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I am looking for my father, he was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Margaret Cessford Stobie from Burton-on-Trent. I believe he was adopted in 1949 by his stepfather Joseph Higgs.
He married my mother in Nottinghamshire in 1965 and remarried again a few years later in Southend-on-Sea. I am led to understand that marriage did not last long either and the family have had no contact with him since.
Any information would be a great help
Thanks all :-)

Welcome to the boards, Linda.

The second marriage appears to have been in 1970 (per FreeBMD), when he has the middle initial S - possibly for Stobie ?? [ EDIT: He also has that initial at his first marriage.]

Unfortunately there are lots of records for men named John S Higgs, and as he clearly moved around the country quite a bit, there's no telling which records might be relevant.

He doesn't appear to have died in England, Scotland or Wales, assuming the middle name is Stobie, and assuming he continued using it.

Do you know what the middle name is?

His second wife may possibly have remarried in 1978.

There are births of a couple of possible children of his second marriage, in the 1970s in Southend on Sea. You can find the names on FreeBMD by searching with the surnames of both parents.

Is this the marriage to your mother? :-

First name(s) John S
Last name Higgs
Marriage quarter 4
Marriage year 1965
Registration month -
MarriageFinder ™

John S Higgs married one of these people

Marlene A Peppard

Spouse's last name Peppard
District Southwell
District number -
County Nottinghamshire
Country England
Volume 3C
Volume as transcribed 3C
Page number 1047
Record set England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005

This looks like his second marriage:-

First name(s) John S
Last name Higgs
Marriage quarter 1
Marriage year 1970
Registration month -
MarriageFinder ™

John S Higgs married one of these people

Brenda Clarke

Spouse's last name Clarke
District Southend on Sea
District number -
County Essex
Country England
Volume 4A
Volume as transcribed 4A
Page number 1970
Record set England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005

I can't see him on the recent electoral rolls on Findmypast.

Unless you have proof of his death, you must remove his DoB as you are putting him at risk of identity theft

Don’t know if this helps

1939 register
"amara" Woodland Road, Burton Upon Trent, Swadlincote District U.D., Derbyshire, England

s) Last name(s) DOB Sex Occupation Marital status Schedule Schedule Sub Number
Elizabeth G Stobie 05 Feb 1888 Female Clerk Hm Civil Service Married 96 1
Wilhelmina L Cessford 11 Dec 1890 Female Wife Home Domestic Duties Married 96 2
George D Stobie 05 Jun 1864 Male Private Means Oap Widowed 96 3
The record for this person is officially closed.
For individual people, records remain closed for a century after their birth (the 100-year rule), unless it can be proven that they passed away before this milestone. Use the ‘Open This Record’ button if you believe that this person is now deceased
Margaret C Higgs (Stobie) 25 Sep 1923 Female At School (Secondary) Single 96 5
Joseph Percival 30 Oct 1925 Male At School (Secondary) Single 96 6

Two possibile sons born Southend post 1970

Details on freebmd

PM from Linda today, confirming that he has been known to use Stobie as a middle name, and has sometimes used the hyphenated surname Stobie-Higgs.

Unfortunately, even with that information, he still doesn't turn up on UK Electoral Rolls.

Nor does he appear in any GR member's tree in "Search all member trees" (under "Search" at top right of this page).
He's not in anyone's tree on Ancestry, either.

Several gro refs sent for various family members plus death found fir the mum Margaret in 2020

Linda has ordered some certs :-D

Out of curiosity - where did you find Margaret's death, Shirley?


Just for the record, the 1939 register posted previously is from FMP, and gives her DOB as 25 Sept 1923 - which is wrong.

That transcription has a lot of mistakes in it.
Ancestry's - below - is correct, although still has George's record closed..

