1
Kent / Re: Adoption Tonbridge Kent in 1870s
« on: Thursday 31 July 25 10:52 BST (UK) »
HI Jebber, thank you for that. I will keep it in mind. Ellenmaggie
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2
Kent / Re: Adoption Tonbridge Kent in 1870s
« on: Wednesday 30 July 25 16:35 BST (UK) »
HI Aguella and Debra
I think you are right! I had a complete brain block and couldn't see beyond my first supposition - I think I knew I was missing something, but I just couldn't see it - one of those woods for the trees situations.
Some times other people's takes on a situation are just what you need. Thank you! I will start investigating my MIL's mother's parentage properly. I was probably blinded by knowing her and the oral family history that I didn't revisit it as I should have done.
Ellenmaggie
I think you are right! I had a complete brain block and couldn't see beyond my first supposition - I think I knew I was missing something, but I just couldn't see it - one of those woods for the trees situations.
Some times other people's takes on a situation are just what you need. Thank you! I will start investigating my MIL's mother's parentage properly. I was probably blinded by knowing her and the oral family history that I didn't revisit it as I should have done.
Ellenmaggie
3
Kent / Re: Adoption Tonbridge Kent in 1870s
« on: Monday 28 July 25 16:29 BST (UK) »
Hi Carole,
I should have been clearer - DNA matches strongly suggest that George Henry Field is not the son of Eli. I have no matches to the Field family (and have checked with someone who took a DNA test and has built a Field family tree) for my mother in law. Her closest match after near family is a possible 1st cousin 1x removed - who I have traced back to the Brown family and from there I found many more matches. So I am convinced George is not a Field - my MIL should have had some DNA from the Fields if he was (and I am not convinced Annie Fanny Spiers is his mother- no matches to the Spiers family - I am currently following up with someone who may confirm their Spiers DNA). The strongest cluster of my MIL's DNA is Brown DNA.
So I suppose I am just trying to see if there may have been somewhere in Tonbridge that mothers went to give birth to illegitimate babies - it might provide me with a clue as to why George was born in Tonbridge, when the rest of the family was born in and around the Hampshire borders.
Eli Charles is one of the sons who did not survive infancy - he sadly died aged 1.
Ellenmaggie
I should have been clearer - DNA matches strongly suggest that George Henry Field is not the son of Eli. I have no matches to the Field family (and have checked with someone who took a DNA test and has built a Field family tree) for my mother in law. Her closest match after near family is a possible 1st cousin 1x removed - who I have traced back to the Brown family and from there I found many more matches. So I am convinced George is not a Field - my MIL should have had some DNA from the Fields if he was (and I am not convinced Annie Fanny Spiers is his mother- no matches to the Spiers family - I am currently following up with someone who may confirm their Spiers DNA). The strongest cluster of my MIL's DNA is Brown DNA.
So I suppose I am just trying to see if there may have been somewhere in Tonbridge that mothers went to give birth to illegitimate babies - it might provide me with a clue as to why George was born in Tonbridge, when the rest of the family was born in and around the Hampshire borders.
Eli Charles is one of the sons who did not survive infancy - he sadly died aged 1.
Ellenmaggie
4
Kent / Adoption Tonbridge Kent in 1870s
« on: Monday 28 July 25 12:36 BST (UK) »
This really is a speculative enquiry to see if anyone can throw any light on a DNA mystery in my MIL's family tree. Her grandfather George Henry Field was according to his birth certificate born on16th December 1875 at Houselands, Tonbridge, Kent, about 60 miles away from where the Fields lived on the Hampshire border. His parents are recorded as Eli Field and Annie Fanny Field, formerly Spiers and they married earlier that year.
They had five other children that I have found - sadly three died in infancy (two sons and a daughter). Their two other daughters Ellen Clara and Emily Selina did marry and have issue. They also had an adopted daughter Agnes Jane Smith. All these children were born on the Hampshire/Surrey borders.
I am not sure where to turn to try and find out more about why George Henry was born in Tonbridge. I believe him to be the son of a Brown (possibly William Brown, a market gardener from Weybridge) - lots of DNA points to the Brown connection and just maybe his mother was a Riley. William was married to a Deborah Riley - I have DNA that I can track back to Deborah's parents too.
Was there a mother and baby home in Tonbridge? Does anyone have any ideas?
TIA Ellenmaggie
They had five other children that I have found - sadly three died in infancy (two sons and a daughter). Their two other daughters Ellen Clara and Emily Selina did marry and have issue. They also had an adopted daughter Agnes Jane Smith. All these children were born on the Hampshire/Surrey borders.
