Bertie was born in Melton Mowbray, England. His family lived in Bromsgrove before settling in Birmingham. Bertie’s oldest daughter, Nancy, moved to Worcester.

Bertie Aldous

Born: 6 JAN 1896 in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire County, England

Father: William Aldous (1872 to 1929)
Mother: Sarah Annie Rogers (1873 to 1959)

Spouse: Elsie May Moore (1895 to 1961)

Married: 22 Nov 1919 in Ladywood, St John, Warwickshire County, England

Children:

Iris Kathleen Aldous (4 AUG 1920 to 22 OCT 2016)
Nancy May Aldous (22 DEC 1922 to 1990)

Died: 31 DEC 1960 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England

Burial: Lodge Hill Cemetery and Crematorium

Probate:

Timeline:

1901 Bromsgrove, Worcestershire County, England
1911 Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England
1919 Marriage to Elsie
1920 Birth of daughter, Iris
1922 Birth of daughter, Nancy
1929 Death of father, William
1939 Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England
1945 Death of brother, John
1959 Death of mother, Annie
1960 Death and Burial

Occupation: polisher (1919), plastic and bakelite tool mold fitting and buffer (1939)

Records:

1901 and 1911 England Census Records
1939 England and Wales Register
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
Birmingham, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005
UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941

Variations of Surname: none

Spouse:

Elsie May Moore:

Elsie was born on 18 APR 1895 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. She died on 5 SEP 1961 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England.

Elsie’s father was Andrew Moore. He was born on 11 JUN 1865 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. He died on 24 NOV 1920 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England.

Elsie’s mother was Sarah Ann Loxley. She was born on 18 AUG 1866 in Bidford, Warwickshire County, England. She died on 24 NOV 1930 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England.

Elsie had nine brothers and sisters. Three died in infancy, with one not named.

William Loxley Moore (1891 to 1953)
Jack Moore (1893 to 1969)
Harry Moore (1897 to 1953)
Iris Winifred Moore (1900 to 1961)
Andrew Moore (1901 to 1961)
Annie Madeline Moore (1903 to Unknown)
Lilian Elizabeth Moore (1904 to 1904)
George Newman Moore (1908 to 1908)

Daughters:

Iris Kathleen Aldous:

Iris was born on 4 AUG 1920 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. She died on 22 OCT 2016 in Worcester, Worcestershire County, England.

Iris married William Henry Farmer in 1942 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. One known child was born to this marriage:

Valerie A Farmer (1945)

William Henry Farmer was born on 3 APR 1919, birthplace unknown. He died in 2000 in Worcester, Worcestershire County, England.

Nancy May Aldous:

Nancy was born on 22 DEC 1922 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. She died in 1990 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England.

Nancy married William John Wright in 1944 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England. One known child was born to this marriage:

John C Wright (1951)

William John Wright was born on 23 JAN 1918 in Kings Norton, Warwickshire County, England. He died in 1984 in Birmingham, Warwickshire County, England.

History of the Parishes:

Many of England’s parishes are ancient places, some dating back to before the Norman Conquest of 1066. William the Conqueror ruled England from 1066 until he died in 1087. One year before his death, William commissioned his men to document a survey of all the lands of England and part of Wales. He wanted to find out:

“How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.”

The survey was called the Domesday Book. There are over 13,400 towns and villages recorded in this book, covering 40 of the old counties of England. The majority of these parishes still exist today.

Bertie was born in Melton Mowbray. His parents and the children lived in Bromsgrove before settling in Birmingham. Bertie’s oldest daughter, Nancy, moved to Worcester.

In the Domesday Book, these parishes were called Medeltone, Bremesgrave, Bermingeham, and Wirecestre. You can find other parishes by clicking on the link above.

Map of the Counties of England. Courtesy of the GENUKI website

You can learn about the history of England’s parishes on the GENUKI website. There is a map showing the counties of England. After you click on a county, a list of parishes will appear. Under each town is a National Gazetteer description for the year 1868.

