tracing turner-howe

[exbusdriver]

i have been trying to trace my fathers military history the trouble is i have to prove he is dead and i cannot i will explain. he was born in 1915 as a leslie william turner (illegitamately) and adopted (not legally) by a mrs howe, he grew up as a howe but with no birth certificate as that is in the name of turner that much i do know, at some point in the thirties he joined the army as a turner-howe the army recorders have told me this much but will tell me no more unless i prove he is dead.during the war he was with the royal army pay corps and they have told me that his army number which i have on my birth certificate is not on their listings and is with some other regiment,my dilemma is if he is dead would he be buried under the name of turner-howe which i cannot find any trace of,or under the name of howe but all deaths under his christian name all died before 1954 and i do know he was alive til at least 1970, or under his birth name of turner as that technically is what his certificate name is have you anybody in your forums that could advise me as to what i do about it yours arty

[pennydog]

Do you have his exact dob?

There is a death of a Leslie William Turner in November 2001 with a dob 13/6/1915 in Kensington and Chelsea district and there others with just the name Leslie.

FMP has death indices up to 2006, so there are entries post 1954.

[Peter Goodey]

Arty

Pennydog has covered it. Here's exactly what to do

1. Tell us his exact date of birth.

2. If we can identify the right details, someone here will explain how to order the right death certificate which you can use to satisfy the Ministry of Defence.

[exbusdriver]

i thank you pennydog you have got further than i did his birthdate is 13/06/1915 in southend on sea in the district of rochford and if its right i really do thank you arty

[pennydog]

Hi Arty,

This is the info on the death that I found

Name: TURNER, Leslie William
Registration district: Kensington & Chelsea
Year of registration: 2001
Month of registration: November
Date of Birth:13 June 1915
District no: 2391A
Reg no: A62A
Ent no: 228
DOR: 1101

You sould now be able to purchase the death cert from the GRO using these details - sorry I do not know what the DOR is (I have not purchased a recent d/c - but I am sure someone will be along who can tell you).

[exbusdriver]

hi everyone i think i may have inadvertantly mis led you i had found the one you showed me but as i am not sure this might be my father other clues as to who he is will have to be verified this i may have to do by contacting the registrar and try going from there but what i really wanted to know and that i did not make clear as my name is turner-howe the army probably won't recognise turner for turner-howe , what i really wanted to know was if he lived his life as turner-howe and died would he be buried as turner-howe or would the authorities revert to finding a birth certificate or just take it for granted...arty

[Waitabit]

what i really wanted to know and that i did not make clear as my name is turner-howe the army probably won't recognise turner for turner-howe , what i really wanted to know was if he lived his life as turner-howe and died would he be buried as turner-howe or would the authorities revert to finding a birth certificate or just take it for granted...arty

Arty, because the adoption ofyour Father was not a legal one,he would probably have to go by correct birth name on certificate in Army -he may have even dropped the 'Howe'part as he grew older.

He perhaps gave you the Howe addition to your name in respect for his adoptive Parents.

[exbusdriver]

thanks waitabit,he joined the army as l w turner-howe this much the army have told me and his birth date to confirm what they won't confirm is the date he joined or the regiment he joined unless i can prove his death if indeed he is dead i know that would mean he would be about 96 he could be still alive how the hell would i find that out...arty

[pennydog]

Arty,

It is a huge coincidence that the death (above) of Leslie William Turner has the same birth date as your Leslie William Turner-Howe. I think in you position I would get that dc. (I know it is easy to spend other people's hard earned cash), but the only way you can eliminate this as being your man or not is to get the dc. and it may have other info on it which could confirm it too.

Would you know who could have been named as his next of kin on his army records and could this person be the informant at his death?

Do you know what his occupation would have been post army service? If you do you could apply for the cert. giving this info and if it does not match you would not be charged - if you do not know how to do this, just ask.

I can find no death for a Turner-Howe, or a Howe with the correct name, as you say there is a small posibility he is not dead.

This does not help you much with the Army side of things but with a little luck that death reg is right the cert may just provide the info that you need which would satisfy them that it is the right one.

[Waitabit]

Second what pennydog has said,..if you stipulate someone or something you want to find on the certificate, you should get the correct one, bear in mind mistakes can happen.
I think we all end up with at least one error certificate & if the end result finds the truth the cost must be worth it.