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need help with finding my yorkshire family history my dad stephen preston oct1948 was taken into care and he and his brother william(Bill/Billy) Preston born dec 1946 were moved to south coast and fostered iv recently found out that their father (my grandfather) named on their birth certs as Willie Preston born 1920 bradford,and also married as preston to mildred usher was in factt named willie p renton on his birth cert and they had 2 other children together who died newborn 1 was janet preston and the other who died with mother during labour baby was named as janice preston, willies parents(MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS)were harold renton who was married to lavinia ward, they also had 2 infant deaths in 1919 a boy tom p renton and a girl lily p renton. lavinia then remarried as lavinia renton to thomas preston and they had a child together in 1923 called victor preston im stuck and cannot find out anything about any of them please help

jd

please don't be upset, but I find the way you have typed this is very difficult to read, and therefore very hard for me to attempt to help you.

I'm going to re-do it, so things are clearer


need help with finding my yorkshire family history

my dad stephen preston oct 1948 was taken into care and he and his brother william(Bill/Billy) Preston born dec 1946 were moved to south coast and fostered

iv recently found out that their father (my grandfather) named on their birth certs as Willie Preston born 1920 bradford,and also married as preston to mildred usher was in factt named willie p renton on his birth cert (and)

they had 2 other children together who died newborn .......... 1 was janet preston and the other who died with mother during labour baby was named as janice preston,

willies parents (MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS) were harold renton who was married to lavinia ward,

they also had 2 infant deaths in 1919 .............. a boy tom p renton and a girl lily p renton.

lavinia then remarried as lavinia renton to thomas preston and they had a child together in 1923 called victor preston

im stuck and cannot find out anything about any of them please help





sylvia

Marriage of Lavinia Ward to Harold Renton

Marriages Dec 1908 (>99%)

RENTON Harold Bradford 9b 174
WARD Lavinia Bradford 9b 174




free search of 1911 Census shows

HOUSEHOLD RENTON LAVINIA F 1877 34 Bradford Yorkshire West Riding
HOUSEHOLD RENTON LILLY F 1887 24 Bradford Yorkshire West Riding



there seems to be no sign of Harold





sylvia

There is a Public Family Tree on ancestry with a lot of information on it


the problem with these trees is that one is not always sure how much care has been taken with the information ....... you should take it as advisement only, and then try to get hold of the certificates to prove the details.


if you do not ahve a subscription to ancestry, I suggest that you take out a 14 free trial with www.ancestry.co.uk

You have to give a credit card ................. and you MUST give them several days (at least 4) notice if you do not wish to continue after the 14 days is up, or they will charge your card.


here is a little bit of the infromation from that tree.


Rentons Yorkshire2
Owner: YorkshireRentons

Harold Renton
Birth Dec 1873 in Shipley, Yorkshire
Death Oct-Nov-Dec 1924 in Bradford, Yorkshire



Parents

Thomas Renton
1840 – 1903

Martha Eastburn
1839 – 1880


Siblings

William Renton
1864 –

Albaney Renton
1865 – 1879

Thomas Renton
1868 –

Alfred Renton
1870 –

Isabella Renton
1871 –

Mabel Renton
1876 – 1896

Arthur Renton
1878 –


Half siblings

Martha Alice M Pullan
1875 –

William Pullan
1877 –

Beatrice Mary Renton
1884 –

Gladys Victoria Renton
1887 –





and here is Harold in Bradford in 1901, which is presumably where he might have met Lavinia

1901 Census

Name: Harold Renton
Age: 27
Estimated birth year: abt 1874
Relation: Boarder
Gender: Male
Where born: Shipley, Yorkshire, England

Civil Parish: Bradford
Ecclesiastical parish: St Mark
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England

Registration district: Bradford
Sub-registration district: Bradford West

Mildred Kettle 42
Matilda Kettle 18
Harold Renton 27 Timekeeper for Corporation
Edmund Bucke 22



sylvia

Marriage of Lavinia Ward Renton and Thomas Preston


Marriages Dec 1929 (>99%)

Preston Thomas Renton Bradford 9b 374
Renton Lavinia Preston Bradford 9b 374




and Victor was born before they married


Births Mar 1923 (>99%)

Preston Victor Ward Bradford 9b 328



In fact, if that is indeed their child ...... he was born before Harold Renton died ........... so are you sure that this is Lavinia and Thomas' child???????





sylvia

Do you have the birth cert for Willie P Renton as all the children seem to be registered with P as a middle initial except for Victor who was registered in both the names of Renton and Preston.



Births Mar 1923 (>99%)
Renton Victor Ward Bradford 9b 328
Births Mar 1923 (>99%)
Preston Victor Ward Bradford 9b 328

Lavinia and Thomas Preston didn't marry until 1929 so maybe Thomas Preston was the father of all the children.

Marriages Dec 1929 (>99%)

Preston Thomas Renton Bradford 9b 374
Renton Lavinia Preston Bradford 9b 374


This could be the death of Harold Renton.

Deaths Dec 1924 (>99%)
Renton Harold 50 Bradford 9b 96

Christine

Do you actually have Willie P's birth certificate?

It should spell out his second name


If not then I suggest that you buy that certificate, and see what it says.


