Z - Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nada

There are a number of people who could fit in this category.

Great-great-grandfather Julius Fuller for one, who after 50+ years research still only appears on two official records in England before he emigrated to New Zealand in 1859.

But instead I thought I’d choose someone I really don’t know much about at all.

Ann Blackman.

She is my daughter’s 4 x great-grandmother. I haven’t been able to find her baptism in England, arrival in Australia, marriage or the birth/baptisms of the three children her death certificate says she had. That death certificate is only one of two documents I have found for her in 30 or so years of looking. The second is her daughter’s marriage certificate where she is recorded as a parent.

Ann was 64 when she died 3 May 1870 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. The informant on the death certificate was her adult daughter. The only child I know for sure. But did Sarah REALLY know the details ? Here is what she supplied.

Name and occupation of Father:

____ Blackman, Blacksmith

Name and maiden surname of Mother:

Not Known

Where born & how long in the Australian Colonies or States:

Hastings, Kent, England; 33 years in New South Wales

Place of marriage, age and to whom:

Sydney, Not Known, Joseph Dickinson

Children of marriage:

Living 1 male, 2 females

Eight years later when Joseph Dickinson died, his 2^nd wife was the informant on the certificate and she stated 2 children to a former wife. Very helpful – not. 

The information provided by her Sarah suggests that Ann arrived in New South Wales about 1837. Sarah was born about 1845/1846, deduced from information on her marriage certificate. In 1862 she was 17, her father’s consent was given to the marriage and noted on the certificate. She may have been younger though since at the birth of her 2^nd child in 1864 her husband gave her age as 18. Therefore Ann & Joseph's marriage must have taken place between 1837 and 1846. Joseph Dickinson was a convict, there should be an Application to Marry for him; unless the marriage didn’t take place until after he received his Certificate of Freedom in 1841. There doesn’t appear to be an application – although there is something in that dataset which could do with a bit more investigation. The only Ann Blackman marriage I can find on the NSW indexes is around the right time - but not to Joseph. 

In 1850 Joseph Dickinson was charged with grossly abusing his wife, and later in the year jailed for breaching the conditions set in court. No children were mentioned in the newspaper coverage of the court case.

So far no DNA matches are clearly aligned to this little piece of the tree either. So there you go. 

Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nada.

This brings to a close my A-Z blog challenge for Family History Month 2020. I hope you have enjoyed it, maybe discovered something you didn’t know or maybe even been inspired to give it a go yourself.

 

 

Y - Y.M.C.A

No, this in NOT about the Village People !

This little discovery came when I was scouring newspapers on PapersPast for an article I knew I had seen, but had failed to record where. Let that be a lesson to you all. Document your sources !!

I was looking for the name of a house which my great-grandfather’s brother had built in Cambridge, New Zealand. I found an obituary for his wife instead, which I don’t recall having seen before. Harriett and her husband were first cousins. Their mothers were sisters, so obviously she was my great-grandfather’s cousin too.

Her obituary in the Waikato Independent, 26 August 1939, page 4  gave some details about her family, birth place and arrival in New Zealand. She had come with her parents – who were 2^nd cousins – to Auckland and then the Coromandel. She was their only child. Her mother died at Shellback Creek near Tararu in 1869 when Harriet was about 14. Her aunt and uncle lived at Tararu too so I daresay they helped her widowed father care for her.

Anyway, back to the discovery. One sentence.

“It is of interest to note that Mrs Davys was the second cousin to Sir George Williams, the founder of the Y.M.C.A.”

What ?

If Harriet was his second cousin, then chances were that her husband and his siblings, including my great-grandfather were too. So I had to search and see what I could find.

George Williams was born 11 October 1821 at Ashway Farm near Dulverton. He was the youngest child of Amos Williams and his wife Ann/Betty/Elizabeth (just to be confusing). I didn’t have any other Williams in my tree, apart from an odd one here and there, so who was his mother ? She had to be the key.

