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Thanks, I have seen that link through the Brailsford message board, which has put me in touch with two fairly near relatives, and lots of more distant ones.

I was curious to find out how A W Brailsford, of England, met and married Alice Jane Taylor of Montreal. What I found was that there was already a link between the families. A W Brailsford's mother was Mary Hannah Wood, the sister of Peter Redpath's wife, Grace Wood. Alice Taylor's mother was Peter Redpath's sister, Mary Redpath (who married Thomas M Taylor). In a document I found online called The Redpath Tracts, it said that Peter Redpath was sent to Manchester in 1837, when the political situation in Canada was a bit unstable, for his education and also to learn a bit about business. He worked for William Wood of Bowdon (near Manchester), a manufacturer, and the father of Mary Hannah and Grace. There appears to have been quite a bit of travel back and forth across the Atlantic.

As a matter of interest, William Wood gained some fame for campaigning against sending small boys up chimneys to clean them.

Mystery solved - a census search for "Mary Ann" without a surname but with one of her daughters' names in the household found the family - definitely the one as the three granddaughters are all there. The three granddaughters were all named in the will by their married names, but a check of marriages shows maiden name joins up with married name. So yes, Mary Ann did grow up, marry and have a pile of kids, three of whom were still alive many years later when their grandfather died and left them some property. Happily ever after.

LizO

Hi Jo
Thanks for that information. I'm pretty sure that burial for Elizabeth Taylor is the correct one, as she is about the right age and Thomas remarried at the end of 1844. I've now had a look at the baptism records on freeREG and found one for the child, full name given as Mary Anne TAYLOR, born 13 June 1837 and baptised five days later, and also for her older brother and younger sister, both of whom I know quite a bit about. It shows they did live in Stoke-sub-Hamdon. (This is the old name for Stoke-under-Ham -- the Roman version I think.)

None of the burials for Taylors are for children of the right age, so Mary Anne could have grown up and married. I'm trying to establish whether she could have been the mother of three girls named in Thomas Taylor's will as his granddaughters. He had six other legitimate children, but the three granddaughters named in his will do not seem to fit in any of the other family groups, and they all have different surnames (presumably their married names) and seem to be treated in the will as separate from the other family groups. Quite a challenge!

Thanks for your help.

LizO

I guess that means early 1900s it is. I will see what turns up.

Thanks,

LizO

Yes, I'd heard that. However, since it wasn't settled until the 1960s, they must have had some paper to work with that survived the war. I presume that in the years between the will maker's death in 1908 and 1969 when the legacy was paid out, it would have been kept by the solicitors? Were the wills sent to Exeter those that had already been executed or not? I don't know.

Liz