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Hi anyone, Any information on my fathers side of my family would be a great help as the one surviving relative ( Mary) won't give any information on ' HER ' family although she's my aunt. Brian Vaughan born 4/8/1932 in medway, Kent, died oct 1990. He had a brother Peter born in Medway, Kent 1931, sister Gwyneth born in Medway, Kent 1934, sister Mary born ??. moved at some point to Hertfordshire unknown date. Any info prior to Hertfordshire would be a great help as thats all I know about them. Parents: William Vaughan (Welsh link) & Lillian Russell (maiden name Ryan Irish link) married in Medway, Kent 1930. I now also understand I have relations on this side in Tenby. Thanks John

First step is to get the parents' marriage certificate which will give their ages and their fathers' names and occupations. You can then find their birth certs, which will give their mother's names too. Then you can get the grandparents' marriage certs and by then you should be able to find folk on the 1901 census and beyond.

Thanx Helen.......How do I do that, I've never done this before? John

You can register free and look at all birth, marriage and death indexes on www.ancestry*co.uk. Replace * with . [this is because GR don't like us advertising other websites!] Or you can look at the indexes on microfiche at a library/archive that has them. The indexes will give the registration district, volume and page numbers which you need to order the certs from the GRO. I suggest you go to your public library or bookshop and get a paperback on how to trace your family - there are lots of them about, many designed for beginners like you.

Hi John, I wonder why your aunt isn't being too helpful? Could be some skeletons in the closet somewhere. Fortunately, you can find most of what you need from birth, marriage and death records and also census records. Might be worth pointing out this fact to her as it might encourage her to open up. I found the marriage on here: http://www.ancestry.*co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx Here's your grandmother's birth from FreeBMD: http://freebmd.rootsweb.*com/cgi/search.pl Births Sep 1911 Russell Lillian R A Medway 2a 1447 Mother's maiden name was Ryan. Rose P.S. Remove the *

Thanx all for the quick responses. Helen I have registration district, volume and page numbers for birth : Brian 1932 Jul/Aug/Sep 2a 1377, Gwyneth 1934 Jan/Feb/Mar 2a 1316, Peter 1931Jul/Aug/Sept 2a 1320 and I found Lillian 1911 Jul/Aug/Sept 2a 1447 but wasn't 100% sure it was the same one but am now thanks. I also have the marriage record William Vaughan - Lillian Russell (Ryan) 1930 Oct/Nov/Dec 2a 1227. I can find no record for Mary though unless she was born after they moved? How do I contact GRO? and what do they charge for marriage cert's? Rose There was a lot of bad feeling in both families over their relationship neither side wanted it to happen. His whole family refused to have anything to do with us and so did my mums dad before he died. My mums mum is the only one that acknowledged us but even that was tense because of her dad, So we never really got to know our grand parents or great grand parents. This has followed down the line in his side of the family.

Hi John, That's very sad. You can order certificates here for 7 pounds: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates Sounds like you have all the references you need. Rose