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Lees, Irene Searching For

C

carobb

proper brummie kid
Hi. I know this is a long shot, however... I am seeking any information on Irene Lees (my grandmother).

Irene gave birth to a boy in July 1936. Her address was Station Street, Northfield. Not sure of her DOB but I believe she was in her early 20's, making her birth during early WW1 period.

I am in the very early days of research and stumbled across this website. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to obtain information long distance, I have copies of (my father's) birth and adoption certificates.

Perhaps it would be worth consulting a genealogist? Any tips would be warmly welcomed.

carobb (Australia).
 
There are a lot more resources on-line now, so long distance research has never been easier.

As you have an address (just the street or no also?) the first thing I'd check are the electoral rolls. If you are 'lucky' even if Irene didn't appear there might be a Lees family listed. At which stage you can look for a marriage and then children.

Some Birmingham electoral rolls are online and I'm sure a helpful member with a subscription will check for you and if you have no luck, all the electoral rolls are kept at the Library of Birmingham. I go now and again, as do other members and I'm sure someone will be able to have a look.

You definitely don't need a genealogist yet.
 
Oh thanks MWS, that's encouraging!

Yep, I know the street number. I'll try a search for her in the electoral rolls first and see how that goes.

I've noticed a lot is (apparently) online but requires subscription. Would you have any experience with these? One is findmypast.co.uk. I'm just not sure if it is worth it, but happy to if I'm going to get something out of it...
 
There is a lot of free resources available also, so unless you want to do some serious research you might be able to manage without.

You can register with the sites for free and every now and again they have free weekends. I'm registered with ancestry (where I have my own tree) and I find it ok but there are others to choose from and which you like best is down to taste.

One of the best free sites I think is familysearch and you don't need to register...

https://familysearch.org/search/

Other members might give you their preferences as well.
 
In 1935 the occupants of 71 Station road were Albert & Gladys Cecilia May Parkes. In 1939 it was Edward Frank & Mary Ann Earp. the intervening years are not online, but available in the library. Kellys directory for1936.1937 & 1938 do not list it, so it would not hav ebeen a doctor's surgery, nursing home or any suchlike. Do not know if you are local but attach map c1965 showing no 71 in red
 

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Here is no 71 today from streetview
 

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mikejee, I am in Australia, so not a local!

Albert and Gladys were the adoptive parents, so it seems that Irene lived with them for a time, at least until the birth. So I guess it's unlikely she would be registered at that address in the electoral role.

I've found 2 Irene Lees online, one born in 1910, and the other in 1914. My guess is she was the later one, as I recall something about her being only 22, so that fits nicely. If I could find her birth certificate, maybe that would lead to other information? Would that kind of information be in hospital records? Though they may no longer exist...

I have another possible address for Irene - 2 Rifle Crescent, Aston. I think the Parkes family moved from Station Street to Moorpark Road.
 
No luck with Rifle Crescent but found Albert and Gladys at Moorpark Road in 1945.

You can order birth certificates from the General Records Office for about £10, not sure about international prices though. However without some sort of corroboration you might have the wrong woman.

If the Irene Lees b1910 was registered in Dudley, I think she married too soon. The one registered Bham in 1914 possibly married Harold D Laugher in 1937, possibly had one child registered in Hartismere, Suffolk before Irene re-married James A Jackson (reg. Norwich 1949). A death registered in Ipswich in 1974 gives a dob of 30 Jan 1914 which matches the dob for the Irene Laugher on the 1939 register.

The mother's maiden given for Irene is Jones and there's a marriage registered for a William Lees and a Rhoda Emily Jones in Aston 1909.

But as I mentioned you'd need some sort of evidence to prove she is the right person.
 
Adoption became legal in 1927 and after that it was usual for the adoption to be arranged through the courts by an adoption agency.
As Irene was living with the Parkes at the time of the birth it is possible that it was a 'family' adoption so it may be
interesting to look for a family link somewhere.
 
Yes Alberta, I have thought for a long time that there was some family connection. But what? Anyone who knew the story has since passed on. Gladys and her sister refused to share it to their dying day, how bad could it be? But they were different times and not much we can do about it now. Gladys had one daughter (my aunt) who knows nothing, and Gladys' sister had only one son who went missing many years ago, years before Gladys and her daughter followed my father to Australia. So, I don't know of anyone else who would know about it. The best I can hope for is that there is still a living relative of Irene's somewhere who may not know the story, but might at least be able to pass on a photograph and know something about her life, even if it is her later life. The whole affair has been very secretive and any attempts so far have hit a brick wall... my turn...

I have been looking at the family search website that MWS suggested, but without her DOB I'm not sure how to identify her. The Laugher connection seems to fit, but I can't be sure about it.

I will keep at it, as I said, I'm pretty new to this. My father turns 80 this year, and I am hoping to find something before then... he is not going to be here forever...

I'll try your suggestion for freebmd too jukebox.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions so far :)
 
I did check to see what Gladys Parkes maiden name was (in case it was Lees) and it seems to have been Crook and they married in 1934.
This may be a long shot but the Irene Lees born in Dudley has a sister (1911 census) called Marjory. A Marjory Lees married an Ernest Parkes in Dudley in 1927. This may all be a coincidence.

Janice
 
The Irene K Lees b1909 Dudley seems to have married Norman H Webb, registered Mar qtr 1936 and Derek J Lees (if I've got the right person) birth wasn't registered until the Sep qtr of that year so possibly rules her out as the mother.
 
I don't know much about how adoption worked, so not sure how much information beyond the mother's name you might find out.

