An explanation of how I carry out a trace
Firstly, you find the subject’s birth record. You can use www.findmypast.com or www.ancestry.co.uk for your searches. If you have a Date of Birth the job will take seconds. If you have no idea of his age, then it’s a few minutes per year to search. Once you find the entry in the indexes you will also find the mother’s maiden name.
Within a few years before the birth there should be a marriage between the two names. This again should take a few minutes per year to search.
If the parents are elderly, then its best to find siblings, which are usually to be found within
5 years either side of our subject’s birth. These can be identified by the mother’s maiden name being the same.
This is usually enough to get contact details from the electoral roll and directory enquiries. I use www.tracesmart.co.uk and www.192.com/ . A phone call or a carefully written letter will usually get a response from them.
The system falls down if the target is called Smith, Jones, Patel etc. However, there are only a few names that are very difficult to search for.
Searches for life events after 1984 are much easier as the database will bring up all the results for a name. Before 1984 they are stored quarterly in alphabetical order, hence the five or so minutes per year to search for each name per event, whether it is for a birth, death or marriage.
All it requires is a bit of patience and logical thinking for you to locate the people you are looking for.
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Monday, 1 September 2008
Saturday, 1 December 2007
Land Registry Searches
Among the sources of information that are publicly available are those from the Land Registry. Amongst other things, you can find out who is the owner of any house or land that is registered, how much it sold for, whether it is leasehold or freehold, and if there is a mortgage on the property. You can also get a plan of the property. As you can imagine this information is of great interest to people who work in property businesses, but the Land Registry offers a useful service to the people searcher as well.
You can find the Land Registry at http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/ and you can order documents online. The whole process is very easy. Currently a copy of the Title Register will cost you just £3.00. There are many commercial companies that will sell you property information at a mark up. For a difficult search it might be worth it. In that case I recommend you to Colin Johnston at Adflow Ltd http://www.adflow.co.uk/
A people searcher may find it useful to run a title search when you suspect that someone lives at an address, but that they do not show on the public electoral register. Is this sneaky? Maybe it is, but sometimes you have to think laterally to work out how to get the information you need to locate someone.
I suspect that this is what marks out the really good investigator – the ability to discover information legally that other people cannot.
Can you think of any other unusual ways to confirm an address and close the case? If so, please share it with me and your idea could appear in these pages. Go on, give it a try!
I have other methods myself and I will share them with you over time, but any of us could learn more.
Until next time ...
You can find the Land Registry at http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/ and you can order documents online. The whole process is very easy. Currently a copy of the Title Register will cost you just £3.00. There are many commercial companies that will sell you property information at a mark up. For a difficult search it might be worth it. In that case I recommend you to Colin Johnston at Adflow Ltd http://www.adflow.co.uk/
A people searcher may find it useful to run a title search when you suspect that someone lives at an address, but that they do not show on the public electoral register. Is this sneaky? Maybe it is, but sometimes you have to think laterally to work out how to get the information you need to locate someone.
I suspect that this is what marks out the really good investigator – the ability to discover information legally that other people cannot.
Can you think of any other unusual ways to confirm an address and close the case? If so, please share it with me and your idea could appear in these pages. Go on, give it a try!
I have other methods myself and I will share them with you over time, but any of us could learn more.
Until next time ...
Sunday, 5 August 2007
Credit Databases
The use of credit information in people searches
Most adults will have a credit file against their name. The file is created from the moment we seek credit from banks or finance houses. If you have never borrowed money you will not have a file.
People come off credit records as they enter old age. By then they will have paid off their mortgage and no longer using credit cards. Old people are not usually working and they are living off savings and any pension they may have.
Credit information is collected by financial institutions to enable them to decide whether a particular customer is a good risk for further loans. In other words, whether they be able to pay back the money leant to them.
Privacy and Data Protection:
A credit file will contain a lot of personal information such as:
• Full name
• Date of birth
• Addresses they are linked with
• Other names the subject is known by
• Any County Court Judgements
• Bankruptcies
A credit file is a private document that can only be accessed by people authorised to do so. The subject of the file can have a copy as it is their data. So can the financial institutions that the subject is doing business with. In the small print of the credit agreement you signed will be an agreement to give access to certain parties to the contents of your file.
As was mentioned above, the information is shared among financial institutions to examine the risk of further loans. It is also used to help locate people who not repaid their loan and moved away from their usual address.
Private investigators who have a Consumer Credit Licence under the Office of Fair Trading may make use of credit databases in the course of their work of tracing debtors. However it is not a tool that is appropriate for all purposes. Please see my previous article about the Data Protection Act at http://www.blood-ties.com/keepingontherightsideofthelaw.doc
Acceptable uses might include:
• Tracing debtors
• Finding beneficiaries
• For urgent medical reasons
• To prevent or solve crime
As the contents of a credit file are private, some protection has been created by the main Credit Reference Agencies by the marking of a ‘footprint’ on the file each time it is accessed. This means that the subject of the file can demand the reason for the search and a copy of any files held.
