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For those of you who have helped me already in my search I really appreciate it!

The thing is I now have a second family mystery to solve!

I've just been told that my grandfather Norman Edward Walker, born dec 1920, died feb 1999 (both in scunthorpe) actually had a wife before my Nan and they had a son. My mum thinks the son was called John but this isn't a definite.

She was told that the first wife met someone while my grandfather was away in the war and ran off to Canada with him. This again isn't a definite but what we do know is that it took 7 years before his divorce came through as she couldn't be located. We assume that the son went with her and the new partner.

My grandparents married in August of 1948 at Hartlepool register office so I'm guessing the son from his previous marriage was at least seven or eight or possibly older?

Can anyone advise me on where to start looking for details of this previous marriage? I'm quite happy to do the research if anyone can point me in the right direction!

Thanks

Jo

there is this one
Norman E Walker - Mary G Williams Scunthorpe 7a 2603 oct-nov 1940

Blimey!
that was a quick response! Thanks to you both.

Will take a look at that one Sam, may I ask where I need to search? It's difficult being new to all of this, when you've found a 'possible' so quickly it makes me feel stupid in asking!!

Thanks
Jo

Sam
I spoke to my Mum last night and she confirmed that his first wife was indeed called Mary.

I'm going to order the marriage cert and try and locate a birth from them. I thought I'd found a John Edward Walker last night on a crossing to Canada in 1947 but it turned out he was 21 so felt a little deflated!

Fascinating stuff tho isn't it!

Jo

Do you have ancestry? If so you can search on line in the births marriages and deaths.
been bitten by the bug hey?join the club ;0)

found him

jan-march 1941
walker John E mothers maiden name Williams Scunthorpe 7a 1917

Sam... you are a star! How on earth did you find him so quickly? I searched on ancestry last night but got no real matches... tried lots of different areas on the search terms too... what am I doing wrong?!

Just need to see if he went off to Canada now then... I've well and truly got the bug... I want to be as quick as you :) xx

Hey Sam

Have just found an entry on ancestry for a Mary Walker and John Walker on the New York Passenger List - she's listed as 34 and he's listed as 11 which would match quite well with my dates. arrival date of 23 May 1951 and a destination of Cleveland Ohio...

What do you reckon the odds are on being the right one?

Jo

Sounds good to me :)

Phew....! Exciting stuff!

Wonder where they were from when my grandfather went off to war and 1951 then?

You think you find one bit then it raises lots more questions!

Jo

Hi Sam

Just to let you know I've got the copies of the marriage cert for Norman and Mary, and also the birth cert for John - they are spot on perfect, thanks!

Have found a website called city-data.com and have posted a message on the Cleveland Ohio board. Plus a message or two on boards on ancestry... no luck as yet but I'm hopeful someone may come forward.

Other than that I seem to have hit a brick wall and don't know how to progress.... any thoughts?

big thanks

Jo

Hi Jo,
Glad the certs were good there's nothing worse than waiting and finding they are the wrong one's(i've done that many times). Not sure where to look for Mary and John now....Posting messages could be your only option,there is someone on here that does passenger lookups if you type it into the search box it should come up,I'm not sure if they have listes for canada but maybe worth a try? you never know they may have come back to the uk.

PS. your very welcome x

I'm beginning to wonder about the passenger listing I found for June 1951 - it shows the ages for Mary and John as 34 and 11... going by the document proof I now have they would be 30 and 10....

Not a major difference but very common names so could be chasing the wrong pair!

the search goes on....

x

Hi Sam

Just a quick question... is there anywhere on line I can look up divorce info? I'm assuming it went through in about 1947/48.

Thanks (as ever!)

Jx

You could try searching the national archives site they may have the info on the divorce x

Thanks for that... will take a look.

Need to look further into the 'Canada' link too... maybe the entry I found wasn't them... but maybe they never left at all and it was all a rumour circulated at the time!

You never know... he could be living round the corner! (hmmm...probably not)...

Jx