Family History

[cnosni]

draceana wrote: hello cnosniI am new to secret leeds so please feel free to reprimand me if i do something wrong.I am trying to trace the Watson family who lived on potternewton crescent in the 1950s. I believe they were either landlords or managers of a pub in the scotthall area, may have been the skinners arms. They had a son called Edward who married my mum Anita Howe from harrogate. Edward was murdered in 1953. He had a son (my brother) of 6 months. My brother would love to trace any living relatives. Could you please point us in the right direction. Any advice/ info would be gratefully recieved.Thanks againdraceana Hi draceanaGiven all the amazing naval stories going on id like to say "Welcome aboard"Okay,i would think that you are looking at any siblings for Edward,to do this you will first need to identify the parents to ascertain the mother (of Edward)surname.Do you know the name of Edwards father or do you have access to the marriage certificate of your mum and Edward as the name of Edwards father and occupation will be on there.If not then the marriage certificate can be obtained from GRO online with the following detailsName: Anita M Howe Spouse Surname: Watson Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1951 Registration district: Claro Registration county (inferred): Yorkshire- West Riding Volume Number: 2c Page Number: 302 Use this link to order it onlinehttps://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.aspYou will need to register before being able to order.Then we need to know Edwards age,do you have any living relatives who know this?If not it will be on the marriage certificate.Ive looked for a death in 1953 but the only one i can see in Leeds is 1954,do you know where he was murdered?I have had a quick check for apossible birth in Leeds,thereis one in 1921.However the mothers maiden name is Watson,so this MAY mean that he was born out of wedlock either that or his mother actually was already a Watson before getting married.If he was born out of wedlock then it becomes a little more difficult tracing siblings.Unless of course he wasnt born in Leeds,then that would mean that there were a lot more edwards to choose from.

[cnosni]

BTWhave been doing some pretty serious research on my great uncle,Edward Hoolahan (pronounced Hoolan).He was killed in WW1 according to my aunt,but all leads came to nothing until i found a number of records for an R Hoonan/Robert Hoonan of Leeds,2nd Batt Dukes West Riding,but this person (R Hoonan never) existed.Unfortunately the Army Service record of R Hoonan must have been destroyed,so i was unable to prove that a mistake had been made with his name at the time of recruitment.I tried to see if there was such a Robert Hoonan and out of over 250 Million (yes Million) records on military and civil databases there was only one example,and it wasnt in any of the civil records (1911 census and GRO index)it was only tehe referenc ein the military records,in other words no birth for him and no record of any family in Leeds or Wets Yorkshire.I did however have Robert Hoolahan/Hoolan's brother (James)war record.It shows that Robert,along with my grandmother,as next of kin.Luckily it shows his address as being 2nd Battalion West Riding.I also have a photo of his name inscribed on the amazing Gret War Memorila at St Pats.Anyway i have put together a case and have forwrded my evidence to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with a view to having his name corrected.His story was very interesting an di was thinking about maybe setting up some website where people in Leeds with stories about any conflict can contribute,and it could be used as a source for help or reference.I think Secret Leeds would be too restrictive for such a forum,what does anyone else think?Also has anyone any experience of setting up a website or interested in getting involved?    

[uncle mick]

Just for imfo, the person who murdered Edward Watson was hanged at Leeds on 5th Jan 1954

[cnosni]

uncle mick wrote: Just for imfo, the person who murdered Edward Watson was hanged at Leeds on 5th Jan 1954 So defo died 1953 then

[uncle mick]

cnosni wrote: uncle mick wrote: Just for imfo, the person who murdered Edward Watson was hanged at Leeds on 5th Jan 1954 So defo died 1953 then The only death I can find that "fits"Edward Watson1953 (Jan-March)ScarboroughAged 26    

[liits]

This may be a bit off topic but.....I had the pleasure of being in Leeds earlier this week. While passing a few idle hours in what was the reference library – now the Family History library, some old chap came up to me and asked me if I was researching my family history [which I’m not]. He then asked me if either of my grandfathers had served in the first world war. They both had, just on different sides! “Here, come and have a look at this” he said and indicated a large book.“what was your grandfathers name?”. I told him and he found it straight away. It showed his rank and service number. Quite clever, I thought, but while I was looking at this, he’d pulled out another book in which a reference number beside the name gave granddad’s address.It turns out that this is the absent voters register / list. I never knew that such things existed and the address was confirmed to me the following day when I saw a load of postcards sent by my grandfather and his brother to other members of the family.I didn’t get chance to thank this chap but am extremely grateful and it has sparked in me a bit of interest to look at my family history.

[draceana]

Hello again Cnosnithankyou so much for the info and wow you are quick.Yes i thought that Robert William Moore was hanged (and i understand he also left a widow and a young baby), although i sought for months on the internet to find details of this to no avail.Edwards body was found in a shallow grave at a wood in fewston. on 6th june 1953. I think it was registered at wharfedale district. and he was 28 years old. Edwards father was called William Edward Watson and they lived at 5 potternewton cres. William was a hotel manager/ landlord and as previously mentioned i remember my mum once pointing out that it was the skinners arms on scott hall road. Edward was a car dealer/ engineer and he had premises somehwere in east end park area of leeds. How would I go about finding out where these were? Any ideas on how to progress from here? We are trying to find living relatives of Edward.Thankyou for your help.

[draceana]

cnosni wrote: uncle mick wrote: Just for imfo, the person who murdered Edward Watson was hanged at Leeds on 5th Jan 1954 So defo died 1953 then please see new message, i tried to post here but it came back with no room to post. Not sure how to get around this so posted a new message. and thanks for the info uncle mick.Does anyone remember this murder, it happened around the time of the coronation. My mum went to the police the first day Edward didnt arrive home from work ( they were just moving into a new house on ringwood cres). The police didnt believe her story (will fill you in on that later when i have more time) at first. I think she went to harrogate police station. I remember my mum saying that they were hounded for months afterwards by newspaper reports who even stood on walls to get pictures of her dropping off my brother at nursery when she had to return to work. It must have been a big case at the time.Thankyou

[draceana]

uncle mick wrote: cnosni wrote: uncle mick wrote: Just for imfo, the person who murdered Edward Watson was hanged at Leeds on 5th Jan 1954 So defo died 1953 then The only death I can find that "fits"Edward Watson1953 (Jan-March)ScarboroughAged 26     oh now this is interesting, may determine year of birth for Edward. When he was married he was 25 years old (wedding was 24th march 1951) when he was murdered (body found 6th june 1953 but he went missing on 31st may 1953) he was 28.

[cnosni]

liits wrote: This may be a bit off topic but.....I had the pleasure of being in Leeds earlier this week. While passing a few idle hours in what was the reference library – now the Family History library, some old chap came up to me and asked me if I was researching my family history [which I’m not]. He then asked me if either of my grandfathers had served in the first world war. They both had, just on different sides! “Here, come and have a look at this” he said and indicated a large book.“what was your grandfathers name?”. I told him and he found it straight away. It showed his rank and service number. Quite clever, I thought, but while I was looking at this, he’d pulled out another book in which a reference number beside the name gave granddad’s address.It turns out that this is the absent voters register / list. I never knew that such things existed and the address was confirmed to me the following day when I saw a load of postcards sent by my grandfather and his brother to other members of the family.I didn’t get chance to thank this chap but am extremely grateful and it has sparked in me a bit of interest to look at my family history. This guy has done all the indexing ogf the Absent voters roll for 1918 himself.You see him regularly in there and he is very helpful,he put me on the trail of some of my WW1 relatives.