RAWSONS of Nottinghamshire/Leicester

[Annie65115]

Bump!

Carleton, did you find George Rawson's date of death?

He died 6 March 1861 at Bestwood Park. Estate "under £14000".

[Anne Napier]

Hi, I am new here.  Trying to find my great uncle, Derek Rawson, son of Louis William Henry and brother of John Willoughby.  Derek had James, Christopher and Georgina born between 1936 and 1944.  Derek inherited from his father who died in 1948 in Cheshire though, it seems, had lived in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) for some time.  We are trying to trace that part of the family history.  We would also very much like to trace any known whereabouts of John Willoughby (my grandfather) between 1946 when he left the family home to 1974 when he died in Hounslow.  I really would be grateful if anyone has any additional snippets that may be of use!  Thanks so much

[Annie65115]

Hello Anne and welcome to Rootschat.

I have a fair bit of info about Rawsons in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire but no Louis Rawson on this tree.

Do you know if there is any link between the people you mention and the midlands?

If so, some dates would help us too. I’m also a little confused about the names of the brothers - John Willoughby, did he have the surname Rawson?

[Annie65115]

The plot has just thickened or perhaps become clear!

I have the following on my tree that I think you might want to check out:

Louis William Henry Zimmermann m Agnes Eliza Rawson in 1868.

Their first son, Louis W H Zimmermann, was born 1869 in Lancashire. He m Jannette Cottrill or Cotterill (sorry, no details, it’s quite a distant branch on my tree so I haven’t covered it in depth) and had children including:

Derek Rawson Zimmermann b 1906, Eccles
John Willoughby Zimmermann b 1910, Eccles.

Another “coincidence” - Louis WH’s brother Harold Denton Zimmermann died in Rhodesia in 1962. I am pretty sure that somewhere I have more info about a branch of the family in Rhodesia but I can’t find it right now!

Do you think it’s possible that at some point your family anglicised their name by dropping the Zimmermann?

[Annie65115]

Oh - Harold Denton Zimmermann changed his name to Rawson! You can google him —-

[Anne Napier]

Oh my goodness Annie you are amazing!  My mother claimed that there was a Zimmerman in the family with a name change and my uncle totally denied it.  Unfortunately my father died so not able to confirm or deny or provide me with more details.  This is definitely the missing link in the family.   I cannot express how grateful I am.  I am onto it.  Happy happy happy!

[Annie65115]

My pleasure. You and I must be distant cousins!

If you want any more info, let me know. I have details of your Rawson ancestors going back to the mid 1700s.

[Anne Napier]

I think it is very confusing as there clearly was a name change in addition to Harold and his brother Otto changing their names from Zimmerman to Rawson in about 1913.  Do you have any info on the name change or can you advise me where to search?  I think the Louis William Henry Zimmerman born in Oct 1869 changed his name to Rawson also as his sons used the name Derek Rawson Rawson and John Willoughby Rawson and they were born in 1905 and 1910.  I am using the Ancestry.com website but am a bit of an amateur so am unsure how to find the records!  Will keep trying....

[Zimmermannrawson]

Hi. I found this on the internet and would like to let you know, if you did not already that Harold Denton Zimmermann did change his name to Rawson together with his brother Otto (Boss Jim) and sadly the surname died with my grandfather Dudley Rawson. You can find copies of his journals on their voyage from the UK to Africa online and a little story on the famous Mazoe patrol where Harold helped save settlers. Kind regards Steve