The use of credit files in the tracing of missing family and friends is rather out of their purpose. If I were to do it would be under the following conditions:
• I would use the ‘beneficiary locate’ rather than the ‘credit’ option
• I would not give my client any information from the file
• I would contact the subject directly and ask if they would be willing to receive contact from my client
You can read my Data Protection Policy at http://www.blood-ties.com/ethics.htm
Conclusion:
The truth of the matter is that there is still a huge demand for investigative services of one sort or another. The new laws for the protection of personal data and freedom of information will take a while to be adjusted to.
Breaches of the Data protection Act are being investigated and prosecuted by the Information Commissioners Office http://www.ico.gov.uk/ for a while it was just private investigators being brought to book, but now it also their clients as well. These have included law firms, businesses, individuals, insurance companies and finance companies as well.
The truth is that no one wants an old case coming back to bite you because it was not carried out in a legal fashion. So when you have an investigation to carry out it would be wise to choose a legal and ethical investigator that you can trust to get you the information you want within the law.
Most adults will have a credit file against their name. The file is created from the moment we seek credit from banks or finance houses. If you have never borrowed money you will not have a file.
People come off credit records as they enter old age. By then they will have paid off their mortgage and no longer using credit cards. Old people are not usually working and they are living off savings and any pension they may have.
Credit information is collected by financial institutions to enable them to decide whether a particular customer is a good risk for further loans. In other words, whether they be able to pay back the money leant to them.
Privacy and Data Protection:
A credit file will contain a lot of personal information such as:
• Full name
• Date of birth
• Addresses they are linked with
• Other names the subject is known by
• Any County Court Judgements
• Bankruptcies
A credit file is a private document that can only be accessed by people authorised to do so. The subject of the file can have a copy as it is their data. So can the financial institutions that the subject is doing business with. In the small print of the credit agreement you signed will be an agreement to give access to certain parties to the contents of your file.
As was mentioned above, the information is shared among financial institutions to examine the risk of further loans. It is also used to help locate people who not repaid their loan and moved away from their usual address.
Private investigators who have a Consumer Credit Licence under the Office of Fair Trading may make use of credit databases in the course of their work of tracing debtors. However it is not a tool that is appropriate for all purposes. Please see my previous article about the Data Protection Act at http://www.blood-ties.com/keepingontherightsideofthelaw.doc
Acceptable uses might include:
• Tracing debtors
• Finding beneficiaries
• For urgent medical reasons
• To prevent or solve crime
As the contents of a credit file are private, some protection has been created by the main Credit Reference Agencies by the marking of a ‘footprint’ on the file each time it is accessed. This means that the subject of the file can demand the reason for the search and a copy of any files held.
The use of credit files in the tracing of missing family and friends is rather out of their purpose. If I were to do it would be under the following conditions:
• I would use the ‘beneficiary locate’ rather than the ‘credit’ option
• I would not give my client any information from the file
• I would contact the subject directly and ask if they would be willing to receive contact from my client
You can read my Data Protection Policy at http://www.blood-ties.com/ethics.htm
Conclusion:
The truth of the matter is that there is still a huge demand for investigative services of one sort or another. The new laws for the protection of personal data and freedom of information will take a while to be adjusted to.
Breaches of the Data protection Act are being investigated and prosecuted by the Information Commissioners Office http://www.ico.gov.uk/ for a while it was just private investigators being brought to book, but now it also their clients as well. These have included law firms, businesses, individuals, insurance companies and finance companies as well.
The truth is that no one wants an old case coming back to bite you because it was not carried out in a legal fashion. So when you have an investigation to carry out it would be wise to choose a legal and ethical investigator that you can trust to get you the information you want within the law.
Saturday, 28 July 2007
See and be Seen
Sometimes you just can’t find the people you are looking for. You have tried everything you can think of, but still no joy. You have spent money on searches, you have scoured the web for hours, but you are still not getting anywhere.
BUT, before you give up I suggest that you should be proactive and take steps to make it easier for the people you are looking for to find you.
Think about it, we all spend time putting our names into Google at http://google.co.uk/ or trying Pipl at http://pipl.com/ so wouldn’t it be good if when you put in your name, up popped links to the people who were looking for you?
====================
Yes, it would be brilliant! But how can it be achieved?
====================
The magic of Web 2.0:
The thing that makes it possible is a major change in the way the internet is working. The major change has been in the development of social sites like My Space at http://www.myspace.com/ and Face Book at http://www.facebook.com/ Here are a few more at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites For a more complete list take a look at http://www.go2web20.net/
The big change is in the realms of reciprocity and interactivity. In the past someone would put up a website and others would use it or not. Now you can interact with much of the material online. You can add to it, criticise it, create your own projects, and share it with others. The media can be words, pictures, video, music, poetry or what have you.
Most of the services are part of the big Internet Service Providers and web search tools. It is mostly free to the user.