That may well be the clue to his true father.



I suspect that Christine is correct in thinking that Thomas Preston may have been the father of the children.




sylvia

PRESTON, Tom Head Married No children M 50 1861 Cart Driver Bradford
RENTON, Lavinia Servant Married No children F 34 1877 General Servant Domestic Sheffield

RG number: RG14 Piece: 26725 Reference: RG14PN26725 RG78PN1540 RD498 SD2 ED6 SN5
Registration District: Bradford Sub District: Bradford Central Enumeration District: 6 Parish: Bradford Address: 42 Ripon Street Bradford County: Yorkshire (West riding)

This is the only Sheffield birth, wrong age:
Births Dec 1878
WARD Lavinia Sheffield 9c 575

Possible death:
Lavinia Preston
Death Registration Month/Year: 1953
Age at death (estimated): 73
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 2b
Page: 43

no i dont havethe birth certificate for willie p renton only record saved on my ancestry tree and had a bit of help from kindred uk to clarify that willie p. renton is the same person as willie preston all i have is original copy of my fathers birth certt on which he is named as willie preston i have linked up with other trees on ancestry and they only go as far as harold nothing about marriage or having children and as for who the father is i havent got a clue whether it was harold or thomas and i donbt think my dad even knew as as much as what i have found out so i dont know if im a renton or a preston and doubt i ever will as whoever was the father of willie is my great grandfather and has anyone found out anything about mildred usher and her parents all i have ever been told about her is that the last my dad saw of her was seeing her go in an ambulance and that he saw her fall down the stairs while pregnant then they were taken into care as they were not treated very wellby willie its very complicxated and hard to explain as i only know bits and pieces thank you for all your help in this so far hopefully i will find out some more and then can piece things all together and find out if im renton or preston or findsomebody who is still alive that may be able to tell me more

Hi jd


you do have a problem determining what happened, as there are so few people alive who will know the details


and yes we did forget about Mildred Usher.


Here is the marriage between her and your grandfather



England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005

Name: Mildred Usher
Spouse Surname: Preston
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1942
Registration district: Bradford
Registration county (inferred): Yorkshire - West Riding
Volume Number: 9b
Page Number: 213
Find Spouse: Find Spouse

Spouse:- Willie Preston


Could this be her death?

Name: Mildred Preston
Death Registration Month/Year: 1951
Age at death (estimated): 31
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 2b
Page: 156



except that this seems to be the birth and death of Janice Preston

Name: Janice Preston
Mother's Maiden Surname: Usher
Date of Registration: Jul Aug Sep 1945
Registration district: Bradford
Registration County: Yorkshire
Volume Number: 9b
Page Number: 64 (click to see others on page)


Name: Janice Preston
Death Registration Month/Year: 1945
Age at death (estimated): 0
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 9b
Page: 61



I'm just going to check other Preston births, mmn Usher





sylvia

also havent been able to find death record for willie p. renton /preston so he could possibly still alive tho he would be 90

To find out why Mildred died, and who was the informant on the certificate, you will ahve to buy her death certiifcate


Go to www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/


you have to register, but it is free to do.


They will ask if you ahve the GRO reference number .... that's the set of 2 numbers after the palce name, ie 2b 156

Each certificate will cost you £9.25





sylvia

we must remember that some of these people may well still be alive, and be careful about what is posted on the board!


This seems to be the child born and died in 1951


Births Jun 1951 (78%)

PRESTON Janet USHER Bradford 2b 373



and her death

Name: Janet Preston
Death Registration Month/Year: 1951
Age at death (estimated): 0
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 2b
Page: 209





sylvia

so, we have found the 2 babies who died, but they are the oppsoite to what you beleived.


It was Janet who died at about the same time as her mother.


She was born alive, as otherwise there would not be a birth certificate for her.




sylvia

i know that mother and baby died in 1951 during labour and that this was the last my dad saw of his mum asthe lady who fostered my dad and his brother kept in contact with some relatives of my dads in bradford and they were takenup to visit relatives in bradford when they were still young wish i had asked my dad or my gran that fostered him but i didnt really think about it all until was too late andfrom the other people iv spoken to that have harold renton on their trees nobody seems to know anything other than what i have already found myself and lavinia was added onto yorkshire rentons tree after i contacted them about harold seems harold disappeared and nobody knew of his children or anything .howcan ifind out how the two children died as tom p renton and lily p renton both appear to of died at the same time in 1919 im really interested in the story of my family but its so hard knowing where to find it all out

yes janet and mother in 1951 and janice was infant death before my uncle and dad were born i got them wrong way round sorry

You can only find out how the children died by getting the death certs.

I can't find a death for Lily in 1919, only one registered in the name of Preston.

Deaths Mar 1919
RENTON Tom P 2 Bradford 9b 511




Births Jun 1918 (>99%)
Renton Lily P Ward Bradford 9b 2[56]3


??? Deaths Mar 1919 (>99%)
Preston Lily 0 Bradford 9b 495

It does look as if Tom Preston was the father of the children as it appears they were living together in 1911.

If you buy the birth cert for Willie P Renton as Sylvia suggested it may give the full name for him.

Christine