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Messages - bellowsbrick49

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1
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Up the Balkans maybe with MATHEITBEL??
« on: Friday 22 September 23 15:59 BST (UK)  »

 I have now found out how not to play a "brick wall" over a very long time period !!! Sometimes the "career" part of a family member  is well known but the early years are not.  My GG Grandfather JOSEPH DEAKIN born about 1813 ( Census average DOB) was very well documented job wise  as a BELLOWS MAKER  but little was known about his baptism and who his real DEAKIN parents were . About 15 years ago I put some "weak links" together in my family tree : a sort of "Mr and Mrs Deakin" parents of his , even though I knew that the 2 possibilities I used  were not really married.The "Mr" was JOSEPH DEAKIN born 14 Oct 1789 Birmingham . The "Mrs" was a MARY DEAKIN born 1779 Birmingham who was said to have had  an illegitimate son Joseph Deakin .Really they were just 2 possibilities that could be put together as one pair because of the illegitimacy. Temporarily I thought  , she could be paired  up with this  "Mr Joseph Deakin" . I labelled them  both as weak links but 15 years later I had forgotten about my documentation of this aspect .And so they had stayed in the tree with their weakness as possibilities forgotten as the size and complexity of the tree increased . And  GED files do not know the difference between strong and weak links !!! The documentation about the weakness was hidden away and forgotten about and the size of the tree increased using these weak links . Mistakes were made including:-

1) This "father" from 1789 made a "fine uncle" for another Bellows maker - John Onions Deakin , Bellows Maker born 21 Jan 1836 Birmingham . I thought that  Bellows Making was such an unusual occupation that their had to be a real link between my GG Grandfather Joseph Deakin and this John Onions Deakin also Bellows Maker  . And so I assumed a close connection as they were both Deakins who were Bellow Making  .Putting this "dad" in my tree  opened up the possibility of a link  the really important Onions Bellow making family.

2) And the tree was  also extended in other ways  as WILLIAM DEAKIN born 1811 Handsworth was also deemed by me to be a relative . This opened up the possibility of my Deakin side being linked to the   New Zealand  "whaling"DAKENS ( the surname had altered a bit by then ) and to the Deakin Mormons of Utah . It was all very interesting but the DNA evidence did not seem to bear it out and I began to do some digging .I found that if I removed this 1789 Joseph Deakin then  all links to the Onions , the Dakens of NZ and the Deakins who were Mormons in Utah were also excised . So  my tree has been "cut down to size" . I have realized once again that this Brick Wall is probably here to stay!

 


2
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Unusual Occupations
« on: Monday 21 August 23 17:45 BST (UK)  »

And now a bit of a "tangent":

The wider family group of AUGUSTA TAYLOR (born 1812 Bristol ) and JOSEPH REUBEN DEAKIN (born 1854)  had some unusual occupations . One of the these I have known about for many years but the other one I found out about only today.

1) Bellows Making . My connections to the "Mr Big" of 19th Century Bellows making is very indirect with many "ups" and "downs". One JOHN COLLINGWOOD ONIONS (born 1809)  was the "Mr Big" of 19th Century bellows manufacture in the British Empire . His company had an extensive catalogue of bellows and (I think) some of the family wealth helped to set up  one of the Art Galleries at the University of Birmingham . And it also led to ALLDAYS car production in Birmingham and a later merger with Royal Enfield (I think).I am hoping that my recent "Ancestry" DNA test will help me see through this maze.

2) Tobacco Pipe Making : This one is today's discovery hence my interest now . THOMAS HUEY and his son WILLIAM FAULKNER HUGHEY (born 1834 Westminster) both did this . This was confirmed by looking at the son's MC which specifically mentions Tobacco - the Censuses merely refer to PIPE MANUFACTURE . This was interesting to me because my father had referred to my great grandfather JOSEPH REUBEN DEAKIN (born 1854 Bristol) as having Uncles who were BRIAR PIPE MANUFACTURERS.

These unusual occupations can help ,I think, when dealing with fairly common (popular) names like TAYLOR or DEAKIN. The ancestors are then easy to identify by reference to their occupation rather than having to rely on their "over popular" surnames.

3
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Up the Balkans maybe with MATHEITBEL??
« on: Monday 21 August 23 16:38 BST (UK)  »

I decided to do a DNA  "compare and contrast" using "My Heritage" versus "Ancestry". These are the results:-

"My Heritage" online DNA results:-

English 63%
Scandinavian 26.2%
Balkan 9.2%
Nigerian 1%
CUM TOT. 99.4%

--------------------

"Ancestry" online DNA results:-

England and North European 67%
Sweden and Denmark 11%
Scotland 9%
Ireland 6%
Wales 5%
Norway 2%
CUM TOT. 100%

So my "Balkan hopes" have been dashed!

It seems that some of the above comments were right on the mark.





