This will be a long shot.

[HarrysMum]

I am trying to secretly do a family tree…..just pedigree and only three or so generations back for my son in law.

I want it for a special purpose and it needs to be a secret so I can’t ask too many questions of him. I have his birth cert.
I know his parents names….both living but divorced. One doesn’t talk and one has memory issues.

I do know his maternal grandmother’s name and year of birth. She has passed away.

Can anyone tell me the best place to look for info. I have Ancestry and all these people are English as far as I know. Names include Brown and Green……..lol

[HarrysMum]

I do have his maternal grandparents marriage info.

[HarrysMum]

Sorry for all the questions. If a birth was reg in Ecclesall B, would that work for someone who said they were born in Sheffield?

Sorry, I can’t put London on a map of England so this is going to be a long story….lol

[HarrysMum]

Found a possible tree and have messaged. Stay tuned.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by HarrysMum

Sorry for all the questions. If a birth was reg in Ecclesall B, would that work for someone who said they were born in Sheffield?

Yes - Ecclesall Bierlow is Sheffield

[Merry]

Can anyone tell me the best place to look for info.

So much depends on what time frame individuals were born in, especially if they have common names.

Some rhetorical Qs:

Were they born before or after the 1939 Register?

If they were born before it, is their entry is visible (Entries for people born between 1923 and 1939 may be closed)?

Were they born before or after the 1911 or 1921 census?

Did they die before or after 1969 Q2 when date of birth was added to the GRO death indexes?

Ancestry should work for you if they are English, plus the (official) GRO index if you need births before 1911. If you need the 1921 census you could put up a question in Sensitive research here to save bothering with FMP.

A word of warning!:

Then there's the question of whether you can do this without certificates. Be very careful!! lol Honestly, just yesterday I was helping someone and they were interested in finding the death of a man with a fairly unusual name - maybe an average of less than one birth a year with this forename/surname combo (though there were three in the year her relative was born), so certainly not like Brown or Green! She has her relative's birth cert so we had his dob. There was a death reg with the same dob recorded and I thought, "Oh, well that was easy"! But when I looked into if further it became apparent that there were two men born on the same day with the same unusual name. The death reg I had seen was far more likely to be for the other man.

[kiterunner]

Obviously you know the situation and I don't, Libby, but are you sure it is a good idea to do this family tree if nobody has asked for it? (Or have I misunderstood?) What if you uncover secrets that they don't want to know?

[HarrysMum]

Yes, it’s okay Kite. It is my daughter and son in law’s Bible they were given on their wedding, and they always wanted the family bit filled in, so I really only need son in law’s parents and grandparents. I have his birth cert so have his parents. I know his mother, but she can’t remember anything of her ex husband.They were married in England and came to Australia. Their births were in the early 1940s. I am just stuck on who the paternal grandparents are. Both names are common.

[kiterunner]

Feel free to send me a PM with the info that you have if you want some help, Libby.

[HarrysMum]

Thank you.