Hello Listers I am new to this list, so please be gentle with me. :-) Im looking for information on my Great Uncle George Robert WEBB, known as Bob to the family. Bob was born in Cape Town, South Africa, when his father Fred was in the army. The family returned to the UK in 1904, moving around a little as army personnel do, until they settled in Monmouthshire around 1910-11. Fred was a bit of an overbearing father, & family legend has it that Bob left home because of his difficult relationship with him. Family legend also tells that Bob was found dead on the banks of a river at Worcester, possible drowned, but that is not clear. We also have no idea when this happened, so are drawing a bit of a blank on further information. Would any of you kind people have any knowledge of Bob? .. whether he married, or had children? Any information would be great. Thanks in advance. Hilary Bristol, UK

Hello Hilary, Unfortunately, there's little chance to be very gentle here as the brutal truth is that your WEBBs were clearly Awkward in that they're unlikely to appear in any easily-searched online index or database :-( Too late for the 1901 Census; Bob being born outside the UK; even his approximate place and date of death unknown. Plus, Family Legends are notoriously unreliable - they usually include *some* snippets of detail that are accurate, but you never know which ones they might be... Broadly, your only practical method is to search every Quarter of the GRO Deaths Indexes from (say) 1915 onwards, listing the full details of *all* George; George R; and George Robert WEBBs in Registration Districts covering all counties that the Rivers Severn, Teme (and, for luck) Avon run through, and with ages giving a DoB of 1900+/-20. [Of course the vast majority of them will be utterly useless, but at least this will save you having to do the extraction all over again if you'd originally only listed the "highly-likely" ones and none of them are him...] The reason for my suggesting so wide a listing here is - granting that his body was found "near" a river, and (probably) close[ish] to Worcester - whether or not his body was identified before the registration of the death; and, even if his name was established, how closely it was possible to guess his age. The only possible Short Cut I can suggest is the Index to The Times - in the faint hope that his body may've been found in "interesting circumstances" and on a Slow Day For News. As far as I'm aware, the local Worcester Papers ['Berrows Journal', and 'Worcester (Evening) News (andTimes)'] have not been Indexed - although Mike Grundy, who writes regular Historical columns for them, just *might* have some way of narrowing it down. Now for some minor improbabilities in the Legend. "Found dead on the bank of a river at Worcester, possibly drowned" seems altogether unlikely. "Found [floating] IN - or at the edge of - a river, possibly drowned" is feasible, but the banks of the Severn are far too high for a drowned body to be found ON them - other than after a flood had gone dowm. The Teme is shallow-enough (in places) for one to be found stranded at the edges. But "Found ON the bank, possibly drowned" would seem to imply that a Third Party had hauled him out - and then disappeared without reporting it..... Dunno if this is all that Helpful..... Gus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hilary" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 4:30 PM Subject: [WOR] George Robert WEBB b. 1900 Hello Listers I am new to this list, so please be gentle with me. :-) Im looking for information on my Great Uncle George Robert WEBB, known as Bob to the family. Bob was born in Cape Town, South Africa, when his father Fred was in the army. The family returned to the UK in 1904, moving around a little as army personnel do, until they settled in Monmouthshire around 1910-11. Fred was a bit of an overbearing father, & family legend has it that Bob left home because of his difficult relationship with him. Family legend also tells that Bob was found dead on the banks of a river at Worcester, possible drowned, but that is not clear. We also have no idea when this happened, so are drawing a bit of a blank on further information. Would any of you kind people have any knowledge of Bob? .. whether he married, or had children? Any information would be great. Thanks in advance. Hilary Bristol, UK ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hello Hilary, To Gus's list of names to search I would also add Robert WEBB and Robert George WEBB. If he was away from his family you are less likely to find the "correct" name in the death registration, however if he married it should be more reliable. I see from the subject header that you do have a birthdate of 1900, so this should help you find the right man, but as Gus suggests I would allow a few years either side. Also search anywhere in WorcesterSHIRE, for the reasons that Gus gives, you never know how much of a family legend is true. I hope you find him. Viv From: "Gus Tysoe" <[email protected]> To: "Hilary" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> > > Broadly, your only practical method is to search every Quarter of the GRO > Deaths Indexes from (say) 1915 onwards, listing the full details of *all* > George; George R; and George Robert WEBBs in Registration Districts covering > all counties that the Rivers Severn, Teme (and, for luck) Avon run through, > and with ages giving a DoB of 1900+/-20. [Of course the vast majority of > them will be utterly useless, but at least this will save you having to do > the extraction all over again if you'd originally only listed the > "highly-likely" ones and none of them are him...] > > The reason for my suggesting so wide a listing here is - granting that his > body was found "near" a river, and (probably) close[ish] to Worcester - > whether or not his body was identified before the registration of the death; > and, even if his name was established, how closely it was possible to guess > his age.