Christmas is almost here (yet again), and as usual I reflect on what progress I have made in my genealogy research over the past year.  This is not always an easy task; I really should keep a better research log!  But I do have a ton of emails to fall back on as well as my digital genealogy trees and my DNA research accounts and notes to review.

At the start of 2018 I resurrected my enthusiasm for blogging, and decided to at least start on another 52 week challenge to write one family history story each week.  It involved gathering information I already knew about individuals or groups of deceased relatives (in both Terry's and my trees), doing further research to fill in some of the gaps, and writing it in a way that is hopefully more interesting for living relative who are not genealogists.  I did pour a lot of effort into this for the first 4 months, producing 17 blog articles (to the exclusion of almost everything else). See these 2018 posts which involve the surnames BOORMAN, HENSON, RICHARDSON, ANDREW, COMPTON, SEELEY, and JOHNSTON. 

The topics covered in this year's blog postings:

• The discovery of the local grave of Terry's Aunt and Uncle Audrey and Don KING, and many other BOORMAN relatives in the Royal Oak Cemetery (2 postings). 
• Terry's grandfather Harry E BOORMAN served in Vancouver BC during WWII as head of the 68th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, which focused on recruitment and training. 
• Used the England Tithe Survey records to explore BOORMAN land usage in Kent in the 1800s.
• Amelia Alice BOORMAN Terry's maiden great-aunt, was an early school teacher in the Victoria BC public school system specializing in needlework for girls.
• Used Vancouver BC Fire Insurance plot maps to learn more about the locations of Terry's JOHNSTON and KERFOOT families (the Irish side), but mysteries remain.
• Explored the life and descendants of Terry's relative Louisa (BOORMAN) Seeley because descendants are DNA matches.
• Reviewed the 1790 will of William BOORMAN.
• Life of Ernest Frederick COMPTON who immigrated to New Zealand and Australia.
• Reviewed the life of Eliza Pring COMPTON, my great-great-grandmother.
• My ANDREW Aunt Eleanor JONES hand-crafted a stain glass sun catcher for my mother 
• Celebrating my ANDREW mother's 100th Valentines birthday with cards and photos (2 postings).
• Explored one branch of my early maternal RICHARDSON roots in Sussex England.
• I finally found my father Claude HENSON in the 1921 Canada census.  Reviewed his life, including photos of family and his WWII kit bag and hat.
• "Strawberry" HENSON had a unique nickname and a huge family in Arkansas.
• My memories and photos of our ANDREW family reunion in 1959.

But it seems it's either feast or famine with my blogging, as the year is now ending with only one additional posting that summarizes my 32 third-great-grandparents. Starting in May I needed to devote more time to my volunteer work with our local Victoria Genealogical Society where I am now a Director, which encompasses my continuing duties as their Webmaster and co-organizer for their DNA Special Interest Group.  There were other VGS projects that needed attention, some still ongoing.  So even my own research took a back burner for a while, except when I got welcome emails for others that drew me back into my research for brief periods.  Thanks to those who contact me or add comments to my blog posts.  Always welcome.

My website is gradually growing, with a new Grigg and Cornish page added this week.  And I added more photos to my Andrew page​.  But the main growth is in the blog (in spite of not doing the full 52 postings this year).  My "tree" reports have not been updated this year (based on the information I am editing all year in my family tree software), so that is something to focus on early in the new year.  

On the DNA research front, I am trying to encourage close relatives to test, as it makes it much easier to identify what the connections are with other matches, and it broadens the number of new relatives you can find.  So I was very happy when my maternal first cousin Mary recently decided to test at AncestryDNA (where I tested a year ago).  Her results are now in, and she is one of my top two matches at that company.  So now I am on a mission to review and contact all our shared matches, most of whom are 4th to distant cousins.  I am currently corresponding with some newly found ANDREW and COMPTON cousins, and this gives me great pleasure:)  My list of contacts is happily growing.  Last year my maternal cousin Lorelei (also a cousin of Mary) tested Family Tree DNA (where I originally tested late in 2015), so this provides a 3rd set of results from the same grandparents on my mother's side.  I also have a first cousin Sherrill on my father's side who has tested.  Thank you all!  Terry' sister has also tested, as well as our older son.  It's fascinating to compare both the variances and similarities between related matches, and through their results get access to even more new cousins.  

Family history is my passion and I consider it my personal treasure hunt.  That's because each of our families is important and very special,  and learning their stories truly does help you better understand your roots.  So here's wishing all of you and your special families a wonderful Christmas, and happy and healthy times in 2019.

