James Allison - finding him

[kwr]

I've been doing what I can, when I can, to follow the suggestions after my query.

I did look at the possibility of children being born to James and Harriet between 1954 and 1860 in Liverpool. Taking into account that there were two born anyway, one on 1856 and the other in 1860 there seems to have been only one possible child - a female that I haven't been able to definitely eliminate. However there is no death for a Mary Allison in the Lancashire or FreeBMD in the time period. Overall I'm inclined to think there were no other children. It may be that as a stoker/fireman onboard his opportunities were fewer - if you take my point. So not a lot there.

Ambly, I had problems with the suggestion that the James Allison you found born in 1781 not marrying until 1817 - quite old I thought. But a search via IGI and Scotlandspeople for an earlier marriage than the one you suggested AND for a later one after the (possible) death of Jean got me absolutely nowhere. Of course whilst Scottish records are better than English I find that the lack of records (online) for deaths pre 1855 is a handicap. So I can't find any deaths of principal posssible ancestors there.

Again like Ambly I could find no further records of Walter and Ann after the references she discovered. I did view the marriage of Ann Allison to John Wallace and it does seem that it is she who does marry him. But they also disappear from what records I can consult thereafter. So another disappointing avenue.

There does seem to have been another Allison family in Inchinnan. A James Alison married Janet Killoch in 1810 so I followedthat up but it ground to a halt in 1841 - they are still going then and in 1851.

I then switched to looking for a Donald Campbell being in Liverpool at about the same time as James Allison. This was provoked by the discovery that there were Donaldsons/Campbells/and an Allison all in the same household - down to Ambly again. I did find one Donald Campbell, aged 24, a sailor of sorts, married ,in the 1861 census, living in what seems to be a sort of Scottish hostel in the same ward as James Allison and his wife were married in and stayed in for a while, after their marriage. That gave me a momentary if thin encouragement.

So I then looked for a possible connection between the Donaldson/Campbell/ Allison families, via IGI marriages, on Scotlandspeople, and census returns. After initial success ie Elizabeth Govans married Wm. Donadson and had 4 children, one of whom (Isobelle in IGI) married Alexander Campbell, I ground to a halt. There are, I think, just to many possible Donald Campbells for me to connect him definitively to Alexander Campbell - despite the latter having a fairly distinctive birthplace in Campbelton (sic) Argyll.

So.....basically I retire for the time being. I do like Ambly's Inchinnan suggestion though I did find another James Alison family in Mearns, that at first looked OK but farming 150 acres? - no son is going to become a stoker if he can farm I don't think.

I have one (forlorn) hope in that I have a grave plot number for Harriet Allison in Kirkdale , Liverpool. Her husband may be buried with her, he MAY have the county of birth on a stone, If there is a stone but considering he was living with his daughter when he died I doubt even that. They probably wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Sorry to have banged on but I thought I owed it to the people who tried to help, to show they had got me going!

One further thought has occurred to me. several experienced searchers of records have, like me, found very little after 1841. My mother did say that her father as well as being a seaman spent some years in Canada. I wonder very speculatively whether the whole Allison family uprooted, emigrated and settled there but kept contact and my grandfather went there for a while. So ...supplementary question. Are there records I can consult?

Ken
Ken

[MonicaL]

Hi Ken

Sounds like you have been working hard on this one 

On the issue of Canadian resources, you can use the emigrants board here (for Canada) on RootsChat where people will have access to the resources there: www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,166.0.html

Back to James A. Snr - was he merchant or royal navy? I just wondered whether he was ever in receipt of pension?

I like you looked at births in Liverpool for Allison children in that period of 1850-60s. Hard to say without looking at the detail on them.  I think I was hoping for the use of any surnames for middle names that might provide some clues but none that I could see.

Regards.

Monica

[MonicaL]

Ken

Have you noticed the 1841 census entry for a James Allison, 20, private, born Scotland at the Royal Marines Gun Wharf Barracks in Portsmouth?

Monica

[kwr]

Thanks for the Canada reference Monica. It's a long shot but one never knows.

As for your other spanner in the works I think I'd rather not have known! Thank you anyway!

Ken

[Janeesca]

This is probably a bit of a red herring but maybe the following will be of some use to you. I have a record of a James Allison and his wife Mary or Marion, maiden name Durward, They were living at 47 Albany Street, Leith, Edinburgh, and died there. James in 1871 and his wife in 1875.
James was a Ships Master. Captain of the 'Royal Adelaide' a steamer that sailed between Leith and London.
I believe that they had a daughter called May Allison b. 1833. I found her on the www.familysearch.org/ site, by typing the names of the parents only.
My interest in this family has nothing to do with my familiy history, apart from the fact that my g.grandmother, Ann Currie, en route to London from Leith in 1844, gave birth to twins on the Royal Adelaide.The twin, Allison, my G. Grandmother, was named after the ships Captain, and the twin Adelaide. after the ship. See attachment.
Regards,
Jane Joy.

Moderator Comment: Image removed

[flst]

What a lovely story Janeesca!
flst

[kwr]

Janeesca - thank you for trying. It is a charming story.

 I've followed the James you have here backwards and I don't think I can claimhim  as an ancestor. If my g.g.grandfather James was telling the truth when he entered his own father's occupation as farmer (though of course it could have been ag. lab. as has been mentioned) then this man seems to have been a seaman consistently over the years.

I have very recently heard from a distant cousin that my James came from Lanark. That may be where I should look next.

I'm currently helping this cousin with her line but when I've finished there perhaps you've galvanised me to look again.

Ken