Adelaide Ann Beeson

[EileenA]

My grandmother's eldest sister Adelaide Ann Beeson, a teacher, born Sunderland, County Durham, England, in 1873, emigrated to North America, most probably Canada in 1907 or shortly afterwards, and promptly disappeared.  She may have married a William Cook in King's Lynn, Norfolk, in 1907 before emigrating.  Has anyone any idea what happened to her?   I would love to know and would be very grateful for any information. 

[Jacquie in Canada]

I haven't found her on any passenger lists so far but I'm still looking. What leads you to believe she came to Canada?

I suspect that it was a different Adelaide Beeson who married in Norfolk in 1907. In the Free BMD there are two Adelaide Annie Beesons whose births were registered in Kings Lynn, Norfolk - one in 1880 and one in 1885. There is a death registration corresponding with the 1880 birth but nothing to indicate the 1885 Adelaide died young. The 1885 Adelaide is on the 1901 census with her parents in Kings Lynn.

Jacquie

[charlotteCH]

have you any clues to which Province in Canada she may have gone- settled?

charlotte

[EileenA]

Thanks so much Jacquie and Charlotte for your prompt replies.  In answer to your questions, the reason I thought Adelaide could have married in King's Lynn, Norfolk, before she emigrated was because her father was a Sea Captain (Barnabas Beeson) who was originally from King's Lynn, although he met a girl, Mary Ann Ainsley, in the NE seaport of Sunderland, Co. Durham and married her and settled there, so all the family were born in Sunderland.  They all remained close, however, to their Beeson family in Norfolk.  Barnabas died at sea, sadly with his wife on the voyage, and was buried in the Indian Ocean and Mary Ann herself died afterwards in 1906, leaving Adelaide, as the eldest, to bring up the family, of whom my grandmother Gertrude was the youngest.  From what I've been told, Adelaide, who was a teacher, got fed up acting as surrogate mother to her siblings and emigrated to Canada, severing all contact with her family.  I thought it was quite a courageous step for a young woman to take on her own so tried to investigate the possibility of her marrying first.  I figured if she married she would most certainly marry from King's Lynn as, apart from her younger siblings, she had no close family in Sunderland but lots of close relatives in Lynn.  Although I knew about the other Adelaide Beeson in Lynn, as she was a relative, I thought it was perhaps significant that there was a wedding of an Adelaide Beeson in Lynn the year following "my" Adelaide's mother's death.  If she really was fed up looking after her younger sisters and brother then that was the obvious, if rather selfish, way out - and to emigrate shortly afterwards would seem the logical step if she was a wee bit ashamed of deserting her family.  - All conjecture, but, as we all know only too well, you have to make quite a few leaps of faith to get anywhere in family history!  Sadly, I have no clue as to which province she made for as the only thing that came down the family was that she left for Canada after her mother died and was never heard of again.
Once again, my sincere thanks for your interest.  It would be incredible if a 100 year old mystery could be solved at long last!

[jorose]

The 1907 marriage appears to be of Adelaide Annie Beeson b. 1885 to Francis John Frost - they appear together on the 1911 census in Kings Lynn with a young child.

on findmypast there is an Adelaide Beeson heading to Canada in 1909 - it says she was b. 1891-ish.
Yet this http://members.shaw.ca/nanaimo.fhs/T017.pdf puts her age at 50!

Looking at the actual record, she is not travelling with Gertrude (they are on different ticket numbers and headed to different destinations), and her age is hard to read as it has been overwritten with typewritten details on passenger bonuses (paid to the shipping company) later. But she is single, a domestic, and headed to Montreal.
http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/e/e143/e003558333.jpg

The typewritten details say "Com Paid CGEA No... (20696 handwritten in), Bonus Allowed Mrs Francis.
On the summary details they mention "Mrs. Francis party"
CGEA (from another Rootschat thread) is apparently Canadian Government Employment Agent, and refers to money paid by the government to employment agents who placed newly arrived immigrants with employers seeking labourers or domestics.

So she may have heard from someone that there were people recruiting for domestics to go to Canada, and headed over there. It would be good to confirm the details on the leaving lists from findmypast as I don't see an Adelaide Beeson b. abt 1891 on freebmd or the 1901 census.

I think in 1911 the 'domestic' Adelaide on the passenger list might be this one, working for the Wiggs family:
http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/SplitView.jsp?id=121349
Now her birthdate is Nov 1883!

[EileenA]

Thank you so much, Jorose, for your help and interest.  According to the FreeBMD site there were two Adelaide Ann or Annie Beesons married in King's Lynn in 1907, one to a William Cook and the other to Francis John Frost.  I presumed that mine must be the former as she was listed under Adelaide Ann whilst Adelaide Annie married Francis John Frost.  I already knew about the existence of Adelaide Annie born 1885 as she was a relation but my Adelaide Ann Beeson was definitely born in 1873 in Sunderland, County Durham, England.

Gertrude, her youngest sister and my grandmother, didn't travel to Canada with her but remained in England where she eventually married a Scotsman (I'm writing from Scotland) and then when widowed, in late middle age, emigrated to Australia where she died in 1989 aged 100.

 I think there is a good chance, however, that you could be right about my Adelaide Ann emigrating to Canada in 1911 with the Wiggs family, although her actual birth year is 1873 not 1883.  Like her Aunt Adelaide, her father's sister, Adelaide Ann was a qualified teacher but might well have agreed to go as a domestic if that was a means to go with a family she knew.  She could also have lied about her age.  It's interesting you say that she may have been headed for Montreal which is, of course, French speaking as I believe she was fluent in French, the family being descended from a French Count who escaped the guillotine and escaped to Norfolk.

Very many thanks again for your help.  You have given me a lot to think about and go on. Thanks very much too for the details of those websites.   I feel I'm a lot nearer now to finding her than I've ever been - and, sadly, although my grandmother lived to be 100 she died still wondering what happened to her beloved eldest sister! 

[jorose]

The 1907 marriage index shows only one Adelaide - the one who married William Cook was Florence Mary Girton. Perhaps earlier they had her transcribed as both Adelaide Ann and Adelaide Annie, but there should only be four people for one reference, two grooms and two brides - and with the Adelaide b. 1885 and Florence Mary there's no room for your Adelaide.

I think the Gertrude on the ship list might be a red herring - the names are just listed alphabetically and they were on completely different tickets. There just happen to be two persons with the surname on that ship.

[EileenA]

You're absolutely right about 1907, Jorose.  I have, however, found a marriage for an Adelaide Ann Beeson to a James Lewis Grieg in Lancaster in 1891.  That would have made her only 18 when she married and would she have travelled across to the other side of the country to marry when her mother was still alive?  I doubt it.  I reckon the best bet is your 1911 passenger list when she perhaps travelled out with the Wiggs family.  This would fit in best with the family lore of her having acted as surrogate mother to the other kids after her mother died in 1906.  She would have been 38 in 1911 so I guess she was still young enough to have got married in Canada in the years following her arrival.  Do you know if Canadian marriage records are on line for 1911 and afterwards?   I really appreciate your help and feel I may be getting somewhere at last.

[Jacquie in Canada]

I have, however, found a marriage for an Adelaide Ann Beeson to a James Lewis Grieg in Lancaster in 1891.

Are you certain that the Adelaide Ann Beeson in 1891 married James Lewis Grieg and not William Richard Nicholson (the other male listed on the page). The entries are listed alphabetically, not by couple.

Jacquie