1939 Register Throws Up a New Mystery

The fact that I never knew my grandfather – he died before I was born – was one of the reasons I began my own family history research many years ago.

With the arrival of The 1939 Register on Findmypast, I began to learn a little more about George Millward and, after requesting that my father’s own record be opened, I was delighted to see him there too.

As Findmypast continues to open up closed records by matching modern-day records to the data set, I often revisit the site to check out previously published 1939 Register entries. This week, I discover that the household also contains two RELF children, Ethel [born 1928] and Margaret [born 1930].

Relf is a name I have never heard of in connection with my family so I have now set about trying to unravel the mystery – why are they there? And why are they not with their own family?

Initial research shows that their parents, John Thomas Relf and Jessie, nee Smith, married at St Peter’s in Jarrow on the 13th of August 1921 – they too are to be found on the 1939 register in Jarrow.

I am now a further three generations back on the Relfs but still I can not find any familial link to the Millwards.

As they say, more to come!