Cue flashing lights. 

Wikipedia says his parents were Amos Williams (tick) and Elizabeth Vickery. On the same page Wiki also says her name was Ann “Betty” Vickery. Hmmm. BUT, I do have a bunch of Vickerys mixed in with my Norman paternal great-great-grandmother’s family….and BINGO ! Harriet’s mother Caroline and my great-great-grandmother Sarah were Norman sisters. Harriett’s father was also a Norman (2^nd cousin – remember ?) Jane and Caroline’s mother was Sarah Vickery, who had married her 1^st cousin William Norman. Nothing out of the ordinary it seems in Huish Champflower !

Off I went to find the baptisms on Ancestry and build a tree to look for the link. First I found their marriage to get a starting point to look for baptisms. They married at Withiel Florey on 15 August 1807 and their first child John Vickery Williams was baptised 14 January 1808, in the same parish. The father of my 4 x great-grandmother Sarah Vickery was John. Was this another lightbulb flashing ? A quick diversion to check what siblings I had for Sarah, found she did have a sister Betty Ann baptised in 1785 (the date is illegible on the page of the church record book).

That solved the problem of how Sir George Williams could be the 2^nd cousin of Harriett, and proved that he was also the 2^nd cousin of my great-grandfather. But how did this youngest son from a farming family happen to be the founder of the Y.M.C.A ?

George was the youngest of 7 sons, he also had one sister. As career paths go seventh sons are way down the list. Not much chance of taking over the family farm there. Wikipedia says he attended Gloyn’s in Tiverton, Devon until he was 13 when he began working on the family farm. His family sent him to Bridgwater where he was an apprentice in Henry William Holmes’ draper shop. What is it with drapers and this part of the world ? They keep popping up in all my branches.

In 1837 he left the Church of England and joined the Zion Congregational Church and in 1841 he moved to London where he worked as an apprentice at Hitchcock & Rogers, a draper’s shop. In London he became a member of the King’s Weigh House congregational church. After three years with Hitchcock & Rogers, George was promoted to department manager.

On 6 June 1844, appalled by the terrible conditions in London for young working men, like himself, George gathered a group of 11 fellow drapers in the living quarters of Hitchcock & Rogers to create a place that would not tempt young men into sin. The name Young Men’s Christian Association was agreed on at the suggestion of Christopher W Smith, one of the 11. The aim was to put Christian principles in practice to develop a healthy “mind, body & spirit.” One of the earliest converts and contributors to the new association was his employer, George Hitchcock.

Nine years later in 1853 he married the owner’s daughter and was taken into the business as a partner. The business was renamed George Hitchcock, Williams & Co., and when George Hitchcock died in 1863 George Williams became the sole owner. George and his wife Helen had seven children. One son Albert went on to marry the granddaughter of Thomas Cook who had founded the travel agency Thomas Cook and Son. George’s nephew John Williams married the only child of Matthew Hodder of the publishing business Hodder & Stoughton. Matthew had been George’s lifelong London friend.

George Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria in her 1894 Birthday Honours, this same year was the silver Jubilee of the Y.M.C.A and the year he received Freedom of the City of London. He died on 6 November 1905 at the Victoria and Albert Hotel in Torquay aged 84. His funeral was attended by 2,600 mourners at St Paul’s Cathedral on 14 November 1905 and he was buried there. After his death he was commemorated by a stained-glass window in the nave of Westminster Abbey. A blue plaque is at No. 13 Russell Square, London where he lived from 1879-1905 and another plaque can be found on the façade of Ashway Farm where he was born. His portrait can be found at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The things I wish I had known when I was in London !

Now here are a couple of other things I discovered in the search. 

