RootsChat.Com

Hi Kelly
What a lovely surprise to come across your RootsChat forum entry by accident via Google, and realise that your 3GGGF Jonathan Henry Ling must be the brother of my GGM Susannah Mary Ling! (in 25 years i haven't found anyone else tracing our LINGs)

In fact JH (named Henry John) and SM were both baptised on the same day, 30 June 1837, at St Anne’s Limehouse, though their surname is indexed as LONG.

Like you I started off with very little information about the LING family. A distant cousin had a copy of the 1855 English marriage certificate of our great-grandparents, William KENNERSON and Susannah LING, which showed they married at St Mary Bow Stratford (east of the City of London). It also gave her father as John LING, occupation sawyer. For a long time I had no more detail.

Then after much searching on the old census microfilms, I got lucky and found the family on the 1851 census at 5 Ebenezer Place, Limehouse beside the Thames. The other details were useful:


John Ling   
head   
sawyer   
age 49   
b Kent Woolwich

Mary Ling   
wife   
   
56   
b Kent  Gravesend

John   
son   
sawyer   
16   
b Mdx Limehouse

Henry   
do   
   
10   
do

Susana   
dau   
   
15   
do

Alice Bowen   
daur   
   
21   
do

Ann Batt [or possibly Pratt]    
   
   
75   
b Sry Rotherhithe

Alice’s surname made me think about a previous marriage, which helped to fit with the 1834 marriage of John LING widower and Mary Jane BOWEN widow at St Bride Fleet Street witnessed by were James E GOOD and Sarah GOOD (not yet identified)

Next I found on the IGI the previous marriage of Mary Jane (nee MUZZARD) to John Thomas BOWEN a waterman, in Chalk, Kent. Their numerous children baptised in Gravesend  included the above Alice. It appears that John Thomas B (possibly known as Thomas) died between 1832 and 1834; there is a possible burial in 1832.

I do hope you are still watching Rootschat as it would be great to share future information. (I have more about the Lings, Muzzards (and Bowens) if you are tracking all lines)

My GGGparents Susannah and William Kennerson migrated to Victoria in 1857 and have numerous descendants across Australia, especially in Melbourne where I live.

Your distant relative

Deborah