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Trying to find my grandfather


grannypat

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My grandfather's name was Edward Stevenson and he lived on Beeley Street (bottom of Cemetery Road) between 1914 and 1930. He was a mechanical engineer. Because he and my gran never married I have no marriage licence to help me find out where and when he was born or died. This means that that line of my family tree is closed to me. You would not believe the lengths that I have gone to in an effort to try to find out 'something' which would help me to pinpoint who he was. 

Do you have family members who lived or worked in that area during that time who might have known him? Where might a mechanical engineer have worked in that area at that time which would have made him exempt from military service? Do you know of a possible area of search that you could suggest that I might have missed? Any help would be gratefully received. I have been trying to solve this problem for many years and am at a complete standstill.

Grannypat

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Hi

To help with the search-

Was 1930 the last year you can trace him?

What was your grandmother's name and when and where was she born?

 

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Hi suesi,

Yes, he appears on the 1930 electoral rolls for 11, Beeley Street. The 1931 ER no longer exists and on the 1932 none of them are at that address. My gran married someone else in 1934 and lived elsewhere. My grans maiden name was Edith Annie Toulson but she called hereself Stevenson from 1913 onwards. The 4 children she had by Edward from 1913 to 1921 all have the same surname of Stevenson. My gran was born in Sheffield in 1891 the eldest of quite a large family. In 1911 she was working as a servant at the Cambridge Hotel on Cambridge Street in Sheffield and she was classed as single and was still Toulson.

There is another Edith Annie Toulson who married in 1906 to Enoch Harrison. I have this marriage certificate and it is not my gran, This Edith Annie is older and also they appear on the 1911 census so are clearly different people. I tell you this as it does tend to throw a spanner in the works when someone finds this marriage and think it is the solution to the problem. 

Thanks for any help you can offer Suesi.

Grannypat 

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Hi

Looked at all the resources I have and Edward Stevenson is very elusive!

There is a possibility he could have left the country.

Sorry I couldn't help. I hope some information will give you a breakthrough one day.

Sue

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Hi Pat

Like Sue, I'm intrigued by your Grandfather, but have only drawn blanks from my resources.  I wonder how much of your information has come from oral history and how much from digging deep?  For example, you are confident that Edward and Edith didn't marry? Do you have details of Edith's 4 children and their birth certificates? I do wonder if Edward died in the early 1930's, but I guess you've had the same thought and tried following it up.  I also wonder if Edward was his birth name or the name that he used (that one's led me a merry dance in my own family research!).  It could, for example, have been his middle name, but at the moment we've no way of knowing.  And there's no certainty about his birthplace or DoB.  Sorry, I'm probably saying what you already know.  Roll on the 1921 Census!

I do hope you make a connection soon - it can drive you up the wall (she said, from personal experience).  Good luck and keep us posted with your efforts.

Regards, Lizzie

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The 1939 register is being made available on the Find My Past family tree site. You could check that if you are a member.

 

Update - There is one there, but even though I'm a member you still have to pay to unlock it. It does say he was born 1910, and there are 5 members of the family listed. It's held at the National Archives anyway so you don't have to go to FMP to see it.

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Interesting Dude - I hadn't spotted that the 1939 register was coming out on FMP, although you wonder what the membership fee is paying for if you've got to pay extra to unlock the information.  I had a quick look and found 2 Edward Stevenson's, born 1898 and 1910, but I think they're both a bit young to be siring a child in 1913, but too old to be "sons of".

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Hi,

Sorry if I'm being a bit dim but what is the 1939 register? I am a member of the FMP site so this interests me.

Yes Lizzie I have got all 4 birth certificates. His name appears on all four. When my gran married someone else in 1935 she describes herself as a spinster and gives her maiden name of Toulson on the certificate. His name on the electoral rolls is given as Edward Stevenson but I do take your point about Christian names. I did wonder about Edwin as there are number of times where people start out as Edwin and end up as Edward for some reason. I just need something which will pin point him in time and give me an age so I have something to work with. 

I have found quite a few E.S. and worked them forward only to find out they are wrong. I have found out that there are quite a few Stevensons up in the Durham area and have been trying to see if there could be a connection there. It's like platting fog because there is so little to go on. I've even been in touch with Engineering firms near Beeley Street in the hope they may have an archive site and there might be a mention of him. I haven't had a reply yet but I live in hope.