When I was adding the baptisms of George’s siblings to my tree in Family Tree Maker a message popped up for one. “Is this Robert Williams the same Robert Williams married to Betsy Davys ?” A little bit of checking and yes, he is. Uh-oh, now I’m related two ways. Betsy was a daughter Thomas Davys and Patience Palmer…Thomas was a younger brother of my 4 x great-grandfather. This Robert is the father of George's nephew who married the daughter of Matthew Hodder mentioned earlier,

When I first found the Wikipedia entry for George Williams in April 2020 it was called “George Williams (YMCA)” and included the comment that he was the 4 x great-grandfather of Boris Johnson, the current British Prime Minister. Today, the entry is retitled “George Williams (philanthropist)” and that comment is no longer included. However, I was able to verify that that was the case, by checking his family’s well documented entries in Wikipedia, a BBC Who Do You Think You Are episode and church records.

Just the other day on facebook I saw a post from someone who had bought a Bible in a thrift store. The flyleaf said it had been presented to the original owner by Sir George Williams. She had done a little research and discovered who George was. She had also found his will where he requested Bibles to be given to the members of his family. I think that might be a will I need to find and read myself. I wonder if any such Bible made it’s way to New Zealand to his family there ? I haven’t heard of one, but who knows ?

 

 

X - Marks the Spot

Look at this great map of Somerset !

I know it is crooked, but I didn't scan it so I'm not accepting any griping about it, I found it on Reddit after a Google search. Apparently it could have been inspiration for Game of Thrones. But I just love it. Dating to the mid 17^th century, with the parishes named and represented by church icons in varying sizes…or are they manor houses ?

There is this one too which dates from about the same time, but has slightly clearer writing - also from Reddit.

A lot of my family came from Somerset to New Zealand, and all had lived in particular areas for generations. Funnily enough they were all living near borders which moved and were not static until fairly recently. The Davys’ in the parishes on either side of the Somerset Devon border and the Bartletts and Coopers near the Somerset Dorset border.

I was surprised to see how closely the Bartletts and Coopers lived to each other. The same names pop up in both parishes. When you consider how widely the Davys family travelled and moved in their little part of Somerset, it is amazing that the Coopers and Bartletts don’t seem to have done the same thing. We did get a couple of DNA matches who descend from a Cooper person who married a Bartlett cousin of my great-great-grandfather in 1862. But as far as I can see that Cooper family is from the same area as the Bartletts – for generations. Maybe mine were too, maybe one of them just left at some point and went a bit further north over the Hamdon Hills…time will tell.

When I am trying to find people in my research I often refer to maps. I love the digitised Ordnance Survey maps at the National Library of Scotland. Great detail and easy to zoom in and navigate. Often when reading a census I look for a map as close to the time period and find the street. Sometimes the footprint of the buildings is marked on a map and if you are lucky the same shape is still there today when you look at a google map of the area. The streets might have changed a little, laneways disappeared, but by comparing the current map and the old you can often work out where things used to be. If it looks like the building is still there, street view is my next step. Until I can work out a way to teleport to the other side of the world, walking down streets looking at buildings and countryside courtesy of a google camera car is the best alternative. Sometimes I just walk down country lanes, unchanged in centuries, to “feel” what it was probably like for my ancestors who trod the same paths or rode along them by horse and cart.

I also use the Phillimore Atlas maps to check neighbouring parishes. These can give me an idea of where else to search when a marriage, baptism or burial isn’t recorded in the parish I expect it to be. My Davys’ and their cousins, for instance, married and baptised their children in almost every parish from Morebath, Clayhanger and Ashbrittle in Devon to Luxborough, Monksilver, Lydiard St Lawrence and Taunton in Somerset.

Lots of local libraries and museums have maps too. It was on such a site that I found an Insurance map for part of Melbourne and was able to identify the house where my great-great-great-grandmother had lived. Also, on another site I found similar maps for Sydney and could work out – with the help of a street directory of the time – where my daughter’s great-great-great-grandparents had lived in Surry Hills. Some maps, particularly in America even show who the landowners were. Sometimes the maps at local libraries haven’t been digitised and you need to go there. A bit of a pain at the moment with the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions curtailing many of those visits.

