Family History: Internet Sleuthing - don't forget Facebook

For those readers who like genealogical / family history detective stories, I will splice in a taster here of a possible unravelling of a knot.








My grandfather Harry Johnson was it seems a breezy, blousy, overweight and heavy drinking Northerner. He settled in South London, working as a Stockbroker’s Clerk in the City of London. In the 1911 UK Census, he admits to having been born in Salford, Lancashire in 1879. In both of his marriage certificates, he cites his father as ‘Robert Edwin Johnson, Brush Manufacturer’.

Male-line YDNA has confirmed the circumstantial evidence available in the birth, marriages and deaths records that Harry was in fact born Harry Shorrocks, son of Robert Edwin Shorrocks, Brush Manufacturer, of Salford, and that he changed his name to Harry Johnson when he ‘did a runner’ around 1903-05 to escape the past or evade the law. None of his descendants had been previously aware of the change of name.

In the light of the discovery, I have been trying for some years to re-establish contacts with Harry’s father’s family and in particular with the descendants of Harry’s younger brother Robert Mallinson Shorrocks (born 1887).

Just yesterday, I became aware that Nigel Giles had posted new information about relatives of his wife on his GenesReunited Family Tree. His wife’s link is to the Tittle family, one of whom married a Robert Shorrocks (who was born in 1926) - he is one of the sons of Robert Mallinson Shorrocks. The Tree also notes the three children of Robert Shorrocks and Marny Tittle, namely Robert (born 1955), Marjorie (born 1954) and Norma (born 1952), and gives as well the names of the seven grandchildren.

I then paid about UK 7 pounds to obtain online access to the UK Edited Voters’ Rolls through LocateGB.com.

A few hours’ work helped me to narrow down the whereabouts of the families of Norma, Marjorie and Robert.

But the Internet - and modern online networking offers more.

The grandchildren then came into play. They are devotees of Facebook - and I was able to identify them there. I have posted their pictures above. So – even if my attempts to link directly to the families (and pursue the issue of Harry’s disappearance) fail - I now have some great photos of my young rellies!!