A Christmas Greeting from the Son left behind...

It's a sad story really, with little details as to why and even less details as to who raised him, but we do know that he was left behind in England, raised by another family member, grew up, joined the army, fought in WWII and was killed in Dunkirk.

John Bellew, Sr. arrived in the US in September of 1923 with one of his sons - William - my Grandfather. His wife Margaret and sons Hugh & John Jr. remained in England while he obtained a job and a place to live. In May of 1926 (almost 3 years later!) Margaret arrived in the US with her son Hugh. While John's name is on the passenger list, it is crossed off - we're assuming that his ticket was purchased - but he wasn't on board. The family "story" is, that at the time of the ship's departure John was too sick to travel and was left in England. Can you imagine?

In the 1910 Census of Providence Rhode Island I find the family and John Jr. is actually listed in the household - we know for certain that he NEVER came to the US. My Grandmother knew the family well and knows this without doubt.





At this point I have lost track of him, because the census records in England only have been released up to 1901, I will not find him in any census records for Preston. I'm still looking as there were many family members in the area. I have not yet exhausted all my avenues of research on his childhood - although there are very few clues.

My Grandmother (William's wife) has in her possession a prayer book belonging to Margaret and inside was a treasure of information. Prayer cards from a young boy's First Holy Communion, and this Christmas card which John sent to his mother in 1934 and there is a similar card sent to his father. Christmas greetings from a child who was left behind.

John was killed in Dunkirk in May 1940 - He was part of the 4th Battalion of the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, his infantry found themselves surrounded and overrun by Germans.

So What's In A Census?

My goodness, where do I begin? It really depends entirely on which one you're looking at. Very early census records (prior to 1850) contain simple facts - the name of the Head of Household and the number of people in age groups and genders living in the home. In 1850 the census became a bit more detailed, listing the names and ages of all the people in the house. Seems every census following gave us a little more info.. just a little tidbit more about the family that we keep searching for. For instance, the 1910 census details how many children have been born to a woman and how many of those children are still living at the time of the census. A bit intrusive yes, but how else would I have known that my Grandmother had another aunt and uncle born in Canada before the family even came to the US? Aha! Yes! another gleaming gem for a genealogist to go chasing after!

Later census records list the birthplace of each person AND their parents - so maybe you know that Great Granddad lived in Virginia, do you know if he was born there? Do you know where his parents were born? Many census records can answer this, or at least give you a lead to follow. Of course there are always possibilities of error - maybe Great Granddad didn't know where his parents were born so he guessed. Yes, this did happen so be careful - checking his parents records for earlier years will give way to more clues and more answers!

Working backward from 1930 (the latest census made public) you can trace a family in an area and get detailed information on them every ten years back, allowing you to then follow Great Great Grandad to the home of his parents - where you might just get the info on where THEIR parents were born and so on. So, check out some census records for your family - you might be surprised what you find!