# UK Dopers, a little help please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635 "2005-11-18T14:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/1 "2005-11-18T14:35:49Z")
A friend of mine here in the USofA, has recently discovered that she has a half-sister in the UK. She knows her birth name and date, (1946) but has no idea how to locate her. Any suggestions on to go about this? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/2 "2005-11-18T14:38:27Z")
Try looking her up on [www.friendsreunited.co.uk](http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk) - it’s the UK equivalent of [Classmates.com](http://Classmates.com). ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/3 "2005-11-18T14:44:58Z")
Try this [192](http://www.192.com/search/people.cfm). Put myself in and it certainly worked. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/4 "2005-11-18T19:15:05Z")
Assuming the simple steps suggested above don’t work (along with googling her name!)… One simple first step - try getting a birth certificate from the [General Register Office](http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/births/obtainingbirthcertificates/index.asp). If you have the exact date of birth, I think you’ve got enough information. Obviously the biggest problem is that most 59-year-old women no longer have the surname they were born with. This is why pinning down the place of birth is useful - you can then make contact with local history groups of the area, etc., and also local newspapers, and you may well strike lucky in that either she still lives in the area, or you can find further information about where she now is. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/5 "2005-11-18T19:18:20Z")
Oh, and another useful link: [http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/](http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/6 "2005-11-18T19:51:44Z")
Thanks, I’ll pass those along. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/7 "2005-11-18T19:56:03Z")
My friends brillant plan was to send an email to everyone in her address book and then ask them to foward it out and sooner or latter her sister must get it. :smack: Naturally, I’m opposed to this. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-a-little-help-please/331635/8 "2005-11-19T12:12:25Z")
If she does get a name and area, she could try using the Post Office or British Telecom websites to get an address and phone number. [http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po](http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po) [http://www.bt.com/index.jsp](http://www.bt.com/index.jsp) The local registrar for the area will have any birth, marriage, divorce papers loded in the vicinity and her name may well be on the electoral register.