A challenge has been made to identify all 32 of our third-great-grandparents (3GGPs).  Pass it on!

That’s a lot of names to find!  As we push our pedigree chart of direct ancestors back to earlier times, the number of our grandparents doubles with each generation: 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, then 16 great-greats (2GGPs), and 32 great-great-great-grandparents (3GGPs), etc.  16 are on our father’s side (ancestral numbers 32 to 47), and 16 on our mother’s side (ancestral numbers 48 to 63).    

After many years of family research I now know at least a bit about most of them, although there are still gaps and uncertainties.  And one of my maternal couples is duplicated due to intermarriage (making them my ancestors in 2 different positions in my pedigree).   My 32 ancestors in this generation were  born in the late 1700s or early 1800s, when record coverage is more limited.  It’s one of the reasons why most of us have gaps in our trees in these earlier generations, or at least some uncertainties due to a  limited amount of substantiating records.

Summarized below are my 3GGP ancestor names that I already know, divided into 4 groups associated with each of  my 4 grandparents.  This list will come in handy for my DNA research when trying to identify possible common ancestors for my DNA matches who are estimated to be my 4th cousins.

​As you can see, my father's ancestors lived in the USA and moved often, following the frontier where records weren't always kept.  My mother's ancestors came from south England and PEI Canada - a small island where I have multiple connections to the COMPTON family.  I have a brick wall in my maternal HOPGOOD line and in my paternal PATTERSON line.  And there is some uncertainty in some of the other lines as well.  More research is always needed!

I have already written stories about some of these ancestors (only 4 so far in this generation), and I have included links above where appropriate.  It seems I also have lots more stories still to write!  

The next generation back contains 64 direct ancestors (4GGPs).  Oh no, that IS intimidating!  I have many more gaps in that generation.

I am quite partial to lengthy names, where a single individual has three or more first names.  While theses types of names can come across as pretentious or even  grandiose, they are usually very distinctive (if not unique).  They also offer additional clues to family relationships, thereby helping the family building process.

One branch of my maternal grandmother’s RICHARDSON family really embraced this practice.  My 5-times great uncle Thomas RICHARDSON (with only one unremarkable first name) married an Elizabeth Ashburnham NORTH in 1790 in Dallington, Sussex, England.  Elizabeth was the only child of Rev William I NORTH (middle initial only mentioned in one parish record, and we don’t yet know for certain what it stands for).  Her mother Ann WAKEHAM was William’s step-sister as well as wife, so there was already a strong bond between these families.

I think it was important to Elizabeth and her parents (who had no male descendants) to continue on the surnames in her line in any way possible.  So Elizabeth and Thomas RICHARDSON awarded each of their three children with three Christian names each:

• William North Wakeham RICHARDSON (1791-1871)
• Eliza Ann Irving RICHARDSON (1793-1877)
• Thomas Wakeham Ashburnham RICHARDSON (1796-1876)

Quite the jumble of names, for sure, and each a mouth full in their own right!

It’s immediately clear where most of these names came from (Richardson, North, Wakeham), but two of them are not as obvious (Irving, Ashburnham).  Unless of course Rev North’s middle name was Irving?  Anyone want to bet on that?  If I ever decide to push this unrelated NORTH side back further, I’ll have to keep an eye out for IRVING families.   I originally thought that one of the executors of Rev North’s 1797 will was a George Irvin, shopkeeper of Robertsbridge, but a later document clearly refers to him as George Munn.  So much for my handwriting interpretation skills!

The NORTH name has been the most tenacious, appearing several generations later in Australia branches at least.  I have been in contact with a talented researcher and historian “down under” who has unearthed some interesting records about these Richardsons.  I was very impressed with how well she grasped implications and possible scenarios from her findings, offering useful historical insights that help connect the dots.  Such was the case with the ASHBURNHAM name.  From old newspapers and the Clergy of the Church of England Database, among other sources, she investigated Rev North’s education and career history.  Of particular interest was this reprint in an English newspaper (almost 100 years after the fact):

This picture, taken in the summer of 1959, is important because it truly represents FAMILY to me. It captures a precious moment at an important event in my childhood, when  I was surrounded by cousins at a reunion of my mother Mabel ANDREW’s immediate family.  This photo was taken by my Uncle Charlie CLARK (husband of my mother’s sister Harriet ANDREW) in their large back yard in Duncan, BC, Canada.  It shows a somewhat disorderly group, featuring  my maternal grandparents Harry Charles ANDREW and Eleanor Louise "Nell" RICHARDSON​  with many of their grandchildren. It must have been hard trying to corral this large group of young children for the photo!