You can make your own map too, to record where a family moved to, mariner’s voyages, family farms, schools attended. You name it, you can do it.

W - Whanga-nui-a-Tara, Te

Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, the great harbour of Tara, Wellington Harbour, Port Nicholson, Poneke.

Tara was a son of the Polynesian explorer Whatonga whose descendants lived in the area. Māori tradition tells that Kupe first discovered the harbour when he visited in the 10^th century. There are a number of places within the harbour whose names commemorate Kupe; Te Tangihanga o Kupe or Te Raranga o Kupe (Barrett Reef) and Te Aroaro o Kupe or Te Ure of Kupe (Steeple Rock). Kupe also named the two islands within the harbour; Mākaro (Ward) and Matiu (Somes). 

Legend tells that the harbour itself was once a lake in habited by two taniwha (guardian spirits). Whātaitai and Ngake. Whātaitai lived in the north of the lake where the harbour now is and the water was calmer, like his nature. Ngake, lived further south and was a little more cantankerous. He didn’t like being confined to the lake and could hear the waters of Raukawa Moana (Cook Strait) pounding to the south. He decided he would escape to reach the tumultuous sea. To gather speed he spun around at the north of the lake and headed off rapidly to the south, where he crashed into and through the rocks at Te Turanga o Kupe (Seatoun) and headed out in to the pounding sea. Whātaitai watched and then tried to follow Ngake but instead of taking the same route he chose a different path. The water was rushing out of the lake into the sea by this time and Whātaitai hadn’t built up as much speed as Ngake. He got stuck on the sand and stayed there for many generations until he was lifted high onto the land by a great earthquake. His soul left in the form of a bird Te Keo and flew high above the harbour and wept for the taniwha. Today the suburbs on the hills immediately below Tangi Te Keo (Mt Victoria) is named Hataitai.

European settlement began in earnest in 1840. It was into this harbour that two branches of my family sailed after four months at sea, The Coopers in 1841 and the Barratts in 1842. We used to joke that they had got blown in the harbour by a good southerly and couldn’t get back out. Turns out it could have been true. In Jenny Robin Jones’ book “No Simple Passage”, the London, arriving in May 1842 with my Barratt ancestors on board was in sight of land but had to turn back and sail away to ride out or avoid a storm.

The New Zealand Company led by Edward Gibbon Wakefield bought from Te Atiawa chief Te Wharepouri around 160,000 acres. Known as the Port Nicholson Purchase. This was 90% of the land surrounding the harbour. The remaining 10% known as the Wellington Tenths was seat aside for Maori and today more than 4500 descendants of the original "tenths" owners have their interests in the land managed by the Wellington Tenths Trust. Settlers were allocated two properrty lots; an acre in the township and another back country block worth £1 per acre. Maybe this is why I have often found my ancestors on two electoral rolls at the same time - once against their "town" address and additionally at an address outside the outskists of the main part of town. Unsurprisingly many were not happy with their share, apportioned sight unseen - and if you know Wellington, most likely not flat or arable ! 

Samuel Cooper was a tailor, his son John followed him into the same trade and had business premises on Lambton Quay next to the Eagle Tavern at one time. A couple of John's brothers ventured into the soda manufacturing business. Thomas reputedly was the first in Wellington to establish such a business. Another brother Frederick established a plant nursery and Cooper's Seeds. He was possibly assisted in this enterprise by his brother James who had a similar set up in Invercargill. Importing plants from Australia. DNA suggests this link, I have yet to confirm it. Their cousin Frederick Stagg ran a grocery business on Lambton Quay.

Wellington certainly gets some wicked weather and is the brunt of non-Wellingtonian’s jokes. I imagine my ancestors wondered on some days why they had chosen to come to such an inhospitable place. But then there are those great days, the harbour is like a millpond, the breeze just a gentle zephyr…You can’t beat Wellington on a good day.

Coolest little capital in the world.