I do feel that there is an answer out there if I can only think what and where it might be but I suppose that is what everyone feels when they hit a brickwall. Thank you so much for your interest. Btw I see you're in Nether Edge and that's where I went to school. The building opposite the main entrance gate for Nether Edge Hospital - it used to be Brincliffe Grammar School. A lot of memories in that area.

grannypat

 

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Hi Pat

TheNational Archive site has as good an explanation of the 1939 Register as you'll find.  It says

"The 1939 Register, taken on 29 September 1939, provides a snapshot of the civilian population of England and Wales just after the outbreak of the Second World War. The records were used to produce up-to-date population statistics and identification cards and, once rationing was introduced in January 1940, to facilitate the issuing of ration cards. Information in the Register was also used to administer conscription, and to monitor and control the movement of the population caused by military mobilisation and mass evacuation.'

You can access it by clicking on the appropriate link on the blue strip along the top of the FMP website.  It will give you very basic information about the person you're looking for, but you'll have to pay if you want to see more.  Could be worth a try.

Regarding names, I'm reminded of my Great Grandmother, who I knew was christened Mary Jane Davies - took a long time for me to realise that she dropped the Mary very early on and was always just Jane on every Census return she appeared on.  

Re Nether Edge, yes I've lived in Nether Edge for over 30 years and am a member of the NE Local History Group.  I find the area endlessly fascinating.  A lot's been written already about the great and the good - Wolstenhom, Montgomery et al - but I'm more interested in the ordinary people and the way the area developed, the transition from rural to suburban etc.  One of the projects that our group has started is called the Memory Books and we have about 10 of these.  The idea is that anyone who has a memory of Nether Edge can share that memory in the book.  Doesn't matter what the subject matter is as long it's  related to NE.  There's no format - it can be 2 lines or 2 pages, it doesn't matter.  It can be handwritten into the book, or dictated for transcription or typed for copy and paste.  We're hoping to publish some of the stories on a fairly regular basis in the The Edge, our local community magazine, that currently goes out to over 1,000 households.  So, if you have a memory that you'd like to share about going to school in NE or about anything else, we'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, Lizzie

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Hi Lizzie,

Thanks for the info about 1939 register. I shall get straight on to that.

One thing I do remember was one day, when my dad was driving to school, along Wolstenholm Road or was it Montgomery Road. It was the main road just before you come to the end of the road at the T junction about 3 hundred yards before the junction. If you look over to your right there were a couple of tall poplar trees and my dad said that he planted them when he was little. Isn't it funny what you remember.

Grannypat

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FMP have been advertising it for ages on the website. They have even sent me e-mails about it. But I'm very disappointed that in order to see it you have to pay above the normal fee for viewing it. That doesn't make sense to me, to put something on the site that you have to pay extra for it. It could turn into a sllippy slope for Family History sites that charge fees.   

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Grannypat - I'm pretty sure those 2 poplars were still there until fairly recently.  If my memory serves me correctly, they were in the garden of the house on the corner of Montgomery and Rundle and were quite distinctive.  I've a feeling they've gone now, following extensive works on the house, but will have a stroll later to check.  

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Grannypat!!!

Check out the newspapers on FMP.  Filter right down to 21st May 1920 and search for Edward Stevenson.  It's not the most edifying story I'm afraid - he was fined for not sending his children to school

Sorry, you've probably thought of this already .....

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Seems he was warned about it in March of that year as well.  I'd post the cuttings, but they are very poor quality and barely legible once copied.

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Hi Lizzie,

Yes, I have already seen those. I can only think that as my mum was born in 1913 and her two brother were born in 1916 and 1918 that she was kept home to help with the two younger kids as my gran was pegnant again at that time. Not brilliant I know but I don't think that education rated very highly in some people's list of priorities at that time. If I recall there were a few people listed for this offence at the same time? Thanks for looking though, Lizzie.

I had a look at the 1939 registration and I too am not thrilled at having to pay again when I am already a member of this site. However, when I put my grandfather name in nothing obvious came up. I am trying to think of ways of narrowing the search before paying for this search. As we know it is possible that he died in the early 1930s.

