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Bird John Edward and his family.

Phil B

Phil B

Made in Brum
When is to late to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR?

Can anyone help, please!
I’m having a lot of difficulty finding birth details of my great Grandfather, John Edward Bird.
The only details I have are that he was married on the 9th May 1891 at the age of 24 to Ellen Norman aged 23. His father name was Thomas Bird and the occupations of both John Edward and Thomas were “Brassworker”.
They had two children, Albert Edward born 31st December 1889 and Alice Gertrude born 13th March 1894.
I know they lived at 29 Bartletts Building, Key Hill, Hockley in 1894/1895.
John Edward died 11th April 1895 after only 4 years of marriage and according to his death certificate he was aged 27.
From the census records there are a number of possibilities to the correct John and father Thomas combination. But I need more information to identify which John.
What I can’t find is any record of his wife, Ellen, and two kids after his death in 1895.
Ellen would be approximately 27, his son Albert would be 6 and his daughter Alice would be 1.
Incidentally according to Albert’s army enlistment papers in 1914, when giving his next of kin, he stated both his parents, John and Ellen, were deceased and that his next of kin was Alice his younger sister.
If any one can shed some light on this I would be very grateful.
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Hi Phil

I have had a look on the IGI and found --

JOHN EDWARD BIRD
Christening: 03 SEP 1865 St John, Deritend And Bordesley, Warwick, England
Parents:
THOMAS BIRD & ELIZABETH

And this looks like the Civil Registration --

John Edward Bird 3rd qtr 1865 Aston 6d 246

bren
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Hi Bren,
Thanks for the information but I have found this as well. The only thing wrong with this is the year, "1865". According to his marriage and death certificates he was born between 1866 and 1868. I know sometimes they were not that accurate in giving the correct age, or year, so I need some additional information to tie him to this particular John Edward. He might be the correct one but I need more corroborate information.
What would pin him down… is having his mother’s name; I only have his father’s name, Thomas, from his marriage certificate.

I’ve found a Thomas Bird that might fit from the census records.
1891 Census
BIRD Thomas Head M 44 Brass Worker (Em'ee) Worcestershire - Dudley
BIRD Sarah A Wife M 34 - Radnorshire - Radnor
BIRD Elizabeth Dau S 19 Dressmaker (Em'ee) Warwickshire - Birmingham
BIRD Alice A Dau S 14 Scholar Warwickshire - Birmingham
BIRD Lilian Jill Dau S 5 Scholar Warwickshire – Birmingham

His wife here is his second wife. When you trace this Thomas back through the 1881, and 1871 census you find his first wife’s name is Mary and he had a son called John.

If I could find what happened to John's wife, Ellen, after he died in 1895, this might give me a lead
Did Ellen move in with in-laws? Did she re-marry? She had 2 young children at the time, a 6 year old and a 1 year old. I can’t find any trace of her after 1895.

Thanks again, if you have any more info I would be very grateful.
Phil
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Pomgolian said:
....from Sept 1895 to 1807.....
Click to expand...

Hi Pom,
Thanks for looking, but did you mean ...from Sept 1895 to 1907? I have gone down this route and when you tie-up each Ellen to the appropriate spouse in the census records there are no children, Albert or Alice, living with them. So I don't think she re-married but I'm not absolutely sure.
That's one of the main problems with this family search lark you might go down the wrong avenue.
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Are you sure the children stayed with her? As many children of widowed mother's or Father's were taken / put into care....
Oh yes sorry it's 1907... it's also 1:30 am in the morning here in NZ so on that note it must be my bedtime
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

No, I'm not sure..of anything these days...the brains going a bit soft. Do you know how to find out if the kids were taken away? Could they all have gone into a Workhouse perhaps?
Goodnight, hope it's not to too HOT over there, here it's a nice toasty -3 degrees C...yes that's a minus... and there's 5 inches of snow to act as a nice blanket.
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Hi Phil,
Had the same problem with an ancestor I was searching for - widowed with small children.
Finally found the mother in the workhouse, and the children in the cottage homes.
Have you thought to check the childrens names to see if that brings up something?
Also, don't forget to try variants of the surname - Burd, Beard, Bind, Birt - all of which could come up as mis-spellings, mis-transcription, or written translation of an accent when the name is given to the survey officer!!
 
Re: Searching for John Edward Bird and his family.

Hi,
Yes I've tried searching for Albert and Alice but no luck. I know that Albert, my grandfather, joined the army in 1908 aged 19. Prior to that, ie 1901 census, I haven't been able to find anything. Thanks for the help.
 
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