 

V- Vose

Edward Vose was born in Liverpool, Lancasshire on the 12 April 1798 and baptised at Our Lady & St Nicholas on 20 May. The church record notes that he was the first child for his parents Thomas and Mary (nee Ellis), and that they had been married “in this chapel”. At the time of Edward's birth the family lived at Cheetham Brow and his father was a joiner. Eighteen months later at his sister Elizabeth’s baptism they were living in Vernon Street.

Nothing else is known of Edward’s early life. His military record indicates that he joined the Royal Engineers (later the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners) as a Bugler in 1815. The period of service from 31 December 1815 to 12 April 1816 did not count towards his service as he was under 18 years of age. He eventually became a Private.

Edward married Elizabeth Weller at All Saints Church, Frindsbury Kent on 12 November 1819. Not much is known about Elizabeth’s early life either, however as she was born in Gillingham, Kent it is likely that her father was also in the military. I haven’t yet found a baptism record for the child I believe is their first born. John Frederick Vose was born in 1820 and is recorded on the GRO Regimental Indices 1761-1924. By 1828 when my great-great-grandfather Edward Mark was born the family were living in Omagh, Tyrone, Ireland where Edward Snr and his regiment were employed on the Survey of Ireland.

At this time the family included four sons, with the possibility of a fifth child, looking at dates, whose existence has been lost to time. Two more children George Ellis and Mary were also born in Ireland. When son Henry was born in 1834, the family was back in England, living at Woolwich. Their youngest son, Cornelius Augustus (who also liked to call himself Augustus Cornelius) was born in October 1840.

Edward was discharged as medically unfit due to chronic rheumatism 4 April 1837; with no pension. It was noted that he had first been attacked by rheumatism in 1828 while in Ireland, in his back and limbs and had been subject to the complaint ever since. He was 39 years old. His total service was 21 years and 5 days.

At the census in 1841 the family were living at New Road, Woolwich. Edward was a Labourer. Missing from the census family group were sons John Frederick and George Ellis. John may have been in the military; he certainly was in 1851. The 1841 census did not enumerate ships in port, so he may have been on board a naval vessel or deployed overseas. George had died in 1838 aged 9. On this census, William is also marked as having been born in Ireland, but Mary is not.

In 1851 they were living in Ann Street, Plumstead and Edward’s occupation was recorded as Labourer Chelsea Pensioner. Edward (my great-great-grandfather) was 22 and a Labourer at the Royal Arsenal. This time he and Mary were recorded as having been born in Ireland. Eldest son John was living in Sculcoates Yorkshire with his wife Ellen. They had married in Chatham in 1847 and John was a Private with the same Royal Sappers and Miners. John and Ellen had returned to Woolwich by the end of the year, and that is where John’s death occurred. Charles and William weren’t living with the family in 1851 and I haven’t found them on the census so far. William married in August that year and Charles in April 1853. Mary died in mid 1854.

By 1861 Charles and his growing family were living in Toronto, Canada where he was a Painter. William was settled with his own family in Plumstead. I’m not sure where Henry was, or even if he was still alive, I have a possible death for him in 1860; the age and location seem correct. Cornelius was enumerated on board HMAS Hornet in Aden. Edward and Elizabeth though were still living in Ann street with their son Edward. Edward senior is recorded as a Blacksmith while son Edward was still a Labourer at the Royal Arsenal.

On Christmas Day 1862 their son Edward married Sarah Ann Daniels who on the 1861 census was Nursemaid to the children of Walter Mitchell, Assistant Clergyman at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Sarah was born in Wiltshire but had obviously moved to London for employment. I wonder how they met ? Edward died  in JAnuary 1870 and was buried at St Margaret's churchyard in Plumstead. By the time the 1871 came around Elizabeth was living alone in Villas Road. Her sons William, Edward and Cornelius were living in Mile End Town, Erith and Plumstead.

