Help please with Toppings in Workington

[wamsilli]

Ok. I'm new to rootschat and my first post is tricky.  I am desperate to make headway with my research on the Topping family.  My gt grandmother was Mary Topping born in Workington roughly 1879 to James and Ann Topping.  I have found Mary and her family in the 1881 census spelt Toppin and also 1891 census on both occasions living in king St.  To my dismay James is always absent and I can find no trace of him in any census.  Ann claims she was married in 1881 and widowed in 1891, so he must be somewhere prior to 1881.  Does anyone have any idea where to look or how to search.  Ann it would appear was born in Ireland in 1836.

I always thought James married a Mary Kane, but this is a bit supposition. Maybe Ann was Mary's second name and she went by this.  I have found a marriage on FreeBMD between a James Toppin and Mary Ann Massey Cockermouth 1871 but there is no way to know if this is them, except the names bear up!!

Lastly whilst looking for James in 1851 I found a family all born in Ireland, James born 1831 and living in Crosscanonby, Sub district Workington, so James' birth date and the place and the irish link add up.  Does anyone have any idea how i can cross reference to be sure of the link.  Irritatingly I can find none of the family prior to 1851 (they probably came to England between 1841 and 1851) but more strangely none of them after 1851.  Where could they have gone? Surely not all back to Ireland after so few years. I've tried all combinations of spelling and i'm baffled Can anyone help???

Sam
 

[emmsthheight]

Hi Sam

Welcome to Rootschat!

If you put in James Topping into any census on this link on familysearch - all free, there are three James Toppings in the US, one born 1835, which isn't a bad match.

See what you think.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/06rh/

Best wishes

Emms

[emmsthheight]

Hi again.

Main parts of that one are:

James Topping, 45, Born Ireland, parents both born Ireland, a moulder, staying with David and Elizabeth Hatch, restaurant and boarding house keepers at Chicago, Cook, Illanois.

No more Toppings present.

Also present,

John & George Gilbert, harness maker and printer, born Illanois
Gustav Vet, harnessmaker, born Prussia
John Boston, Harness maker, born New York
Frederick Day Painter, born IA?, parents New York
Thomas Hardcourt and Thomas Kemp, stonecutters born Scotland
John Watt, waiter, born Ohio
James McMuthery, born Ireland.

Unless I've said otherwise, the parents were born in the same place.

Maybe just a red-herring, but you never know!

Emms

PS The closest age is one born 1832, but he's in Cambridge, born Cambridge.

This link gives the full transcript to the above.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ib/

[wamsilli]

Hi Emms
Thanks for replying.  I've never thought of looking US as I've never had anyone in my tree go there but I suppose it's possible.  James Topping must be somewhere.  The problem is I know nothing about him other than his wife and daughter so whichever Topping I find i can never be sure if it's him unless he's with his wife or daughter

Sam

[emmsthheight]

Hi

Thank you for getting back to me. 

I only knew about one family group in our tree emigrating until I started researching.  Then I found there were loads.  I've also realised what a huge proportion of I rish left Ireland.  Many people came over here with the intention of emigrating and settled instead.

There were many Irish seamen who had family on the West Cumberland Coast, so they were often not at home.  There are loads on the passenger lists to America.

Some families emigrated gradually, so people visited family ahead of emigrating, or the head of the family went to family to try and set up work or assess the situation.  This could be a red herring, but it wouldn't be uncommon.

If you can find him on a passenger list, it should at least say where he came from and possibly even who he left in the uk and the person he is going to in the nUS and address.

Do you know anything about his occupation?

There passenger lists for leaving the uk on An****y and findmypast.com.

If it's late enough, Ellis Island

Best wishes

Emms

[emmsthheight]

Hi again

Some links.

Ellis Island: Site covering immigrants to the US through the Ellis Island centre.   Not sure if it covers the earliest of your dates.  Search for free but register to see the manifests.  If you don't get one ith the right date got to the next page or two either way.

Most of the manifest main list pages cover a double sheet so two images.  Make sure you look at both.  Use the magnifyer.


http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp

Passengers Onboard: Part of Find My Past.  Search and get minimal information, free.  Pay per view for the rest, but gives you a good idea whether he's there, and whether it's repeated suggesting he works at sea.  You can but small numbers of credits online.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/06rq/

Immigrant's Ships Transcribers Guild: Covers world wide.  One of the first sites set up.  Now a huge project.  I haven't seen the newest stuff, so I must have a look.  Leads to transcrips.

http://www.immigrantships.net/

Best wishes

Emms

[Geoff-E]

You can also search here- http://www.castlegarden.org/searcher.php

[wamsilli]

Emms
Thanks so much for the further posting.  Since studying the toppings in earnest I have looked at irish migration and I too am amazed how many came here.  the exodus after the potato famine in the 1840s is well known, but i didn't know the numbers involved.  I will search the passenger lists to america I haven't done that.  Reading what i have lately, it is possible James moved on to America, but his family didn't follow him - at least not quickly.  They are still here in 1891 and his daughter Mary stayed here and married in 1903. She died in Bradford in 1932.  James was a plasterer and his wife runs a guest house in the '81 and '91 censuses.

Sam

[toppers]

I am also looking for Toppings in Workington ( My dad was one) haven't come across a James Topping but I can only get back to Newall Topping born 1831 at Williams Pit in Whitehaven. Is he in you family tree??