Hello new to this

[moggies]

Greetings all,I am new to this,and this site looks like the best place to start|bowdown|where to start is another thing:confused:but I have plenty of helpers|angel|little furry(pussy cats) helpers that is,who crowd round the pc as soon as its turned on,I swear they understand it more than I do|hug|

[moggies]

Whoops:o so sorry I forgot to put a name|blush|

Well I have nothing to go on really:confused:my father Edward Wood died in 1952,and when my mum married him she never met any of his family,or knew nothing of them,as it was war time,and everything was not normal, sadly my mum passed away so I have nothing to go on,and I was brought up by the most wonderful step dad along with my mum,sadly also passed on,and looked on him as my dad,and never felt to ask my mum about my real dad whilst she was still alive.

All I know is he was from Leeds,I am sure my mum said his family was from the Hunslet area,and have found an Edward A Wood born 1913,and an Edward Wood born in Holbeck in 1913,I did not grow up in Leeds where I was also born,I have an idea where Hunslet is I think,as we visited the Leeds area of Bramley,whilst I was young to visit my nan,I feel Hunslet is near Headingley ,but have no idea where Holbeck is,and it rings no bells.

I suppose really I should send for my full birth certificate,but keep hanging on|banghead| because my mums cousin still lives in the Leeds area,and I want to visit her and at the same time look up the family history in the local area,and I thought I could pick up my birth certificate then,and also my mums,dads and anyone else I need.

But Wood is the family name I would like to know about ?Sorry I feel really silly as I know nothing at all

[MarkJ]

Don't feel silly! We all have to start somewhere - you just have a slightly more complicated starting point!
First thing - never forget your step father who brought you up! Although not a blood relation, he sounds like an important part of your life.
To begin tracing your biological fathers ancestry, you really need to know his full name, so that means, as you already indicated, your birth certificate. You know your date of birth and probably the location, so it is fairly easy to get the certificate which hopefully will give you more details on your father. It may be really useful to get hold of the marriage certificate too - that may well mention your grandfather on the Wood side as well as the occupations of your father and grandfather.
From there, it should hopefully be able to discover the family in the 1901 and earlier censuses - ideally backed up by certificates for marriages etc as you go.

Mark

[Peter Goodey]

I suppose really I should send for my full birth certificate,but keep hanging on because my mums cousin still lives in the Leeds area,and I want to visit her and at the same time look up the family history in the local area,and I thought I could pick up my birth certificate then,and also my mums,dads and anyone else I need.

I think you need to do a bit of homework before you go visiting. Your birth certificate and your parents marriage certificate, at the very least, are important bits of groundwork. I think you should make a start now.

Don't be misled by Who Do You Think You Are. Certificates are not handed to you on demand - they have to be ordered and take time to turn up.

[debsy]

[QUOTEDon't be misled by Who Do You Think You Are. Certificates are not handed to you on demand - they have to be ordered and take time to turn up.[/QUOTE]


This is for sure! Especially when one lives overseas.

Moggies, I am also researching Wood but yours does not sound familiar and it is a common name. Mine were from London/Surrey/Kent area.
Definately order your birth certificate; it's an important document to have anyway.
- Deb

[arthurk]

To help you on your way, here's a bit on Leeds and its suburbs. Taking Leeds railway station as a starting point (you should be able to find that on a map, and it is right in the city centre), Hunslet is about a mile to the SE. It also gave its name to a former registration district which included large parts of Leeds just outside the city centre, including at one time some of the northern areas, which you wouldn't necessarily expect.

Just to the west of Hunslet is Holbeck (about 1 mile SW of the city centre). Bramley is about 4 miles W of the city centre, and a mile or so NE of Pudsey. Headingley is the only place you mention that's north of the River Aire - it's about 2-3 miles NW of the city centre on the Otley road.

You should be able to find most or all of these on a map - have a look at Parish Chest for historic ones, or you should be able to get a modern Ordnance Survey one or a street atlas from any bookshop.

For tracking down births, marriages and deaths, have a look at the Yorkshire BMD (http://www.yorkshirebmd.org.uk/) site. Leeds is well covered, and when you find an entry you want you can print off an order form to send to the Leeds Register Office, which happens to be one of the more family history-friendly ones.

Just ask if there's any more you need.

Arthur

[moggies]

Hi all ,
Thank all so much for your kind and helpful comments|bowdown|

Well I looked on Yorkshire BMD,found details of parents marriage details,mums birth certificate,and took the number for the one I think is dads,but we have this silly postal strike at the mo,so not much use posting off for things right now|banghead|.

Hope to visit leeds this weekend if all goes well,but afraid its only a flying visit,would like to spend more time there to look around,and sightsee but have the moggies plus two hounds to be looked after,kids all grown up so they fend for selves,and its hard to tie em down with pet sitting,looking for a large ball and chain right now;)

[moggies]

debsy
I do know my dad had a sister Florrie,lived in London area in 70s,think it was Hayes, Middlesex area,but not sure,if he had any other family there sorry I dont know,I think she was in her middle 70s then,lol sorry I am no help to no one am I?

[arthurk]

Well I looked on Yorkshire BMD,found details of parents marriage details,mums birth certificate,and took the number for the one I think is dads,but we have this silly postal strike at the mo,so not much use posting off for things right now|banghead|.
Bear in mind that the reference numbers on Yorkshire BMD (and similar BMD sites for other counties) are those used by the local register offices, and will be of no use if you try to order anything from the General Register Office.

And another couple of useful sites for Leeds, with information from Leeds Libraries:
http://www.leodis.org/ - a fantastic collection of old photos
http://www.leedslocalindex.net/ - indexes to all kinds of newspaper reports etc

If you find something in the newspaper reports, you can then order a copy from Leeds Local Studies Library - quick service and very reasonably priced.

Arthur