Q&A
KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset
BERYL EVANS is a family historian and the author of Tracing Your Welsh Ancestors
EDWARD HIGGS is a history professor and the author of Making Sense of the Census
EMMA JOLLY is a writer, historical researcher and member of AGRA
JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist
ALAN STEWART is a family history writer, and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree
RUTH SYMES is the author of Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters & Personal Writings
PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors
Why can’t I find my great grandfather’s birth record?
Q When my great grandfather Alfred Joseph Butler married in Marylebone, Middlesex, in 1867, his father was listed as Joseph Butler, gunmaker.
On the 1871–1891 census returns, Alfred Joseph is 24, 34 and 44 respectively, and his place of birth is given as Whitechapel, Middlesex. There could also be an Irish link. We can’t find his birth certificate. Can you help?
Marilyn Healy
A We have six pieces of information about Alfred Joseph Butler: his forenames, surname, age, place of birth, father’s name and father’s occupation. However, at least one of these seems to be incorrect.
His forename, Alfred, is probably correct – and possibly also Joseph. Butler may not have been the surname Alfred was registered with, but was perhaps his mother’s maiden name, rather than his father’s surname. Findmypast) allows you to search births using the mother’s maiden surname (MMS) without having to specify the father’s surname (unlike the General Register Office site, located at ).
