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Family Notes - June 2009
This is a sample of the information
provided to members of the P*rr*tt Society in the June 2009 edition of Family
Notes. Family Notes is a 56-page printed magazine that is distributed to society
members every quarter.
Sixty Minute Special!
I came across the following 3 year old letter on a genealogical
enquiry site: ‘I’m trying to find out more about my father’s family. His name
was Trevor William Parrott and he died in January 2000 in Maidstone, Kent. His
mother was Marjorie Parrott and I believe she passed away in 1987 either in
Liverpool or Oxford.
I’m not sure of my grandfather’s Christian names but I know he
passed away in Oxford in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My parents divorced when
I was very young and I know so little about my father’s family, so any
information or help would be very much appreciated.’
Not much information there, I thought. Sitting at home I
wondered how much I could find out in the course of an hour? Right - phone off
the hook, office door closed - and here’s the result!
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The death of Trevor William Parrott in Maidstone in 2000 was
quickly found using www.findmypast.com.
It also gave his date of birth as 10 February 1936. Four minutes gone!
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The next step was to find Trevor’s mother’s maiden name.
Easy, I thought, since I knew precisely his date of birth and the GRO birth
indexes give the mother’s maiden name. No, it turned out not to be easy – he
wasn’t in the index of births. My first set back! Seven minutes gone.
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However Trevor’s marriage was quickly found, dated September
1964 in Tiverton, Devon, to a Miss Brewer. Looking for a Brewer who married
a Parrott in the GRO marriage index showed she was Margaret J. Brewer.
Eleven minutes gone.
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A different approach was needed to find Trevor’s birth. I
tried www.ancestry.com under the
heading of ‘Public Family Trees’. The name came up immediately with the date
of death as 1 January 2000 in Ditton, Kent. Best of all it gave his birth
details – a big surprise – and the names of his parents. He was born, not in
the UK but in India, in Kalimpong on 10 February 1936. His parents were
named as William Parrott and Lilian née Burns. This immediately raised a
question – who was the ‘Marjorie’ described earlier as Trevor’s mother?
Solve one problem and another comes up and wipes the smile off of your face!
20 minutes gone
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At this stage data from ‘FAMILY NOTES’ came to the rescue. I
remembered that some years ago Ruth Newman contributed a couple of articles
on British baptisms and marriages in Bengal, (Births, Sep 1991 issue,
Marriages, March 1992 issue), transcribed from the records held at the India
Office in London. By a remarkable stroke of good luck Trevor’s details were
there. They were: Born 10 Feb 1936, bapt. 19 Jul 1936 in the Lahore
Cantonement, son of Sydney and Marjorie Parrott. Sydney was the assistant
manager of the Military Dairy Farm. Thirty seven minutes gone.
St. Andrew’s Church, Lahore, formerly in India, now in
Pakistan
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The details of the parents marriage on 27 Oct 1930 were:
Sydenham Desmond Basil Parrott, occupation ‘Military’, bachelor aged 28,
lived Military dairy farm, Lahore Cantonement. He married Marjorie Alicia
Catherine Burns, spinster, 28, living 99 Brackenbury Road, Lahore. The
ceremony took place at St. Andrew’s church, Lahore. The witnesses were E.
Barnett, T. Barnett and under the heading ‘parents’ were ‘Captain William
Fred Parrott and Anthony Edwin Burns, RN.’ Wikipedia says that St Andrews
Church in Lahore was built by the British in 1899 for Christian employees of
the railways in the Neo Gothic style of architecture prevalent at that
time.’ 45 minutes gone.
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This explained who ‘Marjorie’ was. Whoever researched the
family tree on Ancestry’s ‘Public Family Tree’ got it wrong! Going back to
Marjorie’s generation nothing was found in the GRO births under the name
Sydenham B.D.Parrott, nor for Marjorie A.C.Burns. 55 minutes gone.
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I searched in the GRO births for grandfather William Fred
Parrott until I reached the 60 minute barrier but to no avail. 60 minutes
gone. However, it had been possible to find father, mother, and 2
grandfathers and to put right an incorrect, published, family tree. Not too
bad for an hour’s work?
 A
P*RR*TT PHOTO GALLERY
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Taken in about 1916 this photo shows Elizabeth
Perrett (née Jupp) who married Thomas Francis Perrett in 1863. At the
time of their marriage Thomas and Elizabeth were both ‘in service’ at
different addresses in Castle Avenue East, Marylebone. The child is
their daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. ‘FAMILY NOTES’ September 2000, page
63 gives an account of the imprisonment of Thomas for embezzlement in
1867 in Gloucester gaol. |
| Joseph and Elizabeth Parrott with their
children photographed sometime around 1915 -1917 Back row: Leslie,
Reginald, Harold; Front row: Constance, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Sydney.
Joseph Parrott was born 1864 in Wootton, and married Elizabeth Garratt
Lay in 1896 in Bedford. In the 1901 census his occupation is given in
greater detail than usual: ‘Church official, sexton of cemetery, garden
(not domestic) worker.’ The family emigrated to Canada and Joseph died
in 1948 in Oshawa, Ontario; his wife died there in 1952. The family
sailed from Liverpool on the ‘Empress of Britain’ and arrived in Quebec
on 12 Oct 1906. The ship’s papers list Joseph as a gardener. The couple
travelled with their children Harold (9), Reginald (7), Constance (4)
and Leslie (2). |
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