On 16 Mar 2010 at 15:27, Jayne England wrote: > Thank you for such interesting info Roy. > The witnesses to the marriage of MWP's parents were (unhelpfully!) > G. STODART & J. YOUNG. The grooms father's occupation is given as "Gas > works canteen manager". Groom's residence is given as Brearly > Street, Leeds 9. > I am waiting for the two copy birth certs to arrive, although the > person who telephoned me back to confirm the certs before issuing them > did mention that the occupation of the father on the one with mother's > maiden surname LEE, is given as "hotel chef". This would tie in with what I have > read the MWP's father and grandfather were also chefs, although of course I > cannot assume anything until seeing both certs. > I was not previously aware of Yorkshire BMD's site, so have checked > the link you provided and sadly the marri! age cert for the WHITE / > LEE couple is not available for download, so I will maybe order that once I have the > births certs, as I admit that is the couple who are looking most > likely to me at the moment. > I am also wondering if perhaps a "hotel chef" registering his son's > birth in > 1927 may turn to being a canteen manager later in life by the time > his son got married in 1954? It's not a million miles away in terms > of occupation - or is it? < I am still puzzled as to why Leeds Register Office say they have two Frank Whites born in 1927 because I have double-checked with FreeBMD and the GRO online birth indexes and can definitely find only the one to which we have already referred you, who was born at Hunslet. The only other possibility is a Dennis F White born in the Dec quarter of 1927 at Leeds, mother's maiden name Steven (9b 457). I suppose it's possible the F may stand for Frank and only the initial has been entered into the GRO indexes. However, that cannot be the one you seek because the matching marriage is of a John W White to a Hettie Steven in the Dec quarter of 1924, so the father of that child wasn't a Frank. It sounds as if they are trying to sell you two birth certificates unnecessarily! As another lister has pointed out, there is a death record for a Frank White at Leeds in 1997 and his DoB is given as 27 April 1927, which accords with the child registered in the June quarter of that year. There are four other Frank Whites whose deaths were recorded at Leeds between 1984 and 2006 but he's the only one who was born in 1927. I am virtually certain that the marriage you want is of Frank White to Nellie Lee in 1922. Unfortunately, Leeds Register Office do not have online ordering, so you will have to order it by phone or post. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE