The 1939 Register

[Bob Spiers]

Here we go again another ink amendment in the 1939 Register which I cannot understand. Here are the details

A female ancestor who clearly married so the surname scored through and the new name written over. No problem with that. But then to the left is written in quite clear script what looks like: 'Price to 21.10.49 (The Price could I suppose be Prur or Prui) and the abbreviation in capitals ORF (then a space) M.
Here it is :
Any ideas as cryptic bureaucratic abbreviations are not my cup of tea.

 

[peter]

The first word is 'Prior'. I'll leave it to someone else to work out what the initials stand for, though it would help to see it in context.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Thanks for that Peter - and it now seems obvious the word was Prior. And, since posting and going out shopping with my better half, the thought struck that 'ORF' might be an Area code. So on my return this notion was duly checked and indeed it is: Brierley Hill, Staffordshire. So taking in the word 'prior' she moved from QHA (Dudley) to ORF (Brierley Hill). I have now discovered the marriage taking place in the 3rd quarter of 1949...in Dudley. By the way I think the 'M' simply stands for 'Married'

 

[Gillian]

My problem phrase is "with bar" and I don't think it can mean the kind where you get a drink. My aunt ran a private taxi service all her working life, so that's the private hire, but I cannot believe she also ran a bar. However life is full of surprises, I agree. Any ideas? Google was unhelpful.

 

[peter]

I think it says "private hire with van". But I could be wrong.

 

[Gillian]

Ah, thank you, Peter. That would certainly make sense. I must look at some other entries to check the way b/v and r/n are written.

 

[Gillian]

I think I've solved it for myself - thanks to you, Peter, for reminding me (even if not in so many words) to check the way other entries were written. I think it's actually 'Car', judging by the way 'Caretaker' is written in a few entries earlier.

 

[Tim]

I was going to say Car

 

[Britjan]

My problem phrase is "with bar" and I don't think it can mean the kind where you get a drink. View attachment 1261 My aunt ran a private taxi service all her working life, so that's the private hire, but I cannot believe she also ran a bar. .

I've been chatting with a few friends in a Facebook group about WWII remembrance and commented that the 1939 register would be a great starting point for charting women's involvement. Your post reminds me that as always accurate transcription is the key and how helpful it is to have prior knowledge. I've made the point to the Facebook group that 2039 would be too late for many of us to start recording our memories. I've found the 1939 register so useful already for confirming the names of neighbours and my father's business acquaintances.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Have another puzzler with the Register annotations. It concerns an evacuee shown as Dennis Selvey ( Smith) aged 9. I was not particularly interested in Dennis as I was with his fellow evacuee 'William V Smith aged 7' all living with a family named Palmer(there was also a redacted person, also likely an evacuee). My curiosity was however roused because of the surname Smith -common though that may be - (as my William did not have a brother) and particularly because of the green surname change to SELVEY... for a child?

.
Plus additional green script in the LH margin

the BIR might apply to Birmingham (though they are evacuated in in Leicestershire) as that is where my William hales from.

And Dennis also has glaring Pink number annotation written above 'at school'


22067077 (33/-)

Plus additional green script on the RH page which is only partly revealed and appears to say ..."Prev NHS 2805499...??

Any ideas what it all means?

 

[peter]

Selvey is a fairly rare surname so I'd suggest you follow that trail. You might find that he was a foster child or stepchild. The 1969 and 1972 dates are probably when the amendments were made - one or other might tie in with a marriage.

 

[Rhian]

It seems the first mention other than Smith is Zelvey, which is an name from the Balkans, Monrovia seems most common. It could be his family were refugee/immigrants. A possibility is that he and William were evacuated together and either the Palmers or his parents suggested he used the name Smith because of ill feeling towards foreigners.

The change to Zevey possibly occurred on his return home to his parents and he may have changed back to Smith later in life as it might have been more helpful in getting work, the change to Selvey may have, as Peter suggested, be to do with his marriage as he could have said his name was originally Zelvey, but spelling it now with an S made it more English.

Variations of Selvie are Anglo Saxon in origin, there are at least one footballer and cricketer with derivations of Selvie, even the snooker player Selby may be derived from the same source. The initial spelling with Z does indicate that his origin was probably not British.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I think this is the first time an answer has been given without me having to explore further. In receiving an update on family information via the daughter of the Victor Smith whose line I was exploring , was the comment..."after my grandfather Alfred (Smith) died, grandmother Elizabeth re-married a Shelvey. The older ones remained as Smith but the youngest-Dennis -later changed his name to Shelvey".

