A Family History Mystery

I had a TU meeting in Birmingham yesterday and a few spare minutes to kill before catching the train home. I don't need much of an excuse for a mooch round a bookshop so that is what I did. Whilst I was in there I noticed the Genealogy section and it made me think I really must get back into my research on bits of my family tree where I have reached a dead end.

I am particularly interested in my grandmothers family. This line of my family tree is especially difficult to investigate because both her parents died when she was very young, so little information is known about them.

My grandmother was born in 1903 and her father died in 1916 when she was only 13, the cause was Brights Disease (now known as Nephritis). Her mother had died a few years earlier in unfortunate circumstances at St Mary's Hospital Manchester in 1908. The death certificate states:

"Misadventure whilst under chloroform properly and skillfully administered and undergoing a necessary surgical operation at St Mary's Hospital on 7th December 1908. Certificate received from Ernest A Gibson Coroner for Manchester. Inquest held 10 December 1908."

Her mother was thought to be Irish and a Catholic and her father a Protestant which meant that their families would have nothing to do with them after the marriage. My grandmother also had memories of servants and trips out to Sunday tea in a pony and trap. This makes it sound like they were rich, but their occupations indicate otherwise. Also the 1901 census shows that her mother was born in Manchester and her father was born in Dublin, opposite to what was originally thought.

Each document I track down for the family has a different address listed for them, making the threads even more difficult to tie up. When I checked out the birth indexes I was unable to locate my grandmothers siblings. As more and more indexes come on line, it makes it easier to check back frequently. Every now and then I find a little gem and the jigsaw takes shape slowly.

I wonder what gems the 1911 census will reveal for me...

My grandparents wedding day.

PS: I have a very nice spiritual memory from the day that I went to find my great grandparents family grave :-)