am trying to trace my family tree so any info on either families would be great. i kno my grandfathers and grandmothers mames were: desmond walter battersby and ruby pullen. handsworth
marian hubbard, ..........timms

Using the GRO index (of Births, Marriages and Deaths) I can tell that your TIMMS grandfather was called Harold. This is the reference for his marriage to Marian:

GRO Marriages SEP Qtr 1948
TIMMS Harold
HUBBARD Marian
Sheffield 2d 700

If you haven't already done so you can use this information to apply for a marriage certificate. As well as telling you more abut this couple it will give you the names and occupations of their fathers.

The corresponding reference for the other couple:

GRO Marriages DEC Qtr 1953
BATTERSBY Desmond W.
PULLAN* Ruby
Sheffield 2D 70

*This spelling in the marriage index.

You need the certificates to prove each step as you build up your tree. But you can get a good idea about the next generation back, still using the indexes only. For example...

The death indexes from 1984 include the date of birth. When Desmond died in 1994 his date of birth was recorded as 11 Jun 1926. This leads to the following birth entry (in the following quarter because of the time between the birth and the registration of the birth):

GRO Births SEP Qtr 1926
BATTERSBY Desmond W. (mother’s maiden name: FRANKLIN)
Ecclesall B. 9c 762

Because this gives the mother's maiden name, I was able to find this marriage:

GRO Marriages DEC Qtr 1925
BATTERSBY Walter (Franklin)
FRANKLIN Ethel S (Battersby)
Sheffield 9c 1219

Enough for this time of night :):hihi:

Hugh