Any tips on how to find someone?

Dyson

Dyson

Dyson

Soldato
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Dorset
I've decided after 38 years to try and find out more information (read that as any...) about my father.

All I've got is his name, month and year of birth, town he was born in, and a last known area of living (from about 20 years ago).

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to start in my search? Just spent the last few hours trying random search engines, and would appreciate a nudge towards a proven method.
 
http://www.192.com/

electoral roll/telephone directory for that last known place perhaps?

also check facebook, linkedin etc..etc.

might be worth trying some investigation company if you can perhaps get a copy of his birth certificate form the home town
 
You could try googling his name in quotes with various combinations such as his middle initial, if still in this country he should come up on 192.

So google this,

"john h doe" "192.com"

or just

"john doe" "192.com"
 
It might be easier if you had his full DOB, to the day.

There are reliable ways of tracing people via credit agreements (e.g. bank account, credit cards) and royal mail redirections, however you can only do this if you have the authorisation from the individual to conduct searches on them.
 
caff said:
There are reliable ways of tracing people via credit agreements (e.g. bank account, credit cards) and royal mail redirections, however you can only do this if you have the authorisation from the individual to conduct searches on them.
Click to expand...

so no use whatsoever to the OP then? ;)
 
I use a few methods at work, as we are a credit lender. Credit records (e.g. bank accounts, credit cards) linked to addresses are ideal because they link the birth certificate details to the individual.

Ideally you are going to need a full date of birth, full name, and a recent address. If you don't have the exact DOB to the nearest day (but year & month as you say) then it might be possible to do a fuzzy match, however I doubt it.

The company I use (Tracesmart) has another website that seems to be tailored to individual searches, but I have no idea if this is any good - reading the site, I have a feeling it will not search credit databases for you, which is the best source of data. It might be worth a try though:

http://www.peopletracer.co.uk/
 
caff said:
There are reliable ways of tracing people via credit agreements (e.g. bank account, credit cards) and royal mail redirections, however you can only do this if you have the authorisation from the individual to conduct searches on them.
Click to expand...

Kind of putting the cart before the horse, if he had his permission he would surely know where he was.
 
Hitman_Leon said:
Kind of putting the cart before the horse, if he had his permission he would surely know where he was.
Click to expand...

Yes I know - I'd love to help if I could - I just wanted to relay the best/proven methods for locating people.

If there is a way the OP can access this data, I'm pretty sure he could find his father.
 
caff said:
It might be easier if you had his full DOB, to the day.

There are reliable ways of tracing people via credit agreements (e.g. bank account, credit cards) and royal mail redirections, however you can only do this if you have the authorisation from the individual to conduct searches on them.
Click to expand...

That's like saying you could drive you car down to the shops for a loaf of bread very easily as you know how to drive and have your license but you don't have any keys for the car.
 
jsmoke said:
That's like saying you could drive you car down to the shops for a loaf of bread very easily as you know how to drive and have your license but you don't have any keys for the car.
Click to expand...

you could probably get a search done anyway if you stump up lots of cash to some private investigator - though tis a grey area

but big databases of credit companies, DVLA, police national computer etc..etc.. are all rather open to being exploited since there are so many people with access
 
Thank you for all the helpful replies, certainly given me a few pointers. I think I'll start by trying to tie down his exact date of birth - looks like that is the most useful information to start with.
 
find out is exact name dob, (optonal but helps)
find out if hes still alive
see if hes remarried
trace up the relatives if hes been remarried ,

for above look on Ancestry

if your lucky you'll find a connection with a unique name , they will be easier to find to get contact details for your father
 
Last edited:
Write off to that programme on BBC where they track down lost relatives. I can't recall its name as the wife watches it, not me. Be sure to concoct a TV-friendly sob story to go with your letter.
 
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