Please help Naturalization

[hardy694]

Can anyone please help me i am looking for a Robert Wallace Dakers d.o.b. abt 1856 born in US in the 1881,1891,1901 census an so on he is listed as being a Naturalised British Subject although i can not find any records on him,ive tried the National Archives but nothing is listed on himself or his parents Robert & Margaret nee Brown,both his parents were born in Durham England does anyone know where i can look also i can not find any records on his parents journey from England to America all that i know is that his mother Margaret is listed as being a widow on the 1861 census so they must have travelled back between 1856 and 1861 ive been stuck on this one for abt 6yrs any ideas please

Thanks

Sandra

[Wirral]

In the 1861 census, Margaret has 3 children, all of whom are British subjects, born in America - Jane 6, Robert W. 4, Thomas 2. That means the family must have been in America from abt 1855 to 1859. Margaret is also receiving Parochial Relief, so there may be records held locally in Durham about that.

It is only in the 1901 census that Robert is described as a Naturalized British Subject. I think if the parents were British, then at that time the children would automatically be British, even if born abroad, so there would be no Naturalization procedure necessary. Don't quote me on this, though!

[Geoffers]

If Robert and Margaret DAKERS were born in Britain and emigrated to America, they would remain British subjects until such time as they took American Citizenship (I have a recollevtion of a note somewhere that immigrants had to wait a lengthy period of several years before they could take US citizenship). Their children, being born in America, could be British or American - but on return to England (being British), they would not have been required to take part in any formal procedure.

Immigrants to the UK who held foreign nationality could undergo naturalisation or denization. Have a browse of these TNA research guides to save me a lot of typing:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...sLeafletID=242

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...sLeafletID=243
(paragraph 16)

Naturalisation records are indexed on TNA's catalgoue, Denization are not.

I may be wrong, but I would suspect in the circumstances outlined, your chap considered himself naturalised by length of residence and he may not have gone through either Denization or Naturalisation.

[Colin Moretti]

...
Naturalisation records are indexed on TNA's catalgoue, Denization are not.
...

Sorry to have to disagree Geoffers, but denization records are catalogued, even those applications that are rejected (I have one in the family that appears in the catalogue). I tried searching for denization, it gave 761 hits.

Colin

[Geoffers]

I stand corrected - thank you


Geoffers

[hardy694]

Thanks everyone for your replies,i think i will have to give up on this one though ive tried everything to try and locate Robert and his family ive really hit a brick wall with this one after 6yrs i am no further forward ive ran out of ideas (maybe i will come back to it) thanks again

Sandra