4
Family History Beginners Board / Up the Balkans maybe with MATHEITBEL??
« on: Monday 17 July 23 08:55 BST (UK)  »
Some years ago my DNA results on "My Heritage" came up with me being 9.2% Balkan . The rest of it was pretty "UK standard" or thereabouts. I had no idea of the time period this  Balkan bit related to . A few days ago I was rung up by a "My Heritage" salesman trying to sign me up . I declined on the grounds that their DNA description had not helped me much : my father's side of the tree was comparatively small and had lots of "brick walls" . But this was a call to action and I pushed myself  to get an Ancestry DNA kit so as to get a different "descriptive take" on it . I have now got 3 months membership but maybe only 2 month by the time the analysis is done.  One brick wall is for
 a lady called MATHEITBEL who married  (I think) JOHN CALLENDAR TAYNTON b1797 London  my GGG Grandfather. There are two entries for his wife MATHEITBEL  and John who was a SMITH by occupation and the two children mentioned are CHARLES and ALFRED. But is MATHEITBEL a Balkan name ? I have no idea but hopefully the "Ancestry UK" membership will throw up some answers. It is clearly written twice and does not appear to look like a transcription error.

5
Gloucestershire / Re: Joseph Reuben Deakin
« on: Thursday 20 August 20 11:40 BST (UK)  »

Nothing new to report  ,but the Death Certificate for Augusta Sophia Deakin (death 1858) arrived this morning . The occupation is given as "Wife of Joseph Deakin Bellowsmaker" - and  that is as clear as it can be that she was indeed the wife of Joseph Deakin the Bellows Maker . This death certificate is  also interesting in other ways :- the Cause of Death  was shown as "Cancer of Breast operated on 14 months since Certified". So this shows how Medical Care like this Cancer Operation was available to ordinary people and, even more remarably, it shows that she survived for 14 months after the operation . Of course , it is not known if she would have died earlier if they had not operated. I would say that this is a good example for showing that   advances in medical care  were available and were also being applied to the general population . I am somewhat surprised she lived as long as she did after the operation . I think that this that by the time surgery had progressed away from the era when surgeons were often little more than "cut and saw" butchers as regards their skill levels.

6
Gloucestershire / Re: Joseph Reuben Deakin
« on: Monday 13 July 20 10:35 BST (UK)  »
The breakthrough on this brickwall has shown Joseph Reuben (Taylor) Deakin to a part of the Taylor Bristol based category. Bristol seemed to have given Joseph Reuben opportunities , which he took in his early working career  , to travel round the world and try different things . I think otherBristol based Taylors probably did similar things . The skills he gained probably influenced the roles he could perform later . For instance my father mentioned he was thought to have been a language student at Cork in Ireland - this could have hleped with his role later as a Theatrical Messenger escourting foreign actresses to the Leicester Square Theatre . And there were many other things to do when he travelled round the Bristish Empire . My point is that Bristol and its opportumites probably influenced the things he could do later in life . So Bristol helps to explain the man he was. But can "Bristol" be as helpful with his Dad?

As he is my next Brickwall :- But can the same DNA luck be made to work with his father  Joseph Deakin  born around 1807 in Birmingam who probably died in the Birmingham Workhouse in 1807 . He appears on the 1841 ,1851 and 1861 Census in Bristol . He was a Bellows Worker .

I reckon I have had this brickwall for about 15 years at least . The problems for me here  are:-  1) there are loads of Deakins and Deakin families in Birmingham 2) Many of these seem equally possible like John Onions Deakin 1836 ,St Martins ,Birmingham -but which is the Dad of this Dad?) 3) As this is my one remaining big brickwall ( and one that is  difficult to crack) I do not have any current family tree platform memberships - I just use Ancestry Credits "as and when" required 4) My DNA is with "MyHeritage" so it cannot be used on Ancestry for DNA tracing. Any ideas on how to progess this would be welcome . Thanks


7
Gloucestershire / Re: Joseph Reuben Deakin
« on: Sunday 05 July 20 14:49 BST (UK)  »

 Thanks to Tony and Rootchat for all the help on this . I am certainly glad I asked about Joseph Reuben Deakin here . It seems that in the hands of solid investigators , DNA can get answers where none were available before .

8
Gloucestershire / Re: Joseph Reuben Deakin
« on: Saturday 27 June 20 20:40 BST (UK)  »
Hi Tony

That makes her my GG Grandmother on my father's side . This was new info. for me  so am pleased to get these details about her . Some time ago  I picked up some of the male Deakin  details on Warks "Waifs and Strays" but not anything on the female side. I would be pleased to know details about her . My private tree is on Ancestry though I am not a paying member - I just use credits "as and when" as this particular  very tough "bellows" brickwall has been around for years . I have about 10 guests on my tree  which is much better on my mother's side ( where the Harrisons were Lincolnshire farmers!) . Thanks

Harry Deakin

9
Gloucestershire / Re: Joseph Reuben Deakin
« on: Friday 26 June 20 16:18 BST (UK)  »

This man Joseph Reuben Deakin was my great grandfather ( please see  the info. in my reply to other post). I have the same brickwall re. his Dad the Bellows worker  but I do believe Joseph Reuben Deakin himself   was born in Bristol and was a son of the Bristol based Bellows worker another Joseph Deakin  who was born in Birmingham (not Bristol) . There are family stories of Joseph Reuben Deakin having an Uncle who had a Briar pipe factory in Aston ,Birmingham . There were also stories from my dad of him being an Irish adventurer . However the evidence for an Irish connection is only anecdotal - I have no firm evidence for this and my own DNA does not show any Irish DNA link . But he does seem to have moved around a lot . There are other family stories about him.

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