In February 1879 Edward and Sarah left England with their 4 children and emigrated to Canterbury, New Zealand. Elizabeth was back in Ann Street living with Cornelius, his wife and children on the 1881 census. She moved with them to Upper Earl Street and then Bramblebury Road where they were living at the 1891 census.

When Elizabeth died in 1892 she had 25 grandchildren living on three continents. She was buried with Edward in the St Margaret’s Plumstead Churchyard.

U - Uriah

Uriah Cooper has been sitting in my tree for some time. I feel that he fits. The fact that makes some people less convinced is his supposed date of birth.

As I see it, he is a younger brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Samuel Cooper. Samuel too has a pretty fluid date of birth, somewhere between 1789 and 1801 depending which document you are reading. I’ve not yet been able to find a baptism for Samuel, but I believe he (and Uriah) are the sons of John Cooper and Ann Pullman who married in Stoke sub Hamdon, Somerset in June 1784. It appears from the church register that a sister of John’s also married that day.

There aren’t many Cooper families around this area so I think they have to all be connected. John and Ann had several children baptised in Stoke sub Hamdon and by 1797 had moved to Montacute where they had some more before John died in 1810. John was a tailor according to one story I read attached to someone's tree. My great-great-great-grandfather Samuel and his son John were both tailors too, so this new revelation seems like it could have an ounce of truth to it. My Dad and I spent a lot of Saturdays at the National Library in Wellington reading the microfilm copies of the church records for Montacute about seven years ago. We even managed to find evidence for my great-great-great-grandmother’s maiden name, but still haven’t been able to convince everyone who has it wrong in their trees to make the correction.

But back to Uriah. He is thought to have been born between 1798 and 1807. His death certificate in 1878 gives his age as 80, but who knows ? I remember being reminded recently about the literacy levels of our ancestors and that their numeracy skills were likely low too. Did they really remember which year they were born in, if they couldn’t write it down or have a document to refer back to ? And what were their addition skills like ? 80 might just have been a fair assumption made by his wife, the informant…who signed with an x.

My ancestor Samuel emigrated to New Zealand in 1841. Uriah had however left two years earlier and sailed on the Asia to Adelaide with his wife Elizabeth (nee Hockey) and three children. Some sources have only documented 2 children. He appears to have had a run in with the law before leaving England and spent some time in Ilchester Gaol.  He and his brothers may even have been involved in a riot which occurred in Montacute in the 1830s. I wonder if their wives and sisters were involved in the women led riot that occurred around the same time. You can read about the riots here. 

Uriah & Elizabeth stayed in South Australia for about 3 years before moving to Launceston, Tasmania. There they had six more children before moving again to Melbourne where their last two children were born. Uriah appears on the 1856 Electoral Roll living in Hawthorn, Melbourne. I am unsure where they lived in South Australia but it should be noted that there is a small settlement there, in the Adelaide Hills named Montacute after the birthplace of a financier of the Copper mine established there in 1843. I wonder if Uriah & Elizabeth knew John Baker ?

There is also a Montacute in Tasmania, near Hobart. This settlement was also established by a former Montacute resident. Captain William Langdon RN was the son of a former vicar of St Catherine’s in Montacute. He had been granted land in Tasmania in 1823, he regularly traded between London and Hobart and is reputed to have owned his own sailing ship. Other former Montacute residents are thought to have joined him there as well. Uriah though seems to have been further north. Uriah was a sawyer by trade and I imagine he would have had no shortage of work as settlers arrived and timber was required for building.

Uriah and Elizabeth had at least 13 children, not all of whom survived infancy, but many of who went on to marry and have families of their own.  He died at his home in Highett Street, Hawthorn. I know that the church records make the connection look pretty sketchy, but DNA matches are certainly pointing in the right direction. We all have matches coming up with descendants of Uriah, through at least 5 of his children and we and they also share matches with the descendants of their sister Ann. Contacting some of them is my next priority to compare information and see where can help each other.

