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  1. #1
    icrookham
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    Default Alternative Records to Trace Grandmother

    Hello All

    Having had a good deal of help elsewhere on the Forum and still hitting a brick wall I am now trying to think of possible alternative records that might help me trace my maternal grandmother's family.I have her birth certificate showing that she was born illegitimately in 1907 in Poulton cum Seacombe on the Wirral,her mother's name from the birth certificate,the address of her birth and even the name of the midwife who delivered her(she was the informant).Subsequently I have located her in the 1911 Census as a nurse child living with a family in Liverpool which I know to be correct through our family.The problem I have is that her mother's name is quite common,Annie Ellen Griffiths,and consequently difficult to pin down.I have a number of possibilities in the area of the birth but nothing that allows me to pin it down exactly.

    The first question is how did my grandmother get from Seacombe to live with a family in Liverpool.There are no family links with the family she was living with so how was she placed-for example does anyone know of any organisations operating in the Wirral/Liverpool area that would place illegitimate children in 1907?Secondly are there likely to be any records that may relate to the midwife eg by this time was there any requirement to produce records for the local health board/local authority and if so where might they be held?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated as frustratingly this is the only branch of the family that I have got a problem with.

    Ian

  2. #2
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
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    Hello

    Without sounding flippant...Ferry across the Mersey......people out on the Wirral treat Liverpool as there main city area and ties seem to be quite close.

    Maybe the child's mother went to work in Liverpool or the Church arranged a foster care for the child.

  3. #3
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
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    Quote Originally Posted by icrookham View Post
    The first question is how did my grandmother get from Seacombe to live with a family in Liverpool. Ian
    I have read too many 'warm & fuzzy novels I know,.....isn't Seacombe just across the Mersey? If a young Lady or girl found herself expecting a child, she may have found work well away from Family in the hope of delivering & fostering out said child without Family anger. Perhaps she was without Family & had to manage on her own & she was advised of some one who could help. People seem to have done that 'back then'. Many perhapses out there. I hope you find the real answer.
    Happy Families
    Wendy
    Count your Blessings, they'll all add up in the end.

  4. #4
    Nicolina
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    this might be useful
    Births March 1889
    Annie Ellen GRIFFITHS Wigan R.D. Vol. 8c Page 9

  5. #5
    Nicolina
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    I've found that Annie Ellen on the 1911 Census with her family:
    RG78PN1343 RD458 SD1 ED2 SN47
    Robin Hill, Standish Near Wigan
    Charles aged 58 born Stapleton, Shropshire occ: Estate Sawyers
    Annie Maria aged 58, born Kinnerley, Shropshire
    Herbert Preece aged 24 born, Standish, Lancashire occ: Standish, Lancashire
    Annie Ellen aged 22, born Standish, Lancashire occ: Elementary School Teacher
    Ethel May aged 20, born Standish, Lancashire occ: Dressmaker
    Eileen Clarice aged 18, born Standish, Lancashire occ: Dressmaker
    Sarah Annie (Daur in Law) aged 35, born Littleworth, Stafford occ: Assistant Housekeeper
    Georgena (Grand-daughter) aged 2, born Manchester

  6. #6
    icrookham
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    Hello Nicolina

    Thanks for the reference however don't think this is likely to be my grandmother's mother as on the birth certificate she is shown as a domestic servant.Just highlights the problem I'm having in that very few Annie Ellens on the 1911 Census and there is always the suspicion that she has dropped the E thus making tracing doubly difficult.That's why I'm trying a different tack to see whether there are records available given that it was an illegitimate birth that may give a clue as to the mother's identity-of course no such records may exist.
    Take the point about the closeness of Liverpool to Seacombe outlined in other posts but still strikes me as a little odd that my grandmother ends up placed with a Liverpool family when she is born on the Wirral-dilemma is was this arranged by a church body or something similar(and if so are records available) or was it an arrangement entered into privately by the mother in which case she may have moved to Liverpool for the reasons outlined above.?

    Ian

  7. #7
    Hollytree
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    I think that the term 'nurse child' means that the baby was informally fostered out, and maybe by the Poor Law(Workhouse) officials. As others have said the Wirral is just across from Liverpool and maybe that's where the families that would look after these children could be placed. There is an archive at the Wirral here https://www.wirral.gov.uk/lgcp_websea...ch_results.jsp which might if you email them give you an idea or two........

    Anne

  8. #8
    icrookham
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    Seven years on and still no firm information.
    By a process of elimination it looks like Annie Ellen may well have been Annie Ellen Griffiths born 7th June 1891 at Llandegfan on Anglesey.If this is correct that would have made her 16yrs old when my grandmother was born in August 1907 in Seacombe on the Wirral.If that was the case does anyone have any information on what might have been the process following the birth given her age and that she had no immediate family to support her-mother dead,father suffering from mental health issues.For example would she have been allowed to keep the baby or would she have been "forced" to give her up and if she had had to give her up to whom?Was there an organisation operating on the Wirral in the early 1900's who dealt with such matters.As outlined above my grandmother did end up with the George family in the Park Rd area of Liverpool by 1911-as far as I know there is no link whatsoever with the Griffiths family.

    Ian

  9. #9
    Valued member of Brit-Gen
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    Quote Originally Posted by icrookham View Post
    Seven years on and still no firm information.
    By a process of elimination it looks like Annie Ellen may well have been Annie Ellen Griffiths born 7th June 1891 at Llandegfan on Anglesey.If this is correct that would have made her 16yrs old when my grandmother was born in August 1907 in Seacombe on the Wirral.If that was the case does anyone have any information on what might have been the process following the birth given her age and that she had no immediate family to support her-mother dead,father suffering from mental health issues.For example would she have been allowed to keep the baby or would she have been "forced" to give her up and if she had had to give her up to whom?Was there an organisation operating on the Wirral in the early 1900's who dealt with such matters.As outlined above my grandmother did end up with the George family in the Park Rd area of Liverpool by 1911-as far as I know there is no link whatsoever with the Griffiths family.

    Ian
    How do you know her mother was dead and her father had mental health issues? On your Grandmothers birth cert what address was given, was it a workhouse? What name was given to your Grandmother?

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by pat fowles View Post
    How do you know her mother was dead and her father had mental health issues? On your Grandmothers birth cert what address was given, was it a workhouse? What name was given to your Grandmother?
    These questions do need to be answered if we are to try and help you. The more information you share the better So, whatever info you have please post it, we then may be in a position to help.
    Alma

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