It's amazing what this type of research throws up. I am unable to even begin my Grandfather, Harold Gray's family tree as we cannot find any trace of his birth!
Everyone believed that he was born in 1905 in Aston - the family were shoemakers/repairers.
He died back in 1984 and following a discussion with my cousin, it turns out all the papers have long gone. They included a birth certificate that had clearly been altered. My cousin thinks it is done so he could get into the army in 1920.
Apart from ordering birth certs for anyone called Harold Gray in a two year period, does anyone have any ideas on how I can find out when he was born? The odd thing is - both his wedding certificate and his death certificate show 1905 as being his birth year.
I do get the feeling that I will have to wait for the 1911 census to make any headway here.
Thanks for the help
Everyone believed that he was born in 1905 in Aston - the family were shoemakers/repairers.
He died back in 1984 and following a discussion with my cousin, it turns out all the papers have long gone. They included a birth certificate that had clearly been altered. My cousin thinks it is done so he could get into the army in 1920.
Apart from ordering birth certs for anyone called Harold Gray in a two year period, does anyone have any ideas on how I can find out when he was born? The odd thing is - both his wedding certificate and his death certificate show 1905 as being his birth year.
I do get the feeling that I will have to wait for the 1911 census to make any headway here.
Thanks for the help