Looking for estranged relative

*Cherry*

I am wondering how to go about finding out if an estranged parent is still alive.  I am not looking to make contact, nor to try and claim anything from them / their estate.  It really is just a curiosity.

I know first name, middle name, surname and a rough age (80's), but that is about all.  There are no family members known to reach out to.   I've not had contact for around 30 years so no idea of which part of the country they would be living in.

Can anyone help me with some tips on how to go about looking?  

I've tried searching the name in Facebook, but not everyone uses that and with privacy settings it is difficult to see anything about the results I have found.  I did a search on the Gazette web site to see if a death had been noted but there were no matching results.   

gwynlas

The Ancestry sites will give you an idea particularly if you know other relatives names.

marcia_

https://www.192.com/

https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/find-missing-family

Might be helpful 

Keep_pedalling

Bearing in mind their age a search of death notices might be a good starting point especially if they don’t have a common surname.

RAS

Assuming you are in England, you go to www.gro.gov.uk and you'll find deaths until quite recently. Ancestry covers up to 2005 and is easier to use but for deaths since that can be searched on the GRO index. It's clunky and only allows a 5 year search but better than nowt.

Bear in mind that first name, second name, surname might only be registered under first name or second name, or a nickname if they didn't have a confident person to register them when they died. 

Do you have their birth certificate and marriage certificate? If you search the Ancestry indexes for those, they may actually suggest other relevant records like a later marriage, death and electoral rolls. Don't assume these are gospel but I've found more than one distant cousin off those suggestions. 

And if you have their mother's maiden name, it's worth double checking scotlandspeople as the recent death indexes are also indexed on mother's maiden name.

*Cherry*

Thank you for the tips.  

Savvy_Sue

Unless it's a really common name, a straightforward google might find you someone or something? Even if you can instantly discount many of them, you may be left with worthwhile results. If you can add area, that may help too. 

Ms_Chocaholic

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/

theoretica

Your local library may be able to help - for instance with subscriptions to paid sites and knowing how to use them.

RAS

theoretica said:

Your local library may be able to help - for instance with subscriptions to paid sites and knowing how to use them.

Prior to Covid, access to Ancestry was via the central local history library. They then got permission to make it accessible from all local libraries. But there is no guarantee that your local authority made the same arrangements.

The contract for the Ancestry Library Edition allows multiple users, whilst findmypast requires a separate contract for each user, so it's harder to find free use in libraries.

www.gro.gov.uk and freeBMD are free, but the former covers more recent records.

It's also worth checking Companies House in case your relative registered a business. Not uncommon for people working in trades or as contractors.