Most of the services allow you to post your pieces onto their servers and it will be stored there. Gone are the days when you had to store everything on your own computer. More and more can be accessed remotely.
====================
So, how can this help me?
====================
What I am suggesting is that you create a place of your own on the Internet. Maybe lots of places!
Places where you can tell your story … leave your details … post some photographs … even a family tree!
====================
The aim is to make yourself findable by the people you are looking for.
====================
How and where to do it?
Message Boards:
I would start by using all the free Message Boards you can find on the internet. Try the forum on my website at http://www.blood-ties.com/findforum/index.php or try Friends Reunited at http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/ or Missing You at http://www.missing-you.net/index.php or Message Match at http://www.ukpeoplefinder.com/about_messagematch.asp and another good one is Look Up UK at http://www.lookupuk.com/
Social sites:
Be young and cool and sign up for a My Space page at http://www.myspace.com/ It won’t take long to make your first page, but remember to keep going back to update and add to it and to check who has been visiting.
In the same vein are ICQ at http://www.icq.com or Friendster at http://www.friendster.com/ or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com and loads of others
Genealogy sites:
Genealogy has become extremely popular and there are many sites to help you become more visible.
You could try Genes Reunited at http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/ which makes the whole process really easy. You start by creating your family tree with the information you already know, then you start to search for more family and finally you contact other genealogists who have other branches of your tree.
To find others who are studying a particular family you could take a look at http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/ and get connected. All you need to do is post looking for the person with a few details. You may find them, but just as importantly you have left a link that can be found by anyone following you who enters their name into Google.
Create a Blog:
You can create a blog for FREE at Blogger http://www.blogger.com or at Word Press at http://wordpress.com/
Search engines like blogs when they are regularly updated. So add one piece at a time and keep coming back with more information and photos etc.
Blog and Ping!
After you have posted to your blog you will need to let the search engines know that you have new material on there. You need to Ping them. Try Ping-O-Matic at http://pingomatic.com/ to make the job easier.
Write articles and post them on the web:
Any articles you write on your family and your searches can be posted on your blog. However, you can also post them on article sites like http://www.EzineArticles.com or http://www.ArticleCity.com or http://www.GoArticles.com this could mean your articles appearing all over the web and all linking back to your blog. Very powerful!
How to promote your page:
If you are interested in this mysterious art perhaps you should read the Authority Black Book, which you can download from http://www.authorityblackbook.com/ this book will open your eyes to how to make your mark on the web.
The Risks:
So what are the risks of creating a presence on the internet?
Identity theft? … False applicants? … Spam?
Well yes, you need to be careful that you are not giving away information that will make you or your family vulnerable to attack. However, you don’t need to give away all your personal information on your blog. You may well get more spam in your inbox. I get stacks! You may also be approached by some strange people …
But, you may also be contacted by members of your family and old friends. I know which I prefer … and I think it’s worth it!
Conclusion:
If you can’t find people through the skills and tools of the Private Investigator, you may think of making yourself easier for others to find.
As we have seen, it is not an enormous task to create your own presence on web. I hope that you will do it and be seen by those looking for you.
Good luck!
BUT, before you give up I suggest that you should be proactive and take steps to make it easier for the people you are looking for to find you.
Think about it, we all spend time putting our names into Google at http://google.co.uk/ or trying Pipl at http://pipl.com/ so wouldn’t it be good if when you put in your name, up popped links to the people who were looking for you?
====================
Yes, it would be brilliant! But how can it be achieved?
====================
The magic of Web 2.0:
The thing that makes it possible is a major change in the way the internet is working. The major change has been in the development of social sites like My Space at http://www.myspace.com/ and Face Book at http://www.facebook.com/ Here are a few more at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites For a more complete list take a look at http://www.go2web20.net/
The big change is in the realms of reciprocity and interactivity. In the past someone would put up a website and others would use it or not. Now you can interact with much of the material online. You can add to it, criticise it, create your own projects, and share it with others. The media can be words, pictures, video, music, poetry or what have you.
Most of the services are part of the big Internet Service Providers and web search tools. It is mostly free to the user.
Most of the services allow you to post your pieces onto their servers and it will be stored there. Gone are the days when you had to store everything on your own computer. More and more can be accessed remotely.
====================
So, how can this help me?
====================
What I am suggesting is that you create a place of your own on the Internet. Maybe lots of places!
Places where you can tell your story … leave your details … post some photographs … even a family tree!
====================
The aim is to make yourself findable by the people you are looking for.
====================
How and where to do it?
Message Boards:
I would start by using all the free Message Boards you can find on the internet. Try the forum on my website at http://www.blood-ties.com/findforum/index.php or try Friends Reunited at http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/ or Missing You at http://www.missing-you.net/index.php or Message Match at http://www.ukpeoplefinder.com/about_messagematch.asp and another good one is Look Up UK at http://www.lookupuk.com/
Social sites:
Be young and cool and sign up for a My Space page at http://www.myspace.com/ It won’t take long to make your first page, but remember to keep going back to update and add to it and to check who has been visiting.
