I want to find information for a family tree. I am looking for
information about Leslie Elwood. I believe he was born in the southern
part of the UK in about 1920-25. He served in WW2 in India and Burma
either with the British army (most likely) or with the airforce. He
was said to have been engaged to Ivy Pritchard in early 1945. He
was an officer and was alive in April 1945 but may have died before
the end of the war. I can find no record of him in the records
available to me. Can you suggest where I should look?

Hi titch-ga!

If you can get over to the UK, and London specifically, a good place
to start looking would be the FRC (Family Records Centre). Here's the
address:

1 Myddleton Street
London
EC1R 1UW

The staff are friendly and will help you with your search.

As you know the approximate date of birth, finding the birth date of
Leslie Elwood should be easy enough.

Next, look for his marriage to Ivy Pritchard sometime soon after 1945.
This can be done at the same place.

 If your relative has passed on, it may take you longer to find when
this occurred. Listed alphabetically for each quarter year, you would
probably have to start around 1945 and look at all the "Leslie Elwood"
references until you found a match. This could be a fairly long and
strenuous task.

If Leslie divorced Ivy the information would be freely available at
the Family Division of the High Court (address below):

First Avenue House
42-49 High Holburn
London
WC1V 6NP

If he died and left a will you'll also be able to read a copy at First
Avenue House.

Have you considered that he might still be alive and well? If he is,
you could write to the Daily Mirror, who run a weekly 'Where Are They
Now?" column on the letters page. Just give them the details you've
included in your question, in a condensed format.

If he was alive in 2001 you might wish to look at the census records
at the FRC. There is a site where you are supposed to view the
information online, but unfortunately this isn't available at the
moment. I've listed the site below anyway.

Hope this helps and happy hunting!

sim-ga


Reference: Research For Writers (1999), Ann Hoffman, A & C Black
(Publishers) Ltd. Pages 140-50 ISBN 0-7136-4156-8

http://census.ac.uk

---

Request for Answer Clarification by titch-ga on 25 Oct 2002 12:01 PDT

sim-ga and 4keith-ga

Please see most recent comments. Are you able to help with carrying
out more specific data searches for information on leslie Elwood using
Internet databases available to you?

Thanks

---

Clarification of Answer by sim-ga on 30 Oct 2002 11:13 PST

The main problem with the UK related genealogy sites is the emphasis
on pre-20th century information.

Searches on the databases available to me didn't yield any positive
results. This excludes pay for services provided by the likes of
Ancestry.com. You might want to try them out.

Unfortunately, it seems like the greatest chance of you getting a
result is by the methods mentioned in the answer.

If you know Leslie's place of birth, it could well be worth checking
the parish register for a date of baptism.

To do this, first contact the relevant local record office to see if
they have a copy. If not, you'll need to write to, or telephone the
relevant local vicar (the record office will give you the
address/number). Unfortunately, this latter option is a pay for
service, because the clergyman must be present when you view the
records

Somewhat paradoxically, the younger the record the less likely it will
have been deposited at the local record office. So, for example,
documentation of Mr. Elwood's baptism is more likely to be at the
record office than a record of his burial.



Databases searched:

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com (updated frequently; might be worth
searching again in the future)
http://www.ancestry.com
http://www.englishorigins.com
http://www.cyndislist.com/England 
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp&clear_form=true
http://www.genealogysearch.org
http://www.mytrees
http://www.supernamesearch.com
http://interment.net


Search Engines Used

Google
Copernic (free download available at www.copernic.com)


Search terms

Genealogy uk 
Births deaths marriages uk
"Family records centre" uk
"Public Record Office" uk
"Leslie elwood"
"Lesley elwood"
"Leslie ellwood"
"Lesley ellwood"
"Missing in action" Leslie Elwood
" Missing in action" Lesley Elwood
"MIA" Leslie Elwood
"MIA" Lesley Elwood 

Wishing you luck in your search

sim-ga

It may help to routinely include the search stratefgies used in the
answer. I am happy with the response to my question and feel that I
got "value for money". The advice from the comments from other readers
were also a big advantage. Thank you.

