Willie met Brownie

[bulsara]

You are being most helpful for me many thanks.
I really ought to change the title of this thread to Willie met Ellen then? lol
I know that the 1910 date is correct as it ties up with the name of his brother on the ships manifest.No mention of real wife Ann.I'd love to find out more about Ellen.I wonder if he met her when he was working as a steward on the ships or if he knew her in England and just decided to run off to USA with her.Would love to know her single surname.
Any info you could find for me would be most gratefully received.I wonder if he had children with Ellen,when he died etc
bulsara

[murphy60]

Intriguing thread!

William and Ellen not popping up for me in 1930  --  either together or apart.  Maybe Erato is having better luck since she had a "bead" on them ??

Something maybe of future interest from the 1920 citing,  the others on the page are not wealthy people with servants.  So I don't think William and Ellen are working in the household in which they are living.   The widowed head of the Sarah F. Robertson household (where they are living)  says she is renting  and the Dunstons are renting also. Since they are not classified as "Lodgers" maybe they are renting another house on the property ??

I looked for Sarah F. Robertson in 1930,  she seems to have moved to Great Neck, NY and has another Lodger living with them. 

Sorry    no real help there but maybe it adds to the story somehow ......

lissa

[Erato]

I have not found them in 1930 either.  A lot of Ellens entered the US from England in 1908.  IŽll keep poking around to see if we can find a possible surname for Ellen.

You say William was born in Chorlton.  I'm a bit ignorant of English geography.  Where is this?  Could he have met Ellen there?

Erato

[murphy60]

Hi Erato,  to keep you going and in case "bulsara"  is out for the day,  from Wikipedia:

Chorlton-cum-Hardy suburb of the City of Manchester, North West England, known locally as Chorlton; about 4 miles southwest of Manchester City Centre.  Chorlton was a village on the southern border of Lancashire, separate from Manchester but became part of the City in 1904. Chorlton-cum-Hardy not be confused with Chorlton-on-Medlock, a different area closer to the center of Manchester

I'm wondering if William and Ellen were really married 

[Erato]

Looking more carefully at that 1920 census, it looks like Ellen claimed to have arrived in 1912 and was naturalized in 1916; William claimed arrival in 1908 and naturalized in 1916.  It's hard to read.

[murphy60]

Erato,  you are right, very hard to read ---   Ellen's Imm could be 1910 1912 or 1913    Naturalization seems clear for 1916.

Transcriber though Ellen immigrated in 1810 

The proverbial needle in a haystack if she came over unmarried or w/ a 1st husband's name   And even more so if she missed the 1910 !!

Is it now confirmed that the William w/ wife Brownie in Seattle was a red herring ??

lissa

[Erato]

I guess he is a red herring .... too bad, thereŽs tons of information on him.

[Erato]

Bulsara - where did you come across the name of Brownie Johnson?

[Erato]

I think that I am hitting the end of the line.  Two things:

1.  A William Francis Dunston died 16 Dec 1953 in Newport, Rhode Island.  Newport is the kind of place an English butler might find work.  I can find no other refernce to him in Rhode Island.

2.  There actually was a person by the name of Brownie Johnson.  She was an American citizen who arrived in NY in 1907 aboard the Cedric.  She was apparently travelling with her parents and brother.  No age given for anyone in the family, no place of residence in the US.  I can find no other reference to Brownie Johnson.