Uncle Charlie told me in later years that, not only did he take this picture  (I forget the exact details of the make and model of the camera which he clearly remembered), but he also developed the film himself and made a limited number of copies for family.  A man of many talents!  I doubt that the negative has survived, but thankfully some of the copies have.

This event was the first organized reunion of my mother’s ANDREW family that I attended.  It was also their first full reunion that I know of since the end of WWII when parts of this family moved their base camp from the Prince Edward Island (PEI) on the east coast of Canada to Vancouver Island (BC) on the west coast.  Mom’s brother George ANDREW settled in Ontario, and another brother Alan ANDREW re-enlisted in the Air Force, so was stationed in a number of locations.  But in 1959, the other siblings were all living in Duncan, BC, close at hand for the reunion.

Growing up, I learned that I was one of 21 grandchildren on my mother’s side, all born between 1946 and 1964.  We were the offspring (natural and adopted) of Harry and Nell ANDREW’s 7 children.  So my sister and I had 19 maternal cousins, and I am so proud of that!  In this photo I see only 12 of these grandchildren, with 2 others hidden. In 1959, 5 cousins had not been born yet, one was a toddler and probably napping, and the last one missed the photo.  I’m the one wearing glasses, sitting cross-legged right in front.

This reunion was also memorable because it was the first time I had met my Ontario cousins.  George had 4 girls and the youngest one is only 4 months older that me.  So I remember being very excited to meet them.  Three of these new cousins are in the above photo, and I don’t know why the 4th one was missed.  Perhaps she wasn’t feeling well, or was camera shy.

There were other photos taken that day, and in the days surrounding the reunion, that expand and enhance the story told by this photo.  I can't help but include 4 of them:

I have always been thankful for the maternal  influences in my life.  For most of my formative preschool years my mother, sister and I lived with my maternal grandparents, and I had much more contact with my nurturing maternal line relatives throughout my life.  And it was my maternal grandmother who encouraged my interest in family history.

Tracing a direct maternal lineage (mother’s mother’s mother …) has it’s own set of challenges, yet I’ve found it very rewarding and interesting. I have always been intrigued by the fact that the surnames for women change every generation. Of course this is because, in English and western cultures at least,  females usually take on their father’s surnames at birth and then their husband’s name at marriage (with exceptions in cases of intermarriage or illegitimacies).  So surnames aren’t designed to identify female lineages even though women are the ones to give life to their children and ensure the continuation of our species - a fairly significant contribution, I would say! This has never seemed right to me.  Others have obviously felt the same way because sometimes the mother’s maiden surname (or that of another female relative) is sometimes inserted as a child's middle name. I have numerous examples of this in my family tree.

I have traced my direct maternal line back as far as my 4th-great-grandmother on the Isle of Wight in England.  The surnames in this pedigree,  starting with my mother, are ANDREW, RICHARDSON, COMPTON, COMPTON, JEFFERY, and RYDER.  Yes, there are two COMPTON's is a row; the earlier one married a second cousin with the same surname.  As part of a tribute to my direct maternal line, I have already written stories about my mother Mabel Marion ANDREW and her mother Eleanor Louise “Nell” RICHARDSON.  It is now time to write about my great-grandmother Isabella Harriet COMPTON.  Known as Ella, she was the oldest of nine children born to George COMPTON and his wife Eliza Pring COMPTON (also his second cousin).  (Eliza’s middle name of Pring came from a relative on her mother’s side, although her mother’s maiden name was actually JEFFERY.)

Ella was born 13 Jan 1859 in St Eleanors, Prince Edward Island, Canada, likely on the family farm of 103 acres. She was baptised the following April in Richmond Parish PEI. My Aunt Harriet (whose middle name was Compton) once told me a bit about her grandmother Ella: "Grandma Richardson was born in St. Eleanors she was the eldest of 10 children [I count only nine] and worked very hard helping to bring up her siblings.  Her mother was very Delicate !!!!! or so we’ve been told.  Grandma was a great horse woman, and so was my mother [Nell], she used to ride side-saddle in Horse Shows when she was young in the town of Summerside, 2 miles to the south.”

In 1881 the family is listed as living at Beech Point Prince County PEI, the name given to part of Lot 17 including St Eleanors.  Ella’s age was mis-indexed as 27 rather than 21.  Her eight siblings ranged in age from 19 to 1​.  So I don't doubt that Ella played a role in caring for her younger siblings.