I presume this was by Deed Poll so it was duly noted as an amendment in the Register. So a simple answer which also told me Dennis had indeed been a brother, and a fellow evacuee.

 

[peter]

I presume this was by Deed Poll

In the 20th century it's more likely that a Deed Poll was executed, but unless it was advertised you'll probably never know. The only reason to execute a Deed Poll is to have some paperwork to show banks and others - otherwise you can call yourself by any name you like in England or Wales without going through any legal formalities (not sure about Scotland).

Lots of people change their names, especially when they marry (and I'm not just talking about women). The most common change is to a double-barrelled form, but some people go the other way. One of my cousins took his wife's name.

But I didn't change my name when I married, and nor did my wife, although her bank insist on referring to her as Mrs rather than Miss.

Changes in forenames are common and probably never evidenced by a Deed Poll.

 

[Bryman]

you can call yourself by any name you like in England or Wales without going through any legal formalities

England does seem to be very flexible when it comes to the names of people. Unlike some other countries that can be very restrictive. Many years ago I was working in the South of France and English friends wanted to name a new baby Susan but were not allowed as that was not the acceptable spelling of a recognized saint. In the end, I think they called her Suzanne in formal documents.

Fortunately, from a genealogical point of view, there are not too many instances of undocumented name changes. Or is that another case of unknown unknowns?

I have traced a 2G GF to Sydney, Australia, in 1862 but no trace from then onward. I am assuming that he changed his name informally and 'disappeared'.

 

[jorghes]

I have traced a 2G GF to Sydney, Australia, in 1862 but no trace from then onward. I am assuming that he changed his name informally and 'disappeared'.

Did you have a search through Trove?

 

[Bryman]

Did you have a search through Trove?

Yes but that only showed a cry for help from his married daughter in UK who was looking for him many years later. She was married just a month or two before he sailed (as captain) from London to NZ. He did not sail back to England and it was only by chance that I found mention of his name on a passenger list from Auckland to Sydney about six months after his arrival. Several other relatives have recently been wondering what happened to him but did not know that he had left NZ.

There was a court case in NZ where he was held responsible for the disappearance of the contents of a cask of port wine from his ship's hold. That wine was valued at about £3,000 in today's currency so perhaps he had good reason to do a runner and Australia was probably easier to get lost in than NZ.

 

[jorghes]

Yes but that only showed a cry for help from his married daughter in UK who was looking for him many years later. She was married just a month or two before he sailed (as captain) from London to NZ. He did not sail back to England and it was only by chance that I found mention of his name on a passenger list from Auckland to Sydney about six months after his arrival. Several other relatives have recently been wondering what happened to him but did not know that he had left NZ.

There was a court case in NZ where he was held responsible for the disappearance of the contents of a cask of port wine from his ship's hold. That wine was valued at about £3,000 in today's currency so perhaps he had good reason to do a runner and Australia was probably easier to get lost in than NZ.

That is a bit of a conundrum. You could have a search on the Electoral Roll for him, if it's turn of the century. Otherwise you might get lucky and he may have had his parents names on his death cert.

 

[Bryman]

he may have had his parents names on his death cert.

Thanks for your suggestion but unfortunately, I do not know of a death certificate existing for this man in any country, nor what name might be on any such document! If he tried to get lost then nobody in contact with him would have known who his parents were.

I have seen that some researchers have recorded his death back in London but although the name and YoB are correct, the place of birth was given as Kent rather than Chester so not the person that I am looking for.

 

[jorghes]

Thanks for your suggestion but unfortunately, I do not know of a death certificate existing for this man in any country, nor what name might be on any such document! If he tried to get lost then nobody in contact with him would have known who his parents were.

I have seen that some researchers have recorded his death back in London but although the name and YoB are correct, the place of birth was given as Kent rather than Chester so not the person that I am looking for.

I meant that when searching through some of the Australian BDM indexes, you can see the parents names listed, as Australian death registers require them. Some of the states even allow you to search through the index by parents names as opposed to surname or first name. I thought that perhaps you could search a likely state's BDM indexes and see if you could locate a viable set of parents names. It would be a long shot, and there are always chances that parents are incorrect on the register document, but it could be possible that he gave the correct parents, even if he'd changed his name.