In the same vein are ICQ at http://www.icq.com or Friendster at http://www.friendster.com/ or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com and loads of others
Genealogy sites:
Genealogy has become extremely popular and there are many sites to help you become more visible.
You could try Genes Reunited at http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/ which makes the whole process really easy. You start by creating your family tree with the information you already know, then you start to search for more family and finally you contact other genealogists who have other branches of your tree.
To find others who are studying a particular family you could take a look at http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/ and get connected. All you need to do is post looking for the person with a few details. You may find them, but just as importantly you have left a link that can be found by anyone following you who enters their name into Google.
Create a Blog:
You can create a blog for FREE at Blogger http://www.blogger.com or at Word Press at http://wordpress.com/
Search engines like blogs when they are regularly updated. So add one piece at a time and keep coming back with more information and photos etc.
Blog and Ping!
After you have posted to your blog you will need to let the search engines know that you have new material on there. You need to Ping them. Try Ping-O-Matic at http://pingomatic.com/ to make the job easier.
Write articles and post them on the web:
Any articles you write on your family and your searches can be posted on your blog. However, you can also post them on article sites like http://www.EzineArticles.com or http://www.ArticleCity.com or http://www.GoArticles.com this could mean your articles appearing all over the web and all linking back to your blog. Very powerful!
How to promote your page:
If you are interested in this mysterious art perhaps you should read the Authority Black Book, which you can download from http://www.authorityblackbook.com/ this book will open your eyes to how to make your mark on the web.
The Risks:
So what are the risks of creating a presence on the internet?
Identity theft? … False applicants? … Spam?
Well yes, you need to be careful that you are not giving away information that will make you or your family vulnerable to attack. However, you don’t need to give away all your personal information on your blog. You may well get more spam in your inbox. I get stacks! You may also be approached by some strange people …
But, you may also be contacted by members of your family and old friends. I know which I prefer … and I think it’s worth it!
Conclusion:
If you can’t find people through the skills and tools of the Private Investigator, you may think of making yourself easier for others to find.
As we have seen, it is not an enormous task to create your own presence on web. I hope that you will do it and be seen by those looking for you.
Good luck!
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Where there is a Will there is a Way
This article is about a useful tool in the People Searcher’s toolbox – the Last Will and Testament. Wills are public documents and they can help fill in gaps in your family research. In this article I will explain what you may learn from a Will and how to get a copy for yourself. I also ask who writes a Will and why so many people don’t ever get around to it.
What is a Will?
A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that is drawn up in life and while in sound mind that expresses a person’s wishes for winding up their affairs after death. The will can specify the nature of the funeral wanted, any donations to charities and who is to inherit any property.
The Will names one or more people to be Executors to the estate. An Executor is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the wishes of the deceased. An executor may also be a beneficiary named in the Will. It is the job of the Executor to obtain Probate. Most people will instruct a solicitor to help them, but you can do it on your own.
A Will is only valid if it is witnessed by two people who are not related to the person writing the will and who are not going to benefit under the terms of the Will.
What can you learn from a Will?
A Will is useful in family research as it is another source of names and addresses of family members and other beneficiaries. This can help develop your knowledge of the family.
Some wills have additional information in them that could enlighten you about the Testator’s life and wishes. These insights can be very useful in your researches.
How to find a Will
If you are based in London, or can visit easily, you may visit:
The Principal Probate Registry
First Avenue House
42-49 High Holborn
London WC1V 6NP
Tel: 020 7210 2266
You can do a postal search by writing to:
The Postal Searches and Copies Department
York Probate Sub-Registry
1st Floor
Castle Chambers
Clifford Street
York
YO1 9RG
You will need to give the full name, address and date of death of the deceased, stating what you require and enclosing the appropriate fee, which presently is £5.
Here is the website of the Probate Service http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm
A form that you can fill in to request a search can be found at
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa1s_0405.pdf
Why write a Will?
I would strongly recommend everyone to write a Will and to keep it updated. This so that your property and savings will go to the people you love and who love you.
How to write a will:
You can use a solicitor to help prepare your Will. I would recommend this if you have a complicated estate with money abroad etc.
You can also employ a professional will writer, who will visit you at home. Check that they are members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers or the Society of Will Writers.
You can also buy Will packs and forms at most stationers and bookshops. You will need to make a bit of study before doing this as you need to think about all the possible outcomes. You and your partner may need to create mirror Wills that allow for either to die first. Remember to get two witnesses to sign them.
Will storage:
Having written a Will it is worth considering where to keep it safely. The important thing is that the Will can be found after your death. You may choose to keep it at home, or in the bank or with you solicitors. You can also keep your will at Probate Registry. For details see http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1218.htm
Why people don’t want to write a will?
Less than half of us ever make a Will. This is disappointing to family researchers, but a tragedy to family and friends of the person who dies.
