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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: DianaCanada on Sunday 15 May 22 16:14 BST (UK)
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Decided to tackle this brick wall from my husband’s family tree. He descends from Thomas Fairburn (some later descendants spell it Fairbairn) who settled in Normanby Township, Ontario sometime before he married Catherine Kirby on 9 Sep 1865. They later lived in near by Guelph, Wellington Co., Ontario.
Thomas likely lied about his age when he married, stated as 29 and Catherine as 18. Later records put his birth date as closer to 1831. His death record states he died 16 Dec 1918, Guelph, b. England, age 87, so b. 1831 or at the very end of 1830.
On his marriage his parents were listed as Francis and Sarah Fairburn.
I have found a Francis and Sarah Fairburn at Bridlington, Yorkshire with several children baptized, but sadly, no Thomas.
However, recently OH had a DNA match to a descendant of William Fairburn, one of Francis and Sarah’s children. They share 29 cM. While this match has other family lines from the area of Hull, Yks., I don’t see how any of the others would match (OH’s British Isles ancestors have been in North America since at least Thomas' marriage and some of them go back to the US colonial period).
Any opinions on whether I am on the right track, that Thomas is the son of Francis and Sarah? I do need to trace the other children of Francis and Sarah, but all his Fairburn matches are connected to Thomas and his wife Catherine.
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Just to add, there is a Thomas Fairburn of the right age in 1861, bachelor, 29, in Etobicoke Township, Ontario, east of Guelph (now swallowed up b Toronto), labourer, b. England. Have no proof that this is he, but do not find him in England in 1851 of 1861.
He is boarding with a Thomas and Grace Cross, both b. England, but no info. could be found on their origins.
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Dianacanada,
I am a Fairbairn on my mother’s side (born in Glasgow and living near Toronto) so your post caught my interest.
If you haven’t done so already you must take a look at the One Name Study managed by Lorna Henderson (in NZ!). You can find it at
www.fairbairn.lornahen.com
It looks like all of them originated near Kelso Scotland and spread around the World from there. Specifically check the many lineages she documents.
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Thank you Ian. I will check it out. I know there are quite a number of Fairburns in Yorkshire so wondering if it is a separate name.
I knew a Fairbairn family when growing up in Quebec. The girls delighted in telling people their name meant “pretty child”.
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Hi DianaCanada,
Just found this thread.
Fairbairn and Fairburn are fairly interchangeable and can be found recorded as either, although generally in Scotland they seem to mainly stay as Fairbairn but if they migrate south, somehow many morph into Fairburn!
I've long wondered whether the Yorkshire families are connected to those from the Scottish Borders that are well represented in the DNA project (https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/fairbairn/about)
All lines, all DNA tests, are welcome in the project although the public results are only those for yDNA tested males at FamilyTreeDNA.
FTDNA offer a free upload from tests at the other companies (Ancestry, MyHeritage, 23andme), with a small one-off fee, often reduced during sales to unlock the tools beyond match list and contact details of your matches.
https://www.familytreedna.com/autosomal-transfer
Should you come across a direct male line descendant of your husband's Thomas, get them to take a y37 test at FTDNA for starters to get a feel for which family they may match, or not as the case may be. There are many lines not yet represented.
Lorna
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I was born and bred in Yorkshire where a child was known as a "bairn". I think, when surnames were compulsory in 1068, the "lovely child" surname of Fairbairn/Fairburn was kept.
Bridlington was always known as a fishing port and in the days when the quickest method of travel was sailing along rivers and sea it's quite feasible for children to be born in different places. Where possible the first child would be born into this world with the help of the child's maternal grandmother. Thus census gives clues of where earlier generations lived.
In my OHs ancestry there were 18 children born to one set of parents. The first few were given the normal naming pattern and then I recognised names of her childhood friends and even the captain who lived next door when mother was a child was donated to her children.
First son – named after the father’s father
First daughter – named after the mother’s mother
Second son – named after the mother’s father
Second daughter – named after the father’s mother
Third son – named after the father
Third daughter – named after the mother
Fourth son – named after the father’s eldest brother
Fourth daughter – named after the mother’s eldest sister
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Lorna, thank you for getting in touch, there a few male matches on my OH’s DNA with the surname Fairburn: don’t know them personally of course, but could suggest the DNA project.
