Research Forum

Is there an address on Janet's death certificate or does the name of the informant give you any clues as to where she was living before her death?

On her marriage to Arthur George HUNT does he give an age or a father's name which would help you identify her husband and his family.

As the name HUNT is not uncommon in Weston a letter to the local newspaper might produce some interest.   But it is possible that, given her age, Janet died in a residential home here with no family connections in the area.

It does look as if she had an interesting history so I do hope you can find out more about her.  Good Luck!

Hello Pat - and many thanks for replying.

The search for information on her life is a mighty big one with lots of tough avenues to go down, including dealing with the vagaries of US and Canadian records!

Critically however, since I posted initially, I have discovered that she was known as NETTIE from an early age and I'd speculate that she probably continued to be.

At this stage I do not have a copy of her death certificate or the marriage certificate to Mr Hunt, who may have been known as either Arthur or George, which took place in Bristol in the first quarter of 1941.  I believe that her previous husband Edward Nicholson was from Bristol also.  By the way, Nicholson was some 23 years her senior and was the son of an Edward Nicholson and his wife Sarah (nee Parslow).  It is quite possible given their ages etc that Mr Hunt may have been widowed or divorced prior to their marriage, and may have children who knew her pretty well.

I'm in Perthshire myself (coincidentally, where she was born) so am unfamiliar with Weston and details of local papers, cemeteries, nursing homes and any advice you might give there would be greatly appreciated.  I'm hoping that whether she either lived there or was in a nursing home, someone may remember her and be able to tell me a little about her, or perhaps have a photo or two.

I will endeavour to post further information as I get it.

Many thanks again.

A few more bits of information.  Janet died on 21st May 1986 and was cremated on 28th May, possibly at South Bristol Crematorium. 

Her death certificate states that she was a retired nurse and the widow of George Arthur Hunt (although the index of their marriage names him as Arthur G Hunt.

I believe she died at Ryddenwood, Upper Bristol Road, WSM, and the crematorium records state she died at 91 Upper Bristol Road.  Oddly enough, Ryddenwood appears to be a nursing home in Bristol Road Lower, but I suspect it may be shut down.  Any contact with knowledge of it may lead to records of her or possibly to any step-family she may have had through marriage to Mr Hunt.  Knowing who the people in her life were would of course be hugely useful. 

The applicant for her cremation was a Josephine Mary Day of 82 Worlebury Hill Road, WSM, which is a name that was being sought in the Weston area by someone else a few years ago according to an old Curious Fox entry.  This may have been a friend of hers, or possibly a care home member of staff, lawyer or someone from the council.

This afternoon, at the Help Session in Weston Library volunteers from the Society tried to help you.  They searched the Electoral Rolls for 1985 and 1986 for 91 Upper Bristol Road but found no mention of HUNT or DAY.  They also searched the Weston-super-Mare Newspapers for May 1986 but found no notice of Janet's death.

However, I see that you have now added more information including the mention of Ryddenwood Nursing Home which was at 85-91 Upper Bristol Road which is a different address. Searches of the Electoral Roll for that address might show how long Janet had been living there.  At our next Help Session in two weeks time, which will be the last one before the move to the new premises in October, we might be able to find some information for you. 

Janet NICHOLSON (as she was in 1941) married Arthur George HUNT in Bristol.  As she was cremated in Bristol and not Weston it does seem likely that there might be a connection in Bristol.  It may be helpful to get that marriage certificate.  It might give an age for her husband and should give a father's name for him.  It would also be useful to see how he signed his name (the person who gave the information for the death certificate may have got it the wrong way round). It would also show whether he had been married before and the witnesses' names might also be useful in identifying him or any step-family she gained on marriage.

Now that you also have an address for Josephine DAY have you tried contacting that address to see if anyone there knows her?  You mentioned the request on Curious Fox. That person was looking for a Josephine May DAY (not Mary) and DAY was her maiden name.  She had been married 3 times by the 1960s and I think that in that case it was unlikely for her to have given her name as DAY in 1986.

Hi Pat

I really appreciate your help - it feels less like I'm stabbing around in the dark!  And sorry the timing of my posting the update was a little out of sync!

From what I can gather there is a small discrepancy between reality and the crematorium record which gives the address where she died as 91 Upper Bristol Road and the death certificate which says Ryddenwood, Upper Bristol Road.  I did a web search and found a Ryddenwood Nursing Home at 85-91 Bristol Road Lower, and from looking at google maps it seems that it is Lower but very close to being Upper!  I imagine there was just a slight geographical error in the recording of her death at the time!  It would be very useful to know how long she lived there and whether there is a previous Weston address.

I agree that the Bristol connection is strong and the marriage certificate has been ordered to try to elicit more info about Arthur/George.

I'm also keen to try to track down anyone involved with Ryddenwood at the time - especially if records of her exist with the company/persons that owned the home (in google streetview, it appears to be mid way through conversion into apartments and the phone numbers I've found don't work), and particularly if this leads to someone who knew her.

I note your point re Josephine, though I was keeping an open mind as it is possible that her daughter thought she was May when she was Mary (after all we didn't know Janet's middle name, or that she was generally called Nettie, even on official documents, before this).  The odd thing was that the Josephine being sought, though much younger, had a similarly colourful life with "lost" children along the way, and in that way they had things in common so it is not too much of a stretch to think that, though they were apart age-wise, they may have been chums.  Josephine Day seems an unusual name too, and she may have used her maiden name professionally, or if her third marriage had ended in divorce.  I will try to investigate whether ther is a Day at the address, or any recollection of her on the part of the present occupants if I can ascertain who they are.

Thank you to you and your colleagues for helping - I hope it gives you an interesting case study and being so far away myself, its such a huge benefit to have local people thinking about the problem.  What you are doing is fantastic.

Best

Graeme

We searched the Electoral Roll for 85-91 Bristol Road Lower for 1985 & 1986 but although there was a large number of people living there who were entitled to vote there was no one with the surname HUNT, NUGENT or NICHOLSON.  This most probably means that she was there for under 1 year before she died, not long enough to have been entered.  The entries do not differentiate between staff and residents so it is impossible to give you a contact name for more information.

As the Home would have been registered by North Somerset Social Services you might get information about it or who to contact by emailing here  I'm not sure whether their records would go back to 1986, but the home was still in existance for some time after her death.

Did the marriage certificate give you any clues?

Hi Pat

Many thanks again for all your and your colleagues help.  I've not yet received the marriage certificate though it has been ordered, so hopefully I'll have that info in the next few days.

Interesting that she doesn't appear in the electoral roll at the home though.  I have emailed a couple of organisations who it appears may have had some involvement in the ownership of the home but no replies yet.

I have ascertained that her funeral was handled by Weston Funeral Services, who no longer appear to be in business.  It is possible that they were taken over by another firm but as yet I don't know whether this was the case.  It may be that records of her funeral arrangements would lead to solicitors/next of kin so this is probably a valid path to go down given that my primary goal is to identify and hopefully speak to people who knew her.

I will email the local authority to look into details of the home and its ownership as you suggest.

Many thanks again

Graeme