You can find information on searching British military records at:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/MilitaryRecords.html

http://www.mod.uk/contacts/records_army.htm

Owain

Thank you owain-ga for this comment. Most of these records pertain to
military records before WW2. I have previously searched the War Graves
Commission site which is relevant to WW2, without success, so I assume
that he did not die during the war. There was story that he was "lost
presumed missing" towards the end of the war but that was never
confirmed.

The only other factoids that I have is that his religion was listed as
Church of England and that he had one brother and one sister.

Any other suggestions?

If he was an officer, you should be able to find some record of him in
the Army Lists ... They have copies for sure at The National Army
Museum in London but this would require a personal visit.

Are you based in the UK?

No, we are not in the UK but we do visit regularly, so I will be able
to follow up on your lead. Last time I contacted the British Army ( by
email)  the records from WW2 were not available to anyone other than
next of kin with an authorizing letter but maybe now that more than 50
years has passed, I can get access. (We have lost touch with all
members of that branch of the family so I could not get the necessary
letters.)
Thanks again for your interest.

The personal records for soldiers who served in WW2 have not yet been
released nor, indeed, have many for WW1.

However, the Army Lists have been published for ages and it should be
possible to trace an officer's career year-by-year.

The information listed is decidedly limited but, at least, it should
give you some specific info on your relative.

Good luck!

Hello sim-ga

Thank you for this information. Did you try to find any information
about Leslie Elwood on any of the databases available to you?

Are there any other Internet resources that you can recommend?

I have very limited time in London but I will follow up on the leads
you suggested.

Is there any point in me trying to find baptismal church records from
the Church of England.  We know that Leslie Elwood did not marry Ivy
Pritchard as we have tracked her. Shortly after the engagement which
was said to have  been  placed in one of the major London papers of
the day ( ?? the Times) he went missing - around May/ June 1945.

10-24-2002

Visit the website www.rootsweb.com, click on the MESSAGE BOARDS box,
enter the word "ENGLAND" (in quotation marks) in the FIND A MESSAGE
BOARD box, and one of the first entries on the results page will be
BOARDS-LOCALITIES--UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND--ENGLAND--GENERAL.  Post
your search message on that message board so that a local amateur or
professional genealogist could come up with perhaps some way to find
Leslie's birth record.  It would help narrow down the search if you
knew exactly where he was born, but since you don't, maybe the
professional genealogist will have an idea of where and how to look.

There is a LESLIE ELWOOD on the US Social Security death index, born
in August 1903 and who died in December 1945, but would this person
NOT be the same person you were looking for because of the age
difference?

You may also want to visit the genealogical website www.cyndislist.com
and find the information for searching in England/UK.

The answer you are looking for IS out there somewhere, but it is not
going to be easy finding it.

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga  (Genealogical Researcher/People Locator)

Hello 4keith-ga

Thanks for this additional information. I will follow up on it. The
Leslie Elwood you found is not the one we are looking for. I know that
he was born after 1920.This US based older Leslie Elwood is the only
Leslie Elwood I had found before contacting you.

We think that the Leslie Elwood we seek was born in London or
Winchester, but are not certain. If we did know the county where would
we go to check birth records? I am prepared to search several
counties. NB I have done some checking by hand at St Catherine's House
in London without success - I did not have time to complete the search
and at the time we were still uncertain of the spelling.I will try
again when we next visit.

Thanks

St Catherine's House has been replaced by The Family Records Office in
Islington.

Knowing approximate dates of birth and marriage, you should be able to
get a fix and then obtain his certificates.

Forget the 2001 Census!

Census records are typically made public 100 years after the event.

The Census records for 1901 are now available (on microfiche) at the
Public Record Office in Kew but there have been delays in compiling a
computerised index. I don't know if or when this problem has been
resolved.

