How can I find out what happened to my half-sister Gladys?
QI’m trying to track down my halfsister Gladys Holmes, born on 7 January 1920 at Peel Gardens, Hebburn, to William and Mary (McDonald) Holmes. In 1922, our father William and two of her brothers sailed for Australia, leaving Mary and their other children Robert and Gladys behind. In 1928, Mary married George Henry Taylor Hales. Robert was brought up by his paternal grandparents in South Shields. In the 1939 Register, Mary and George were living on Albert Street, but what happened to Gladys?
Betty Lane
ASearching for an individual, particularly a child, in the past 100 years can be problematic. Some records have not been digitised; others, such as school records, are subject to closure periods of up to 100 years for reasons of data protection. However, all is not lost.
Since Gladys’ mother appears to have reverted to her maiden name prior to marrying George Hales, look for Gladys’ marriage under Holmes, McDonald and Hales. Consider, too, the possibility that she died as a child. In addition to the General Register Office indexes, search local newspapers for a notice of her marriage or death. Check deceasedonline.com and findagrave.com for her burial. Although improbable, the possibility that Gladys was adopted cannot be excluded. If so, there is unlikely to be any record of it, because no formal procedure for adoption existed prior to 1927.
Did any of Gladys’ relatives leave a will? If so, it may mention her, perhaps with an address. Production of electoral registers ceased during the Second World War, but resumed in 1945. Jarrow electoral registers are available on microfilm at Durham County Record Office ( durhamrecordoffice.org.uk), and a search would reveal whether Gladys was living at Albert Street with her mother and stepfather at that time. Since Gladys may have lived with a relative, consider extending searches to include addresses and surnames of the wider family.
Entries in the 1939 Register are closed for 100 years from the individual’s date of birth, unless proof of death has been verified; this may be why you have been unable to find Gladys. However, perhaps she had married by 1939 or her surname was incorrectly recorded. You can search the register using an exact date of birth, so look for Gladys (any surname) born on 7 January 1920 and follow up any entries found, especially in northeast England. A similar search facility is also available for death registrations from 1969 onwards, and may provide some useful leads.
Finally, ancestry.co.uk and findmypast. co.uk regularly update their 1939 Register entries as they become ‘open’ under the 100-years rule. So if Gladys’ entry is indeed ‘closed’, it should soon become available. Katherine Cobb