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Frederick edward Johnson

Hi, I'm looking to find family history for my grandfather, Frederick Edward Johnson, born February 1888 in Cork, Ireland. His Father was Frederick S. Johnson, born around 1856, his Mother was Alice Johnson, born around 1864. They then moved to West Ham, Stratford, Essex, England, as they appeared there in the 1891 Census. By the 1901 census they had 3 more children, Minnie A, Alice M, Maud M. Frederick Snr. Died in West Ham in April 1930. My Grandfather possibly joined the Navy , and met my Grandmother, Ulyssia Sarah Revera, born on 7-4-1903 in the Seychelles. They moved to Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya, East Africa. They had 4 children, Eric, George, Kenneth and my Mother, Beryl Evon Alice born 11-11-1943. My Grandmother died in Nairobi on 13-6-1956 and my grandfather died in Mombasa on 13-7-1956. As my mother was only 12 years old when both her parents passed away she very little in the way of documentation or information regarding her family. Therefore I would be very grateful for any help or assistance in discovering our family history and relations, and ideally I would like to obtain copies of certificates from Ireland, England and Kenya & Seychelles relating to our ancestors in order to create a family tree.

Thank you

Sharron Cleal

3 replies

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I searched the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie for Frederick Johnson civil birth records from 1880-1892. Only two were in Co. Cork and neither record was for your ancestor. I also looked at the four records registered in 1888-1889 across Ireland and did not see a good record for Frederick.

I also looked at the civil marriage records from 1880-1888 and there were no Frederick Johnson marriages to an Alice.

You may want to search the site and maybe you will have more success.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you both so much for your speedy response.  My grandfathers death certificate, issued in Mombasa, Coast, Kenya, states his nationality as Irish, and my mother maintains that he came to England from Cork. However, I'll try and find more regarding him and his siblings in Essex, but don't really know how to track down his parents origins any further. 

Sharron 

Scleal

Hi. Your grandfather wasn't born in Ireland - he was born in England and he married there and had two children whom he subsequently abandoned in 1924 to travel to India and then on to the Seychelles where he met your grandmother. I have found no evidence of a divorce in the UK, so it's debatable whether he actually married Ulyssia, although it was possible for a British citizen to commence divorce proceedings anywhere in the Commonwealth, although these orders were not recognised by the High Court in the UK for many years, and certainly not in 1924. Fred's wife in the UK declared herself as a widow in the 1939 Register of UK Citizens! I suspect the story about Irish origins was simply part of a back story made up to conceal the facts. He wasn't in the Royal Navy, either, I'm afraid, buy may have served briefly in the Kenyan Regiment at the outbreak of WW2. Details of his family are on Ancestry UK.

 

je.nicholson@b…

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