Genealogy Chat

trying to trace an evan john hurford... know he was around swansea in 1923....he was born 1880 in swansea..... cannot find death anywhere....have ancestry and 1837 & local registery....BLANK....he's just vanished!!....any peeps have any ideas? .....don't know where else to look, any ideas?.........he's a real slippery sucker......LOL ......................lynnxx

pauline, this is the right family, there was a transcript error calling him eban instead of evan. just cannot find his death anywhere, a living relative was told he died. when he was just a toddler. he has aslo never seen any graves or recorded deaths. he 's vanished into thin air. lynnxx

I,m puzzled!! if he was around in 1923 then he couldnt have died as a toddler. Am I misreading something? Shirley

He was alive in 1923 you say. So he could have died at anytime between then and the 1980s (or even beyond). Unless you have checked every single quarter of every single year since then I can't see that you can say you can't find his death. If you are assuming he died when the relative you spoke to said he (the relative, I imagine) was a toddler, that isn't proof, that's just his impression. Do you remember how old you were when any of your relatives died, especially if they weren't close to you? Memories play tricks. nell

helen, shirley, sorry for the delay, kid's hijacked puter. he had a son in 1923 called frank , evan was was on the sons birth cert. frank was about 6 years old when he last saw him. he was told he died. have tried everywhere to find his death, and now hit a brick wall. this one is a real puzzler. lynnxx

Hi Lynn, Just because Frank was told he'd died dosen't mean he did. My mother was told her mother had died and now more than 60 years later we find she is still alive!! You might need to look beyond Frank being 6 for a death. Good luck. Fiona.

Hi Lynn Just a thought,did he & his partner break up, Frank then might have been told he had died so he wouldn't ask any more questions about him. Has been known when breakups are acrimonious. Shirley

evan married a mary williams. early 1900 tried electorol reg just to see if his name has popped up anywhere. blank. lynnxx

lyla, have also found evan on 1901 cencus as a private , aged 21yrs wellington barracks. have just found a possible? 1839 qtr oct nov dec 1950 deaths a reuben. j. hurford, in the bristol area. aged 70 when he died, which would fit in with his birth 1880. is there a spare pair of eyes around to do a double check for me, can see if he re married or went to have any more kids or where he lived. not to sure if this was an error when it was documented will have a look at the national archives lyla, although he would be a bit older then though. there was an evan john hurford born 1904 in swansea, so i think this may be this guy, although i thank you for your info as he is related also. LOL scratching my head. LOL i'm determined this slippery sucker ain't getting away thanks to all who help lynnxx

Wouldn't the Evan born in 1904 be a tad young to be earning medals between 1914 and 1920? I'd go with the medal card that Lyla found being your Evan's. Could he have been a career soldier and died abroad - have you checked the overseas deaths on 1837online?

no judith i have not checked. thought as he was a soldier in 1901,a few years later happily married, having kids, why join back up aged 43 years. mmm, away to check just in case thanks lynnxx

There seem to have been a few of them: Hurford, Evan 1880 September Births Bridgend Glamorgan Hurford, Evan John 1879 December Births Swansea Glamorgan West Glamorgan HURFORD, Evan John 1901 December Births Swansea Glamorgan West Glamorgan Hurford, Evan John 1903 September Marriages Swansea Glamorgan West Glamorgan HURFORD, Evan John 1904 June Births Swansea Glamorgan West Glamorgan

If your man was in the army in 1901 at age 21, he was probably still serving, or in the Reserves, when war broke out. For what its worth, my gt grandfather was in the army long before WW1. He was born in 1865 & I really didn't expect to find a medal card for him - he was 49, married with 7 kids, when war started. Not sure whether he had already finished his service by 1914 - in any case, he would be in the Reserves for a while & so would have been called up immediately. I believe there were many 'older' men serving during the war, some were well into their fifties & even 60's.