Another dear old lady to help

[NatashaBatsford]

Hi all

After a fairly large family gathering over the last week or so, I have been landed with another family quest.

A lovely old great aunt in law has asked me to find out about her family, and I could do with a bit of a leg up.

She is Muriel Humphrey b. 1921 in Marlybone. She was married to Reuben Stevens who I was told was b.1918

The only other thing she told me was she remembered him having a large family.

She's not quite with us these days, but looked at me in a pleading way and asked me to find her husband's family.

I have a few 'likely hits' going on but they seem a little far fetched. Her family are southerners born and bred (Rickmansworth and Luton mainly) and the only Reuben I have found seems to come from Durham (mother born Baker)

And they don't seem to be that large a family anyway.

Any ideas or experienced searchers feeling bored?

Thanks
Tash

[Sue Mackay]

OK, what you need to do first is find her marriage certificate, which because of the date means trawling through the complete BMD indexes, either on a pay per view site or free at your local library/record office.

Some of us might help with this if you could narrow it down a bit. Do you know whether she was married before, during or after the war? Do you know the approximate birth dates of any children? (Don't give us names on here as they are probably still alive - it's just to narrow down the date of marriage)

Once you have a marriage certificate you will know the name and profession of Reuben's father and that will help you track down the correct birth certificate and possibly find the family on the 1901/1911 census.

[Wirral]

You definitely need that marriage certificate first. There are 2 Reuben STEVENS deaths listed 1984-2005 whose birth is given as 1918 - one born 14 Jan 1918, died 2003 Chelmsford, the other born 2 Feb 1918 died 1988 Lancaster. However, there is only one Reuben STEVENS born in 1918 - the one you have already forund with mother BAKER, born March Q 1918.

Birthdates on death certificates are only as accurate as the knowledge of the person registering the death. More recent death certificates should give the place of birth, but again, only if it was known.

Was the family Jewish? If so, they may have been immigrants & changed their surname.

Without knowing the identitiy of Reuben, wre could spend a lot of time & effort constructing a very nice family tree - just not one that is the correct one for your relative.

[michaelpipe]

Just trawled 1938 - 1947. Only one Reuben Stevens, spouses name Hoare, so not correct. For the record it was Dec Qtr 1941 Alton RD

Michael

[Jane Gee]

The large family line might help if you track them down. It depends what period they were born. My gt grandfather had a large family of brothers and sisters 14 in all I decided to do randon letters to all people in the area they lived in and beyond in the hope I might find someone. Just a standard letter saying that I understood that they may not be interested and an sae many people replied. I eventually struck gold and the information these 2 brothers gave me I would never have found. Tracing 2nd and 3rd cousins can be very rewarding.

[Wirral]

The marriage was March 1950 Chelmsford 4a 925, Reuben STEVENS & Muriel E. HUMPHREY. You can order the certificate from www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates It may take a few days longer than normal because of the holidays.

[NatashaBatsford]

You definitely need that marriage certificate first. There are 2 Reuben STEVENS deaths listed 1984-2005 whose birth is given as 1918 - one born 14 Jan 1918, died 2003 Chelmsford

This is the correct Reuben

As far as I know the family was not jewish, but then I know very little in actual fact

Thank you guys, I really appreciate you having a look for me on this one. I shall try and contact "auntie Mu" and get copies of certificates, etc from her

Tash

[NatashaBatsford]

Hi all

Just to say, haven't been able to get hold of Auntie Mu yet, everyone seems to have the lurgy, but just to confirm, we are looking at Reuben Stevens born in Durham, mother Hannah Baker, father George Stevens

Thanks
Tash

[Jan1954]

Okay, I have just done a quick search on FreeBMD in county Durham for birth registrations for the surname Stevens, with the mother's maiden name being Baker.

I found these, all registered in Easington district:

Sep Q 1915, 10a, 947: Henry
Mar Q 1918, 10a, 731: Reuben
Jun Q 1920, 10a, 1124: Mary
Sep 1924, 10a, 898: Doreen

And.....

Marriage Dec Q 1914 Easington, 10a, 929:
George STEVENS
Hannah E BAKER

[NatashaBatsford]

Thanks ever so much Jan, I really appreciate it.

I find this 'in between' generation really hard to deal with, a generation back and we're into census returns, etc. but these always seem really 'awkward' to me