Cyril BARTLAM of Broseley 1940

Hello Laurent

It appears that Cyril and Charlotte were married Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) 1939 shortly after the 1939 Register was compiled on 29 Sept 1939.  Charlotte seems to be recorded in the 1939 Register as a married house wife at Ellesmere so was she a widow when she married Cyril?

I can only find one child born to Cyril and Charlotte BARTLAM and that was a boy at Shrewsbury in 1946 so he could well still be alive.  I can't see him in the local phone directory and I can't see a marriage for him.

Mike

Hello Mike , 

Many thanks , that is far appreciated !

Kind regards , 

Laurent

Hi Mike,

The birth you found in 1946 has mother's maiden name of OAKLEY - I found it on FreeBMD and confirmed it on General Registrar website.  Which made me wonder if Charlotte was a widow when she married in 1939, or simply born Charlotte M. OAKLEY. I guess buying the marriage certificate is the best way to determine this.

Then I looked at 1939 National Register on Findmypast and the Charlotte M. OAKLEY living in Ellesmere was indexed by herself, but looking at the image of the record shows she was living with Oliver OAKLEY (married) and a son Dennis OAKLEY who was born in 1837, with his mother's maiden surname of TUDOR. There are a couple of other OAKLEY families on the same page. Therefore I'm thinking that Charlotte OAKLEY who married Cyril D W BARTLAM was a different woman. Again the 1939 marriage certificate should help clarify this.

What maks this even more confusing is that Cyril Duncan WATSON-BARTLAM married a second time to Joyce LEE in Stockport in 1948.

Hi Laurent,

Based on the info you gave on Cyril's birth I was able to find his birth record and his father, grandparents and aunts and uncles in the 1911 Census.His grandfather (Charles Ruby BARTLAM) was born in Ironbridge and his grtandmother (Mary Ann) was born in Cumberland. Cyril's mother had the maiden surname of EDWARDS.

If you have access to Findmypast I suggest you look at 1911 Census (and possibly 1891 and 1901 Census), find Archie's siblings then look for them in 1939 National Register.

Hope this helps

Phil

Thanks Phil .

I wonder if it is possible to find an living relative !

Regards , 

Laurent

Hi Laurent,

Based on my own experiences this is not an easy task, with mixed fortunes.I would advise you tread with care when you try to make contact, carefully expalin why you want to make contact, how you found them, and what your relationship might be with them. As I say I've had mixed fortunes finding some distant cousins from across the globe who I've since met and maintain regular contact with (mainly on family history matters), others I've made initial contact with but then they've suddenly stopped contact, and others who simply didn't reply!

Firstly I'd try to follow up on the son who was born in 1946, but as I can't find any further record for him (eg marriage, death, electoral roll, phone book listing) then that may be a dead end. Secondly I'd look at Ancestry website for family trees containing Cyril Bartram and contact the owners of those trees. I quickly found three different trees, including one with two sons born in 1952 and 1958.

Another trick that I know some have used is to simply Google the name or used the Linkedin website.

Last thought for now is to go back to the 1901 and 1911 Census records for BARTLAM family, then try to find those names in the 1939 National Register on Findmypast - if you don't subscribe try a local library. Any name that appears in the 1939 NR is almost certainly dead now, but try to search for their marriages, then look for their posible children using FreeBMD website (or Ancestry or Findmypast). Then try to find them in recent electoral rolls or phone books.

Happy hunting!

Phil

Hi Laurent

​I was born in Broseley and remember 31 High Street being know as Oakley's Garage. Free BMD shows that William OAKLEY married Gladys COWAN in 1915, and in 1920 they had a daughter called Charlotte who married Cyril D W BARTLAM in 1939. [Broseley was in Madeley registration district until 1935, then in Wenlock district until 1948 since when it has been in Bridgnoth district, so events that appear to have occurred in different places may well have happened in the same place.]
​It may be worth while trawling the phone book for any OAKLEYs still in Broseley, but a better bet may be to contact Broseley Local History Society at www. broseley.org uk - they regularly include requests for information about families in the Mailbox section of their quarterly newsletter.

Good luck!

John

Good evening Laurent,

I understand that you are seeking out relatives of Cyril Duncan Watson-Bartlam.

He was my father, I am his first born child, born on 2nd November 1946 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

My mother was Charlotte Mary Bartlam. She divorced Cyril (who called himself Carl) in the 1950's before marrying subsequently another three times.

My name was changed by deed poll to reflect that of my stepfather Alan Mitchell, however Carl's Watson-Bartlam connection was retained by my mother when changing my name from Mark Watson-Bartlam to Mark Watson-Mitchell.

My mother died nearly twenty years ago, probably regretting that she ever divorced my father.

If you wish to contact me my e-mail address is mark@addworth.co.uk and my mobile telephone number is 0044 7484 872011.

I await your reply.

Regards

Mark

Good evening John

Will Oakley was my grandfather and Gladys was my grandmother.

They did indeed have the garage at the top of the hill in Broseley, from where as a toddler I would jump into my red racing peddle car and sweep down the pavements right in through the church gates at the bottom of the hill.

Notoriously, I do remember taking a monkey wrench to the vicar's car, which resulted in my grandfather's boot going up my backside in justifiable rage. I still have the scar from the stitches on my forehead from being kicked on to the kitchen door handle. I respected and adored my grandfather, but I must have been a real terror.

John your memory is impressive - thank you.

Regards

Mark Watson-Mitchell