The GENUKI website is a valuable tool that many genealogists use to research their English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish ancestors. After you click on a county on the map, you can find information on the following topics:

Archives & Libraries
Cemeteries
Census
Church History
Church Records
Churches
Civil Registration
Description & Travel
Directories
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Historical Geography
Maps
Medical Records
Merchant Marine
Migration, Internal
Military History
Names, Geographical
Names, Personal
Newspapers
Occupations
Politics & Government
Poor Houses, Poor Law
Population
Probate Records
Public Records
Religion & Religious Life
Schools
Social Life & Customs
Societies
Statistics
Taxation
Town Records
Voting Registers

These links will then take you to other websites that hold specific information on each topic. I wanted to find out more about Worcester genealogy, and this is what appeared in the search results:

Researchers may find one or more of the Worcestershire Mailing Lists useful in their research, and Worcestershire Surnames being researched are listed within Dave Newbury’s Worcestershire Surname Interests.

Surnames being researched in the county of Worcestershire – Worcestershire Surname Interests – compiled by Dave Newbury.

Bromsgrove BMSGH – “the Family History Site for North Worcestershire”.

The Midlands Historical Data project produces searchable facsimile copies of old local history books and directories of interest to genealogists. It specializes in the three counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire, working closely with libraries, archives, and family history societies in the area. Digital images are made freely available to participating organizations to improve public access. Free search index on its web-site to all its books. In many cases, payment will be required to see the extract.

RootsChat Messaging Forum – Worcestershire section.

The Worcestershire section of ‘Curious Fox’ – “The village-by-village contact site for anybody researching family history, genealogy and local history in the UK and Ireland”. Added 29 Nov 2006.

Bertie grew up in the 20th Century. To find details on English parishes in this era, I use websites like Wikipedia. Under Bromsgrove, I clicked on the 20th Century link and this is what appeared:

Bromsgrove was home from 1898 to 1966 to the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts, a company of craftsmen who produced many fine works of sculpture, ironwork, etc., including the gates of Buckingham Palace (whose locks are stamped with the Guild’s name), the lifts on the Lusitania, the Liver Birds on the Royal Liver Building and the famous statue adorning the Fortune Theatre in Drury Lane.

Nearly all nail making had ceased by the 1920s, with the very last workers dying in the 1950s. The last of the water mills, the Lint Mill, closed by the 1950s. The wagon works closed in 1964, as a result of the Beeching rail reorganization, the government’s response to the shift to road transport. The site was demolished and cleared in the 1980s.[p]

During the twentieth century, many people in Bromsgrove were employed in Birmingham, for instance at Longbridge’s car factory. Other allied employment came from Garringtons, a drop-forge plant in Aston Fields, from the 1940s. Garringtons closed in 2002.[72]

Motorways came to Bromsgrove with the construction of the M5 motorway to Lydiate Ash in 1962, and northwards from 1967 to 1970. The M42 motorway joining the A38 at the north end of Bromsgrove was opened in 1987[73] and in December 1989 the link to the M5 was opened.[74] A relief road on the west of the town was built to direct traffic away from the High Street, and a bypass was constructed on the eastern side of the town allowing traffic to avoid the town center entirely.

The town’s population expanded rapidly from the 1980s to the present, with new housing estates added to the south of the town, and infilling industrial areas such as the former railway works and Garrington’s in Aston Fields.

Notes:

Here are some links to websites that helped with my Aldous family research:

Aldous.net (Aldous family history and family tree)
Ancestors of Tim Farr, Descendants of Stephen Farr (family tree)
Reid-Schroeder Genealogies (family tree)
The Tree of Us (family tree)
Family Search (family tree website)
The Internet Surname Database (surname meaning and origins)
House of Names (coat of arms)

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also an excellent source for vital records.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. Records should include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are other websites on the internet for countries like Italy and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty. They would then move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline to that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!