We know that Ella became a nurse, although I have not yet found any record of her formal training.  Anna, one of her sisters who was almost seven years younger, was an early graduate of the Nursing School of Prince Edward Island Hospital in Charlottetown, beginning her training in the original hospital and completing it in the new hospital on Kensington Road in 1898.  Presumably Ella received similar training.  Ella continued nursing, probably part time as needed, even after she married and had children. I have heard stories of Ella assisting in some very grizzly procedures including an amputation, which is why she didn’t want her daughters to go into nursing. 

Ella COMPTON met Sydney RICHARDSON in about 1883 after he had been recruited from Ontario to start up the first cheese factory in Prince County PEI. Ella was almost 27 when she married Sydney on 9 Dec 1885 at St Johns Anglican Church in St Eleanors.  He was three and a half years younger than her.  At first they rented a cottage owned by the Darby family, across the road from the Darby farm.  Their first child Melbourne RICHARDSON was born there the following year.  According to Melbourne, "My father had a small cheese factory, supplied with milk from the farmers surround[ing] it … After a couple of years or so, father bought a small farm 25 acres, a good house about 7 rooms, 2 stories.  A good barn suitable for 3 cows, 3 horses and mows for hay for long winters.” They had four more children: Frances Lulu in 1888, George Lewis in 1891, my grandmother Eleanor Louise "Nell" RICHARDSON in 1894, and Frederick C early in 1897 who died as an infant.​

Ella participated in farming and gardening activities in addition to raising her children and nursing. In 1907 she won second prize for her Bradshaw plums at the Prince County Fall Exhibition.  Family stories mention everyone pitching in with farm chores.  Sydney also helped out with the cooking but relied on his family to help out on the farm when he worked at his nearby cheese factory.  There was lots of work to keep everyone busy, but they also took time out to socialize and get involved in church and community activities.

In 1915 this news item was published in the Charlottetown Guardian (Oct 28, 1915, page 8, column 4): 
“Western Personals … Mrs. Sydney Richardson, St. Eleanor's, and Mrs. William Andrew, North St. Eleanor's, spent a few pleasant days with friends and relatives at Port Hill.-V”
Mrs. William ANDREW was Ella’s first cousin whose maiden name was Harriet Washbourne COMPTON and whose son Harry ANDREW was destined to marry Ella's daughter Nell RICHARDSON.  Port Hill was another community on the north coast of Prince County PEI to the north west of St Eleanors.

Later in 1928, I found another short notice published in the Charlottetown Guardian (Monday 5 Nov 1928, page 8, column 4): 
​“Personals.  Mrs. Sydney Richardson of St. Eleanors, has returned home this week from Seattle, Wash., where she had spent an enjoyable three months visit with her two sons who reside there.”
The two sons were Mel and George, both working in mattress manufacturing.  I have a few family photos from this 1928 trip, so I was glad to learn the approximate dates and duration of Ella's once-in-a-lifetime visit to the west coast.  While there, Ella would have met Mel’s three children for the first time, just missing the birth of their fourth child later that November.  Her son George had married the previous summer in Spokane and did not have any children yet.  The trip included swimming and camping at a nearby lake, and visiting old growth forests with enormous, towering trees.  I'm sure Ella took home many wonderful memories of her growing family and her trip to the Pacific Northwest.

About 1935 when Ella was 76, she suffered a debilitating stroke and was bed ridden for the remaining 15 years of her life.  This would have been so hard on her as well as her family.  Her daughter Lulu became ill and died in 1940, followed by her son George in 1943.  In 1946 her son Mel and his wife Marion journeyed across the continent to visit his parents and his home province of PEI.

Her daughter Nell, the last of their children still living in PEI who had stayed behind to help her father care for Ella, finally moved west to Vancouver Island in 1950 to join her husband. Nell arranged for other Compton relatives to care for her ailing her parents.  Ella's granddaughter Harriet CLARK (nee ANDREW) was her only descendant left on the island.

​The following year on 16 Mar 1951, Ella passed away at the age of 92, followed soon after by Sydney, her husband of 65 years.  They are buried together in the St Johns Anglican Cemetery in St Eleanors PEI.
​

I think it’s unusual for a family tree to contain a prize-winning cheese maker, but it fact my material great-grandfather Sydney “Cheesy” RICHARDSON was such a man.  Last year I wrote about Sydney in my “Finding Treasures in Old Newspapers about PEI Ancestors” posting - Sydney and/or his wife are listed at least 32 times in old Charlottetown PEI newspapers. And in 2013 I talked about Sydney twice: his emigration to Canada and getting his start in the cheese making trade in “Richardson Migration”, and about his family’s photos in “Weaving Stories Around Old Family Photos - Richardson & Andrew Families”.  Now it’s time to focus on Sydney’s long life.

