Hi everyone I have traced all my relatives with the exception of one. His name was James Ernest Mulligan and was born in 1889 Preston, Lancashire (on the Derbyshire side of the family Amy Dewsnap married my Grandfather John Bernard Mulligan. James Ernest disappears on the 1911 census and no death record anywhere in the country (on the 1911 census it was noted that 2 children had dies but these were James’s two sisters so he must have been alive in 1911). His brother my grandfather was in USA at this time and came back to UK to join the forces in 1914 when the war broke out. Does anyone have any ideas as to why I am not able to find this person? Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Brenda Brown South Africa

Hi Brenda There are many reasons you haven't been able to find this man He may have gone abroad and died overseas, the UK records are fairly good, not so in other parts of the world He may have chosen to "disappear", either because of debt, crime, a lady love, impending fatherhood, etc etc etc My great grandfather "helped" my great grandmother produce my grandfather in 1874, he was never mentioned, seen or found in any record after 1874 My grandfather in a letter to my father, states "I told you of the manner of my fathers death", he was ten at the time, but no death or trace has ever been found, and boy have I looked ;-) So don't give up as something may turn up somewhere along the way Whilst your grandfather came back to serve in the forces, not everyone was so keen and made sure they weren't found But there are lots of reasons he may not be obvious in records Have you checked his date of birth in the 1939 NIR ? Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 26/06/2018 14:41, Brenda Brown (Telkom) wrote: > Hi everyone > > I have traced all my relatives with the exception of one. His name was James Ernest Mulligan and was born in 1889 Preston, Lancashire (on the Derbyshire side of the family Amy Dewsnap married my Grandfather John Bernard Mulligan. > > James Ernest disappears on the 1911 census and no death record anywhere in the country (on the 1911 census it was noted that 2 children had dies but these were James’s two sisters so he must have been alive in 1911). His brother my grandfather was in USA at this time and came back to UK to join the forces in 1914 when the war broke out. > > Does anyone have any ideas as to why I am not able to find this person? Any suggestions would be gratefully received. > > Brenda Brown > South Africa

Thank you Nivard, I do keep trying and hoping something will crop up, have even checked all the newspapers. It really is a mystery to me. I wondered if he went to join his brother in the USA but I’m sure he would have come back with him. They lost their brother John in 1917, he was killed in France only 19 years old and the other brother Walter was a captain in the Notts and Derbyshire regiment, there was a book published in which he was featured a very interesting read of what is was like on the front line. I have all my grandfathers army records which survived and a number of letters my grandfather wrote to the army. It was quite an arduous journey. It was so wonderful to get all these records and letters as my grandfather died when my father was only 3 years old so I never got to meet him. I have checked all the army records and the 1939 register but alas, he is no where to be found. Brenda Brown South Africa > On 26 Jun 2018, at 16:09, Nivard Ovington <ovington.one@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Brenda > > There are many reasons you haven't been able to find this man > > He may have gone abroad and died overseas, the UK records are fairly good, not so in other parts of the world > > He may have chosen to "disappear", either because of debt, crime, a lady love, impending fatherhood, etc etc etc > > My great grandfather "helped" my great grandmother produce my grandfather in 1874, he was never mentioned, seen or found in any record after 1874 > > My grandfather in a letter to my father, states "I told you of the manner of my fathers death", he was ten at the time, but no death or trace has ever been found, and boy have I looked ;-) > > So don't give up as something may turn up somewhere along the way > > Whilst your grandfather came back to serve in the forces, not everyone was so keen and made sure they weren't found > > But there are lots of reasons he may not be obvious in records > > Have you checked his date of birth in the 1939 NIR ? > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > On 26/06/2018 14:41, Brenda Brown (Telkom) wrote: >> Hi everyone >> I have traced all my relatives with the exception of one. His name was James Ernest Mulligan and was born in 1889 Preston, Lancashire (on the Derbyshire side of the family Amy Dewsnap married my Grandfather John Bernard Mulligan. >> James Ernest disappears on the 1911 census and no death record anywhere in the country (on the 1911 census it was noted that 2 children had dies but these were James’s two sisters so he must have been alive in 1911). His brother my grandfather was in USA at this time and came back to UK to join the forces in 1914 when the war broke out. >> Does anyone have any ideas as to why I am not able to find this person? Any suggestions would be gratefully received. >> Brenda Brown >> South Africa > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/derbysgen@rootsweb.com/ > > Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/derbysgen@rootsweb.com/ > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community