I am not fully sure why we put off the decision to write our will until it is too late. Maybe it is really human nature not to do today what we can put off until tomorrow, but I suspect it is also distaste at looking death in the eye. Sadly we are all going to die, so it makes sense to plan for it.
What happens if you don’t write a Will?
If you don’t write a Will your property will be divided amongst your family according to the Rules of Intestacy. This could mean that your money will go to people who might not be your first choice.
If no close relatives can be found the estate will eventually be passed to the Crown, which in my view is a waste. To learn more about this take a look at the Bona Vacantia website at http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/
As can be imagined, there may be funds, investments, bank accounts etc. that are never found and just lie idle as no one knew of their existence. This could be more money to add to the millions of pounds of unclaimed funds in this country alone.
Conclusion:
To write a Will is a very kind gesture to make to your family and dependants. It will help to continue your care for them after your death.
It is not too hard a task to do nor too expensive and it makes sorting out the estate much easier and quicker.
And remember you are helping to create another helpful document for the genealogist and the family researcher!
What is a Will?
A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that is drawn up in life and while in sound mind that expresses a person’s wishes for winding up their affairs after death. The will can specify the nature of the funeral wanted, any donations to charities and who is to inherit any property.
The Will names one or more people to be Executors to the estate. An Executor is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the wishes of the deceased. An executor may also be a beneficiary named in the Will. It is the job of the Executor to obtain Probate. Most people will instruct a solicitor to help them, but you can do it on your own.
A Will is only valid if it is witnessed by two people who are not related to the person writing the will and who are not going to benefit under the terms of the Will.
What can you learn from a Will?
A Will is useful in family research as it is another source of names and addresses of family members and other beneficiaries. This can help develop your knowledge of the family.
Some wills have additional information in them that could enlighten you about the Testator’s life and wishes. These insights can be very useful in your researches.
How to find a Will
If you are based in London, or can visit easily, you may visit:
The Principal Probate Registry
First Avenue House
42-49 High Holborn
London WC1V 6NP
Tel: 020 7210 2266
You can do a postal search by writing to:
The Postal Searches and Copies Department
York Probate Sub-Registry
1st Floor
Castle Chambers
Clifford Street
York
YO1 9RG
You will need to give the full name, address and date of death of the deceased, stating what you require and enclosing the appropriate fee, which presently is £5.
Here is the website of the Probate Service http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm
A form that you can fill in to request a search can be found at
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa1s_0405.pdf
Why write a Will?
I would strongly recommend everyone to write a Will and to keep it updated. This so that your property and savings will go to the people you love and who love you.
How to write a will:
You can use a solicitor to help prepare your Will. I would recommend this if you have a complicated estate with money abroad etc.
You can also employ a professional will writer, who will visit you at home. Check that they are members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers or the Society of Will Writers.
You can also buy Will packs and forms at most stationers and bookshops. You will need to make a bit of study before doing this as you need to think about all the possible outcomes. You and your partner may need to create mirror Wills that allow for either to die first. Remember to get two witnesses to sign them.
Will storage:
Having written a Will it is worth considering where to keep it safely. The important thing is that the Will can be found after your death. You may choose to keep it at home, or in the bank or with you solicitors. You can also keep your will at Probate Registry. For details see http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1218.htm
Why people don’t want to write a will?
Less than half of us ever make a Will. This is disappointing to family researchers, but a tragedy to family and friends of the person who dies.
I am not fully sure why we put off the decision to write our will until it is too late. Maybe it is really human nature not to do today what we can put off until tomorrow, but I suspect it is also distaste at looking death in the eye. Sadly we are all going to die, so it makes sense to plan for it.
What happens if you don’t write a Will?
If you don’t write a Will your property will be divided amongst your family according to the Rules of Intestacy. This could mean that your money will go to people who might not be your first choice.
If no close relatives can be found the estate will eventually be passed to the Crown, which in my view is a waste. To learn more about this take a look at the Bona Vacantia website at http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/
As can be imagined, there may be funds, investments, bank accounts etc. that are never found and just lie idle as no one knew of their existence. This could be more money to add to the millions of pounds of unclaimed funds in this country alone.
Conclusion:
To write a Will is a very kind gesture to make to your family and dependants. It will help to continue your care for them after your death.
It is not too hard a task to do nor too expensive and it makes sorting out the estate much easier and quicker.
And remember you are helping to create another helpful document for the genealogist and the family researcher!
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Change of Name
Many people chose to change their name in the course of their lives. They may have many reasons for taking this step, but under common law a person may take a new name without drawing up any formal documents so long as it is not done for the purpose of fraud or the avoidance of debt etc.
Reasons for a change of name:
Good reasons: -
A new name may be chosen for various reasons. These include on marriage and divorce, because of preference of one name over another, to anglicise a foreign name, to create a name more suitable for show business, or to adopt a new name when they enter or are confirmed into a religion or faith.