Margaret C Stobie
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: Margaret C Stobie [Margaret C Higgs]
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 30 Oct 1925 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Residence Year: 1939
Address: Amara
Residence Place: Swadlincote District, Derbyshire, England
Occupation: At School (Secondary)
Line Number: 32
Schedule Number: 96
Sub Schedule Number: 6
Enumeration District: RBXT
Borough: Swadlincote District
Registration district: 434A/2.
Inferred Father:
Robert S R Stobie
Inferred Mother:
Elizabeth G Stobie
Household Members Age
Robert S R Stobie 51 - Feb 5 1888
Elizabeth G Stobie 49 - Dec 11 1890
Wilhelmina L Cessford 75 - June 5 1864
This record is officially closed.
Williamina M Stobie 16 - Sept 25 1923
Margaret C Stobie 14


Looking at the image -
FMP's transcription is one line out of step throughout.
.
Because of that, Robert S R Stobie has been missed out, and Joseph Percival has been included, although he lives next door.

The FMP transcriber has applied each DOB to the person on the line below the DOB.

Going by that, George D Stobie on FMP must be the closed record on Ancestry, which is often slightly out-of-date compared with FMP.



Margaret was born in Lanarkshire in 1925, per SP.
She was on Derbyshire ER. for 2005, and the house has not been sold since then, per Zoopla.
A son is at the same address until 2016 ER - probably opted out of public ER after that.

The death is on FMP

On 17th Jan 2020 aged 94. DoB not transcribed

Died 2020

It’s on FMP

Not on the gro as yet as too soon

Thanks, ErikaH.
Not having a sub to FMP, it didn't occur to me to look there, though I looked everywhere else.


Higgs
Margaret Cessford
YOB 1926
YOD 2020
England & Wales Deaths 2007-2020
Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England

Hi Linda , i see you are looking for John i no idea where he is but im his x wife if you want to speak to me im on Facebook messenger under Simpson

Welcome to the boards, Brenda.

As nothing (apart from your post) has been added to this thread since early June, it's possible that Linda won't be looking here for replies now.

GR doesn't notify people of additions to their threads, so unless she looks here, she won't know about your post.

Click on her name in green at the top of her post, and send her a private message, explaining your interest.
GR will then contact her by email.

Hi you can contact me through genes reunited or face book

Brenda -

If you want to contact Linda, please follow the advice I gave in my previous post.


ADDED (9.12 am):
Sent PM to Linda to let her know that Brenda wants to make contact.

I received a pm from Brenda this morning asking me to send a message to Linda for her. I did this and Linda replied asking me to reply to Brenda. I told Linda how to contact Brenda through Genes and she has just replied to say she has done this so now it's up to Brenda if she wants to reply to Linda.

Brenda - look out for a message from Linda in "Messages" near the top of the screen. You should also get an email from Genes letting you know that Linda has messaged you.

Kath. x

Received reply from Linda in response to my PM -

"Thank you so much I have messaged her. Unfortunately the news I have is not good as I have recently found out he died in 2015 but I have a half sister who I am now trying to locate x"

I've replied asking for the half sister's name - if Linda would like us to help..


Presumably this is John's death:

STOBIE, JOHN 1944
GRO Reference: DOR Q1/2015 in LINCOLNSHIRE (609-1O) Entry Number 511705094

I assume Linda found that out herself - or someone other than Brenda told her - as Brenda said she didn't know where John was.

I gave Linda that death info, by PM, on 7th June

Thank you everyone, John did pass away in 2015 and I have since spoken with his stepson. He assumed a different surname, Brown in the late 1970's hence making it almost impossible to find him. It has been quite upsetting to find out that John returned to Mansfield and during the 1990's he lived two doors down from my sister-in-law who I would have been visiting unbeknown to me that my father lived that close. It seems our paths have crossed many times during those years and we have never met. John married a lady called Denise Elliott in 1978 and had another daughter, Tina Sarah Brown later that year. I have struggled to locate Tina as with a surname of Brown there are quite a few on SM. I know she was on the electoral roll 2011-2014 but then I believe she moved and has not shown since. I do know she has a son who will be around 15 years old now and I am led to believe she is still in the Mansfield area. I have ordered John and Denise's wedding certificate to get more information on Denise as that may be the only way to find Sarah.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.