I am not sure where to turn to try and find out more about why George Henry was born in Tonbridge. I believe him to be the son of a Brown (possibly William Brown, a market gardener from Weybridge) - lots of DNA points to the Brown connection and just maybe his mother was a Riley. William was married to a Deborah Riley - I have DNA that I can track back to Deborah's parents too.
Was there a mother and baby home in Tonbridge? Does anyone have any ideas?
TIA Ellenmaggie
5
Surrey Lookup Requests / Re: 1841 Census - Weybridge, Surrey
« on: Saturday 19 July 25 12:57 BST (UK) »
I am trawling through the 1841 Census for Chertsey on Find My Past at the moment and am in 1074/8 at the moment - hoping they are in the Weybridge bit and not the Walton Upon Thames and Hersham bit. Thank you.
6
Surrey Lookup Requests / 1841 Census - Weybridge, Surrey
« on: Saturday 19 July 25 12:34 BST (UK) »
Is anyone able to help me? I am struggling to find the census for Weybridge 1841 and am beginning to wonder if it is missing.
In particular I am looking for Benjamin Brown (1797-1850), his wife Hannah (1807-1853) and their daughter Susannah born on 7th March 1839 in Weybridge - she was baptised on 31 March 1839 at St James, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Their other children were Jared b 1824, Edward 1826, John 1828, Jane 1830, Elizabeth 1832 and Eliza 1837. Their son William was born in Weybridge in 1842, so they have to be there somewhere!
TIA
Ellenmaggie
In particular I am looking for Benjamin Brown (1797-1850), his wife Hannah (1807-1853) and their daughter Susannah born on 7th March 1839 in Weybridge - she was baptised on 31 March 1839 at St James, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Their other children were Jared b 1824, Edward 1826, John 1828, Jane 1830, Elizabeth 1832 and Eliza 1837. Their son William was born in Weybridge in 1842, so they have to be there somewhere!
TIA
Ellenmaggie
7
Flintshire / Re: William Macdonald born 1864 Gwaenysgor to Thomas and Margaret Macdonald
« on: Tuesday 06 May 25 21:16 BST (UK) »
Thank you - I have found a newspaper article from the Evening Record Ravenna Ohio 18 October 1830 that reports the death of William Macdonald and mentions "he leaves an aged father at Austintown..." which led me to John Macdonald and Elinor Hughes who married on 16th October 1865 at Gwaenysgor. They are in Austintown in 1880 with their son William. So I now believe William to be the son of John and Elinor Macdonald. All three were born in Wales and so must have made the journey to the US in 1870. Now to find that record. John is the brother of Thomas Macdonald, so that explains the DNA connection too. John was about 19 when he married Elinor and she was about 23, so William was born when John was 18 and Elinor 22. Maybe Thomas (John's elder brother) and Margaret baptised William and cared for him until John and Elinor married. That is my working theory for the moment. Ellenmaggie
PS. Elinor's father was William Hughes, so maybe her son was named for her father.
PS. Elinor's father was William Hughes, so maybe her son was named for her father.
8
Flintshire / William Macdonald born 1864 Gwaenysgor to Thomas and Margaret Macdonald
« on: Monday 05 May 25 11:26 BST (UK) »
Tracking down a DNA match I have come across a relative William Macdonald, the grandson of my 3rd GGPs William Hughes and Elizabeth Williams. His parents Thomas Macdonald (a miner) and Margaret Hughes married in Gwaenysgor on 28th May 1864. William was baptised on 24th September 1864 in Gwaenysgor.
He does not appear on the 1871 Census with the family, and the DNA matches have led me to the USA. The next reference I have found is the 1900 Aurora, Portage, Ohio census where he is living with his wife and three children. It records he went to the US in 1870 - so when he was 6/7 years old. I have not been able to find a record of his arrival in the US yet, but want to know - did families send their children to the US for a better life - or maybe he travelled with another family member. Can anyone shed any light on how I can go about finding out?
TIA Ellenmaggie
He does not appear on the 1871 Census with the family, and the DNA matches have led me to the USA. The next reference I have found is the 1900 Aurora, Portage, Ohio census where he is living with his wife and three children. It records he went to the US in 1870 - so when he was 6/7 years old. I have not been able to find a record of his arrival in the US yet, but want to know - did families send their children to the US for a better life - or maybe he travelled with another family member. Can anyone shed any light on how I can go about finding out?
TIA Ellenmaggie
9
Denbighshire / Re: John Abergale Evans (1867-1945) married Mary Davies
« on: Wednesday 30 April 25 14:42 BST (UK) »
Hi Nesta, I have found some of it but Google is so unhelpful these days - but by trial and error I have tracked some pages down and then tried other search terms. I will get there hopefully. What I would love to find is a record of their marriage. Thank you. Ellenmaggie