Bad reasons: -
Dodgy reasons for changing name might include: fraud, child abuse and murder. Take a look at this article on the BBC website for thoughts on this. http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series11/week5_deed_polls.shtml
Common usage:
Most name changes fall into this category. It is perfectly acceptable to alter your name if you want to.
It is traditional for a woman to take on her husband's surname on marriage, but it is not automatic and there is no legal requirement for her to do so. Effectively if a woman does change her surname to her husband's name it is done through the common usage route. If a woman decides to retain the surname in use prior to the marriage, she is not required to do anything legally to keep the surname except to continue to use it.
After a divorce a woman can go back to her previous name again if she chooses.
This situation will also apply to same sex couples who will be entering into a civil partnership from 5th December 2005.
It is easy to deal with authorities by giving a copy of a marriage certificate or divorce decree to banks, the DVLA, the local council and so on.
As mentioned in other articles, some people choose to be known by their middle name instead of by their first name. This is fine, but it can make locating them much more difficult.
How to change your name:
As mentioned above this can simply be achieved by means of common usage, however there are legal ways to change a name as well. These include:
Change of name by deed pool, enrolment, royal licences and acts of parliament. Of these the most common is to change name by means of deed poll.
A deed poll for change of name is a document drawn up, signed and sealed that makes plain the intention to live under a new name. Deed polls can now be created on the internet and become legal documents once they are signed and witnessed. They can be drawn up by a solicitor, who can then enrol them for safekeeping in the Close Rolls of Chancery or the later Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The process of enrolling was in fact rarely done as it is an extra cost.
Names can also be changed by swearing before a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner of Oaths, but in these cases they cannot be enrolled.
Some people change their name by means of an advertisement in the newspapers or in the gazette. Please see the gazettes http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/
Please see below for more information:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/files/deedpoll_notes_0906.doc
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/Leaflets/ri2250.htm
How to find if someone has changed their name:
There is no central source of information that records all changes of names. Deed polls are not in fact recorded unless an extra payment is made to have them enrolled. The deed poll would have been given to the person who changed their name and no other certified copy would have existed.
If the deed poll was enrolled, it may be found initially at the Royal Courts of Justice at: Room 81, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2 A 2LL (Tel: 020 7947 6656).
After about 7 to 10 years they are transferred to the National Archives, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU
Tel: +44 (0)20 8876 3444 Fax: +44 (0)20 8392 5286
Conclusion:
As you will have guessed, a change of name makes the job of finding someone much more difficult. Where there is no paper trail to follow you will need to look at trying other avenues. This is where it is useful to practice a little lateral thinking and instead locate the subject’s friends, colleagues or family as they may be able to help you find the person you are looking for.
Reasons for a change of name:
Good reasons: -
A new name may be chosen for various reasons. These include on marriage and divorce, because of preference of one name over another, to anglicise a foreign name, to create a name more suitable for show business, or to adopt a new name when they enter or are confirmed into a religion or faith.
Bad reasons: -
Dodgy reasons for changing name might include: fraud, child abuse and murder. Take a look at this article on the BBC website for thoughts on this. http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series11/week5_deed_polls.shtml
Common usage:
Most name changes fall into this category. It is perfectly acceptable to alter your name if you want to.
It is traditional for a woman to take on her husband's surname on marriage, but it is not automatic and there is no legal requirement for her to do so. Effectively if a woman does change her surname to her husband's name it is done through the common usage route. If a woman decides to retain the surname in use prior to the marriage, she is not required to do anything legally to keep the surname except to continue to use it.
After a divorce a woman can go back to her previous name again if she chooses.
This situation will also apply to same sex couples who will be entering into a civil partnership from 5th December 2005.
It is easy to deal with authorities by giving a copy of a marriage certificate or divorce decree to banks, the DVLA, the local council and so on.
As mentioned in other articles, some people choose to be known by their middle name instead of by their first name. This is fine, but it can make locating them much more difficult.
How to change your name:
As mentioned above this can simply be achieved by means of common usage, however there are legal ways to change a name as well. These include:
Change of name by deed pool, enrolment, royal licences and acts of parliament. Of these the most common is to change name by means of deed poll.
A deed poll for change of name is a document drawn up, signed and sealed that makes plain the intention to live under a new name. Deed polls can now be created on the internet and become legal documents once they are signed and witnessed. They can be drawn up by a solicitor, who can then enrol them for safekeeping in the Close Rolls of Chancery or the later Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The process of enrolling was in fact rarely done as it is an extra cost.
Names can also be changed by swearing before a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner of Oaths, but in these cases they cannot be enrolled.
Some people change their name by means of an advertisement in the newspapers or in the gazette. Please see the gazettes http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/
Please see below for more information:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/files/deedpoll_notes_0906.doc
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/Leaflets/ri2250.htm
How to find if someone has changed their name:
There is no central source of information that records all changes of names. Deed polls are not in fact recorded unless an extra payment is made to have them enrolled. The deed poll would have been given to the person who changed their name and no other certified copy would have existed.
