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Passey Rd Sparkhill

Jim,

I've searched the whole of the Birmingham Electoral Rolls for all years & both spellings of Vera. Both of them only appear in the 1930 and 1935 Electoral Rolls at 234 Knowle Road, which means that they were at least at that address by October 1929. No other address is mentioned for either of them. So unless they were in Passey Road for say 1928 and/or early 1929, which I can't check, then they either were never there or they never returned an Electoral Registration Form. I'll look at the New Zealand deaths tomorrow as it is almost midnight here in Crete.

EDIT: I just had a look at New Zealand between 1 October 1921 and 31 December 1930 and only these are listed:-

1922 Harry Ernest SMITH aged 64 years
1924 Harry SMITH aged 19 years
1925 Harry SMITH aged 85 years and the cloest one in the following ten years to end of 1940 is still wrong:-
1933 Harry SMITH aged 37 years.

Australia will have to wait until tomorrow! :)

Maurice :cool:
 
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Hello Maurice, we have had communications before as I think I remember you are an old Sparkhill lad, thanks very much for your time and efforts on this, The Smiths are my wife's family and very little is known about there movements I can only relate what my wife's Father Vivian told my wife.Harrys Wife Veragh Gladys did marry again to Leslie G Field I need to find out on her marriage Certificate if she is listed as a widow for sure.Harrywas 29 In 1921 so any deaths of Smith and their ages can be cross checked from then.I have acopy of his marriage Certificate his Father is Harry Smith of Vickers Rd Sheffield and a wedding announcement in the Sheffield Telegraph . has his parents down as Mr and Mrs Smith so no clues to a name of his mother but from what I have researched I think his Father Married again when Harry jnr was young after his real Mother possibly named Kate died.There is a Harry Denis Smith listed at 32 Vickers Rd in 19 with an Elizabeth(Irons) Smith.
Kind Regards Jim
 
Jim,

Yes, I lived at 215 Knowle Road throughout the 1940s. Antipodean death index information is very sparse unless you buy the certificate. I haven't looked at Oz yet because several other things have got in the way, but I hope to do so over the next two or three hours.

Maurice :cool:
 
Maurice, I lived at 664 Stratford Road just up from the Bear opposite the Park from 1952 to 57 with my Aunt Jean .Sparkhill was a good area and the Park was a great place to play especially in the pond.Do you remember the Sons of Rest building and the bandstand? I served my apprenticeship at A firm in Greswolde Rd.Happy Days.
Jim
 
Yes indeed, Jim, and in the 1940s the funfair was a regular visitor - I think that was Pat Collins.

Getting back to Australian Deaths, there are 121 listed on FindMyPast including the dozen or so in NZ, but there is a big problem - very few have birth dates/ages and the only means of possibly identifying a feasibly correct one is the parents' forenames. Any idea of those or even where he was born?

Maurice :cool:
 
Harry's Father was definitely Harry Smith possibly with Dennis as a middle name
His mother once again possibly Kate(nee)Clarke she died 1902 in Nottingham
Harry snr married Kate Clarke in Nottingham 1892 from free BMD
Harry jnr birth registered in Basford from GRO Index
Harry snr married to Elizabeth Irons on 6the Aug 1906 at Mountsorrel.
I hope some of this may help Maurice.
JIM
 
Jim,

A search of Oz/NZ didn't turn up anything verifiable, just one in 1927 in Queeensland with absolutely no details (so could have been any age), and similarly one in Queensland in 1930 and one in Warren, NSW also in 1930, but no other details.

I then turned to the UK to see if I could actually verify his birth, but this seems difficult as a Kate nee Clarke died in 1 Qtr 1892 so was highly unlikely to have been the mother of Harry born in 1893, especially as she was aged 50 at death.. However there is this birth in 1892 of a Harry SMITH with a mother's maiden name of CLARKE, which makes more sense. But then we have to assume that Kate didn't die within the next two years because the deaths are of elderly women. So I have look closer to the date he married Elizabeth IRONS, unless you have any concrete evidence to prove otherwise. So until tomorrow I'm going to take a break from this.

Maurice :cool:
Smith_Birth.jpg
 
I think Kate Clarke died in 1902 as
Harry Dennis Smith remarried in 1906 to Elizabeth Irons.In 1911 Census they are at 32 Vickers rd
Sheffield with 18 yr old Harry junior.
JIM
 
Jim,

Yes, I lived at 215 Knowle Road throughout the 1940s. Antipodean death index information is very sparse unless you buy the certificate. I haven't looked at Oz yet because several other things have got in the way, but I hope to do so over the next two or three hours.

Maurice :cool:
Knowle Road 1940.jpgKnowle Road 1950 map.jpg

Maurice are you aware of this photograph taken in 1940? Recently I made a friend of the gentleman whose Grandmother lived at 203 Knowle Road, 3 houses to the left bombed my grandmothers house backed off to the Springfield club on Solihull Road. No 203 was the air raid wardens house which my Grandmother took over Mrs Ethel Holmes.
The shed at the back on the left was still there when my Grand parents left in 1968.
 
Yes, Rob, I already had that photograph from some years ago, and yes I knew Margaret Holmes quite well,though I have no idea whether she is still alive.

Maurice :cool:
 
Hello Maurice
I lived in Knowle Road and knew the Holmes family well but sadly
Margaret died a few years ago
Ethel and George Holmes moved to South Yardley and are no longer with us Philip the eldest son died before Margaret Robert and Judy are still alive
 
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