James Oswald Clazey 1885

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FollowingOswald Clazey b. 1878 to James Clazey and Charlotte Gray.

Oswald Clazey arrived in New York USA 09 May 1910. Last permanent residence Sunderland England. Nearest relative back home wife Mary in Sunderland. He was going to his FATHER Jas Clazey in Brooklyn New York, address 21 St John St.

Oswald’s wife Mary and by then 2 sons Oswald and Archie arrived to join him 31 Oct 1910.

The family is together in the 1915 New York census. Then it appears Mary dies in 1916. There is a findagrave entry for her.

Oswald remarries in 1925 to widow Addie De Baek. Father James O Clazey. Mother Charlotte Gray. It appears the couple subsequently travelled to England, arriving back 02 Oct 2025. Relative in the country he was coming from is given as his mother Mrs C Swaine (I believe Charlotte Chazey married Alfred Swaine in 1915?)

Correct Oswald, then.

So it appears that James possibly returned to New York to live. I haven’t, however, so far been able to find him mentioned other than in the ship manifest.

Anyway, food for thought….
PB

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Interesting.  Can actual records be found of James Oswald Clazey, either at Brooklyn or elsewhere, after 1885?  A census record? city directory? tax record? immigration record? any evidence at all? 

What is the ship’s manifest that you mentioned?  What ship?  What year?  From where to where? 

Sharon Spry said that James Oswald Clazey disappeared after a trip to Australia in 1885, and was never found again.  An English court eventually declared that he was presumed to be dead.  Many years later, about 1915, his wife or widow, Charlotte Gray, remarried to Alfred Swaine.

Oswald Clazey born 1878 at Gisburn, Yorkshire, was a son of James Oswald Clazey & Charlotte Gray.  Oswald married three times:  Mary Ann Donaldson, d. 1916 at New Dorp, New York; Adeline Buckley (DeBeak), at New York, sometime in 1930s; then Elizabeth Wilkes, d. 1968 at Rochester.  Oswald himself died in 1961 at Rochester, buried at Pittsford, New York. 

The mystery remains: what became of James Oswald Clazey after 1885?  Is there any actual record of him - positive identification?

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Hi again.

About the manifest…

The ship Oswald sailed on was the S S Californian. It left Glasgow 30 Apr 1910 and arrived in New York 09 May 1910.

The manifest entry is 2 pages. Oswald is found on line 22.

The destination info is found on the second page. The info related to Oswald’s father appears to be written over the top of a Mrs Isabella Lane (she would be another rellie). His address is written in the same hand as his name.

Of interest is that Isabella is living at 21 St John Pl Brooklyn in the 1910 census and was at the same address in a previous one as well. No James in her household.

There is no sign of James anywhere else I have looked so I wonder if his mention on the manifest might perhaps be something of a red herring?

The manifest images are available on ancestry if you have access.

PB

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Thank you for that information.  It was intriguing, that Oswald might have been going to see his father in Brooklyn in 1910!  His father - James Oswald Clazey - apparently disappeared around 1885 in Australia and was never heard from again.  So I wonder if the father referred to might be Oswald’s  wife’s father, Thomas Donaldson?

By a stroke of luck, I found online a 1910 Brooklyn directory!

https://archive.org/details/brooklynnewyork1910p2geor/page/n1345/mode/2up

There was nobody listed with the Clazey surname and no Thomas Donaldson in Brooklyn.  At the back of volume 2 was a list of street names.  No street called "St. John Pl” but there was a “St. John’s Place”, located near Fifth Avenue.  Likely that is what was meant.  But there was apparently no building at 21 St. John’s Place.

Oswald Clazey and his 1st wife Mary Ann Donaldson crossed the Atlantic several times.  An immigration record on 26 Sept 1925 showed their arrival at New York on the ship “Berengaria” from Southampton.  They were going to their home address, shown as 306 Pearl Street, Rochester.

Oswald’s 2nd wife - Adeline or Addie or Sadie - was a daughter of John Josias De Back or De Baek, unsure which is correct, all thanks to bad handwriting.

Oswald’s 3rd wife was Elizabeth Wilkes but I haven’t found a marriage date.

“Mrs. Isabella Lane” was also of interest.  She was Isabella Oswald Clazey, wife of Elliott Toll Lane, and she was an older sister of James Oswald Clazey, who disappeared circa 1885.  Isabella was born in 1847, James in 1850.  Isabella died at Boston in 1919 during the Spanish flu outbreak and was buried at Raymond Hill Cemetery, Carmel, New York.

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This family repeated names, which causes confusion.  Numbers and dates help to tell them apart:

#1 James Oswald Clazey (1819-1888) was a school teacher, later worked as a shipbuilder; married Ellen Craig, lived at Sunderland, England, died there in 1888.

#2 James Oswald Clazey (1850-?) was born at Carmel, New York, a nephew of #1 above; returned to live at Sunderland, England; became a school teacher; married Charlotte Gray; went to Australia in 1885, then disappeared; in 1897 an English court declared that he was presumed to be dead.  His wife  / widow remarried in 1915.

#3 Oswald Clazey (1878-1961) was a son of #2, lived in Northumberland, England, later migrated to New York, married three times, to Mary Ann Donaldson, Adeline Buckley, Elizabeth Wilkes, lived at Rochester, New York, died in 1961.

#4 Oswald Clazey (1900-1957) was a son of #3, born at Sunderland, England, lived at Rochester, New York; married twice, to Elizabeth Hirsch, then Harmony Schlotzer; died 1957 in New Jersey.


The mystery concerns #2, who disappeared around 1885:  can he now be found?