If the deed poll was enrolled, it may be found initially at the Royal Courts of Justice at: Room 81, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2 A 2LL (Tel: 020 7947 6656).
After about 7 to 10 years they are transferred to the National Archives, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU
Tel: +44 (0)20 8876 3444 Fax: +44 (0)20 8392 5286
Conclusion:
As you will have guessed, a change of name makes the job of finding someone much more difficult. Where there is no paper trail to follow you will need to look at trying other avenues. This is where it is useful to practice a little lateral thinking and instead locate the subject’s friends, colleagues or family as they may be able to help you find the person you are looking for.
Friday, 29 June 2007
Failure! - Or where I can’t find the man I am asked to look for.
Welcome back to the latest issue of the 'UK People Search News'.
It seems only fair that I share with you an example of where I have been unsuccessful in one of my tracing assignments. As can happen I devoted many hours to the search and spent quite a bit of money without any result. As you will see the whole case is inconclusive and at the end I set out some possible reasons why I could not get on the trail.
Background:
I was asked to look for a man who we will call James Anderson. The information I was given was:
1. that he was born around 1953
2. that he had been raised in Caithness
3. that he lived in Lambeth
4. that he was thought to be very ill with cancer and that he may have died
5. that he was a care worker for the London Borough of Hackney
6. I was given an old mobile telephone number
7. I was given an old land telephone number
The Investigation:
An investigation is a series of steps taken that hopefully develop information about the person you are looking for and should eventually lead to the person themselves. With the best will in the world, you never know how many corners you will have to turn to find someone, or indeed if you will find them at all.
1. I looked in the electoral register for Lambeth and listed all the people with the name John Anderson. I used Tracesmart at http://www.tracesmart.co.uk/ to find all the John Andersons that were listed as being born in the period 1952 to 1954.
2. I also checked electoral registers going back to 1992 on CD and DVD ROMs, but with no obvious signs.
3. I used the telephone directory to find all the J. Anderson’s in the target area as well.
4. I rang the old telephone numbers I was given to find that they were disconnected. I used an Online Codelook at http://www.magsys.co.uk/telecom/codelook.asp to find the location of the land number. It was Streatham Hill / Herne Hill area.
5. I entered the land number into AFD Names and Numbers (a paid service) and discovered that it had been an ex-directory number.
6. The next step was to phone the Registry Office in Lambeth to ask if a death had been registered in the last 6 months. They looked up the name and said that no there had been no registration of that name in the last year.
7. I phoned the Human Resources Department in the LB Hackney and asked if I could forward a letter to a member of their staff. They agreed and I duly wrote to Mr John Anderson. In a few days I received a call saying that they did not have a Mr John Anderson on their books.
8. I wrote to the local hospitals addressed to the hospital social workers, but I was not surprised when I had no reply. I also rang the cancer wards and asked for Mr Anderson by name, but with no luck.
9. By this stage I was beginning to realise that I had no real information about my subject, so I decided to try to find his birth certificate. My first move was to look him up in England and Wales using the Find My Past site at http://www.findmypast.com/index.html but I couldn’t find anything very likely.
10. I suspect that he had been born in Scotland, but there is no online search facility for that, so initially I phone New Register House in Edinburgh to ask for a 5 year search from 1951 to 1955. They called back to say that there was no one answer to my request so they would not be sending me any certificates. Now, I have family in Edinburgh, so it was time to go on a visit and pop into New Register House while I was there. Sitting at their monitors in the archive under the great dome roof, I found 3 possible entries of the right name and in the right area. I also came away with their dates of birth and so on.
11. Using the dates of birth and the Tracesmart service I was able to locate the three John Andersons who were dotted around Great Britain and Northern Ireland. None of them was our man!
12. In quiet moments, I looked up the name on the internet, but with no success. I looked him up on a Director Search at Companies House and checked to see if he was an undischarged bankrupt. But no matches anywhere.
Conclusion:
As you can see, despite quite thorough checks, I was unable to develop much further information about my subject.
So why is this?
My guess is that my client did not have some very basic information right. For example, what if we had his name wrong?
It could be incorrectly spelled, or more likely this is a case where the first and middle names have been reversed.
How does this work?
Say that you were christened Derek John Anderson, but you didn’t like the name Derek, you may choose to call yourself John Anderson. However, it is likely that all your official documents would still show your name as Derek Anderson.
Last thoughts:
I often find that unsolved cases can be solved after leaving them aside for a while. A fresh eye may see things that I had missed the first time around. As to whether I will ever find this particular gentleman, I don’t know, but I hope that I have learnt something along the way and that I am getting better at finding people.
******************
I hope that this information is useful and that it helps you to find the person you are looking for.
I run a people finding service called Blood-Ties Tracing Service, which you can find at http://www.blood-ties.com/. I should be happy to help you in your searches.
Archives of these e-letters can be found on the 'UK People Search News' at http://uk-people-search.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to re-publish this article so long as it remains unaltered and this resource box is included.
