Q & A
KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset
EMMA JOLLY is a writer, historical researcher and member of AGRA
ANTONY MARR is a former deputy registrar and the chair 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
PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors
SIMON WILLS is the author of Tracing Your Seafaring Ancestors
How do I trace my Murphy ancestors?
Q My great grandfather, Patrick John Murphy, was born on 15 June 1878 in Northfleet. In 1902, when he married, he changed his surname to Savill (his mother’s maiden name). I cannot find any record of his father, John Murphy, nor John’s marriage to my great great grandmother, Eliza Savill. I’ve been told Patrick was Irish – my grandfather visited Waterford in the 1930s to look for him. On Patrick’s birth certificate, it records his mother as Eliza Savill “late Stone”, but I cannot find any record of her marrying a Stone.
Anne Redman
On the 1881 census, Patrick John Murphy was recorded with his mother, Eliza, and siblings. Although Patrick was only two years old, his mother was described as a widow. The fact that your grandfather went to Ireland in search of Patrick John