T - Thomas

There are a fair few Thomas’ in our tree. It is a name which appears both as a first name and a surname. As a first name it is well represented across many families and many generations. Some families seemed to choose their children’s names from a very short list of names; so each Thomas might have an uncle Thomas and at least 3 cousins called Thomas as well ! As a surname, it is spread across many counties, provinces, states and countries.

I have a Thomas family I would like to find out a bit more about eventually. I’ll tell you what I know (or think I know).

John Thomas was born about 1790 in Llanfechan, Montgomeryshire, Wales. This information comes from census’ he is recorded on with his family. His wife Ann (maiden name uncertain) was born around the same time in Llanshaidr, Denbighshire, Wales. I have found them on the 1841, 1851 and 1861 UK census’. With a name like Thomas, in Wales you can never be entirely sure you have the right family, but I am fairly confident that I have the right one.

I found them when looking for the family of my 4 x great-grandmother Ann Thomas who I knew had married Henry James (another GREAT name to research !) in Brimfield, Herefordshire in 1843.

For a long time we didn’t do much research with this branch – I mean where do you start with Thomas’ and James’ ? We had Henry and Ann’s marriage certificate, and the birth certificates of both their daughters; Elizabeth & Mary who were born at Broadward Bridge near Clungunford, Shropshire. It wasn’t until we discovered that Ann had had another daughter prior to marrying Henry that the search began. We had been searching for a long time to find when Elizabeth (Aunt Lizzie) had emigrated to America. That turned out to be much earlier than the story relayed to us by Nana, and the passenger record indicated she was travelling to live with her brother-in-law...which meant she had another sister.

Finding Ellen then became the focus. She was about 5 years old at the time of the 1841 census. My cousin Jackie in the States had found what appeared to be the most likely record of baptism; in Llanymynech/Carreghofa in 1836. Below is the family in the parish of Llandrinio, Montgomeryshire. This was in the registration district of Llanfyllin and sub district of Llansantffraid.

 

John THOMAS         48      Sayer (sic)    Y

Ann                        48                          N

Richard                  21                          Y

Hugh                      11                          Y

Edward                   7                            Y

Evans                     6                            Y

Harriot                   16                          Y

Elen                        5                            Y

I am fairly confident that I have identified their daughter Ann as a servant at Jay House in Heath & Jay Herefordshire – just a hop step and a jump from Leintwardine & Bucknell which her (then future) husband gave as his birthplace in various census’.

In 1851 & 1861 John and Ann can be found in Domgay, still in the Llanfyllin registration district where John is a Sawyer, which ties in with the occupation given for him on the marriage certificates for two daughters. In 1851 their daughter Ann, her husband and two daughters were living in Dudley with the Duffill family. Another daughter of John and Ann, Mary, was married to Thomas Duffill, a tailor. Mary was in fact wife #4 of 5. Ellen hasn’t been confirmed on this census, she was likely to be in service elsewhere aged, about 15. By 1861 she had returned to Dudley and was married to John Duffill, her aunt’s stepson. Ellen’s birthplace on the census was transcribed as Slangyowich, which turned out to be Llanymynech !

Mary had died by 1861 and Thomas Duffill had married again. Ann and her family haven’t been located as yet (years of searching) on the 1861 census, but in 1871 Henry was a widower. We have a death certificate for Ann, not entirely sure it is the right one, but the age, location and date seem most likely. Ann was the informant on her sister Mary’s death certificate in 1859. If I could find the 1861 census, it would help make the 1865 death even more likely.

After the death of wife #5 the entire Duffill family, including Ellen, her husband and young children emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, where “Aunt Lizzie” would join them 40 years later.

Ellen’s marriage certificate records her father’s name as Thomas Thomas (!), her death certificate states John Thomas (her grandfather’s name). Her baptism record implies that her father may be Edward Owens. But that is another puzzle, for one day. The Thomas’ seem to all vanish from records after 1861 too.

In amongst our DNA matches there are some glimmers of hope – people who have Thomas in their trees, or who have Duffill which for us can only mean a link to the Thomas’.