This is a long one - bear with me please!

Barmaid | 10:31 Sun 16th May 2010 | Genealogy

30 Answers

I have been looking into the FT of my bf. I found his grandmother in Scotland. She was married to a german. After his mother's birth in 1930, the german disappears, although I have now found him. My BF was told that he had been repatriated during the war and the reason that his grannie divorced him was that he wanted her to go back with him. I think this is distinctly unlikely - he came to this country when he was aged 1 and by the age of 11 was in an orphanage so it is unlikely he would have spoken much german or been terribly aware of his german heritage. It transpires that he became a comedian and ice skater and travelled all over the world. He fathered another child by the name of Gloria Antoinette Henshall and I think she married in America (she didn't marry here) because she went under the name Cardona (although this could have been a stage name). Gloria in turn had a child in 1958. This child would be my BF's half cousin and he would like to make contact. However, I can't find him ANYWHERE! No death, marriage etc, no electoral roll so unless he has emigrated I have no idea. I am going to obtain a copy of his mother's death certificate to see if he was the informant.

Now here is the twist. (2 part post)

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Barmaid

Question Author

We have a photo of the german chap (it is clearly a publicity photo and I have traced the studios where it was taken who took publicity shots). BF's mum told the family that the german chap was her father. However - having obtained a copy of her marriage certificate and birth certificate the name of the father is someone completely different! Indeed I have not been able to trace this person. The name given on the birth and marriage certifate is John M******** M******* S****. I have only been able to find someone in the name of John M******* S**** (sorry, I have masked out the names since it is possible he or a widow is still alive).

So any ideas how I can determine who grandad was?!!!! BF's mum and half siblings are all dead.

dothawkes31

the names written on a piece of paper are simply that, the act of concieving a child takes two people but they may not then be the people registering the child!!! You say that when you found the grandmother in Scotland she was married to the German. have you had that marriage certificate to prove they did marry legally?

dothawkes31

Oh and he will have been interned in the late 1930s and during the war as an Alien Subject possibly explaining how he disapears, have you checked passenger lists on ancestry?

Barmaid

Question Author

Yes, they were definitely married, Dot - I've got the cert. They married in 1920, but BF's mum did not appear until 1930 which I thought was slightly odd.

Her father ran a theatre and the german chap was a musician so I suspect they met through that.

dothawkes31

So if she married again, then either the german was dead or her marriage ended in divorce through possibl;y desertion.

dothawkes31

Oh right you mention a divorce, when was that then? before 1939 but after the mum was born in 1930? You need to do a timeline exercise on this one I think.

Barmaid

Question Author

They both married again. After the german had gone, she had another child by someone else and then got married again and had a third child. I am fairly sure they were divorced but those records are closed for a long time seeing as this only happened in the 30s.

The other odd thing is that the german chap anglicised his name and I've found him alive in 1960, but thereafter the trail goes completely cold.

dothawkes31

Gloris Cardona Henshall:
Gloria Cardona Henshall
Birth Date: 26 Sep 1935
Age: 22
Port of Departure: New York, New York, United States
Arrival Date: 7 Mar 1958
Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
Ports of Voyage: New York
Ship Name: Queen Elizabeth
Search Ship Database: View the 'Queen Elizabeth' in the 'Passenger Ships and Image

Barmaid

Question Author

No idea when the divorce was, must have been after 1930 (on the birth certificate of her daughter, she is shown as "wife of the german chap") and before 1942 (when she married again).

Barmaid

Question Author

That's how I first found Gloria, Dot! Did a ship's search and she came up. The address was the same as her father's so then I found her birth and his second marriage.

dothawkes31

was Gloria born in Liverpool in 1935, mothers maiden name Givanovich?

Barmaid

Question Author

Yes! Gloria died in 1996 (I think) and Mary Gertrude Givanovich (Henshall) in 2002.

dothawkes31

Gloria's son isn't showing up in anything on ancestry.com or .co.uk, very strange. I've tried in both Henshall and Cardona. Nor is a marriage for Gloria to Cardona turning up in the USA or here, so i can see your problem with that part of your search. I think possibly it could be a transctiption error on ancestry that is not showing the cardona name, I have found loads, my own Grandma is transcribed from the GRO index to ancestry's version as Iumb (capital i) and not Lumb!!!