Wilson

[Valde]

I am looking for Gt Grandfather on my mothers side. On my Grandmothers birth cert no father is listed, on her Marriage cert. he is listed as Ernest Wilson, a member of the Irish Guards and Killed in battle. I realise that the Wilsons were travelers, how do I get info on them please???

[Geoffers]

Welcome to the B-G forums


I am looking for Gt Grandfather on my mothers side. On my Grandmothers birth cert no father is listed, on her Marriage cert. he is listed as Ernest Wilson, a member of the Irish Guards and Killed in battle. I realise that the Wilsons were travelers, how do I get info on them please???

Not all WILSONs were travellers - do you have specific information on your chap which shows he was in this group?

In your shoes, my first step would be to try and trace the records of his army service and see what information they provide.

If you are looking for a travelling family, you might seek advice from the Romany and Traveller Family History Society (it turns up using asearch engine).

[Ann65]

Really we need to know an approx date of death and an area in which this family lived before, romany or not, anyone could do anything to help you. Reg name and number would be a great help too theres about a million Ernest Wilsons listed in WW1 records, and thats assuming that its WW1 we are discussing....

[Valde]

Thanks for the welcome.
The info I have is very limited and it had not occured to me that he may have been a traveller untill I logged on to B-G - I am clutching at straws!!

My Grandmother was born 4/2/1917 and no father was recorded on her birth cert.
On her marriage cert it states her father was 'Ernest Wilson - Corporal H.M Irish Guards - Killed in battle'
It does not give dates or numbers. I have contacted the Irish Guards and they could not offer any help and I have visited the N A, they said I would probably never trace him, but I thought this may be worth a stab in the dark.

Her mothers name was Phyllis Wilson@ 1888/89 in Normanton, Yorkshire. She later married William Walker who my Grandmother grew up thinking was her father.
When her mother told her the truth she did not bother to ask questions.
No one seems to know where the name Ernest Wilson came from or the info about his service.

[Ann65]

"Ernest Wilson" might have been a bit of fabrication. I have a couple of similar quandaries in my own tree - My great Gran was born Martha Ann Taylor a fair few years after Mr Taylor died. Her father was listed as Henry Taylor, but the parents marriage revealed the husbands name was William Taylor. Subsequent checks around the village showed this to be accurate, and no Henry Taylor lived in the village at that time. Its one of those things we will probably never discover.

Similarly a cousin of my dad was born out of wedlock in 1931 - and no record exists anywhere of his fathers name although the family story goes his name was Redshaw.
Wierdly, another sister of the mother lost her hubby in a farming accident and had a child out of wedlock a year later and the family story goes that HIS name was also Redshaw!
So what is the truth? perhaps sometimes we simply arent meant to know.

Good luck with the hunt tho! x

[Ann65]

Had a bit of a hunt thru ancestrys military records - turning up big zeros all over. Although that isnt entirely bad. What you have to consider is that a lot of ww1 records were bombed and destroyed during ww2. I have my grandads name rank and number (served in Durham Light Infantry having joined up too young) but the only record that exists today is the Medal Roll Index Cards. Bearing that in mind I did turn up this which may lead you somewhere or may not:

Ernest Wilson North Irish Horse, North Irish Fusiliers, Tank Corps,
Reg No: 2314 41197 304882

This gives no more info than that, Im afraid. No idea of place of birth or residence, no idea of date of joining or if he survived or died.

[Valde]

Yes phylis' name was Wilson and it may well be that the name is fiction, but!! my grandmother was given a photograph by her mother before her death and told it was her father. I too had seen the enty on fbmd but I am fairly certain that this is not her as the 1891 and 1901 census show her as being born in Normanton, Yorkshire. Her Marriage Cert. (orig) shows her as 32 on 17/4/1920 and her death cert (orig) shows her 70 on 4/3/1959.
I have been looking for leads for this man for four years now but keep hitting a brick wall - I give up and then come back to try a different site.
You never know - one day I might get lucky!!

[Valde]

Hi Ann65
I too am a member of ancestry and find it an absolute mine of information, but, like you I keep hitting zero's for Ernest.
I have made a not of the details you have found for me and will certainly let you know if I find anything from it
Thanks for the help.

[Wirral]

...although the family story goes his name was Redshaw. Wierdly ...
I thought that must be one of the strangest names I have come across. Should be easy to search for him - Mr Redshaw WIERDLY - :o. Maybe too many |5cups| Time for bed I think!;)

[Ann65]

Oh Redshaw was his surname not his christian name. And there was a family by that name and more than one with his christian name in the area. Funnily enough a female Redshaw married into another branch of my family.

[Valde]

Yes, I would work with that, except that her marriage and death cert suggest 1888 as birth year rather than late 1889.
However, I will look further at the possibility.

[Ann65]

hmm you know, its quite common to find no birth record of family members prior to 1874 (Off the top of my head I think thats the date, certainly round then) - because whilst it became law to register births from July 1837, there was no actual enforcement, and no actual penalties for not doing so, until this much later date. It would probably be quite rare to find someone had been missed out in 1888 - but its certianly not impossible. Another possibility would be that a birth has been missed from the Index, in which case querying the Registrar General would probably be worth a go.

[cherylstonebrid]

Originally Posted by Valde
I am looking for Gt Grandfather on my mothers side. On my Grandmothers birth cert no father is listed, on her Marriage cert. he is listed as Ernest Wilson, a member of the Irish Guards and Killed in battle. I realise that the Wilsons were travelers, how do I get info on them please???


Hi

I know you said you have contacted the Irish Guards but have you tried this site set up for family historians re the Irish Guards

http://www.1914-1918.net/irisguards.htm

The spelling error for Irish in the link isn't my mistake... that is the link!

Good Luck
Cheryl

[Valde]

Hi,
I now have Phillis's birth cert. (Note spelling) She was born 24 july 188, 40, Bensons Lane, Normanton, Wakefield. Father - James Wilsn - Railway Engine Driver. Mother Elizabeth ilson Nee Durant.
(Don't know if this is of any help in the matter though)

[benny1982]

Hi Valde

I have Wilson family, and not all of them were travellers. Wilson is a very common surname as well so only a fraction of them were travellers.

Ben

[chaney999]

I am eagerly trying to search for my ancestors. My great great grandfather was George Wilson who married Deliah Boss (from the infamous boss/boswell gypsy families). The Wilsons were also travellers and George's father was James Wilson. I have lots of information on George but nothing on his parents.

[Valde]

Hi Ben,
I know not all Wilsons were travellers, as I said early on in my enquiry, I am clutching at straws and the thought never occured to me untill joining B G. I am still no further ahead and keep telling myself I need to let the thread drop, but I still keep coming back to it!!

[stephenjlynch]

Hi Valde,

I know what you mean about clutching at straws! I've got a g-g-grandmother who has three different birthplaces (1865) on her censuses (Lavinia Lee). Her father was John Lee who was a "horse trader".

Possibly I might've cracked it - but I don't know... Romanies - nothing like evading official registers! :).

Cheers