Hello, I hope the India list is broad enough to cover Japan under the umbrella of East Indies, and what went on that country in the latter part of the 19th century. I have two distant great, great uncles, who were contracted in the 1880s to build railways and rolling stock in Japan. Both married Japanese women and one brought his daughter back to live with him when he retired to the south of England. A descendant of the other uncle attended a ceremony in Cornwall fairly recently honouring the railway building Trevithicks, his ancestor! If these marriages were witnessed by the British Embassy in Tokyo where should I start looking? Thanks, Nick
Hello List Nick, read the FIBIS Fibiwiki page "General Register Office" http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/General_Register_Office I think your first step, if you haven't already tried, is the National Archives overseas records series RG, available on Ancestry and also BMD Registers. If you have already tried those, you will need to read about alternative records for Japan. The FamilySearch Wiki article appears to indicate that there are some records for Yokohama which are at the National Archives Kew, but not in the GRO records. You could also try some of the Directories mentioned on the FIBIS Fibiwkii page China, but I don't know if these contain marriages. http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/China Cheers Maureen On 19/08/2015, at 9:23 AM, Nicholas Wilson via <india@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Hello, > > I hope the India list is broad enough to cover Japan under the umbrella of > East Indies, and what went on that country in the latter part of the 19th > century. > > I have two distant great, great uncles, who were contracted in the 1880s to > build railways and rolling stock in Japan. Both married Japanese women and > one brought his daughter back to live with him when he retired to the south > of England. A descendant of the other uncle attended a ceremony in > Cornwall fairly recently honouring the railway building Trevithicks, his > ancestor! > > If these marriages were witnessed by the British Embassy in Tokyo where > should I start looking? > > Thanks, > > Nick >