Claude William Bradbury born 1910. What happened to him?

[Anstey Nomad]

I had hoped to spare you this one, by inflicting it on the good people of Rootschat but, as you can see, the thread has pretty much been de-railed and run into the ground.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=759796.0

Claude William Bradbury's birth was registered in Leicester in the SQ of 1910. His parents were William James's Bradbury and Elise Dorothee Louise Bradbury (née Juhrs or Jührs).

William James died in 1919 and Louise in 1977, both in Bournemouth.

Claude’s older sister Phyllis Dorothy Bradbury (b1908) died unmarried in Leicester in 1984, and his younger brother Dennis Edwin (b1914) died in Southampton in 1974. His younger sister was born in 1918 (Ancestry thinks she was a brother) and I haven’t unravelled her line yet.

What happened to Claude? Apart from one entry in the Hamburg passenger lists prior to 1935, I cannot find him in the U.K.

Is anyone with a global sub to A~ able to see him anywhere?

[Merry]

I haven't looked at the Rootschat thread yet, but (as a side issue) noticed the 1939 register entry for the younger sister shows her details as:

Joan P Cooke (Bradbury) dob 21 Apr 1918

So she became Mrs Cooke, for when you start on her bit!


EDIT and she has the name Ritchie written by her entry too and a date 30 June 1958, but I haven't worked out how that ties in.

[Merry]

She died as Joan Sabina Ritchie in 1983 and married Mr Cooke in 1942. She became Mrs Ritchie in 1956.

Still waiting for someone else to look for Claude!

Have you considered he might have called himself William?

[Anstey Nomad]

Right - that explains why I couldn't find Joan. Thanks.

I hadn't considered that Claude might have preferred William. I'll get on to that.

[Merry]

There's a private tree on Ancestry which has Claude with just his year of birth in Leicestershire, but with an additional middle name of James. I wondered if he went by the name James rather than Claude or William! Not that this has helped at all!

On the Rootschat thread someone said he went to Hamburg in 1925. Do I take it there were no other family members with him?

[kiterunner]

He is the only Bradbury on that passenger list. Also, someone on the Rootschat thread mentioned the occupation "Polizist" but that is the person above Claude on the list. Claude just has a dash for occupation, but he was only 15.

[kiterunner]

Oh, and his dob on the passenger list is 21 Jun 1910, can't remember whether that was mentioned on the Rootschat thread.

[Merry]

Oh, and his dob on the passenger list is 21 Jun 1910, can't remember whether that was mentioned on the Rootschat thread.

Thanks, I'm sure it wasn't mentioned!!

[Anstey Nomad]

Needle in a haystack. I'm just not finding anything, anywhere that looks as if it might be him.

*sigh* and the Bradburys were always so reliable.

[kiterunner]

I never managed to find him either.

[Anstey Nomad]

So where is he? In the words of Eccles, "Everybody's got to be somewhere."

I got really excited when I found a Claude Bradbury in Australia, but his father was called Walter.

Back to it.

[Merry]

I've just seen on FB that the Hamburg passenger list was for him returning to the UK rather than going out there, which I hadn't realised. Can someone confirm?

[Merry]

The 1931 electoral roll for Leicester has Elise and dau Phyllis Dorothy listed for 23 Bodnaut Ave Leicester. No sign of Claude, but I don't know if he would have been included on that one as it was the year he turned 21. FMP doesn't seem to have 1932 for that area.

[Merry]

As that's the same address as the 1939 register maybe it would be worth examining the years in between to see if he was there at all during the 1930s?


The constituency for the address was P B of Leicester, South Division.

[Merry]

Re the prisoner of war record. The initials CW seem to be pretty uncommon in the ten years after Claude was born (I've not thought of an easy way to check a few years before he was born when middle names were given in full yet) but there are a couple of others and there may be more before 1911 too. Doesn't mean that's not him though.

[kiterunner]

I've just seen on FB that the Hamburg passenger list was for him returning to the UK rather than going out there, which I hadn't realised. Can someone confirm?

Yes, it says "leaving Hamburg" at the top of the page.

[Merry]

Thanks Kate.

[Anstey Nomad]

It's Bodnant Avenue, Leicester. it seems to be generally mistranscribed.

I've coughed up for some credits and he's not there in 1939. The household is Louise, Phyllis, Joan and Dennis.

[Merry]

It's Bodnant Avenue, Leicester. it seems to be generally mistranscribed.

I've coughed up for some credits and he's not there in 1939. The household is Louise, Phyllis, Joan and Dennis.

I'm sorry, I hadn't realised in my opening post I probably didn't make it clear he wasn't with his mother and siblings in 1939 - I would have said if he had been there, but that's not the same lol. I would have sent you the image had I realised you didn't have access.

What I meant was, could you check if he was living with his family between 1932 and 1939? Does Leicester Library have historic e-rolls and would they do a lookup for you as you have the address?

[Anstey Nomad]

Not a problem.

I can certainly check with the Record Office and will do so now. I tried FMP, but I'm not sure I have got the hang of it yet.

[Merry]

if you search on the main page (Search All Records) the name Elise Bradbury you should get 25 matches as her first name is rare. If you look on the first page of the matches about half way down there are three results with no name listed for 1928, 30 and 1931. Those are the electoral roll results I looked at. I know you can browse them by street if you know where to look, but you can't search by name along with any other criteria to help reduce the number of results. That's fine if you are looking for a rare name, like Elise or Claude Bradbury, but not for the John Smiths of this world!

