I am trying to find out about walter herbert edwin nichols born around 1923.?

Question

I am trying to find out about my grandfather who used to live at 117 monkhams avenue, woodford,essex. He died in the 1980's i believe and was a famous architect who was believed to have designed the first power station in wales. He trained as an officer at sandhurst and was a member of the labour party. He was university trained and taught at a college. We believe him to have taught languages. He was also a spy during the war. We believe this was in germany and /or Russia.

Answer 1

ancestry.com is a really good site thats the US one, or ancestry.co.uk you can get a 14 day free trail, I've found loads on there & started my family tree.

Hey I've found a few, have a look through these!
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&gsfn=walter+herbert+edwin++&gsln=nichols&gsby=&gsb2co=3251%2cEngland&gsb2pl=1%2cAll+Counties&gsdy=&gsd2co=1%2cAll+Countries&gsd2pl=1%2c+&sbo=0&ufr=0&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gl=allgs&gss=ansmp&so=1&o_iid=20993&o_lid=20993

good luck!

Answer 2

There's a death record in February 1987 in the Redbridge district (Essex) of a "Walter Herbert E Nichols", inferred date of birth 05 Oct 1922, died age 64. That's as much information as you will get online without ordering the relevant birth, marriage or death certificates from the General Register Office (GRO).

If you have a spare £7 to spare then go to www.gro.gov.uk, quote the name and date above in an online death certificate application (reg. district Redbridge, Feb 1987, volume 14, page 1520) and wait. You could also try applying for his birth based on that birth date, though I can't see him in the Oct/Dec 1922 or Jan/Mar 1923 indexes.

Military service records can be ordered from the Ministry of Defence to next-of-kin for a largish fee (about £45), for which your first point of call should be http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk/service_records/service_records.html depending on which service he was in. If he was an officer then there are such reference works as "The Army List" available for which copies are available in large reference libraries, record offices or on cd-rom which read like a 'whos who'. If he was a reasonably famous architect like you suggest then I would also try biographical dictonaries such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography or Who's Who. I'd also consider searching the pages of the "London Gazette" (available online) for his name in any official announcements and try a search in "The Times" as well. I'd also try and find out which the first power station in Wales was and contact the local Land Registry office or suchlike for any official plans and building applications to back up your theory. I'd also be wanting to try and contact the official society of architects and find out if he was a member of a governing body and what records survive. If he was at university, then try contacting the college or university and see if they have a list of former alumni or will allow access to his record. There may be a 30year disclosure rule. As next-of-kin though you may be able to wangle your way around this problem. Expect to have the dreaded three word phrase "Data Protection Act" quoted at you at some point. If not, then you are doing something wrong! Searching for people in the 20th century can be quite difficult, moreso than the 19th century, as you can be pretty sure that everything is over 100 years old and open to access! Don't kid yourself that it will be easy or cheap. You might like to consider employing a professional researcher or genealogist.