skeletons

[philipsearching]

My ancestors include many good honest people, but delving into the past has revealed some intriguing secrets.  Including only the direct line from my parents to my great-great-great grandparents (so far I have found 49 out of a  total of 62 ancestors back to 1825)  I have discovered:

One suicide
One criminal conviction
Three alcoholics
Two illegitimate births
One bigamous marriage
One man supporting two families simultaneously

This does not include uncles and aunts - one of whom achieved notoriety by writing a novel banned for obscenity in the 1920s.

And I always thought my forebears were ordinary working class / lower middle class citizens!  It's just as well I'm not famous - imagine that lot being paraded on "Who do you think you are"

Philip

[tulstig]

Hi Philip,

Just one illegitimate birth?! , both my maternal grandmother's line and paternal grandmother's line are littered with them.  according to family stories my maternal grandmother's father was a bigamist, and guess what can't find him anywhere- best possibility so far was Gravesend Prison. 


I love the thought of:

This does not include uncles and aunts - one of whom achieved notoriety by writing a novel banned for obscenity in the 1920s.

If you could get a copy I'm sure there would be a market for it on e-bay!!

Mark

[MarieC]

Fascinating stuff, Philip!

I only have a couple of bankrupts and a probable bigamist (haven't proved it yet) and a disappearer who may have been either a criminal or had a mental problem but goodness knows!  I can't compete!

Makes it more interesting, anyway!

MarieC

[casliber]

.....one more recent ancestor had a syphilitic aortic aneurysm...

[Simma]

My biggest unresolved 'skeleton' surrounds my great great great grandfather, John Green (1836-1901).

After finding him and his family on the 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses, I went onto 1871. I was unable to find him anywhere in the country so, working on the assumption he had died, I started to search for his widow or any of his children. I found them living in Howden, Yorkshire. Sure enough, his wife Mary was head of the household and a 'widow'. Whatsmore, the family had fallen on hard times as they were all claiming outdoor poor relief.

I then went onto to find Mary and the children in 1881. Then came the surprise - I found Mary and the children, but the head of the household wasn't Mary - it was the 'dead' John Green. It was definately him - same age, same job and cited as father of all the children. This situation was repeated in 1891 - John had come back to life.

If this wasn't enough, the 1901 census confused things further.

In 1901 John appears in the house of his 'sister' (a widow) called Ann Dickson. However, John doesn't have a sister called Ann.

Ann had several children, some with her surname, some with the surname 'Green'. This got me thinking - were these her illegitimate children born when her surname was Green (assuming she is his sister)? Or is it possible that Ann isn't his sister at all, and that the Green children are John's?

Why was he living in another town away from his family - this was more than just a visit, as he died there in late 1901.

As yet I haven't explored either mystery fully, though John is throwing up some real mysteries.

[MarieC]

Hmmm!

Simma, you have an enigma there!  Sounds as though there could be a bigamous relationship, at least that is one possible explanation!  You say he didn't have a sister Ann, so "sister" must be a euphemism for something else.

My gggrandfather is a bit similar.  I found him on 1851 with his family, he disappeared in 1861 and 1871 (not in the country, apparently) and his wife was supporting herself in those years and listed as married.  In 1881 she was a widow, with no sign of him.  Like your ancestor - mysterious unsolved disappearance!!!   

Good luck to both of us in finding these disappearing men!!

MarieC

[daisydaisy]

My gt grandfather, John Easton, was a lodger in a farm cottage in wiltshire in 1881, with a couple called Sheppard and thier children.  In 1888, he married Mrs Sheppard, and they moved to London, but - get this - she left her baby behind!  On the next census, John and Fanny Easton are living in Battersea, and the baby is living with his father, Mr Sheppard, still in Wiltshire!  No idea why she would have chosen to do this, but the couple went on the have other kids, including my grandfather. 

[ln4266]

Hi Daisy,

I am also researching the same area of family at the moment - John easton is my great great grandfather. I have looked at various criminal records, and there are quite a few relating to 'Thomas Sheppard'. I'm not sure if it is the same Thomas Sheppard (there are a few in the area at that time), but wondering if Fanny perhaps had a reason to leave him!

[lizdb]

When I first started Family History research, about 30 years ago, I went to an evening class locally. I can clearly remember the lady taking it saying how she would more or less guarantee that as we all delved deeper into our ancestors we would all find a) illegitimacy b) a criminal c) emigration d) workhouse e)suicide f) non-conformism etc - there was quite a list!

Sure enough, I think I've found the lot!