Sydney RICHARDSON was born 3 Jul 1962 in the village of Weston Longville in Norfolk England (north west of Norwich), where by 1861 his father Henry Proctor RICHARDSON II was a gamekeeper for the Custance family of nearby Weston Hall (the manor house dates back to 1558).  Sydney’s father came from Brede Sussex near Hastings, and his mother Elizabeth HARRIS (1828-1902) was born in Lower Slaughter Gloucestershire in the scenic Cotswolds.  Sydney was the fifth of eight children (3 boys and 5 girls) and was baptized in All Saints Church in Weston Longville on 20 Sep 1863 at the age of 14 1/2 months.  From his father he gained an appreciation of animal and land management and a love for gardening and hunting.  According to my aunt (Sydney’s granddaughter), he must have done well at school because he received an award for his good penmanship, which was proudly displayed on their wall at home. (I had previously and incorrectly attributed this award to her other grandfather William ANDREW.)

By 1881, Sydney was still living with his parents and siblings in Weston Hall Cottages, then 18 years old and employed as a gamekeeper like his father.  But he had other plans.  Family stories tell us that Sydney emigrated to Ontario Canada while still a teenager to learn the cheese making profession, and this is likely because other Richardson relatives were already there and could help him get started.  Stories claim this happened in 1880 but more likely it didn’t happen until 1882.  The closest travel record I can find is for a Sydney RICHARDS [sic], age 17, leaving London England aboard the “Thames” and arriving 21 Aug 1882 in Halifax Nova Scotia destined for Montreal.  If our Sydney, he would have turned 20 the month before this arrival.

I have been unable to trace any personal record for Sydney during his brief life in Ontario.  But records in the Prince Edward Island (PEI) Archives verify that Sydney Richardson was the first cheese maker in the new "St Eleanors Cheese Factory” in 1883. The Archives Canada site also refers to it as the “St. Eleanor’s Cheese Manufacturing Company”.

Having obtained a copy of this letter (which appears to be a typewritten transcription rather than the original), a note at the top says that the letter was subsequently forwarded to John Waddell in Orono, Ontario. Unfortunately there is no further record of any other response or actions taken.  It seems clear, however, that the planned cheese factory was incorporated in 1883 and Sydney RICHARDSON was hired for the job after this letter was written, as it was still in the planning stages then.  Perhaps Sydney worked or apprenticed in the cheese industry in Newtonville or Orono when he was in Ontario and heard about the opportunity in PEI.  The letter states that “there is to [two] factorys on the Island [PEI] over fifty miles from us”, so the St Eleanors factory was not the first of its kind in PEI, but likely the first in Prince County.  It is a bonus for me that the letter was written by Charles Andrew Sr., my great-great-grandfather, whose grandson Harry Charles ANDREW (my grandfather) later married Sydney RICHARDSON’s daughter Nell RICHARDSON (my grandmother).  So if the letter hadn’t been written, or if Sydney hadn’t been hired for the job on PEI, the marriage wouldn’t have happened.  Thank goodness it did!

Regarding the references to Sydney’s 1886 bronze medal award for his excellent cheese, I looked for confirmation of this in various PEI publications.  On June 2nd and 3rd, 1886, the Charlottetown Daily Examiner newspaper published lists of PEI exhibitors at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London.  "St Eleanor’s Cheese Factory - Cheese” was an exhibitor in their June 3rd issue. The following year on March 26, 1887, the Charlottetown Daily Examiner listed “St Eleanors Cheese Factory, St. Eleanors” as one of the winners of "diplomas and medals”.  Sydney’s name and the exact nature of his award were not listed.  However a couple local history booklets provided additional information. “Sketches of Old St Eleanors” published in 1973, states on page 34:

While Sydney was busy establishing himself in the cheese making industry and winning awards, he also found time for courtship, marriage and parenthood. Isabella Harriet “Ella” COMPTON was the daughter of George and Eliza COMPTON, farmers in St Eleanors and  contemporaries of the above Charles ANDREW who wrote the letter.  They were part of the same farming community and likely supplied milk to the cheese factory.  Sydney and Ella were married on 9 Dec 1885 at St Johns Anglican Church, St Eleanors.  The first of their five children, Henry Melbourne RICHARDSON, was born the following year.  When he was old enough, Melbourne helped his father out at the cheese factory.  Their remaining children Frances Lulu RICHARDSON (1888), George Lewis Compton RICHARDSON (1891) and my grandmother Eleanor Louise “Nell” RICHARDSON (1894) also grew up and married.  Their youngest child sadly died as an infant.

