Kind of stuck

Would appreciate some suggestions on how to get started with this very sparse entry on my tree.

I have a name John Stead but he was known as Jack. I have a marriage in 1937 and I know he died prior to 2007 maybe around 2000 but that's just a guess.

I don't know where he was born or when. He was living in Devon in later life but I can't find a death that could be him in that area.

I suppose I could get the marriage to get the name of his father and try from there but am reluctant to pay for more certs at present having got two wrong ones recently.

He may have been alive in 1911 just not sure. His wife was born Bath 1916 and they married there then I believe lived in London for a time.

Not much to go on I know. The only other thing is his naval status but have googled without success there.

http://www.stead-steedons.co.uk/

There is a one name study for Stead, we reserarched a soldier on Rootschat and we had his grave repaired in Liverpool and thats how I know about it so maybe a search of the site or a word with the site owner. (he had no living rellies that we could find)

Also Devon Electoral registers have been done on line and some on Ancestry so I hear

Edna

Sorry it was Dorset not Devon that the ERolls were done

well i can see his marriage to eleanor m dagger in 1937. do you know when and where she died. that might tie them down at one particular point in time. there seems to be these.

STEAD Eleanor G M Wirral Cheshire 1951 Oct-Nov-Dec
STEAD Eleanor M Dewsbury Yorkshire 1967 Apr-May-Jun
STEAD Eleanor May Newport Monmouthshire 1988 January

could he have had another first name

there is a death of edward john stead in devon but it is 1991.( and the birth is given as 26 may 1921 - is that too late?)

She was known as Margery and died in 2007 in Devon. He was always known as Jack. I got the name John from the BMD marriage entry so don't know of any other names.

Yes I think a birth for him of 1921 would be a little late. He was older than her and she was born 1916.

I know they lived in London for a while, Pinner I believe, as a relative stayed with them there as a child in the 1960's probably.

I visited them both in Devon when on holiday must have been oh 1990's. He must have been in his 80's then or thereabouts.

Sorry to be so vague

There are a couple of births on FreeBMD that could be their children (surname Stead, mmn Dagger). A boy born in 1937, registered in Bath and a girl born in 1945 registered in Pancras (London).

STG

Edited to say : FreeBMD also has a possible death for the boy (Bath, 1939, 1yo).

Yes they could be. I think there were grandchildren but from whom I don't know.

The most logical thing to do is bite the bullet and get the marriage cert so will do that and see where it leads.

Thanks

Got the marriage certificate today which says he was John 23 and a school master.
Father John also a school master. Gives a little something to go on.

Do the names of the witnesses help at all?

STG

Witnesses don't mean anything at the moment.
Names look like Warneford Stephen Cheney and William Edward Daykin.

Oh that's a shame. Was [obviously] hoping for some [obvious] family names.

Making quite a number of sweeping generalisations, but ...

... if he was a teacher, he was quite likely to have been involved in local activities (even if he "only" retired to the area), so I'm thinking there might well have been some sort of obituary in the local paper.

Personally, I don't know how to search on-line for such things, but maybe someone does. BUT, I've recently started volunteering in our Local Studies Library and am there again next Monday helping in a class about on-line resources, so if no-one comes up with the answer before then I could ask the tutor and get back to you.

I've tried Ancestry for possible deaths for John around 2000, but there's nothing obvious*, so I searched on Jack and came up with an 88yo (b. 1 Jan 1910, d. 1998) in the Taunton registration district, which is a slim possibility. Would that tie in, at least, with the part of Devon that he lived in/or might have died in hospital in (if you see what I mean)?

Maths not completely my strong point, but if he was 23 when he married in Q1 of 1937, then he should be on the 1911 census. It's just a question of finding him, of course. I've tried "John" with a father called John, so maybe now it's time to try "Jack" with a father called John.


STG


* obvious : obviously my word of the day!

STG

Maths isn't my strong point either but I think he would have been born after 1911 Around 1913/14 is my guess. The marriage is in Jan 1937 by the way and both parties were living in Bath at the time.

From the name study I learned the surname origins from West Yorkshire so he and/or his father may have been born in that area.

Yes I see what you mean about the death area. When I visited he was in Kingsbridge Devon but don't know what registration area that comes under.

