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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lancashire => Topic started by: kazzy77 on Saturday 17 April 10 14:07 BST (UK)
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hi i'm needing a bit of help finding my great grandmother on the census records. i last found her on the 1891 census in atherton, lancashire then after that i can't seem to find her. there is an address in 1892 for the birth of her first child but she has moved on after as the baby died early the following year and is recorded as being in the sub district of trinity, district of preston, county of lancashire. her husband was an american from north carolina according to the census of 1891 and family stories have him as american too. my grandad was born in 1906 in berwick upon tweed and is recorded on the 1911 census as a visitor without his mother and according to some info from my mum's cousin she was in belgium in 1907 in a 'musical' capacity. any help trying to find out where she was would be greatly appreciated
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Welcome to Rootschat. Happy to help, but can you give us a bit more information?
We need her name, her date of birth or as near to it as you know, plus have you any idea where she was born? The name of her husband, plus any info on him, and the name and details of your grandfather?
Not really possible to help you without any names...
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hi
her name was emma stewart nee daniels born 1873 in sutton oak, st helen's, lancashire. her husband was called major stewart born according to the census in 1865 in NC occupation of herbalist assistant. marriage was 29 jan 1890. my grandad was called berwick virgil stewart born 6 nov 1906 in berwick upon tweed.
emma's husband major has been a bit of an elusive character and also we thought his name was john but did have a photo which was said to be my grandad's 'uncle major' originally then later he was told it was his father.
emma was supposed to be known as amy stewart on the stage and has the occupation of vocalist on my grandad's birth cert but also played the mandolin. the production she was in was called 'a trip to coontown' which was produced by will garland and the negro operetta from 1906.
sorry about the lack of info originally, i'm a bit new to this :)
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This is 1891, it may help with tracing the family in earlier censuses -
James Jarvis Wiggins About 55 Herbalist Virgina USA (British Subj)
Emma 52 Lancashire St Helens
Emma Stewart step daughter 19 Lancashire Sutton Oak
Major Stewart son in law 26 Herbalists Assistant North Carolina (USA) British Subj
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hi thanks for that but thats the one i've got. i can find emma and her family previous to that but not her husband. i can't find what became of them after this census either but major was said to have died not long before my grandad was born so that only leaves the 1901 census if its right. my grandad is listed as in north bierley, yorkshire on the 1911 census and his half sister's birth comes under this registration district also in 1912 .
thanks for looking :)
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I think I may have found a possible in 1901:
It's in Tewkesbury in Gloucester, but if they were performers they would have travelled around:
John Stewart, age 30. Groom, (not domestic)
Emily Stewart, 28, Actress.
I know she is Emma, not Emily, but that is quite a coincidence.
The entry also says they were both born in America, but that could be a simple error on the part of whoever gave the information. Both were boarders, along with others and at least one more of them is an Actress as well.
Take at look at Class: RG13; Piece: 2467; Folio: 102; Page: 19.
It's in the parish of Holy Trinity, Tewkesbury, or if you search John Stewart age 30 born US it should come up on most search sites.
Can't guarantee they are yours, but take a look and see what you think.
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hi
this is a good possibility. we thought she was just a vocalist until mum's cousin came up with the info about the production she took part in, so actress could very well fit the bill. wonder if i could find out if there was anything at that time with black performers in that area ???
thanks for looking it up :)
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Kazzy, this is such a co-incidence. There's probably no link, but this morning there is a new posting on the England General board, asking for help tracing a man who was from Africa, and was both a Music Hall artist and a Herbalist.
I've no idea if the two occupations normally went together, that certainly didn't seem obvious to me, but since you are trying to track a group of performers around the UK at around the same time, you might want to look a this thread - you never know..
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=451080.msg3130815;topicseen#msg3130815
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thanks maggie
i agree it is a bit of an unusual combination of careers! i think maybe major was working for his step father in law who had 3 herbalist shops around st helen's, tyldesley and atherton. i have been fortunate to have been sent a publication about the father in law james jarvis wiggins (or benjamin wiggens according to the marriage) but he never mentions names or dates which is a bit frustrating. i'll definately look into the link as it is a bit of a coincidence. maybe something or maybe nothing. time will tell :)
thanks again
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Hi kazzy77,
I came across this thread quite by accident, but I'm excited to see that your relative has a connection to Will Garland's "A Trip to Coontown." I'm a historian researching black entertainers who toured Germany, and I wonder if you by any chance have any more details on Emma's performing career.
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Hi there
My great grandmother was in a trip to coontown in 1907 as a family member has a postcard she sent from Belgium and some posters luggage tags etc that tie it all together. The only one I could find that was running that production at that time was will garland and his negro operetta and the article I read confirmed he did it in Belgium. My great grandmother Emma was known as Amy Stewart on stage apparently and travelled around England singing but it wasn't until I spoke with a family member that I found she travelled out of the country too. her first husband was called major Stewart who I've been told was a concert pianist and his parents were in a dance troupe that travelled from Philadelphia. They were supposed to have had the surname of major but changed it to the surname of the leader of the troupe. I've not been able to prove or disprove about him and his parents but my mum told me there was a tv documentary many years ago about the troupe they were in.
Emma Stewart nee Daniels was born in Sutton oak in Lancashire abt 1874 and major was born in NC abt 1865. Hope this helps
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Hi my name's Diane Yates I'm from Sutton oak and George was my g g grandandad my great grandfather was samuelYates s and I have grown n resided where George had and raised my great grandfather.,.the herbalist your talking of is Benjamin and there is a story.of Catherine raising him I've read....Benjamin had his first (don't quote me tho) in Leigh hindley Wigan way.... And I'm tryin to find out from my parents... Stanley and elona Yates who the distant family link was that use to visit our family home/farm from time to time as they was from that way..... Please get in touch regards