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I am researching my ancestor William Hudson Minnick who has this timeline.

  • He may have been born in Iowa.
  • He married my grandmother Cecilia Mallon in Liverpool, UK in 1920. The marriage certificate:
    • showed his age on 11/2/20 as 36 so I put his date of birth as 1884.
    • said he was born in the USA
    • said he was a ships officer
    • named his father as George Hudson (deceased)
  • He then disappears completely, with no trace of any children. I am assuming he was in the USA merchant navy.

My gran remarried in 1932; no-one in the family knew about this first husband.

I have been trying to find lists of merchant seamen without much luck.

Searching the US census I found a William H Minnick living in Portland Oregon who was born in Iowa.

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    Welcome to G&FH.SE! Does the marriage certificate give you any other information such as his father's name? When you say he might have been born in Iowa, what is your source?
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Commented Jul 13, 2014 at 1:10
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    Welcome! If there were no children, then he isn't an ancestor, strictly speaking. I am not familiar with US marriage certificates, but a date of birth would be a good start, if it is mentioned.
    – Verbeia
    Commented Jul 13, 2014 at 11:23
  • The UK marriage certificate showed his age on 11/2/20 as 36 so I put his date of birth as 1884. His father is named as George Hudson ( deceased). Searching the US census I found a William H Minnick living in Portland Oregon who was born in Iowa.
    – Karen Evans
    Commented Jul 14, 2014 at 21:52
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    I find it more helpful to write out the month when posting dates, to avoid confusion over US- and UK-style dating. Is the marriage certificate dated 11 February 1920?
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 3:18
  • Are you able to include a copy of the Marriage Certificate in your question? I think it would be useful to know things like exactly how his name was written. William Hudson Minnick with father George Hudson suggests to me that he may have been born out of wedlock with his mother's surname being Minnick. Also, is the Iowa birth only suggested by the Census Record and do you have a source for that which you could include? Have you looked for a divorce or is there any chance that Cecilia was his widow?
    – PolyGeo ♦
    Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 7:53

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If I am correct I think that there might be mis-reading here of the wife's name on marriage certificate. The name is Sheila Mallon not Cecilia Mallon. There is also a son Gerald Minnick born in Liverpool in 1928 with the mothers name of Mallon and Bernard Mienicki also born in Liverpool in 1924 and who died 1994 with a mother named Mallon. Who may also be of interest to you in this instance to consider further.

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