His son Melbourne wrote a short memoirs of his early years which included the following details:

One of my favorite stories about Sydney came from one of his granddaughters, my Aunt Harriet (ANDREW) CLARK, who grew up in St Eleanors.  She told me that Sydney was quite the cook.  He loved to fish and hunt rabbits and wild birds.  Many the bird, wild duck or goose that he gave to his daughter Nell’s family when the children were young had to not only be plucked etc., but when they ate the bird they had to watch out for buck shot, as "those hunters were really generous with their ammunition!”  Harriet remembered being invited to stay for lunch one time and the stew bubbling away on the stove smelled delicious, like chicken in fact.  They enjoyed it immensely and after lunch Sydney got a big kick out of watching their faces when he hold them that it had been RABBIT stew!

From the few pictures I have of Sydney, he was a square-jawed man with rigidly square shoulders and very upright bearing.  My grandmother Nell once told me that he was very particular about his posture and insisted the same of her, going to the extend of strapping a board to Nell’s back to make sure she kept her shoulders back.  Judging from Granny's later posture, it worked.  I wonder if Sydney’s parents had done the same to him?

Old newspapers provide additional glimpses of Sydney's life and activities over the years. He won prizes at the Prince County Exhibitions in Summerside, sometimes for a heifer or a pair of Orpington Buff chickens, or for his produce: carrots, cabbage, parsnips, eschallot seeds, Roxbury Russet apples, wheat, and celery. He traveled to Charlottetown on occasion, sometimes with relatives and sometimes staying in hotels there.   In 1901 he was one of 2 directors elected to the Kensington Dairying Association for Prince County. In 1909 he was elected Vestrymen as well as delegate for St John’s Church in St Eleanors.  In 1921 he was honorable pall bearer at the funeral of Thomas ANDREW, his son-in-law’s uncle.  In 1926 he was foreman of the jury at the inquest into the death of an Anthony Mitchell.  In 1928 he was one of twelve called to serve on the Grand Jury in Summerside for 5 criminal and several civil cases.  In 1947 (but reprinted from 1897) Sydney RICHARDSON was acknowledged as one of 32 cheesemakers on the island the previous year, saying that he had been at St. Eleanors for 15 years (13 by my reckoning).

RESOURCE LINKS

Weston Longville All Saints Church, Norfolk England - Norfolk Churches site
Images of Weston Longville Norfolk (copyrighted): Weston Hall, 1946 and Weston Longville Church sketch
St. Eleanor's Cheese Manufacturing Company Fonds - archivescanada site
PEI newspaper index, 1886 exhibitors and 1887 medals and diplomas - islandregister site
St Johns Anglican Church, St Eleanors, PEI, Canada - historic places site
St Johns Anglican Church, St Eleanors - PEI heritage buildings
St Johns Church St Eleanors and Richmond  Parish Fonds - Archives Council of PEI

I love collaborating and sharing ideas and information with other researchers.  Not only does this make the whole process of building a family tree easier and more enjoyable, but it’s so often much more fruitful.  When you combine differing perspectives, ideas, and sleuthing talents, and have access to a greater variety of sources and localized knowledge, everyone wins.  I have had several such collaborations over the years.

Such was the case back in 2009 when I was trying to learn more about my maternal HARRIS roots.  Luck was with me and I connected with a researcher in England through genesreunited.org.  At that time I knew very little about my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth HARRIS except that she was born and baptized in 1828 in a quaint Cotswold village in Gloucester England with the rather unfortunate name of Lower Slaughter.  I also knew that Elizabeth married Henry Proctor RICHARDSON II on 15 Mar 1853 in St Mary’s Chapel, Lambeth, Surrey, England.  Their marriage certificate also provided the name of her father: James Harris, carpenter.  One of the witnesses was Martha Harris (whom I now believe was Elizabeth’s younger sister).  Other online trees had suggested her mother was named Lucy but no sources or other details were provided.  Of course I wanted to know much more, but with a common name like HARRIS, I didn’t think it would be easy.

