A mystery ??

[jellybaby54]

the John you have found is the John Harvey Olney Silver I was talking about and I suspect that he did not have any children as I can never find any with them on the census records and his wife is getting on a bit. 

[Aniseed]

Thanks for filling in some of the gaps of the Silver family mystery, Jellybaby!

Samuel ... was a nephew by marriage of Elizabeth Ives , who's will casued a massive chancery case that led to the changes in the law that allowed women to inherit and own property in their own right even if they were married. An original womens libber!!!

What a wonderful thing to find in your family history! I think I've heard of that case, although I can't remember the names, so it might have been another one, but certainly something similar was mentioned in a TV programme I saw a few years ago. I've found several wills where the male testator specified that if his wife remarried she would loose her inheritance, presumably because he didn't want his estate to become the property of some other man. The case with Elizabeth Ives must have meant that women could keep their own money and land even when they remarried. We really don't know what people had to go through in order to end up with the basic rights we take for granted now.

[cymbeline]

A picture of the brooch for those who are interested and offered help in finding the Silver family.  I have been in touch with them and i was thrilled at their positive reaction, as they were to see the brooch.  Now i realise that somewhere down the line i will have to part with it - as of course such a thing does belong back in the family, but i'm going to ask for a period of grace so that I can enjoy it for a time, and then we'll see.   Thanks again for the help.

[genjen]

Oh dear,

That must be so hard for you. It is lovely and if I had found it, I'd want to keep it. But if it belonged in my family, I'd be desperate to have it back. What a dilemma!

Thank you for showing us the brooch and enjoy it whilst you can.

Jen

[KathMc]

I just found this thread, and it is fascinating. Good work Rootschatters, and welcome Jellybaby. What a great find for you. I agree I would have a hard time parting with it cymbeline, but remember, what comes around goes around, and hopefully your turn will come. 

Kath

[Aniseed]

Thanks for posting the photo, Cymbeline, it's a beautiful thing. You're right about it belonging with the family, but I can see how hard it would be to let it go. I hope you really enjoy it while you have it, and what a generous thing to do to find the family and maybe reunite them with it. I wonder who sold it in the first place?