ARC TBC Starting again
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 1:13 pm
Whilst not a newcomer to genealogy, I haven't really done anything with my tree for about 12 years and I'm finding it hard to remember the procedure for a lot of searches - plus I'm now on a pension and don't have the money to spare that I had a few years ago.
On my mothers side I got back to 1776 relatively easily - they were all big families and the family was well know in the Birmingham area but on my fathers side I haven't even got his mother with any certainty. Which is why I lost interest and why I was waiting for the 1921 census to see if I could fine anything on that.
However the release of the 1939 register has sparked my interest again so I thought I'd post my story again.
As briefly as I can - my dad was born John Kitchen on 1st Sept 1914 to an Isabel Kitchen in a mother and baby home in Leeds. No father on the birth cert and no date of birth for the mother.
Isabel was listed as being in service in Penrith.
My dad had no bothers or sisters (that I knew of or that he mentioned). He hardly ever talked about his past but he always referred to Penrith as his home. He wasn't adopted but was brought up by a Mrs Bell and went to school in Penrith. If he talked about his childhood at all it was being brought up on a farm
Unfortunately all the records from the only school he would have been likely to have gone to were destroyed by fire and also all record of the mother and baby home in Leeds were destroyed prior to 1935 (it stayed open until
the 50's). My mother, now of course dead, seemed not to find it strange that he had no family at their wedding and did not have a clue what he did during the war. In fact as a source of information, it was like talking to a wet sock lol
Kitchen is a very popular name in Cumbria (and it seems the vast majority of the female one seem to be called Isabel) so there were various options for Isabel, ranging from one born in 1889 to one born in 1900. I ended up spending a small fortune on certs, none of which were the correct Isabel.
The 1889 one married in 1912 and at first I thought maybe she'd got pregnant whilst her husband was away at war but when she conceived (Christmas / New Year 1913/14) her husband wouldn't have been away and they had another son in 1918 so didn't split up, so it's unlikely to be her
Which leaves me back with the 14 year old. I'd previously discounted this one because of her age. Is a 13 year old likely to have gone into service then? Maybe she was "taken advantage of" and shipped off to the mother and baby home to avoid the scandal although she obviously brought the baby back with her although I can find no record of a baptism. My dad was brought up with another boy, whom he remained close to until he died, called Jack Savage. Jack's wife said everyone assumed they were brothers although they definitely weren't. Is there any way I can check her actual date of birth without forking out for another cert? (I have the GRO ref) Because also I can find no record of her marriage or death either
Anyway back to my dad, I can find absolutely NO war records for him at all. In fact there are only about 6 J Kitchen (he definitely didn't have a middle name) and previously when I have checked, there are none that match his date of birth
Until the 1939 register I assumed that, if he was working on a farm, he perhaps would have been exempt from Military Service, hence no records.
However 1939 shows him at Platt Lane in Manchester with a much older Doreen Montcrieff (states married but no husband on register) and working as a hotel/bar waiter. Now I remember Doreen - she was his landlady and he kept in close touch with her until he died and he sometimes used to take me to visit her
When did electoral rolls start - would there be any way for me to find out if he was still living there say 4 years later or any way to find out what he was doing. It wasn't the address given on his marriage cert to my mum but I think the address on that was only used because of the banns (it was round the corner from my mum).
What way is there of finding out what people did during the war if they weren't in the services? Are there records kept of conscription etc. If he didn't serve because of health reasons I have no idea what they were as my dad was the healthiest person I knew until he got cancer at 73. There was only two sheets of paper in his doctors file!
Sorry, so much for keeping it brief.
Anyone got any suggestions as to where I can look next and what my next actions should be?
On my mothers side I got back to 1776 relatively easily - they were all big families and the family was well know in the Birmingham area but on my fathers side I haven't even got his mother with any certainty. Which is why I lost interest and why I was waiting for the 1921 census to see if I could fine anything on that.
However the release of the 1939 register has sparked my interest again so I thought I'd post my story again.
As briefly as I can - my dad was born John Kitchen on 1st Sept 1914 to an Isabel Kitchen in a mother and baby home in Leeds. No father on the birth cert and no date of birth for the mother.
Isabel was listed as being in service in Penrith.
My dad had no bothers or sisters (that I knew of or that he mentioned). He hardly ever talked about his past but he always referred to Penrith as his home. He wasn't adopted but was brought up by a Mrs Bell and went to school in Penrith. If he talked about his childhood at all it was being brought up on a farm
Unfortunately all the records from the only school he would have been likely to have gone to were destroyed by fire and also all record of the mother and baby home in Leeds were destroyed prior to 1935 (it stayed open until
the 50's). My mother, now of course dead, seemed not to find it strange that he had no family at their wedding and did not have a clue what he did during the war. In fact as a source of information, it was like talking to a wet sock lol
Kitchen is a very popular name in Cumbria (and it seems the vast majority of the female one seem to be called Isabel) so there were various options for Isabel, ranging from one born in 1889 to one born in 1900. I ended up spending a small fortune on certs, none of which were the correct Isabel.
The 1889 one married in 1912 and at first I thought maybe she'd got pregnant whilst her husband was away at war but when she conceived (Christmas / New Year 1913/14) her husband wouldn't have been away and they had another son in 1918 so didn't split up, so it's unlikely to be her
Which leaves me back with the 14 year old. I'd previously discounted this one because of her age. Is a 13 year old likely to have gone into service then? Maybe she was "taken advantage of" and shipped off to the mother and baby home to avoid the scandal although she obviously brought the baby back with her although I can find no record of a baptism. My dad was brought up with another boy, whom he remained close to until he died, called Jack Savage. Jack's wife said everyone assumed they were brothers although they definitely weren't. Is there any way I can check her actual date of birth without forking out for another cert? (I have the GRO ref) Because also I can find no record of her marriage or death either
Anyway back to my dad, I can find absolutely NO war records for him at all. In fact there are only about 6 J Kitchen (he definitely didn't have a middle name) and previously when I have checked, there are none that match his date of birth
Until the 1939 register I assumed that, if he was working on a farm, he perhaps would have been exempt from Military Service, hence no records.
However 1939 shows him at Platt Lane in Manchester with a much older Doreen Montcrieff (states married but no husband on register) and working as a hotel/bar waiter. Now I remember Doreen - she was his landlady and he kept in close touch with her until he died and he sometimes used to take me to visit her
When did electoral rolls start - would there be any way for me to find out if he was still living there say 4 years later or any way to find out what he was doing. It wasn't the address given on his marriage cert to my mum but I think the address on that was only used because of the banns (it was round the corner from my mum).
What way is there of finding out what people did during the war if they weren't in the services? Are there records kept of conscription etc. If he didn't serve because of health reasons I have no idea what they were as my dad was the healthiest person I knew until he got cancer at 73. There was only two sheets of paper in his doctors file!
Sorry, so much for keeping it brief.
Anyone got any suggestions as to where I can look next and what my next actions should be?
