Willie met Brownie

[Erato]

So where was William in 1910?  According to the ship manifest he had already been in the US for 4 years and was employed by and lived with H. E. Aitken at 130 W 57 St, New York.  But I don't see him on the census or Aitken, either.

I am guessing that H.E. Aitken was Harry E. Aitken, film producer and distributor, who was listed in a 1915 NY directory.  Who knows, maybe William buttled for Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin.

[bulsara]

Is there anywhere were I can get free access to us census's from uk?

[nakuru]

I have just found all your  information on William Francis Dunston and he was my aunt's father in law.  I see that your interest came via the Harris line and have just come across some "grave deeds" that relate to this side of the family.  It appears that WFD's son was buried in this plot in 1946.  If you would like more on this matter' will do so.
Did you ever get a picture of him - I do have a picture of his son Fred.
The information about WFD and his butlering around the States makes fascinating reading.

[Erato]

Hi nakuru - Welcome to RC.  This was an interesting thread.  I hope bulsara shows up and gets back to you; I see s/he was online about 10 days ago.

[bulsara]

Hi nakuru,
I would be very interested in anything you can tell me about WFD.
I look forward to hearing from you. I would be interested to see the picture of his son Fred.

[nakuru]

Thank you both for replying - so good to know that there are people out there !!!
I actually know very little about William Francis Dunston - he is shown on the marriage certificate of his son Fred Hartley Dunston as Francis William Dunston - deceased.  There is no occupation given.  I found a marriage to Alice Ann Harris in 1893 in Bury.  Found WFD on 1891 census - single and working as a waiter.  Then found him with wife Alice and 2 children Edna and Fred on 1901 census now a head waiter in Chester.  On 1911 census Alice was living with her married sister Elizabeth in Cheetham together with 3 children.  She states that she is married and has been married for 18 years, had 8 children of whom only 3 were still living.  Still doing research to see if I can find the births and deaths of the other children - how sad though.
I had searched all the UK records for a death for WFD but given up hope of finding out what had happened until I googled his name and found all the threads on him. 
I had recently found the grave deeds in the name of Dunston, Harris and Hartley and have done further research to see how Hartley came into the picture - that was Alice's mother's maiden name.  The deeds were for a grave at Cheetham Hill but this cemetery was closed in 1966 and in 2003 there was an exhumation of 20,000 bodies and they were all reinterred in a mass grave at Bury. 
Think that I had better stop may have reached a limit.

[bulsara]

nakuru
Can you give me the link to the grave deeds you found please?

[nakuru]

Sorry, when I said that I had found them I meant that I had found some pieces of paper in a bundle of papers belonging to my aunt.  Although the envelope says that they are grave deeds - they are receipts for each internment - saying "opening of family grave" - also costs for engraving etc. As far as I am aware non of this information is available over the internet.  Each receipt is for the same grave number - I plan to try and get in touch with Bury Cemetery and see if they have any records for this grave number.  If I do get any information I will post it.
I have found a baptism record for William Francis Dunston on 9 August 1874 at St John the Baptists Church, Hulme, states parents are William and Louise and that at the time they were residing in Hulme.  This was from Family Search.org.  Feel sure that this is our WFD.  Will try and post picture of his son - please bear with me.  I have not been able to find any details for EFD's brother Fred.  I shall just keep looking - it would certainly be good to get the bottom of this story.

[bulsara]

I think the saddest part to this story is that his poor wife lived the rest of her life thinking he had gone down with the Titanic,when in fact he was living his new life in America.