DNA testing seems to be a possibility. If you could trace Irene's other son, dna testing might be able to confirm or rule him out but that's only if you could find him and if he agreed. Also after a possible marriage Joy Miller in 1963, I can't find anything else about him.

The other option is to trace Irene's family tree and hope to find a connection.
 
Yes Janice, Gladys maiden name was Crook, married in 1934. Thinking about the possible family connection thing, it might be worth investigating Albert's side. I think the connection is unlikely to be with Gladys, if there is one.

Yes MWS, Derek J Lees, the adoption was registered in December 1936.

I'm not sure how to connect the dots here... Does anyone know how I could find out Irene's DOB?
 
Things you know for certain...

Derek J Lees was born in 1936 and adopted.

Mother listed as Irene Lees - was she single (did the birth certificate say formerly ...)? Was there a middle name or initial? Mother's residence was listed as Station Road, Northfield?

Adoption took place in Dec by Albert and Gladys Cecilia May Parkes (nee Crook) - what other information is listed on the adoption certificate?

Other addresses Rifle Crescent and Moorpark Road (Albert & Gladys' residence).

If there is no other certain information, I think you have to begin with checking the addresses (especially Station Road) to see if there is anything that might help (if no one has done so before I will definitely look the next time I go to the Library.

If nothing turns up you could check the marriage certificate between Irene Lees and Harold Laugher, if as you say Irene lived with Albert & Gladys, her address could be listed as Moorpark Road or they may even be witnesses. Still wouldn't rule her out if they weren't but it would definitely rule her in if they were.

There are less than 30 births registered for Irene Lees between 1899 & 1918 in England and Wales, so it's not a common name.
 
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The birth certificate doesn't say much, just name, sex, date and place of birth. It must be an excerpt of the full certificate.

I'm not sure now how I got Irene's address as 71 Station Rd (?!). I have found some information written by my father years ago, giving her address as 2 Rifle Crescent, Aston. I have no idea where this information came from. Maybe it will turn out to be on the birth certificate! 71 Station Road is the Parkes address on the adoption certificate. Maybe she didn't live there after all... The only other information is the DOB. No information about the mother.

Aston fits with the Irene Lees born in 1920. I also have a note on the letter my father wrote, saying that she was 22 at the time of birth, which fits with the Irene Lees born in 1914. And again, no idea where that came from.

Off to try and obtain a copy of the full birth certificate!
 
I found the full birth certificate, yes I have it after all. Irene's address is listed as 71 Station Road. Not sure where he got Rifle Crescent from, but it came from somewhere... Sadly, no information about the father.
 
Carobb.
There is a mention of Irene Lees b 1914 UK in a family tree of a Michael Laugher on Ancestry.
Unfortunately his tree is private but there is a contact for him.
There was a Michael Laugher b 1942 ,mother Lees.
The contact for Michael Laugher on Ancestry has him as Michael Sheridan, actor, who now lives in New South Wales
 
So no middle name listed for Irene and definitely an unmarried woman?

Is the J in your dad's name Joseph?

If the contact for the Michael Laugher family tree is in Australia that's probably why there was no more mention of him after his (possible) marriage.
 
I would say that the Irene Lees who married Harold Laugher definitely married James A Jackson in the 1949, the registration lists Irene as Laugher or Lees.

Which means there could be two more possible children - Anthony J Jackson (b1952) and Philip A Jackson (b1953) both registered Norwich Outer.

I can't see any other Jackson/Lees marriages in Norfolk or Suffolk.
 
That's interesting! I signed up for the 14 day free trial this morning, so I'll check it out... thanks :)
 
The J is for John. No middle name or initial for Irene. Definitely unmarried? That's an assumption, there's no information about the father on the birth certificate.
 
Hi there
Riffle crescent off Victoria road Aston not far from the old six ways Aston Birmingham 6 in those days
I lived just around d the corner from it about 100 yards from it
And knowing Aston family's I would not be surprised if the family connection of lees was living in Wainwright street Aston
As there was an family living there and there front door was always open and the old fashionioned
Radio gram those with the deep cabinets was in there little house and the radio was always playing aloud
And as kids we used to have a girl run around with us her name was lees
One Sunday morning we went around to her house and the D J on that station they was tuned into was playing a Brenda Lee

Said a record to play now was Brenda Lee as a little kid I thought oh its her family silly me
Bearing in mind I was only a little whipper snapper of a kid but they always had abrendalee record playing most times
In there house as. I said a lot of family's in Aston All those years ago after the war years was related in some form of way
Family's and cousin of various family's was always close to each other including aunts and uncles
And I mean aunts and uncles not meaning as some one said years ago how they referred shop keepers
Because I never heard of that I know a lot of my mothers and fathers family's lived around the area
And I know other family's whom there relatives lived close bye to them
So getting back to riffle crescent and wainwright street would have been about a mile away
In the thirty and fortys could there be a family connection to kick start
Best of luck to you I am sure if you stick to the forum you will succeed and be prepared for the ghostly skeletons
In the cubbards like I found out from this great members of knowledgements of the forum family
Best wishes Astonian,,,,,Alan,,,,,
 
Yes goodness knows what's in that cupboard Astonian, I would love to know!

All of the information I'm looking at refers to a Volume and Page number. Births, Marriages, etc. Does this mean that there's more information recorded somewhere else?
 
The volume and page are simply where the birth or marriage certificate are located. All the records are stored centrally and so the office needs to know where to look. You need those numbers if you have to buy a certificate.

Janice
 
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