What a frustrating time for you! The Cottage Homes at Downend were indeed set up to provide accommodation for children who would otherwise have been in a Workhouse (in this case 100 Fishponds Road - the Eastville Workhouse). It is entirely possible for one (or both) of their parents to still be alive but for a number of reasons unable to cope with their children. >From A2A you can see that Bristol Record Office does hold a Register of births and deaths at the Eastville Workhouse - so you might find the parents in that (the death register) [no title] BCC/D/SS/2 1898-1943 These documents are held at Bristol Record Office Former reference: 30105/2 1 vol Contents: Register of births and deaths: 5 April 1898-6 Oct. 1943 3 April 1898-22 Jan. 1907 Registers of deaths BCC/D/SS/3 [n.d.] These documents are held at Bristol Record Office Former reference: 30105/3 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/4 4 Jan. 1889 - 15 June 1898; 1898 - 1907 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/5 23 Jan. 1907 - 30 July 1914 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/6 5 Jan. 1924 - 30 Sept. 1928 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/7 2 Oct. 1928 - 10 Jan. 1933 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/8 10 Jan. 1933 - 24 Jan. 1937 [no title] BCC/D/SS/3/9 24 Jan. 1937 - 29 Dec. 1939 [no title] BCC/D/SS/4 6 Feb. 1907 - 6 Aug. 1931 These documents are held at Bristol Record Office Former reference: 30105/4 1 vol. Contents: Register of baptisms (parish of St Thomas Eastville) You mention that the mother of George Bertie is given as Lily LIGHTHOLDER Do you have the birth certificate of any of the other children to determine the mother's name? I see that there is a family tree on Ancestry which has actual birth dates and places of birth for Frank, Mabel & George Bertie - it looks as if the owner might have seen certificates for these. The eldest son William does not have an actual birth date nor is there an address for his place of birth. It might be worth contacting the owner of that tree. There are probably other avenues open to you as well! Best wishes Pat H ----- Original Message ----- From: "pat bernie" <thebulleys@yahoo.co.uk> To: <bristol_and_district@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 9:41 PM Subject: [B&D] suggestions please for further research Dear Listers I have just spent the day at the Bristol records office and found NOTHING - despite having quite a lot of information to go on. I have hit a brick wall. If anyone would like to make suggestions for further clues, please read on. Information from Census.1901 @ 249 Hotwells Rd Bristol Although the following family should be Lambourne it has been wrongly transcribed as Lambert- it is definitely the right family. William Lambert 32 mar Baker bn Bath Som Sarah J Lambert 33 wife bn Bradford Yorkshire William Lambert son 7 bn Bristol Frank Lambert son 5 born Bristol Mabel Lambert dau 3 bn Bristol (freebmd birth Dec 1/4 1898 Barton Regis 6a 126) Later that year son George Bertie was born (freebmd Sept 1901 Bristol 6a 55) Birth Cert confirms that he was born at 249 Hotwells Rd -father William but mother Lily Lightholder. - another anomaly! Ten years later - 1911 census back to the name Lambourne. Frank is a cabinet maker boarding at Pennywell Road Bristol Mabel and George (age 12 & 9) are 'inmates' at a school in Keynsham. I have subsequently discovered that they are at the Crescent homes Downend- a refuge for orphan & destitute children cared for by the Bristol Poor Law Union Board of Guardians. Any suggestions gratefully received ----and thank you to anyone who has read this far. Best wishes Pat ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BRISTOL_AND_DISTRICT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message