Landscape Artist

[XPhile2868]

Hi Stephen

Just come across your post regarding Joseph Clegg and found it very interesting.  My GG Grandmother was an Elizabeth Clegg who married John Cross in Preston in 1879.  Very little is known about Elizabeth, so I am busy trying to trace her.  According to the 1881 census, she was born in Hulme c1859, in future census records she just names her birthplace as Manchester.  Because the Clegg/Cross family are Catholics I am struggling to find parish records for them.  The closest birth I have found for Elizabeth is a Lizzie Clegg, registered Sep qtr 1858 in Chorlton (I believe Hulme is a subdistrict of Chorlton).  This Lizzie Clegg seems to be the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Clegg, with Joseph recording himself as a landscape painter.  Joseph, Elizabeth and children (including Lizzie) are at 273 North Rd Preston in 1861 and 41 Pole? St, Preston in 1871.  Do you have any further information that may help me to work out if my GG Grandmother, Elizabeth Clegg, is the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Clegg?

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards

Sarah
Brisbane, Australia

That sounds like my Joseph and Elizabeth. I don't really know much about Lizzie.

The following link is to the Clegg family on my tree at Rootsweb - http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sms1986&id=I390.

Stephen

[rogre-ogre]

Hi Stephen

I now have the John Cross/Elizabeth Clegg 1879 marriage certificate:

"Church of the English Martyrs, Preston
26 May 1879
John Cross, 23 years, bachelor, self-acting minder, 21 Hammond St Preston
Father : John Cross deceased, school master
Elizabeth Clegg, 21 years, spinster, cotton weaver, 19 Hammond St, Preston
Father: Joseph Clegg, deceased, artist
Witnesses: Joseph Cross (John's brother?), Margaret Calderkank" (unknown)

I am now sure that Elizabeth Clegg is the daughter of Joseph Clegg (artist/landscape painter) and Elizabeth Connolly. Joseph and Elizabeth's marriage is on LAN-OPC:

Marriage: 8 Apr 1850 St Bartholomew, Salford, Lancashire, England
Joseph Clegg - 21 Artist Bachelor of Ordsall Lane Salford
Elizabeth Connolly - 19 Spinster of Union St Salford
    Groom's Father: Arthur Clegg, Gentleman
    Bride's Father: Arthur Connolly, Bricklayer
    Witness: John Mathison Ashton; Amelia Jane Cocker
    Married by: James Moore
    Register: Marriages 1846 - 1869, Page 4, Entry 8
    Source: LDS Film 1786463

How does this fit in with your research?

Thanks

Sarah

[XPhile2868]

I have that marriage in my tree, the one for Joseph and Elizabeth in 1850.

[Wjlstl]

We recently purchased an oil painting landscape of Heidelberg, signed on the reverse Joseph Clegg, 1860.  We are fond of Heidelberg, and the painting shows the Castle, town, and Neckar River. I'd be happy to send you a photo.

[XPhile2868]

We recently purchased an oil painting landscape of Heidelberg, signed on the reverse Joseph Clegg, 1860.  We are fond of Heidelberg, and the painting shows the Castle, town, and Neckar River. I'd be happy to send you a photo.

Thanks for the information, I would greatly appreciate a photo of the painting. Would you be able to find out more about Joseph Clegg to confirm if it is my ancestor?

Stephen

[rogre-ogre]

Hi Wjlstl
Thank you for posting. I did see the Heidelberg painting up for sale and was very tempted to purchase it for my Dad's 70th birthday but just couldn't confirm that it was our ancestor Joseph Clegg. The timing fits, but most evidence points to Joseph as not being particularly wealthy and I am not certain that he would have been able to afford to travel to Europe to paint. However, I don't know enough about travel in the 1850s/1860s, or enough about how he would have made his living as a landscape artist. I would love it to have been painted by 'our' Joseph Clegg because it is a beautiful painting.
It would be lovely to have a photo of the painting - thank you so much for offering.
Kind regards
Sarah