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I am trying to track down my great grandfather's birth and keep going round in circles - getting nowhere :o(
He died 29/01/1941 in an accident while working as a platelayer for Southern Railways.
His first wife Lily Myrtle died from TB in 1823
He married Lily 27/6/1915 and the marriage cert advises he was a soldier, and his father is noted as being also a George Henry Merrick (deceased) and his employ was a mechanic.
After Lily's death he remarried a lady called Gladys and had two further children.
My info so far has originated from family, marriage certifcates, his death cert and newspaper articles from his death. Looking at both his death and marriage certs it seems he was born 1892/1893,
Need a little help to get me in the right direction. I havent been lucky to find him on the 1911 census and the 1901 census gives me several possibilties - two being his dad working on the railways and another (a no starter) with hus dad being a hairdresser

Help!
Marina

Just to get some hard data down for ref -- is this his death? (3 George H Merricks died in 1941)

Name: George H Merrick
Death Registration Month/Year: 1941 [1st quarter]
Age at death (estimated): 51
Registration district: Croydon
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 2a
Page: 1597


Location in particular is an important bit of info.

Hi There
It sure is - he died 29th Jan 1941 and the age is correct
Thank you
M

To add other locations - the wedding between hima nd Lily was St Judes in Peckham and his children were also born in Peckham
M x

And the marriage:

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

Marriages Jun 1915
Merrick George H Messevy Camberwell 1d 2208
Messevy Lily M Merrick Camberwell 1d 2208



So these are the possible births:

Births Jun 1888
MERRICK George Henry Walsall 6b 717
Births Jun 1893
Merrick George Henry Basford 7b 274
Births Sep 1893
Merrick George Henry V Cannock 6b 534


Assuming he was registered in the same name. ;) But they're not in the right area -- but he married in wartime so could have come from anywhere?

Have you looked for him in 1901 or 1911, or for any WWI record that might have survived?

Have looked on the 1911 census and was rather unsuccessfu but the 1901 census brought me three possibilities - none of which were LOndon based.

One was in Lancashire and shows his father as a railway employee from Somerset butthe rest of the family all born in Lancs.

WW1 records I had a peek at but is quite a new area for me

Many thanks

I checked Canadian WWI enrolments in case he had come from here, but no George Henry Merrick.

Father the same name as him -- that *can* indicate he didn't know his father's name.

Have you considered this George in 1901?

Name: George Merrick
Age: 13
Estimated birth year: abt 1888
Relation: Inmate
Gender: Male
Where born: Bristol
Civil parish: Bristol
Ecclesiastical parish: Clifton St Andrew and St James
County/Island: Gloucestershire
ED, institution, or vessel: Clifton Certified Industrial School


There are others, but only a couple with father George.

Name: George Merrick
Age: 9
Estimated birth year: abt 1892
Relation: Son
Father's Name: George
Mother's Name: Caroline
Gender: Male
Where born: Mansell Lacy, Herefordshire, England
Civil parish: Mansell Lacy
George Merrick 41 (farmer)
Caroline Merrick 43
Minnie Merrick 11
George Merrick 9
Hubert Merrick 7
John Merrick 7
Nellie Merrick 4
George Powell 60 (servant - farm labourer)

Name: George Merrick
Age: 7
Estimated birth year: abt 1894
Relation: Son
Father's Name: George H
Mother's Name: Sarah A
Gender: Male
Where born: Walsall, Staffordshire, England
Civil parish: Walsall
George H Merrick 31 (?? works labourer)
Sarah A Merrick 33
Edith Merrick 11
William Merrick 10
George Merrick 7
Howard Merrick 2
Clarence Merrick 1
Charles Merrick 4 months
Alice Croxall 41
Samuel Croxall 20


What was George's age on his marriage certificate?

Age on the marriage cert was 23, I even had alook at Southern railways to see if they kept any employee archives but their website states quite clearly they don't.

I know ages can vary a bit so have searched either side by about 5 years

Thanks
M

I might not worry too much about matching the location -- it was wartime, and his occupation was soldier, so he may have simply married where he was stationed. Not uncommon!

Possibilities for a father named George Henry, starting from 1875:


Marriages Mar 1878
MERRICK George Henry Manchester 8d 262
Marriages Dec 1887
MERRICK George Henry Walsall 6b 1022
Marriages Jun 1892
Merrick George Henry Leeds 9b 767


Possible deaths to match a father George Henry:


Deaths Dec 1909
MERRICK George Henry 64 Bristol 6a 110
Deaths Jun 1910
MERRICK George Henry 74 King's N. 6c 223
Deaths Mar 1915
Merrick George H 65 Islington 1b 540


The Bristol one could be interesting ... that's where the boy in the institution was in 1901 ...

here's his military records -


British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920
Name: George Henry Merrick
Residence: St James Court, Buckingham Gate W
Document Year: 1915
Regimental Number: 4041
Number of Images: 10



Source Information:

Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data:



Wife - Lily Myrtle Messevy

Address 11 Elmington Terrace, Brunswick Square, Camberwell


Age - born 14th April 1892 in Nottingham

But this is the household of the GHM who died in Bristol in 1909, in 1901:

George Hy Merrick 55 (house painter's labourer)
Susanshaw Merrick 52
George W Merrick 24 (son, single)
William A Merrick 20 (daughter, single)
Caroline Merrick 16 (daugher, single)
Mary A Merrick 23 (daughter, married -- ??)

Mary A is a married daughter but has the surname Merrick, which doesn't quite make sense.


Now, another not uncommon situation is a child of unmarried parents naming their maternal grandfather as their father on their marriage certificate.

Thank you so much
I will def look into both the military record as that is adead cert for him and the Bristol death cert for George senior does have a feel about it - will have to send off for it now and see what the profession was plus may have to look att he inmate George further and see if I can sift his birth out and go for that cert

Fingers crossed .....

M x

Births Jun 1893 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merrick George Henry Basford 7b 274

Will need to think on Mary A - try and get my head round that scenario! Maybe not the same Merrick family???

The Basford birth seems like a poss too so will have a lot to think on - well keep me out of mischief anyway

M

So I should have started with the military records -- just so used to them being non-existent. ;)

So yes, he's No.2 in the list of possibles I put up top. From my ancestral Nottingham registration district!



1891


Name: George H Merriss
Age: 43
Estimated birth year: abt 1858
Relation: Head
Gender: Male
Where born: Nottinghamshire, England

Name: George H M Judd
Age: 5
Estimated birth year: abt 1896
Relation: Son
Father's Name: George H
Gender: Male
Where born: Nottinghamshire, England

Civil parish: Nottingham
Ecclesiastical parish: St Matthias
Town: Nottingham

George H Merriss 43 (Main [??] Gas works)
Annie Judd 30
>>> George H M Judd 5

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
Name: George Henry Merrick
Regiment or Corps: 1st City Ldn Yeo
Regimental Number: 4041



Source Information:

Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Army Medal Office. WWI Medal Index Cards. In the care of The Western Front Association website.

OK ... Judd? How come a diff surname?
Sorry I do ask daft questions...
Thanks so far

Not sure about that one but it looks like a possible, although it's hard to tell what the surname really is on the image.

It also doesn't state what Annie Judd's relationship to George Sr is. George Jr is her son.

I suspect that his parents weren't married and he was registered in the father's name. The father may have been a son of that George Sr. Let's have a look at 1891 ...

Not having any luck in 1891 -- what I might suggest is getting the Basford birth certificate to see what it might tell you, as it certainly does seem that he is your man, from the military records choccy provided.