With the help and generosity of my newly found third cousin (once removed), I learned that James HARRIS married Lucy RANDALL on 31 Jul 1821 in Lower Slaughter.  The couple was listed in the 1841 England census living at Burrows Cottage in Upper Slaughter with six children between the ages of 12 and 1: Elizabeth, Martha, Mary, William, Thomas and Jane.  In 1851 they were still in Upper Slaughter with children Martha, Mary, William, Thomas, Jane and James between the ages of 20 and 8.  In 1861 they were living on their own at Gamekeepers Lodge, Upper Slaughter, and by 1871 they had moved to Eyford Gloucester, with their 13-year-old granddaughter Jane “Harriss” living with them.  

While this census information assisted greatly in building James' family, baptism records were also located for their two oldest children John (1825) and Elizabeth (1828), but not for the younger six children.  John was not listed in the census, having moved out of his parent’s home prior to the earliest census in 1841.  I wonder if there was an even older child born between 1821 and 1824 who we haven’t found yet?  James was baptized on 20 Jan 1799 in Bourton-On-The-Water, Gloucester (the rectory associated with Lower Slaughter), the son of Thomas and Mary HARRIS, so his birth likely occurred late in 1798.

Because we could not find either James or Lucy in any census after 1871, we theorized that they both probably died before 1881.  We found some very promising death registrations for James in 1876 (age 79) or more likely 1877 (age 78), and for Lucy before him in 1872 (age 73).  Although I have not yet sent away for their death certificates, I have recently found corresponding burial information for them both.  I now believe James was buried 21 Mar 1877 in Upper Slaughter, with his death probably in Bourton On The Water where he was residing.  Lucy was buried earlier on  17 Sep 1872, also in Upper Slaughter where they lived at that time.

Our HARRIS collaboration didn’t stop with James.  We were able to push the HARRIS line back another two generations, learning in the process that James had seven siblings and his mother was born a SMITH (groan).  We also found additional information about Lucy RANDALL’s parents and 9 siblings, and the names of her paternal grandparents.   Lots of potential for future stories here!

In 2012 during our trip to England, we went on a one day tour of the Cotswolds and had the opportunity to briefly visit the picturesque village of Upper Slaughter. We only caught a glimpse of their church on the hill before following a trail through sheep pastures to view the small mill town of Lower Slaughter.  Our time there was very limited, but I was able to run the couple of blocks to the church and walk around the the graveyard for 5 or 10 minutes.  I didn’t find any recognizable graves and the church itself was locked, but it was exciting to see at least the outside of the church where James and Lucy were married almost 200 years ago. I only wish I had been able to meet up with my new cousin and collaborator on that trip.

I still haven’t finished researching James and Lucy or their descendants and ancestors (is that even possible?), but networking and sharing with my new cousin in England certainly made it much easier and a lot more fun!

Proving my maternal RICHARDSON lines continues to be a challenge.  I have dutifully traced back from my grandmother Eleanor Louise RICHARDSON as far as my great-great-great grandfather Henry Proctor RICHARDSON “the first" with as much certainty as is possible.  His death certificate says that Henry Procter Richardson died 15 October 1850 in Brede Sussex England at age 61 years.  His gravestone no longer exists although the burial index confirms this age and his burial on 19 Oct 1850 at St Georges, Brede.  This would put his birth year about 1789. 

In the Sussex marriage index dated 19 Jun 1819, Henry RICHARDSON (bachelor, of this parish) and Ann PECKHAM (spinster, of Appledore Kent) were married by license in Brede East Sussex, just north of Hastings.  No ages or parents’ names were provided.  Looking at his son’s 1853 marriage certificate, both father (deceased farmer) and son (gamekeeper) were named as Henry Procter/Proster Richardson.  Handwriting is fairly legible but irregular, so is still open to interpretation.  The deceased father is in keeping with Henry Sr’s death in 1850.

So far I have been unable to locate a baptism record for Henry Procter RICHARDSON in or around 1789. There are numerous Richardson baptism records indexed for Brede between 1729 to 1833, but they do NOT include a Henry Proctor or even a Henry in this time period.  The closest baptism for a Henry was in 1778.  Were the records incomplete or was he baptised elsewhere or not at all?  I have been told that the original parish records for Brede are (or were) housed in the Record Office in Lewes, East Sussex but are too fragile to be viewed or filmed.  Some transcripts of these registers have been filmed by the LDS, but I am told that there are gaps in these records around the time in question.  It is possible that the desired records were missing or unreadable in the original, or missed being transcribed if they existed.

