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At wits end 2

  • Thread starter Thread starter llamafarmer
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llamafarmer

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Im about to throw my toys out of my pram... just received my third death certificate for ernest smith... blinkin wrong one again... this one is a printers labourer with a sister L Smith... WRONG!!!

My clue came from my grandad samuel smiths army record, he was discharged in 1934 and Ernest was still alive, samuel was married in 1937 and ernest had died by then.

I searched the gro index and this time only one ernest smith is listed as having died between 1934 and 1937 in birmingham... 1935 AMJ 6d 596 died aged 54 which means he was born in 1881, brill i thought ive found him

6d 596 duly arrived this morning and its not him :angry:

I have no idea where to go next with this. I still cant find his birth certificate, still cant find his wife Leah's death certificate and i still cant find Ernests death certificate.

These two have so far cost me almost £100 in certificates and im going loopy and running out of ideas.

Can someone please help me before i cry? :cry:
 
llamafarmer said:
I searched the gro index and this time only one ernest smith is listed as having died between 1934 and 1937 in birmingham... 1935 AMJ 6d 596 died aged 54 which means he was born in 1881, brill i thought ive found him
:cry:
Click to expand...

Hi

I just had a quick look at the death index and there is another death for an Ernest Smith 1936 Bham JAS quarter ref 6d 90 aged 61. This would put his birth around 1875 though.

Suzanne
 
lets start at the beginning.

Can you please tell us what do you know for certain.

when was he born?

what was his parent's names and did he have any siblings or other children other than Samuel?
 
lol, its a tricky one, i hope you know what youre getting yourself into...heres all i know for certain which is based on bmd certificates in my possession already....

samuel arthur smith b30.5.08 at 208 great russell street father ernest mother leah formerly ashford ernest is a fruiterer master

ernest and leahs marriage certificate m27.9.03 ernest a polisher age 22 (1881) from 28 court 5 house hospital street and leah a burnisher age 19 (1883) from 25 court 9 house, leahs father thomas is a filer, ernests father charles is a jeweller

leahs birth certificate shows she was born 2.10.83 at 1 court 4 price street father thomas mother agnes formally horton which ties in with the ashford and horton family tree i have in my possession

i have samuels army service record which shows that when he joined up on 23 sept 1925 he was living at 47 court 9 house New John st west hockley which ties in with brother alberts birth certificate

he was discharged home to next of kin father ernest and brother alfred to 9/357 new john west street hockley which ties in with sister florence smiths birth certificate

unfortunately leah or ernest dont appear together on the electoral rolls after 1920, there is a leah and alfred smith in price street and interestingly my leah was born in price street.

now for the tricky bit.... on his discharge ernest was alive in 21 april 1935 yet shown as deceased on sams marriage certificate of 1937 hence he died between 1935 and 1937.. the only death certificate i can find between these years has his death reported by a sister called L Smith... which i am not aware of (although the 1901 census lists a smith family and ernests sister elizabeth is down as lilly) and also his job as a printers labourer doesnt tie in...

my theory is that ernest and leah separated sometime in the 20s with leah taking the kids while samuel was in the army. Ernest lived with eldest son alfred which is why sams discharge next of kin doesnt show his mum. My grandad sam never spoke about his mum, dad or siblings save for brother 'billy' so to this day we know nothing about them. My dad vaguely remembers his grandma leah dying in northfield in the 60's sometime but didnt go to the funeral (very strange)

i cant find find leahs death certificate that ties in with correct details, the one that does fit with age doesnt show the correct husbands name again pointing towards a separation/ divorce

i need to find ernests birth certificate, death certificate and leahs death certificate and also any way of tying up a separation/ divorce

now you can see why im at my wits end with the smiths! can you help?
 
just checked the 1911 census and ernest and leah had 2 other children prior to alfred, samuel and ernest. Also ernest is shown as 29 which means he was born in 1882
 
Know exactly how you feel being trying locate a 'John Smith' for more
years than i care to remember.

And i've got dozens and dozens of incorrect certificates to prove it.

Good luck in your search..
 
These are the Leah Smith marriages between 1924 - 1932

Birmingham North Sandel June quarter 1925 6d 872
do Jones June 1927 6d 983
do Oldfield December 1930 6d 1016

Birmingham South Moore Decembeer 1931 6d 85
do Dorey March 1932 6d 8

Do any of these names tie up with the death certificate you have for Leah.
 
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no the death certificates i have indicate she was married to a smith but the wrong one, another certificate was notified by a cousin so not much help but wrong area so not likely... if she had married again then she wouldnt have been a smith but a surname i wouldnt know therefore she could be any of them and i wouldnt know
 
I think i may have got to the bottom of the mystery surrounding my inability to find my great grandads birth certificate... First a bit of background....I researched and sent away this time last year for a certificate with reference checking option, total cost £16... certificate arrived... wasn't him, i crossed off the 4 gro references from my list

Edged my bets and sent away for another reference check, came back wasn't him... more off my list, getting worried now because the ages aren't fitting with my research...

I get to this month send away for my last few references and lo and behold, wasnt him... no other Ernest Smiths fit the birth year spread, scratch head very puzzled

I combed list and for the thousandth time hit upon an Ernest Bradnack Smith no relation of mine but interestingly the name on the very first wrong certificate i sent for, or so i thought, on checking the gro index for Bradnack against my certificate it appears the clever people at the GRO have sent me the wrong certificate... Bradnack's gro index isnt on my list so why have i been sent it?

I contacted the GRO and guess what? Its outside of their 3 month timescale (i was never aware of any such timescale) If i want another certificate then i'll have to pay, apparently their own mistakes are nothing to do with them!

Any idea where i go from heer? Im angry as ive lost a years research because of these goons!
 
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