British subject born in Germany

katjw · Post by **katjw** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 1:32 pm

Hello Everyone,

I have come across an ancestor, George Williams, who according to the 1881 census was born in Germany as a British subject. Where would I start in looking for his birth? I have no idea what his parents names were.
Thanks,
Katrina

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 1:41 pm

Hi Katrina
Did he perhaps die or marry in Scotland? If so, you may be abe to find the parents' names that way.

I think, as far as I'm aware, that if the birth was registered at the time, that it should appear on Scotlands People (under the "minor records") but I may be wrong. Have you tried a search there?

Best wishes
Lesley

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 1:42 pm

katjw wrote:Hello Everyone,

I have come across an ancestor, George Williams, who according to the 1881 census was born in Germany as a British subject. Where would I start in looking for his birth? I have no idea what his parents names were.
Thanks,
Katrina

Hi Katrina,

Not sure about his birth but his marriage entry should give his parents names which will help.

GEORGE WILLIAMS

Marriages:
Spouse: ANN MCDONALD Family

20 NOV 1863 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Regards,
Annette

katjw · Post by **katjw** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:30 pm

Hi Lesley,
I haven't been able to find anything on SP re his birth, would it have been usual for his birth to be noted in any records if he was born overseas? A rough approximation of his birth puts him around 1821.

Hi Annette,
That info you posted is definately my George and Ann, the dates are on their childrens' birth records and I have found mention of it in the IGI, but despite trying every combination known to man I have not been able to find it on SP. If you can tell me that is where you found it I'm afraid I might have to do something drastic....
Katrina

Post by **SarahND** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:48 pm

katjw wrote:I have not been able to find it on SP. If you can tell me that is where you found it I'm afraid I might have to do something drastic....

Hi Katrina,
Don't do anything drastic

but the record is there...
I searched under geo* and there it was, but if you change to george... no hits. So, I tried the German version of his name: georg and bingo!

Sarah

katjw · Post by **katjw** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:19 pm

If I were to have any more children I would name them after you! It never occured to me the problem would be George, his surname morphed into Williamson on his daughters marriage, Ann's name turned into Agnes Stewart on their daughters death certificate, but George?
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for setting me straight and putting me out of my misery.
Of course it only throws up new questions such as:
The census says he was born in Germany (british subject). Would this mean his parents were british or could it mean he emigrated to Scotland and was naturalized thereby becoming a british subject?
Katrina

Post by **SarahND** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:14 pm

katjw wrote: The census says he was born in Germany (british subject). Would this mean his parents were british or could it mean he emigrated to Scotland and was naturalized thereby becoming a british subject?

Hi again,
I think this means that his parents were British, but they happened to be in Germany when he was born-- which makes the Georg rather odd. Unless he was named after a German friend who was there?
I'm curious to know what it looks like when you download the cert-- is this just a typo on SP or is there really no final e?

Regards,
Sarah

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:57 pm

Not maybe relevant on this search, but worth mentioning for anyone with Georges in their tree; I once had someone who could not find a marriage of a George on SP and I'd been at NRH earlier that week and spotted a few mangled Georges; I'd seen several indexed as Goerge and I did think at the time "that is going to be one headache for someone", so I tried the search for the "missing" marriage using G*rge, and of course, there he was.... worth remembering!!

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **SarahND** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:13 pm

I've also seen a fair amount of Geroges in my time

So it's a good idea to move the wild card around a bit!

Regards,
Sarah

katjw · Post by **katjw** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:10 am

The marriage has the spelling as Georg. I am attempting to upload a copy to the gallery but I haven't done it before, so it could take a while til I figure it out! His surname doesn't look like Williams to me. His father's name is George (with an e) occupation farmer, and they were married in the German church.

TalkingScot.com

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