It seems highly probable with a middle name of Proctor that Henry was the son of Henry RICHARDSON and Martha PROCTOR / PROCTER.  It was a common practice to carry forward maternal surnames in this fashion.  The Proctors were a well-to-do family with property in Brede and nearby Rye Sussex.  Martha married Henry Richardson in Rye on 22 Apr 1777, and I have found baptisms in Brede for seven of their children: Henry 1778 (buried 1781), Martha 1780, Jane 1782, Edward 1784 (buried 1805), Sarah 1786, James 1791 (but age at death implies 1789), and William John 1794.  So potentially there is a convenient gap between 1786 and 1791, ample time for another child to be born.  Their first child was named Henry who died as a toddler, so it makes sense that they would also name a later son Henry to carry on an apparent long tradition of Henrys in this family.  With all their other children baptised in Brede, it would be expected that the baptism for a middle child in these circumstances would also take place in Brede.  Nevertheless I’ve also checked baptism indexes in Rye and other nearby parishes, but so far without luck.

We know that this Henry Proctor RICHARDSON “the first” was a farmer and parish clerk according to the baptism records of his children.  Henry P Richardson is also listed as the Brede Parish Clerk from 1824 to 1841 in the book Brede, The Story of a Sussex Parish by Edmund Austen, printed 1946.   This book also states that in 1826,  "Henry P. Richardson and his wife" were managing the Brede Workhouse for the poor, but perhaps only until 1829.  As to their children, their first son Henry was baptized 28 Jan 1820, about seven months after their marriage. According to a removal order for a pregnant Ann PECKHAM [sic] dated 10 Mar 1818 that sent her back to Appledore Kent from Brede Sussex, it appears that their son Henry was probably born in 1818 rather than 1819 or 1820. (This younger Henry died very young in 1823, coincidentally repeating the pattern of the previous generation.)  After their marriage, Henry P and Ann RICHARDSON had 7 more children including my ancestor Henry Proctor Richardson II (born 1825, baptized 1830).  Their last child Mary was born 17 Dec 1838.  Sadly Ann died in childbirth on that same day at the age of 39, the wife of a “reduced farmer”.

Further evidence of Henry’s farming activities has been found in a 2004 pamphlet entitled "Hop Token Issuers and Their Tokens, The Parishes of Beckley, Brede, Northiam, Peasmarsh & Udimore” by Alan Henderson.  It lists a Henry Richardson of Church House Farm who issued hop tokens to his hop pickers:

As 1819 also happens to be the year of marriage for my Henry P Richardson and Ann Packham, he was of the right generation to be farming with his father.  Although this evidence is speculative and circumstantial, it’s another piece of the puzzle, adding credence to the theory that his father was also named Henry.  It also suggests that they owned or leased substantial amounts land including “Church Land”, which happens to be listed as family property in the will of a Henry Richardson dated 1798 [* see below].

So I hesitantly claim Henry RICHARDSON and Martha PROCTER as my ancestors until I can find evidence to the contrary or hopefully find additional confirmation.  If true, my RICHARDSON lineage extends back through Henry (1756- ) and Martha PROCTOR, Henry (1727-1798*) and Mary SWEETLOVE, Henry (1703-1775) and Susannah THOMAS, and Richard (c1674-1712) and Ann WATTS of Guestling Sussex.

There are still additional avenues to explore.  For instance, I have not yet located possible coroner's records from 1850 that might provide further clues about Henry's family and birth in addition to the circumstances of his death.  And perhaps there are more wills to be found. What a relief  it would be to resolve these doubts about my RICHARDSON ancestors.

My mother Mabel ANDREW was an attendant (probably the maid of honor) at her older brother George’s wedding.  The only photo I have of that wedding is this informal shot, with Mom the only one looking directly at the camera, and the others caught unaware.  That's likely why Mom was given this photo, and of course I like it, but I wish I had more of the bride and groom.

George and June settled in Moncton New Brunswick for a short time after the war before returning to Ontario where they raised their four daughters.  Over the next few years George's parents and siblings took turns traveling west to settle in British Columbia, some  stopping to visit George and family on the way through.  The last to make the trip was his sister Harriet in 1953, traveling with her husband Charlie Clark and their three kids.

In 1959, George and at least some of his family traveled west to Duncan BC to visit his parents and attend an Andrew reunion held at Harriet and Charlie's home.  It was the first time I met my Ontario cousins.  Over the years there were only a few other trips west for reunions and anniversary celebrations, so I never got to know them well. 

The last time I remember seeing Uncle George was in June 1975 when he attended his parents 60th wedding anniversary dinner held at the Village Green Inn in Duncan BC.  He was already sick with lung cancer, but never said a word.  George died on March 27, 1976 in Ontario, and was buried in Stayner Union Cemetery in Staynor, Simcoe County.  He was only 59 years of age.