Genealogy Chat

I have the marriage certificate which shows my great-granddad as Harry DaySmith aged 22 in Dec 1929, with his father as Thomas DaySmith. I've seen his Navy service record which gives his date of birth as 5th Dec 1907 and birth place as South Leighton Essex. However, I'm told that his surname at birth was just Day, and that he added the Smith or -Smith later (prior to marriage), which means his father may be Thomas Day. I've translated his birth place to Leyton which is now covered by Waltham Forest Gtr London. I applied to the GRO for his birth certificate with as much of this as I could fit on the form, bearing in mind I had a date and place of birth. But they couldn't find him, and so refunded me less their search fee. I've checked the BMD from 1907 to 1910, and couldn't find him either. I've no idea where his father was from, as he was a 'commercial traveller' - I've been told he was a punch and judy man! The only other info I have is that he had two brothers, John and Thomas, but I don't know in which order. Apart from wait for the 1911 census and hope I get lucky, is there anything else I can do to find him? Please can anybody help me?

Have you tried searching ancestry on births in jan 1908 i have found a lot of dec births are in the following year as you have the xmas period where they must have been closed

Mo I think his name was definately at birth, as I believe his brothers' names are Day. There is some tale about their parents splitting up and his brothers living with his mum while he stayed with his dad.... But then that does mean his dad lied on his son's marriage cert as I'm not sure that Thomas changed his name too, I thought it was just Harry? Please can you explain about the 'beta' and bmd, I'm not sure what you mean? I used the Ancestry free bmd records to search, and I know the GRO searched from 1907 to 1909 inclusive.

Here he is: Name: Henry Day-Smith Year of Registration: 1908 Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar District: West Ham County: Essex, Greater London Volume: 4a Page: 354 You have six weeks to register a birth, which is why the reg is in the following Q to the birth. Leyton was in West Ham district. Merry

Rosie, Yes I've checked 1907 to 1910 with no luck. I thought maybe he lied about his age to get into the Navy earlier.........?

Nudge for Heidi.....see above your last post! Merry

Merry You're proving invaluable today!!!! So, did he lie about where he was born? Or is that just another name for the same area do you think? And what I've been told by my gran about her own father is clearly incorrect - she (and her siblings) have all said that it was Harry (and definitely not Henry they said) who changed his name to Day-Smith, not his father. He must have done it between the 1901 census and Harry, sorry, Henry's birth in 1907. I thought that they'd at least know about their own father, they're all young enough to have their wits about them, clearly things were not as they thought ...... Yours eternally grateful, and preparing another GRO order in a sec, Heidi

When he gave his information maybe he said leigton essex cause that is where he lived maybe there is a different name for the district , as essex is a large place. my uncle was registered in fulham but on his birth info he gave in the army was west brompton

Leyton is in West Ham district, so I don't think he lied, just spelled it wrong (Leighton) Other family members? Births Dec 1901 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day-Smith Emma Esther W.Ham 4a 384 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Mar 1903 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day-Smith George Henry W.Ham 4a 402 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths Mar 1903 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day-Smith George Henry 0 W. Ham 4a 184 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Jun 1903 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAY-SMITH George Henry A W Ham 4a 409 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Mar 1904 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day-Smith David Arthur W. Ham 4a 400 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Mar 1908 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day-Smith Henry W. Ham 4a 354 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Mar 1909 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAY-SMITH David Arthur W Ham 4a 401 Merry

Do you have access to 1901 census?? There are two ''Thomas W Day'' households in Leyton, Essex. They are living nextdoor to each other and both have Entertainment Manager, or similar as their occupations. At a guess, they are father and son and the younger one might be the father of your Day-Smith rellies. This is only a guess though, from what you said about Punch and Judy! Merry

Merry, Yes I've got the two households, which kinda confirmed my long-held belief in his name at birth being Day. But then you found lots of others which look very much like siblings - now I'm very intrigued! I was led to believe there were only three brothers. However, I've just submitted my order for his birth certificate (again!) which should hopefully set this particular branch going after some time as a dead end. My gran was a bit upset I couldn't find her dad too! I've learnt today that the census can be wrong and never trust a word your family tells you about themselves!

Here here my had told me she had a brother called Bill so for years i have been searching for bill i told her i found a george with the same d o b and she said oh yer that was his name but he always used the name bill arrghh so dont always trust everything your family say. also my dad as always been daniel george when i looked for him on births hes george daniel lol

Rosie I had that too - Bob was brought up and called Bob until he applied for a copy of his birth cert, and found that Robert was actually his SECOND middle name, and nobody had ever bothered to tell him !!!