Father should be on the 1901 census somewhere hopefully as a school master.
Oh dear maths strikes again - he would probably be too young in 1901

Oh by the way the birth and death for the little boy you found was their son.

> Maths isn't my strong point either but I think he would have been born after 1911

See what I mean? For some unaccountable reason I deducted 26 from 1937 (to get to 1911), whereas I should have taken 23 from 1937. Doh!

Kingsbridge is right towards the southern tip of Devon (draw a line from Plymouth to Torquay and go due south about the middle of the line), so Taunton is unlikely (and anyway, I got the age wrong).

Sorry, not helping much, am I?

STG

Oh you're fine. I'm just glad to have someone showing an interest as there aren't many of us posting queries and stuff.

Getting the certificate doesn't seem to have helped any does it. The newspaper idea is good. I think I can search for stuff like that at the library too so will certainly try that.

afraid i can't come up with anything either. looked for the witnesses to see if they might be some use but cant seem to find them around. cant seem to see father john stead schoolmaster around with any certainty either. there is one is cleckheaton , yorkshire in 1870's.

electoral rolls for kingsbridge devon might help sort when he died??

I've just Googled "John Stead, Kingsbridge, Devon" and it brought up the 192.com site for Eleanor. I then clicked on John's name and added Kingsbridge, Devon to the "where" search box on the top and it shows John living with Eleanor, Jacqueline N Hallum, Jennifer M Hallum and David R Hallum for the 2002, 2004-6 electoral rolls.

I've looked at these in the past, checking my own address, for instance, and find that they sometimes mix up people who used to live there with the people live there now, so it's possible that the Steads and the Hallums didn't live in the house at the same time.

But, she said, finally getting to the point, it might mean that John didn't die until after 2005, which would explain why I can't seem to find him on Ancestry's death registers.

Or, he was visiting another part of the country when he died - in which case we'll never find him!



STG

Aah Jennifer M was the other birth in 1945 so probably married daughter and family.
And that went up to 2006? Was sure he must have died before then as his wife only died in 2007 and she was on her own a while. It was most embarrassing because once again we were down that way on holiday and rang up to arrange a visit not knowing she had passed away

Really don't know. Wish I could find the holiday photos from the visit with them both then I could give a definite date he was still around.

Wouldn't help with going backwards anyway would it. Oh well doesn't really matter I was just curious to know his background.

writing that message made me remember I got a letter from her when he passed away. If I can find that will give us a date.

Will never get any dinner cooked at this rate

if we can get a definte death date and find his death it will give a full birth date. now while this doesnt tell where he was born it would narrow it down to a year and prob quarter.

The good news is I found the letter.
The bad news is it doesn't give a year! It has a date of Tues Feb possibly the 8th but kind of scrawled. She was elderly then and couldn't write very clearly. Oh dear.

The marriage was 16th Jan so he is likely to have been 23 the year before 1936.
Birth then 1913 is best bet to start with.

Will have to work out what year 8th Feb was on a Tuesday - how often does that come round

Failing that it's up into the loft tomorrow to look for photo albums.

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/districts/kingsbridge.html

Kingbridge and Dodbrooke since 1893 registration district.

well feb 8th is tues in 1999 which is approx the year you thought but cant find a death to go with that date.

there is this death

Name: STEAD, John
Registration District: South Hams
County: Devon
Year of Registration: 2006
Month of Registration: January
Date of Birth: 9 February 1914
District No: 4171
Reg No: 15
Ent No: 130
DOR: 106

South Hams (Totnes, Kingsbridge, Ivybridge and Dartmouth areas)

the reg date is january not feb. does the letter just have a date of 8th feb on top of it or does it actually say he died 8th feb.

2006 would fit in with electoral roll

the birth date of feb 1914 means he would only be 22 on jan 1937 - not 23 until a month later so unless someone has just taken 1914 from 1937 and not looked at month?

Now that one looks quite promising but again more recent than I would have expected.

The letter was a thank you for sending condolances so no he didn't actually die on that date.

Have to pop out now but will have another look when I get back. See if I can glean more info from anywhere.

Thank you.

another option would be to contact married daughter and if she was ameniable i am sure she could furnish dates of birth and death of her parents and possibly some background of where her father came from etc

jennifer m stead did marry david r hallum in 1969 in midlesex