John Nicholas GAVERA(S)

Lizanne Ellis

Message: I am researching the family history of one John Nicholas GAVERA(S) who was born about 1877 in Galaxidi, Greece and died 22 Mar 1929 in Cape Town, South Africa. I have seen reference to an application for naturalization dated 1899. John married Elizabeth VERBURG, 4 Oct 1909 in Johannesburg, South Africa and had a son, Peter John Frederick GAVERA, born 30 Nov 1910. When John died in 1929 his son’s address was c/o Vassiliadis Factory, Piraeus, Greece.

Could I please ask for your kind assistance directing me to John’s birth parents, date and any further information that could lead to fleshing out his family tree?

Many thanks in anticipation.

LWhitehead56

Your best bet would be to check birth records in Galaxidi, Greece for the 1870's.

The best resource for how to go about accessing these records is

Greece Genealogy

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Greece_Genealogy

Guide to Greece ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

This site can tell you which records are available for which years.

Carol Kostakos Petranek

Try contacting the General State Archives of Greece, Fokida Office which serves the region of Galaxidi: http://gak.fok.sch.gr/. Use a Google Translate browser extension to translate the page into English. When you write an email, write in English and use Google Translate to add the Greek translation, BUT, be sure to write "Google Translate" in front of the Greek version (the translation will not be in good grammar). Ask the staff to check the Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon) and Town Registers (Dimotologion).

For extra assistance, contact Gregory Kontos at Greek Ancestry.net https://greekancestry.net/. He gives free consultations. He also has an excellent Greek Genealogy Guide on his website: https://greekancestry.net/greek-genealogy-guide/ The Guide gives links to civil, archive and church offices throughout Greece.

Carol Kostakos Petranek

LWhitehead56

Thanks Carol. This is very helpful information. Hopefully Lizanne Ellis can find what she needs through these channels. Your knowledge of who and where to go for help is so valuable to the group. I appreciate your willingness to share this information.

Lizanne Ellis

Dear Carol and LWhitehead,

Thank you so much for your messages and I'm so sorry that I didn't reply to you sooner. I've just seen the messages a short while ago. I don't understand why.

I will look into carrying out all the instructions you have so kindly given me and, hopefully, let you know the results and what I've been able to learn. I am so enjoying how much I am learning and am so grateful for your help along the way. You are so kind and thoughtful.

With much appreciation.

Warm regards,

Lizanne Ellis

Auckland, New Zealand