[Anstey Nomad]

Got it!

I've tried the newspapers on FMP without any result either and the passenger lists.

[Anstey Nomad]

I've now asked the Record Office to check the electoral rolls for 1932-39 (inclusive) and will see what comes back.

[Anstey Nomad]

Here it is:

"I had a look at the electoral roll for 1932-39 for Bodnant Avenue and found Claude William only on one of them: in 1932, with Phyllis and Elsie Bradbury. Between 1933 and 38 there are Phyllis, Elsie and Dennis recorded and in 1939 it’s the three of them with the addition of Joan Bradbury but no more Claude."

Dang!

[Anstey Nomad]

This is still bumping around in the back of my mind. I've looked at trees on Ancestry and Claude appears in four of them. Looking at the trees themselves, they know who his parents were and when he was born, but that's pretty much it, although one has found the trip to Hamburg in 1925.

The fact that he was going to Hamburg as a fifteen year old rather indicates that there was still a connection at that point with the Ju(e)hrs family in the Hannover area and I'm wondering whether he went over there as an impressionable fifteen year old and then went back when he was of age and no-one could stop him. After all, the 1930s were an exciting time in Germany.

How would I look for him in Germany? I've tried googling, but nothing much is coming up. Any ideas?

[Anstey Nomad]

In the meantime, I've ordered his mother's Will.

[Anstey Nomad]

Result! Claude’s mother’s Will has arrived in a record breaking three days. It was made in 1966 and there are legacies of household effects, £500 and a share of the residue to ‘my son Claude William Bradbury’. So, we know he was alive in 1966, but where? No addresses are given.

The grandchildren mentioned in the Will are the daughters of his sister and brother respectively, although not all her grandchildren are mentioned, so no direct lead there. The Executors are her bank and her older daughter.

Onwards.

[Anstey Nomad]

After a week of fruitless search for the two grand daughters mentioned in Louise's Will, I've ordered Phyllis Dorothy's Will as well. She seems to have been the 'organiser' of the family, so I'm hoping her Will was in good order.

[Anstey Nomad]

Another Will received in three days!

Yes, it's all in good order, but sadly, there is no mention of Claude. The executors and principal beneficiaries are the younger sister, Joan Sabina, her husband and daughter. There is however a long list of small legacies to people whose names I don’t recognise (ie they are not family), including one in Australia.

The trail on the niece is still warm. She only sold the family home eleven months ago, so that and the Australian connection are my next steps.

[HarrysMum]

Swing me the Aussie ones if you like. I went through Trove looking for Claude, but so far only found the one you mentioned.
I have Bradburys but they are earlier than your lot.

[Anstey Nomad]

I'll PM you in a bit - thanks.

[Anstey Nomad]

Claude had an argument with his brother, as a result of which he emigrated to South Africa. There's your answer.

More to come I suspect, once I can get out of this office and institute a proper correspondence with his niece.

Thanks all for bearing with me.

[Merry]

Ancestry outgoing passengers

Mr C Bradbury aged 26 departure 18 Dec 1936 from London, England to
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

[Merry]

His UK address was given as The Market Hotel, Bacup

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/lancashire/bacup_markethotel.html

The ship was the Dunluce Castle, master E H Thornton:

http://www.bandcstaffregister.com/page146.html

[Anstey Nomad]

Blimey! That looks like him.

He married and had three children, one of whom is still alive.

I wonder what he was doing in Bacup of all places?

[Merry]

Forgot to say his occ on the passenger list is Designer.

[Anstey Nomad]

Thanks.

[HarrysMum]

Yay.....well done.

[Uncle John]

I wonder what he was doing in Bacup of all places?

Clog dancing??

[Anstey Nomad]

LOL Uncle John. It just seemed a random place to be, given that the family has no connection whatsoever with Lancashire.

[Merry]

There is another contender for that passenger list (as well as any other men named C Bradbury born in 1910!), as there's an outward journey for a Mr C Bradbury dob 2 Aug 1910 from Southampton to Cape Town in 1956. This man is a carpenter and his UK address is Overseas Visitors Club, 3 Templeton Road, SW5. The address perhaps suggests he had been overseas before. I suppose 'designer' and 'carpenter' don't seem like similar occupations, but that rather depends on the context of 'designer'. Do you know the occ of Claude William?

I realise it would be helpful if the 1936 listing is Claude as he needs to have travelled before 1939, hence not appearing on the 1939 register.

[Merry]

I looked for the Mr Bradbury born 2 Aug 1910 on the 1939 register and in the Eng/Wales death reg indexes to try and establish his first name, but no luck with either.

[Anstey Nomad]

I believe Claude was born 21 June 1910, although registered in the September Quarter.

I'll see if my new found 'cousin' knows what he did for a living.

[Merry]

I looked at all the male C Bradburys registered Q2 and Q3 1910 and looked to see if I could find the dobs for all of them. It seemed as if there was a death reg match for each of them except your man, yet none of them were born 2 Aug 1910, so either the dob on the passenger list is wrong or that man was born out of England or Wales or I have matched something up incorrectly! (or something else lol)