Thanks for the info about the poplars. My dad was born in 1914 and so that would have made the poplars between say 80 and 90 years old. Is that old for a poplar? Sad if they've been chopped down. Another interesting fact about my school was that part of it used to be a workhouse. On doing my family tree I found out that one of my ancestors died in that workhouse and it was probably one of the rooms that became a classroom where that happened. It gave me a funny feeling when I realised this fact.

Pat

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Re the poplars.  No longer any sign of them, but, as I said earlier, I have a very clear memory of 2 poplars and if I'm correct they were at 56 Montgomery Road.  I wonder when your dad is likely to have planted them and how old would he have been?  Did he have an interest in gardening?  The reason I ask is because we're doing some research on nurseries, allotments and market gardens in Nether Edge and it seems to me that "a young lad" might have needed adult guidance in order to plant 2 poplars.

Of course, dads sometimes like to tell their daughters stories ......

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Ah your reply popped up just as I was finishing about the poplars!

I don't think that education rated very highly in some people's list of priorities at that tim

 .. and I would add "especially for girls" 

Interesting what you're saying about the workhouse and the family connection there.  My understanding though is that the building that became the school was used only as offices by the workhouse, which is across the road (and later became Nether Edge Hospital).  Do you have any information about your ancestor?  Again, I ask because one of our group is trying to put together a history of some of the inmates - who they were, why they were there, what was their story - and it's proving extremely difficult to get beyond lists of names.  So any information you might share would be like gold dust!

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I shall dig it out as I can't remember it all without a reminder. I'm pretty sure that I have her death certificate so I will get back to you on that subject. Our school was the main building which became offices but we also had the buildings on the other side of the road which, judging by their construction, were originally part of the main hospital. If you stood outside the offices across from the main hospital entrance and looked to your right on the hospital side of the road, these buildings ran from the gate right to the end of the road on the corner. (My descriptive powers leave a lot to be desired I know, sorry). The rooms had very high ceilings and were quite old I'm sure. Much older than the one that's now offices across the road. Just looking on the website for Ecclesall Bierlow Workhouses there are quite a few photographs there and some are of the buildings we're talking about. It even shows that the main school used to be a workhouse too. That surprises me as I didn't know it was that old.

Pat

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Hi Pat,

I think that you are using the ancestry web-site, the same as I do, because I think I have found your family tree.

I am presuming, assuming that it is your site, that as you have an exact date of death for your grandmother, then you must have a certificate of death, which would show her abode at the time of death? That could lead to a likely place of internment and as folks tend to be buried together, you may be able to work backwards from there. The actual burial records kept by the authorities in Sheffield do tend to record ages, job descriptions, etc., and occasionally, parent names.

 

 

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Hi Unitedite Returns,

I knew my grandmother very well. I was actually with her when she died. She is not the problem. She lived with Edward Stevenson from 1913 to 1930 at 11, Beeley Street. They had four children but never married. They are there in 1930 according to electoral rolls but by the 1931 electoral rolls they are no longer there. In 1934 my gran married Oliver Parker and on her marriage cert it says that she is a spinster and gives her maiden name. My mum, the eldest child was married in 1935 and on that certificate Edward Stevenson is shown as her father but deceased. 

I have no idea where my gran met him or where or when he was born which is why I cannot find his death either. I have checked deaths for that name between 1930 and 1935 but nothing jumps out at me as being suitable. The fact that 2 of  their children were born during the war makes me think he might have had a restricted employment (I am told a mechanical engineer might fall into this category) and perhaps didn't serve in the military. The fact that they never married might suggest that he was already married? 

Thank you for your thoughts and I am open to any suggestions, I really am. I'm at a standstill. Oh and yes I am on Ancestry so that is probably my tree that you have found.

Grannypat

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Hi Lizzie,

Thank you for that. Briliant photograph. Must have been taken in the 60s would you think? Wish I could see the house numbers. I'm never happy am I? I've walked down that road so many times over the years and just never knew it's significance. The building at the end which is facing down Beeley Street - I've stood in that first floor window looking out when I used to work at The Arcade as a window dresser. Gosh that's so long ago it almost seems like another life.

Thanks again.

Pat

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Thank you for your thoughts and I am open to any suggestions, I really am. I'm at a standstill. Oh and yes I am on Ancestry so that is probably my tree that you have found.

Grannypat

Have you tried the Sheffield Indexers? Both the cemetery records and the forum? There are some really helpful people on that forum.

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