Rena, am convinced OH is part of the Bridlington family, funny thing is, I also have an ancestor born there, think it was around 1795, his parents had come from other villages in East Yorkshire. His father was a ship’s carpenter, so certainly had plenty of work, he did prosper. I descend from one son (William Ford) who was a turner but ended up in Halifax, Yorks., no idea why, but likely went where the work was, perhaps Halifax was booming. His sister did marry someone from there as well, so might have been some connection.
OH and I have another town in common, Chipping, Lancs., both having ancestors there. The families likely knew each other. OH last English ancestor arrived in Canada before 1850, so a bit of a coincidence, my ancestry is all English, parents born in England.
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I had a look at the family. The following may be of use the others who wish to help.
Marriage Bridlington 23 Jan 1819 Francis FAIRBURN Mariner & Sarah TOPHAM
Baptism William FAIRBURN 1 Sep 1820 Bridlington son of Francis, Mariner & Sarah abode Bridlington Quay.
(William married Mary Ann COCKRANE in 1847)
Burial at Bridlington 17 Aug 1831 Francis FAIRBURN abode Quay, age 44
Baptism John Topham FAIRBURN 31 Aug 1831 Bridlington son of the late Francis FAIRBURN Mariner & Sarah.
Baptism of Sarah FAIRBURN at Bridlngton 1935 to Sarah.
Death Sarah FAIRBURN age 43 q1 1838 Bridlington
1941 census, Bridlington Workhouse: John FAIRBURN age 9 & Sarah FAIRBURN age 6
It might be that John Topham FAIRBURN became known as “Tom” (short for "Topham") and this ended up with him taking Thomas as his forename. Hard to prove but seems like best explanation.
Added:
Children of Francis and Sarah baptised at Bridlington:
William 1 Sep 1820
Francis 26 Jun 1822 (buried 21 May 1836 age 13)
Elizabeth 5 Feb 1825
Emma 8 Nov 1827 (Francis is Customs House Officer)
John Topham 31 Aug 1831
Sarah 26 July 1835 (illegitimate daur of Sarah, Widow)
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Spelk, thank you very much for organizing these baptisms and deaths from the Bridlington records. I do like your theory about John Topham Fairburn - perhaps his mother called him Topham and everyone else shortened it to Tom and he may have not even realized his true name, as he was orphaned very young. The age does match, and along with the DNA connection to a descendant of William his brother, it seems quite likely this is the correct family.
I did a little digging and found Francis and Sarah's daughter Emma's marriage on ANC to a George Darbyshire. They lived in York and had a number of children. Haven't located a DNA connection there to verify it completely, but looks good. She gives her bp as Bridlington on censuses and father Francis when she marries. I still have the other children Sarah and Elizabeth to look for as well, hopefully they had children and descendants with DNA matches.
Thanks for everyone's help.
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It looks as though William Fairburn, son of Francis and Sarah, married (1) Harriet Mallory, in 1838, this is the line the DNA match gives in his tree, in any case.
There is a William Fairburn in Bridlington, 21, doesn't look married, I will have to verify this, perhaps the DNA match has got the wrong marriage.
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1841 census, Burton Fleming
William Fairburn age 25 Ag Lab
Harriet do age 20
George do age 1
So that William is not the one born 1820 to Francis & Sarah.
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I am a bit confused about this - the DNA match is a Fairburn and a match to OH, so he must be descended from Francis and Sarah's William, but has got the wrong wife, perhaps?
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This is the other William FAIRBURN who is NOT the son of Francis and Sarah.
1851 census, Brunswick Cottages, Bridlington Quay
William FAIRBURN Head Mar 35 Ag lab YKS Bridlington
Harriet do Wife Mar 34 YKS do
George do son 11 Scholar YKS do (born 1839 mmn MALLORY)
Francis do son 8 Scholar YKS do
Jane do daur 2 YKS do
looks like Harriet was buried on 30 Dec 1852 at Bridlington age 36 abode Quay, William got married to some woman called Jane (BISCOMB(E)?) according to later censuses.
(Baptism at Kippax 31 Oct 1825 Jane BISCOMB daur of Henry)
Marriage q4 1853 Jane BISCOMB & William FAIRBURN (or George WILSON) Leeds 9b 507
Baptism at Bridlington of William FAIRBURN 19 Apr 1816 illegitimate son of Mary FAIRBURN, Spinster of Sewerby. 1881 census for William gives his birth place as Sewerby which is in NE edge of Bridlington.
