Patrick’s military record showed that he was born in Roscommon. Following the abortive search (see ‘Off in the wrong direction’) I made another request for a search to be made for Patrick’s birth certificate. The search criteria were: Patrick Stanley, son of John, born in Roscommon, date of birth 2nd March, year of birth 1882-1885.…
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On the right track – at last
In February 2007, the National Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ ) started putting soldiers’ records online. They started with surnames beginning with A and B. The process was complete by the end of 2008. Because I was searching for Patrick Stanley, I had to be patient. The wait was made worse by the knowledge that there might be…
Off in the Wrong Direction
According to Patrick’s marriage certificate he was born in 1884. Calculating back from his death certificate suggests 1883. Family folklore has a story that a birth certificate was obtained in order to prove his entitlement to a state pension. This proved that he was older than he thought. He was already past retirement age. Sadly,…
The search begins
Why did I start researching my family history? In common with many people, I knew very little about my origins. For three of my four grandparents, the trail was easy to follow. I found lots of ‘Ag Lab’ (Agricultural Labourer) references spread around Sussex and Kent. Piggybacking on the work of others (an important…