• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Thomas Wilson Palmer

J

Job Handley

master brummie
hi folks, new to this site. Does anyone remember a Thomas Wilson Palmer, Dora Mercy Collette or a Freda Palmer from Soho Road around 1900-1940's onwards? The house they once lived in was a painting & decorating/hardware shop close to what is now Hockley fly-over and I am ure it had a green frontage but I may be wrong as this was at a guesstimate 1990's onwards. It was on the left handside if travelling into Birmingham along Soho Road
 
Welcome to the forum Job.

In 1939 their residence was 15 Piercey Street, Wednesbury
Thomas W b 1900 Storekeeper and electrical Engineer
Dora M b 1900
Thomas w b 1930
Freda b 1934
 
hi freda was adopted would you have any information on that at all like where she was before thomas and dora adopted her
 
BigJohn said:
If you are a relative the adoption agency may help you. Official records are private.
Click to expand...
Hi BigJohn, I am freda's maternal granson yes and are in touch with several agencies regards records, it will be 100 years since her birth in 2034 and her adoption was when she was around 2 years old but if access is granted due to the century milestone release rules if you will, there may be no records existing. I just know something about the Palmer family on Soho road before moving to Piercey street, Wednesbury 1939. My granmother ws born in 1934, adopted around 1936 and it appears, lived in Soho Road somewhere between her birth and the move in 1939, i'll try find some photos of the family
 
Hi folks, my granmother, Freda is the girl in the pics and the one is with her adoptive parents, Thomas Wilson Palmer and I believe, Dora Mercy Palmer and the other is with her adoptive brother Wilson Palmer and a child unknown to me. Anyone recognise any of them?
 

Attachments

  • 20220319_184358.jpg
    20220319_184358.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 18
  • 20220319_184346.jpg
    20220319_184346.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 16
Hi and thank you for taking the time to comment. The 1939 register for where? My grandmother was 4 years old in 1939 and records show her living in Wednesbury with her adoptive family shown in the picture above. It's really rather complex but don't take my word for it, look on here/search for my other post; FREDA PALMER. Let me know if you can assist please.
 
That is what is shown on the register. There is another word in brackets but I cant' make it out. Lander is an addition but the word in brackets isn't.
 
I think if you read my other post on here you will get a better picture of where the searching is at the moment. It's baffling! lol
 
BigJohn said:
That is what is shown on the register. There is another word in brackets but I cant' make it out. Lander is an addition but the word in brackets isn't.
Click to expand...
if its the same document then the word says the name PALMER in green ink but crossed out so maybe an error when writing? Unsure lol
 
Crossings out don't mean errors. The reg was updated until 1991 and additional names are usually marriages - so, for instance, my Mom is on the reg as Perks but that is crossed out and Campbell written when she got married.
 
Last edited:
This is the entry
1648557227571.png

If I was reading it then I would assume she was Miss Palmer and became Mrs Lander. The word in brackets relates to the entry above where Father and son both have the same name so (junior) has been entered by the name of the son.
 
Hi,
My grandmother was Palmer before becoming Lander when she married my grandfather yes. Her adoptive father was a Thomas Wilson Palmer and his father was a John Palmer. Thomas had a son called Wilson Palmer but how the 'junior' comes into it I'm unsure.

Trying to trace the birth mother of my grandmother is the quest. Latest developments suggest that my grandmother may be the daughter of a Annie Palmer Collett who is the sister of a Dora Mercy Collett.... Who married Thomas Wilson Palmer..... Who between them adopted and raised my grandmother. Any ideas based on that? Lol
 
Job Handley said:
Trying to trace the birth mother of my grandmother is the quest. Latest developments suggest that my grandmother may be the daughter of a Annie Palmer Collett who is the sister of a Dora Mercy Collett.... Who married Thomas Wilson Palmer..... Who between them adopted and raised my grandmother. Any ideas based on that? Lol
Click to expand...

Even if Freda was the illegitimate daughter of your great grandmother's sister, she would still have had to been registered. Not registering was probably not something you could get away with by the 1930s.

She may not have been registered as Freda but the name or mmn or both should have been listed as Collett. There doesn't appear to be a matching registration in West Bromwich (which includes Wednesbury) which could mean that she had the child somewhere else or she isn't the mother.

One way to prove would be, if your mother was a daughter of Freda, to compare your mitochondrial dna to a descendant through the female line of Annie, her mother or mother's sister etc. If you can find one. Even then that alone can only disprove with certainty not prove.
 
Hi,

I am in the process of trying to get hold of my grandmother's birth certificate but have a funny feeling that it may not contain the information I desire. I do have a copy of the adoption certificate from 1936. My grandmother comes up as Freda Smith in illegitimate births in Staffordshire and Warwickshire I'm told so that adds to the confusion lol
 
There is a birth registration listed for a Freda Smith mmn Smith, Mar qtr 1934 Bham. Having both name and mmn listed on freeBMD as Smith can mean the child was illegitimate.

If this is her then I would assume the dob would be a match. It should list the mother's name, though being a Smith may not help going further back, and possibly an address, which again may or may not help.
 
Freda/my maternal grandmother was as far as I know, illegitimate yes. She died in 2004 never knowing where she came from so to speak. She always said that she thought that her mother was called 'Louisa Brassington Smith' from Birmingham who was a seamstress but how true it is I'm unsure sadly. I do have a copy of her adoption certificate but it's from 1936 and only names Thomas Wilson Palmer and Dora Mercy Palmer as adoptive parents. Annie Palmer Collett is the latest possibility for her mother
 
Well there was a Louisa Brassington Smith. She was born 1908 in Wolstanton. She didn't marry until 1936, so that doesn't rule her out.
 
Do you know where she was around 1934 at all? not familiar with Wolstanton either sorry. Appreciate your time and input greatly may I add!
 
No way to be sure really, even if all ERs were online.

It doesn't seem a name that would be made up, so seems a likely match. A couple of possibilities are that Louisa came to Bham to work and became pregnant or became pregnant and was sent to Bham to have the baby.

Possibly worth the chance of buying the birth certificate of the Freda Smith registered Bham Mar qtr 1934. About a tenner or so through the GRO. Might not help but I can't see any other way.
 
MWS said:
No way to be sure really, even if all ERs were online.

It doesn't seem a name that would be made up, so seems a likely match. A couple of possibilities are that Louisa came to Bham to work and became pregnant or became pregnant and was sent to Bham to have the baby.

Possibly worth the chance of buying the birth certificate of the Freda Smith registered Bham Mar qtr 1934. About a tenner or so through the GRO. Might not help but I can't see any other way.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Have had so many recommendation's regarding searches via GRO, here are them so far so if possible, let me know what you suggest based on those;
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Job , I have removed your email address, not wise to put it on here.

Private messages are to protect living off- spring of those who may be still living.
I have no objection to you copying and sending my PMS to Janice or MWS both excellent researchers, between the 3 of us we may be able to find the mother of your Freda.
 
Job the Louisa Brassington Smith in post 23, the Brassington was the name of her maternal grandmother.

Wolstanton is an area in Stoke on Trent about 2 miles from Newcastle under Lyme.
 
Alberta said:
Job , I have removed your email address, not wise to put it on here.

Private messages are to protect living off- spring of those who may be still living.
I have no objection to you copying and sending my PMS to Janice or MWS both excellent researchers, between the 3 of us we may be able to find the mother of your Freda.
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry for that! I'm a bit behind the times when it comes to these things lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top