The views expressed in my articles are mine alone and while they are effective methods used in my own business I cannot guarantee the results that you will achieve. While these articles are written with every care, I am not a lawyer and you should consider the legality and morality of any steps you take to trace people. Please remember that your investigation could cause distress to others so tread gently and make sure your contact is welcome to them.
Until next week -
Best regards,
Giles
info@blood-ties.com
********************
It seems only fair that I share with you an example of where I have been unsuccessful in one of my tracing assignments. As can happen I devoted many hours to the search and spent quite a bit of money without any result. As you will see the whole case is inconclusive and at the end I set out some possible reasons why I could not get on the trail.
Background:
I was asked to look for a man who we will call James Anderson. The information I was given was:
1. that he was born around 1953
2. that he had been raised in Caithness
3. that he lived in Lambeth
4. that he was thought to be very ill with cancer and that he may have died
5. that he was a care worker for the London Borough of Hackney
6. I was given an old mobile telephone number
7. I was given an old land telephone number
The Investigation:
An investigation is a series of steps taken that hopefully develop information about the person you are looking for and should eventually lead to the person themselves. With the best will in the world, you never know how many corners you will have to turn to find someone, or indeed if you will find them at all.
1. I looked in the electoral register for Lambeth and listed all the people with the name John Anderson. I used Tracesmart at http://www.tracesmart.co.uk/ to find all the John Andersons that were listed as being born in the period 1952 to 1954.
2. I also checked electoral registers going back to 1992 on CD and DVD ROMs, but with no obvious signs.
3. I used the telephone directory to find all the J. Anderson’s in the target area as well.
4. I rang the old telephone numbers I was given to find that they were disconnected. I used an Online Codelook at http://www.magsys.co.uk/telecom/codelook.asp to find the location of the land number. It was Streatham Hill / Herne Hill area.
5. I entered the land number into AFD Names and Numbers (a paid service) and discovered that it had been an ex-directory number.
6. The next step was to phone the Registry Office in Lambeth to ask if a death had been registered in the last 6 months. They looked up the name and said that no there had been no registration of that name in the last year.
7. I phoned the Human Resources Department in the LB Hackney and asked if I could forward a letter to a member of their staff. They agreed and I duly wrote to Mr John Anderson. In a few days I received a call saying that they did not have a Mr John Anderson on their books.
8. I wrote to the local hospitals addressed to the hospital social workers, but I was not surprised when I had no reply. I also rang the cancer wards and asked for Mr Anderson by name, but with no luck.
9. By this stage I was beginning to realise that I had no real information about my subject, so I decided to try to find his birth certificate. My first move was to look him up in England and Wales using the Find My Past site at http://www.findmypast.com/index.html but I couldn’t find anything very likely.
10. I suspect that he had been born in Scotland, but there is no online search facility for that, so initially I phone New Register House in Edinburgh to ask for a 5 year search from 1951 to 1955. They called back to say that there was no one answer to my request so they would not be sending me any certificates. Now, I have family in Edinburgh, so it was time to go on a visit and pop into New Register House while I was there. Sitting at their monitors in the archive under the great dome roof, I found 3 possible entries of the right name and in the right area. I also came away with their dates of birth and so on.
11. Using the dates of birth and the Tracesmart service I was able to locate the three John Andersons who were dotted around Great Britain and Northern Ireland. None of them was our man!
12. In quiet moments, I looked up the name on the internet, but with no success. I looked him up on a Director Search at Companies House and checked to see if he was an undischarged bankrupt. But no matches anywhere.
Conclusion:
As you can see, despite quite thorough checks, I was unable to develop much further information about my subject.
So why is this?
My guess is that my client did not have some very basic information right. For example, what if we had his name wrong?
It could be incorrectly spelled, or more likely this is a case where the first and middle names have been reversed.
How does this work?
Say that you were christened Derek John Anderson, but you didn’t like the name Derek, you may choose to call yourself John Anderson. However, it is likely that all your official documents would still show your name as Derek Anderson.
Last thoughts:
I often find that unsolved cases can be solved after leaving them aside for a while. A fresh eye may see things that I had missed the first time around. As to whether I will ever find this particular gentleman, I don’t know, but I hope that I have learnt something along the way and that I am getting better at finding people.
******************
I hope that this information is useful and that it helps you to find the person you are looking for.
I run a people finding service called Blood-Ties Tracing Service, which you can find at http://www.blood-ties.com/. I should be happy to help you in your searches.
Archives of these e-letters can be found on the 'UK People Search News' at http://uk-people-search.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to re-publish this article so long as it remains unaltered and this resource box is included.
The views expressed in my articles are mine alone and while they are effective methods used in my own business I cannot guarantee the results that you will achieve. While these articles are written with every care, I am not a lawyer and you should consider the legality and morality of any steps you take to trace people. Please remember that your investigation could cause distress to others so tread gently and make sure your contact is welcome to them.
Until next week -
Best regards,
Giles
info@blood-ties.com
********************
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