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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: inarcadia on Monday 01 June 09 17:52 BST (UK)
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Does anyone have a connection to Nelson Walker, who was born in Montreal, Canada, on 21 March 1799 and worked as a silversmith there and designed propellers for steamboats. He later appears in the UK census in 1861 in Plumstead, Kent, along with his daughter Georgenia, 27, when his occupation is given as "surveyor draftsman". He was then working for the Royal Engineers Surveyors Office and his signature appears on several documents at the NRO in Kew. His last appearance is in the London directory for 1863 and although I have searched for a death record I have been unable to find one. Perhaps he died at sea. Does anyone have any information?
inarcadia
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Ive seen quite a bit about him (Googling)as a silversmith and his steam boat propellers, but everyone is as much in the dark as you,they have him 1799 birth and after 1855 for his death !!
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Hi - it appears there was a move to Plymouth, Devon, followed by bankruptcy. This looks like him in 1864: - first column http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/22844/pages/2161
...and 1866: - second column: http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/23187/pages/6304
Regards
Rob
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Free BMD deaths:
Nelson Walker, Plymouth, Dec 1865, 5b 176
Rob
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Wow! Thanks Rob (Snowball) and thanks Hepburn. That's him all right. Rob, did you have a special interest in Nelson Walker, or are you just very good at ferreting things out? As always, this kind of information (bankruptcy) makes you wonder what happened to a man of so many talents and abilities. And I'd have thought that his pay as a surveyor/draftsman for the Royal Engineers can't have been bad by the standards of the day. So what went wrong? And I wonder what happened to his daughter Georgenia?
Thanks again. Any other titbits on Nelson Walker gratefully received.
Laurence (inarcadia)
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Hi Laurence,
brilliant piece of detective work off Snowball......
Ive been looking for Nelsons daughter without any luck,was her name really Georgenia ?
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RG10/96/18/page 30.1871..
Westminster,Hanover square
Georgenia Walker age 25 boarder, working as a milliner born Canada.
This has to be her (dosen't it) even though the age is wrong...
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http://www.rootschat.com/links/06fn/
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Yes, thanks for that, Hepburn. I had to order the book from Canada to read the whole thing. Some of the pages are missing online.
inarcadia
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I can't find her in later censuses a Marriage for her or even a death......
Ebay has some of Nelsons silverware for auction..
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By the time he went bankrupt he was retired- pensions weren't that great in those days, he was in his sixties and may no longer have been able to work to supplement the pension.
Hmm, in Montreal in 1835:
http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=4081368
http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/lovell/index.html
- a Nelson Walker was in Montreal in 1842.
http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/genealogie/inst_recherche_ligne/inst_recherche_ligne.jsp
- non-Catholic baptisms index for Montreal shows Nelson in 1799 and Georgina Augusta in 1831, both at Christ Anglican Church in Montreal. Clearly the Christ Anglican Church records are where you're going to find the most information about the family.
Also if you search the PISTARD database for Nelson Walker there are a couple of references to him:
http://pistard.banq.qc.ca/unite_chercheurs/recherche_simple
http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census52/
shows Nelson Walker with wife Mary Ann (she from England) and two daughters - Sarah Louisa and Georgina Augusta. From Georgina's age in 1851 (16) and 1861 (27), I wonder if the baptism date of "1831" was mis-indexed and she actually wasn't baptised until 1837 or something.
Interesting - maybe a trip to London for Mary and the girls?
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/1828d.htm
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Thanks, Jorose. That's a whole lot of new leads!
inarcadia
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Hi Laurence,
No, no connection. Just tried his name in the London Gazette database - it's a fantastic resource and you've inspired me to post the details of it in a separate thread here: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,385068.0.html
Regards
Rob