Find Living Relatives

Hi guys,

My mother was adopted at less than a year old. During her teenage years her mum revealed her birth surname was GRAHAM. Through some costly research I have discovered her parents were James GRAHAM and Doris SMITH (married 1938).

I have researched her mothers side to my satisfaction but her father I wish to explore further. After James and Doris' divorce in the 40's, James remarried Rosemary E Turner in 1953. Sadly both James and Rosemary are both now deceased and appear not to have had any children, but Rosemary has a sister. Someone I am very keen to speak to.

iAnnounce lists two announcements regarding Rosemary's death. The first by the Funeral Director and the second by her sister Margaret Whitson.

Can someone on here with the right skills determine which births are theirs. I've searched the birth index for Rosemary but have found nothing. According to the advertisement and the electoral roll, she was born in 1931 +/- but I think my brain has turned to mush with all my intense research. I'm missing silly things!

There aren't a great deal of Margaret Whitsons around but I still need to narrow down the results and I have nothing concrete to search for.

I could purchase the marriage and death certificate but that's £20 I could spend elsewhere and there's no guarantee they will help anyway.


Many thanks
Elliot

The marriage certificate will give you her father's name, which should help a lot....

The marriage appears to be 1952 not 1953;
Rosemary E Turner
Spouse Surname: Graham
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1952
Registration District: Northumberland North Second
Inferred County: Northumberland
Volume Number: 1b
Page Number: 766
James Graham Turner Jul-Aug-Sep 1952 Northumberland North Second Northumberland

Where was her death?

Added:
in 2009 age 78 in Alnwick

Could they have been born in Scotland?

Oh yes, the 'where' is quite important, sorry. Indeed Alnwick is where they lived and died. James Graham was born just across the border in Berwickshire but I have no idea where Rosemary was born. James' TRANSCRIBED death certificate has her middle name as EILDON. I thought this was a simple mistranscription but it may be a clue as to her origins. I have of course searched the Scottish index and she doesn't appear there either.

I suspect I will be ordering both certificates :-( I will also confirm if Turner is the right name to be searching for.

Have you looked at Scotlandspeople for births?

Rose

Indeed I have but there are no Turners marrying Whitsons and no Margaret/Rosemary Whitsons being born in Roxburgh or Berwick.

Elliot, Rosemary's funeral was recent enough that the funeral directors may have contact info for her sister that would still be current.

They would not provide it to you, but you could ask them to pass on a letter to her at the last known address for her.

the funeral directors are named in the announcement, there's a telephone number that I would just call and explain the situation

http://announce.jpress.co.uk/2345060?s_source=jpne_pp

also I don't know how iannounce works but you can leave a message against Margaret's announcement

http://announce.jpress.co.uk/2554981?s_source=jpne_pp

and perhaps she would be notified of a response by email? ... you would not want to put your personal particulars there of course but you could say you are a family member and ask her to contact the funeral directors to request that they pass on a message from you maybe.

Her place of birth will be recorded on her death cert..........as will her exact DOB

The informant may be related to her..............and his/her address will be on the cert

The sister's surname could be as a result of a second (or subsequent) marriage

There are a number of Margaret Whitsons on the current ER - but the one you seek may not be one of them. She may have witheld her details from the public version

Rosemary lived alone from 2002 until her death

Do you know who lived with her from 1996 - 2002? Or are those the only years covered online?

I have just ordered Rosemary's death certificate. Directly from Northumberland Registry Office I might add. The GRO are soooo slow!!!!

Cheers Reggie, I will contact them if the death certificate doesn't contain anything useful in it :-)

It's an idea JoonieCloonie. If all avenues prove fruitless, I will give it a whirl.

The date of birth on the death certificate is not sourced from anywhere - it is guesswork if not knowledge by whoever registered the death.

Elizabeth, per 192.com that was a male Turner, and since it is very recent info (someone's home address) I would delete it.

done - should have thought of that

I appreciate your enthusiasm Elizabeth2469049 but Rosemary Graham lived alone on St Georges Crescent in 2009 when she died.

Elliot, a call to the funeral directors would really be a quick and simple way of finding out whether you can contact Margaret through them !

Hello Elliot,

Following on from JoonieCloonie re funeral directors....

There is always the possibility that.... Alistair TURNER, Funeral Directors, could be more than just a coincidence.....maybe part of a family business?

Mistyx

I am embarrassed that this didn't occur to me!

I phoned the funeral directors and were happy to forward a letter on my behalf. I also have Rosemary's death certificate which lists her cousin as the informant.

I will try and contrive a letter in the hope he responds to it.

Despite finding her birth, I am still unable to construct a tree as her sister Margaret is either a half sibling or she has discarded her first name.

Hopefully the cousin will shed some light on things.