine M 5 on 1891 there was an Archibald and a Vernon all born Thornton Heath

ref for Violet born 1880

RG13/648
Registration district: Croydon
Sub-registration district: Croydon
ED, institution, or vessel: 86
Folio: 173
Page: 36
Household schedule number: 210

other Violet in 1903 wasnt of course on Census

sandie

[carolann]

Thankyou for that sandie, I will have a look at these.

[susan-w]

Looking in Thacker's Indian Directory 1895 (from archiveCD books), there are several Bonds in India. Quite a few are in the army. There is one in the Civil Service:

Bond, J. H., head clerk, board of reve., Madras

Do you have the father's name from her marriage certificate?

Or do you know in what part of India she was born???

Cheers
Sue

[susan-w]

PS Just noticed you'd posted elsewhere that you thought the father's name was Arnold. Another entry, the only "A" entry, is:

Bond, A., asst. supdt., press & machinery, Times of India press, Bombay.

(Although Bangalore is in the Madras presidency, I think, not Bombay, so this is probably of no help :) ...)

Cheers
Sue

[carolann]

Hi Sue, I found the same A. Bond you mention in Bombay, and I did wonder about him, but where would I take it from there? as I said before I am new to this so please excuse me if I sound silly!. Thanks for your help.

[susan-w]

Hi
I'm not sure I can be of much help. If you want to find out more about A Bond, to see if his first name was Arnold, you could look at the Times of India and see if he is credited there by his full name. (This is clutching at straws). He's probably Alexander, though ;) Or he might be listed under his full name in a later directory.

I looked at the FIBIS (Families in British India Society) but could not see anything useful for your Bond.

Personally, I tend to try rootsweb and the India list for these type of queries. It's best to search the archives first.

Arnold Bond is such an unusual name. Have you tried searching for wills?

Someone else might have more useful suggestions, though :)

Good luck!
Sue

[carolann]

Where would I be able to look the Times of India?, Please don't say it's in the British Library.

[Geoffers]

Where would I be able to look the Times of India?, Please don't say it's in the British Library.Ah, right oh.......In that case try the British Library Newspaper Collection
http://www.bl.uk/collections/newspapers.html

scroll down to and click on, British Library newspaper web catalogue

Then search the main catalogue

Then enter 'Times of India' and search to see their coverage.

Geoffers

[chinakay]

There's a Violet Lillian Christabel Bond born 30 Nov 1871 in Cawnpore. Daughter of Samuel Patterson and Bridget Bond. See the IGI.

China

[carolann]

I had a look at the Times of India, no luck I'm afraid.I think the Violet born in 1871 is too early.Violet is certainly proving difficult to find. Any ideas where else I could find any info on past employees of The Times of India?. Another question, when someone claims their old age pension would they need a birth certificate to prove age?

[carolann]

Hi eveyone,
I wondered could anyone tell me when my grandmother was married in Bombay in 1930 would she have had to provide a birth certificate?. I've not got much closer to finding her.Any help would be great,thanks.

Carolann.

[Lenore]

Hi eveyone,
I wondered could anyone tell me when my grandmother was married in Bombay in 1930 would she have had to provide a birth certificate?. I've not got much closer to finding her.Any help would be great,thanks.

Carolann.Hi Carolann,
Probably not, she would be more likely to have been asked for a baptismal certificate, if it was a church record.

If it was me trying to unravel this mystery, I would concentrate on what i do know, and not speculate about what i don't know. The first thing would be to extract more information about this marriage in bombay in 1930. I don't have a clue what information would be included, but I imagine it would at least tell you the name of the place where the marriage took place, and the names of witnesses.

If it was a church marriage, investigate the location of records from that church - their church records (as opposed to the civil registration certificate) could have more information.

I would also be looking hard for a notice of the forthcoming marriage, either in a Bombay paper, or some other paper in which expatriates tended to notify these things, or in a paper where her family originated. This might give you information like "Flossie Briggs, third daughter of Mr and Mrs Albert Briggs of Cawnpore" or whatever.

I don't have a clue as to whether there might be a Bombay Post office Directory in which your missing granny's father might be mentioned. But if there is, it would probably be located in a Bombay library. use the internet to locate such a library - and given the fact that you have a date for the wedding, they might be willing to check the local paper for that date to see if there is a mention of the marriage.

Who are the witnesses? Are they relatives of your grandmother? You can expect them to be close friends or relatives, and they might provide clues.

Always work from the known to the unknown.

Best wishes,

Lenore