Living relatives can definitely be more elusive than the deceased. I heard it put recently that it's because the dead stay put. There are many ways to track the living but one of the best (at least for me) is obituaries. If you know any of their ancestors, find their obituary. It will typically list their children and many times also their children's spouses and children, typically giving the town they live in. Then you can move on to city directories. You can also do a Google search. You'd be amazed what you can find there.
Thank you Matthewkmiller I have the death certificate, which tells me of his address & the names of his spouse & surviving children. How can I trace the children, one of whom would be about 68 by now ,if still alive? I don't have Ancestry.com regards Chrismon
I would find the local newspaper to where the person died and look through the issues the day of and a few days following the death in order to find the obituary. More often than not, it will list their children along with where they live.
To trace them after the obituary will be a challenge because you typically can't see legal records of the living. I would look in the city directory of the town the obituary says they lived. If you know their religion and it's not a huge town, you could visit the church they likely are a member of and see if they have a church directory.
I checked out Pipl.com but no luck so I will try the telephone directories next It's unfortunate he lived in our NEW SOUTH WALES capitol.I may have to spend some pennies & use Ancestry. cheers
Living relatives can definitely be more elusive than the deceased. I heard it put recently that it's because the dead stay put. There are many ways to track the living but one of the best (at least for me) is obituaries. If you know any of their ancestors, find their obituary. It will typically list their children and many times also their children's spouses and children, typically giving the town they live in. Then you can move on to city directories. You can also do a Google search. You'd be amazed what you can find there.
Thank you Matthewkmiller
I have the death certificate, which tells me of his address & the names of his spouse & surviving children. How can I trace the children, one of whom would be about 68 by now ,if still alive? I don't have Ancestry.com
regards Chrismon
I would find the local newspaper to where the person died and look through the issues the day of and a few days following the death in order to find the obituary. More often than not, it will list their children along with where they live.
To trace them after the obituary will be a challenge because you typically can't see legal records of the living. I would look in the city directory of the town the obituary says they lived. If you know their religion and it's not a huge town, you could visit the church they likely are a member of and see if they have a church directory.
I checked out Pipl.com but no luck so I will try the telephone directories next It's unfortunate he lived in our NEW SOUTH WALES capitol.I may have to spend some pennies & use Ancestry. cheers