I am struggling to find anything on my father's side. I cannot find his father's name, his marriage
My father's name is Shunmugam Gounden. He was born in Durban, South Africa on the 31st of May 1948. He died in 2017 so I can't ask him for help anymore. All his siblings and their spouses also seem to be deceased. What I do have is that his father's name we think was Shamma Gounden who we think died in 1961. We think that because my father said he was 13 when his father died. His mother's name we think was Mania Singh. She died in childbirth we think in 1958. One of the issues we have is that most people of Indian descent have their registered name and what they call their "home name" which is what they are known by, so often we don't know which is which and if we only have their "home name" we only have the surname to go on. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I can't even find my father's birth on Family Search. I don't know if that is because I am not searching correctly or if his birth is too recent?
Answers
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hello dear sister
it is best to ask the town hall for your father's death certificate.
On this act, there will be the surname and first name of your father's parents.
We can't find anything in digitization because it's not been 110 years.
Fraternally
valerie
CHF of the Nice Stake (France °
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There are many records available for South Africa and particularly Natal, but getting anything more recent is quite a mission. Do you have a birth certificate for him? You have to have the ID number of the person before you can request a Birth or Death Cert from the Department of Home Affairs - very long! There are people who can help you to get an unabridged birth certificate, but it costs a lot of money by SA standards $130 and takes between 4-8 weeks. This may be the only way to get a start with your fh. I would also suggest contacting a FHC in the area they were from and see if they have any local information, or be able to point you in the right direction. I will also ask on the SA Genealogy FB page for you and see if they can suggest anything.
In the meantime, don't give up! Start by writing everything you know and fill in family group sheets so you know what information you still need to find. Also keep a book of all the places you've looked and where you still need to look.
Happy hunting!
Jacqueline Roy
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These are the answers I have back so far:
1) you can find a list of references to births in the Archives in Pietermaritzburg here https://www.ancestors.co.za/index-to-civil-registration-in-natal/
2) Start with burial records & gravestones in order to (hopefully) confirm year of death & get a close approximation of date of death via the burial date:
http://www.eggsa.org/librarySearch/searchGraves.htm [Free]
https://www.genwebshop.co.za/collections/ctp [Pay-Per-View]
Then search Civil Death Registrations manually (they are not yet indexed for search by name).
SA Civil Deaths 1955-1966:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/707153?availability=Family%20History%20Library
Natal Civil Deaths 1924-1954:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/695346?availability=Family%20History%20Library
Additional collections for Indian population in Natal can also be found here:
Some of the Indian collections have been indexed, others have not.
"South Africa, KwaZulu Natal, Indian deaths, 1870-1970" is partially indexed at this point but it looks like the films for the 1950's & 1960's are not yet indexed, so you will have to search them manually.
3) I suggest look at the national archives website as well..naairs.gov.za . It will help to have the relevant Estate Numbers to access further info..
I hope this helps get you started!
Have a great day,
Jacqueline
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