Hi Listers, I have just received email for the third time that the GRO can not find details on my Grandmother, Caroline Smith! Although I was disappointed on this second search for May 17,1905 which included also the 2nd quarter of 1904 and 1906 that ended up empty handed, I am now more disappointed then ever because the third attempt the GRO only searched for the year given 1908 and as they indicated there were too many to look through with that name for 1907/1909. So I ask what is a person to do? I know my grandmother existed and I know looking for anyone with the name Smith is a task, but theres got to be someway for me to figure this out. She had a passport because she traveled to Australia twice and here to the U.S. to visit our family numerous times. She was a pensioner?????? Is there some kind of data bank somewhere in the UK where information can be inserted and it cross references through all of the Counties in the UK in order to narrow down the search. I mean this is crazy. Esther Fetsko Caroline Smith, Born:May 17,1905, 121 Westgate St. Gloucester, Died: 2000, Swindon, Wiltshire. Father: Edgar G. Smith, Born,abt: 1860, Gloucester, Died,abt: 1948, Stroud, Gls Mother: Elizabeth Swan, Unknwn Brother: Frederick Smith, Born: November 4, 1912, #4Compass, Priory Rd. Gls. Spouse: Reginald Platt, Born: October,1903, Died: Jan,1959

Hi Esther What additional information are you looking for? You seem to have most of the information that a Birth Certificate would show, other than father's occupation. Do you have access to Ancestry? There is a member on there who looks as though they are researching the same family as you, with an Edgar Smith/Westgate Street link. Also, there is another tree for Edgar, but sadly no wife. I cannot see the family after 1861, although I think that Edgar's father Silvanus died in Gloucestershire in 1882, so you would expect him to be there for the 1881 census, as well as the 1871. Was it a gypsy family? With names you give it seems very possible, which could mean that Elizabeth was indeed unregistered as the family was on the move. Often, the children were baptised in groups at a friendly church on their route some years after their births, and you may be lucky and find a bulk civil registration also, though as there was a time limit for registration, to avoid payment of a penalty this may not have been carried out. As Elizabeth had a Passport, it seems reasonable that she had to exhibit a Birth Certificate for that, so it might be worth emailing the Passport Office (http://www.ips.gov.uk/). If you can supply proof of death and relationship, they might be able to give you some information. If for any reason her birth was registered late, it may well not appear in the index when you expect. Also, if the family did register Elizabeth, it could have been in another district, although it should have been done in the district of birth. You might need to wait for the 1911 census to see if this will give you any more clues to Elizabeth's birth. As you say, the Smith name is a difficult one to trace. Happy hunting. Regards Russell -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Esther Ann Sent: 20 October 2008 13:41 To: [email protected] Subject: [GLS] Smith Search Hi Listers, I have just received email for the third time that the GRO can not find details on my Grandmother, Caroline Smith!

I am no expert on this but I think Safe Conducts or Passports may have been with us for five or six centuries but have only become absolutely *necessary* within the last century - within Europe (for British subjects) say, with the onset of the first world war. They have become essential for travel between Australia and New Zealand (for citizens of those countries) in only the last few decades. Moving within the Empire was not unlike moving now within the EU. Elizabeth may not have needed a passport even to visit USA, otherwise she was travelling as a British Subject between one part of the Empire and another (Britain - Australia). I think many European countries have long insisted on identity documents for each individual (to be produced when called upon) - Britain did not. Can anyone clarify when and for what purpose passports became essential? It quite often comes up. David On 21/10/2008, at 12:35 PM, Russell Ridout wrote: > Hi Esther > > What additional information are you looking for? You seem to have > most of > > As Elizabeth had a Passport, it seems reasonable that she had to > exhibit a > Birth Certificate for that, so it might be worth emailing the Passport > Office (http://www.ips.gov.uk/).