Without the index, you need to find the microfiches by addresses but,
if your relation was born in the 1920's, then it will only point to
his parents, etc.

Regards

Thankyou probonopublico-ga.

I have found that Elwood is not too common as a surname so I am
prepared to search the records from 1901 - in the hope that it might
help fix the county of origin for Leslie Elwood a bit better.

Searching the 1901 Census by name is not feasible until the
computerised index becomes available. And 1901 is the latest year that
is available.

You have a much better chance (of finding his Birth and Marriage
Certificates) at the Family Record Centre.

Thanks again probonopublico-ga.

I will try to follow up at the Family Record Centre when we arenext in
the UK.As I have mentioned, I had previously spent many hours at St
Catherines House but that was when we were checking 4 spellings of the
name!

I have tried the other links that were suggested as a result of this
enquiry ( and others found on my own) and listed enquiries on member
boards for various army/airforce related web sites. I have also been
in touch with an archivist from a RAF unit that was based in Burma as
well to check if any of their members had any memories. Leslie remains
a mystery! I will keep trying.

Do you know how I can find out when and if the 1901 census data will
be computerized and available to the public? The existing web site is
not particularly helpful.

Thanks for your help.

The 1901 Census was supposed to have been indexed when it became
available in early January this year but the designers had seriously
under-estimated the traffic and there was egg over a lot of faces.

The last time I visited the PRO (a couple of months ago), no one was
prepared to even give an indication of when it would be fixed.

However, I found my father's side of the family fairly easily, by
having a very good idea of the road where they lived at the time.

I have had no success with my mother's side, even though I know the
village where they lived.

Presumably, the PRO will make an announcement on their site in due
course.

Hey ... Look at this!

Update: 09/10/02 

The test phase for the 1901 Census website is continuing. We have
increased the times it is available and extended it to Sundays. You
can now access it for 20 hours per day from 09.00 to 05.00 hours (GMT
+ 1 hour) Monday to Sunday.

Further information is available.

We are conducting this test phase in order to undertake detailed
monitoring and further optimise the site settings to ensure a good
user experience for the high levels of demand we expect in the early
days of the full Internet service.

If you do not have Internet access at home try your local library,
record office or cyber café. The online service will also be available
at the Family Records Centre, Islington and the Public Record Office
at Kew. For opening times, directions and other details about how to
access the service at both the FRC and PRO, Kew please telephone 020
8392 5200 or visit our website page:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/visit.htm

I found a lady by the name of Ivy Pritchard and her husband Les, in
the UK  doing performance pieces for theater. I used Google and the
key word "Ivy Pritchard" and found several references in the UK to a
woman by this name. I searched on one, and found reference to a
husband, named Les. Les and Ivy are pictured on the website, and are
quite elderly as of 1997, I would say in their mid to later 70's.
Perhaps there's a connection. I do a lot of genealogy research for
other folks, and am always amazed at the bizarre connections, so this
one wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Please let me know if this pans
out.

http://www.genx.org.uk/geny2k/performance.html


Here's the address of a cottage that an Ivy Pritchard runs in the UK,
complete with a nice photo. From the photo, we're looking at a woman
in her late 70's-80's. It also gives a phone number and address:

http://www.golden-valley.co.uk/olchon/

Hello sluggy-ga

What an amazing coincidence! Sadly, I know it isn't the one we are
looking for. We know Ivy Pritchard. After the war, she had a
successful nursing career, married and had 3 children. She died in
February this year. It is the Elwood connection that is proving
difficult.

Thanks anyway.

I've now tried searching the 1901 Census, on-line, and I still can't
get a fix on my mother's side ... even though I've got a copy of her
Birth Certificate (She was born 10 October 1899, so she should be
there.)

I guess that a lot of people were as indifferent to responding to the
Census in 1901 as they still are today.

Hello sim-ga

Thank you for this clarification. It has confirmed for me that I am
headed in the right direction . I also appreciate the listing of what
you have searched.

titch-ga