Possible marriage of the mother of that William -
Marriage by Banns at Bridlington 27 Jan 1829, Mary FAIRBURN Spinster of Bridlington and Robert STEPHENSON Widower of Bridlington
Baptism in Bridlington 15 July 1786 Mary FAIRBURN daur of William FAIRBURN
Baptism at Bridlington 26 Mar 1791 Mary FAIRBURN daur of John FAIRBURN
Marriage by Licence dated 15 Jan 1812 at Bridlington 6 Feb 1812 Robert STEPHENSON Bachelor and Mariner age 22 of Bridlington and Diana MILNER Widow age 29 of Bridlington.
OR
Marriage by Banns at Bridlington 7 Jul 1817 Robert STEPHENSON Bachelor of Bridlington & Margaret GRAINGE a minor of Bridlington
Burial at Bridlington Dinah STEPHENSON abode Quay age 45 on 5 Aug 1827
So if the person whose DNA you match to is actually descended from the William FAIRBURN (born in Sewerby in 1816) who married to Harriet MALLORY then his prior ancestors are not Francis and Sarah but the unmarried Mary FAIRBURN who may have married widow Robert STEPHENSON in 1829.
None of which helps much with your Thomas FAIRBURN born about 1831 but it may have got rid of one red herring.
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Thanks so much, Spelk!
OH's ancestor "Thomas" who died here in Ontario did state his parents as Francis and Sarah on his marriage record, so I am inclined to think that is the right line.
Using the match's family tree, I can probably verify if it is correct to the match himself and if it is, then Francis is likely connected to the William b. ca 1816 somehow, perhaps his uncle. No idea where Francis came from.
There are Fairburns in Yorkshire back into the 1600's. They may very well have been Fairbairns originally but perhaps the name developed there on its own.
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Have just checked OH's Fairburn match (living in England) and it checks out to accuracy down five generations, the spouses and dates are correct.
Also checked if the match has any common matches to OH with the surname Fairburn and there are about 5 - all descended from Thomas Fairburn who left England for Ontario, probably as a young man.
So am pretty confident in saying Thomas is related to the family in Bridlington, but his exact connection is unknown, perhaps an illegitimate child who was not baptized (I have one of those, second child of a couple, first one was baptized, but he wasn't, though his father acknowledged him - perhaps the vicar refused to baptize unless the parents married!).
It is fairly easy to narrow down OH's connections to English branches as he is a mix of Danish, Swedish, Irish, Scottish, English, and back in the American colonial period, likely German and Belgian. His English percentage is not very high.
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Yes it is possible your Thomas was not baptised. In the 1850s one of my ancestors had three illegitimate daughters but only baptised the first one. My thoughts are that the church was so snotty about the first one that she did not go through the process with the next two.
Could well be that the descendants of Francis and those of Mary are DNA matched. As shown in my notes below I think they could have been brother and sister.
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Marriage by Banns at Bridlington 22 Feb 1847 William FAIRBURN age 25 Bachelor Labourer of Bridlington father Francis FAIRBURN Mariner and Mary Ann COCHRANE age 18 Spinster of Bridlington father Daniel COCHRANE Carpenter
Witnesses Wm MILLNER & Reuben MILLNER.
Cannot find William and Mary Ann after this marriage. Could be that, shortly after the marriage, they migrated to Canada and took some of William’s siblings with them. If you could locate William in Canada it makes it more likely that your Thomas was related.
Also cannot locate Daniel COCHRANE before or after the marriage; the name suggests he may be Irish.
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Are Francis and Mary FAIRBURN related?
Francis’ age at death gives birth abt 1787.
Baptism at Bridlington 27 Feb 1789 Francis FAIRBURN son of John (Key)[Quay]
Baptism in Bridlington 15 July 1786 Mary FAIRBURN daur of William FAIRBURN
Baptism at Bridlington 26 Mar 1791 Mary FAIRBURN daur of John FAIRBURN (of Key)
So the Francis who married Sarah TOPHAM and the Mary who had the illegitimate William in 1816 look likely to both be the children of a John FAIRBURN. If so descendants of both will have shared DNA.