tracing an ancestor

[snow]

I am trying to trace my great grandmother's history. On my grandmother's birth certificate in 1893 she indicates she is a "domestic servant of Penge". I know Penge is a village but is it also a house in which my great grandmother may have worked. How would I trace her from this information? Can anyone help me? Thanks.

[Chris Doran]

I don't know of any house (in Penge) itself called "Penge" at that time -- Penge Place was long gone -- but who knows about such a house elsewhere, let alone Penges elsewhere in the world? However, I think it more likely that the village is meant. Your best starting point would be the 1891 census, available at some libraries or online at sites such as Ancestry, Find My Past, etc. Again, some libraries provide free access, or you can get 2 weeks' free trial on Ancestry. (This information applies to the UK, and may be different in Australia.)

Alternatively, you could give her name here or on a genealogy forum, but we're not supposed to use our Ancestry subscriptions to provide information to third parties. (The legal position on doing a lookup for someone else from free library access is, however, moot.)