I am now doing my great grandmother

[carol8353]

Mary Ann was still in the UK in 1871- hadn't they stopped transporting people by then?

[groom]

Transportation from Britain/Ireland officially ended in 1868 although it had become uncommon several years earlier

[allisont]

FreeBMD Deaths Mar Q 1880
William Middleton, 54, Cookham 2C 312

1881 Cannon Farm? RG11/1317 Fo37 P 13
Ann Middleton, W, 52. Cook, Burnham

1881 Telland House, Ray Park RG11/1316 Fo49 P15
William H Middleton, 23, Coachman, Cookham

The only Mary Ann I can find is.................
14 Chesham Place, Richmond RG11/845 Fo83 P32
Mary A Davies, 22, Cookham Dean (married to Timothy Davies)

FreeBMD marriages Sep Q 1879
Mary Ann Middleton/Timothy Davies Richmond, S. 2c 503
Checked 1891/1901/1911 census, they, and a large brood are on them.

[LyndeR]

  Gosh i am having trouble with my computer today,again
its so slow again,i rang my daughter and hers is same,oh we have lots of trouble  in this area..anyway,...i have found some things
i have been onto the local data base,and i found thomas williamson's father and mother...,father is edward williamson,the mother is elizabeth tyson,on thomas's death notice..does't say where born though...
.he died 1885/c2431,same year as last son edwin williamson 1885/c4587 was born..in QLD AUSTRALIA..
can't find any marriage of mary ann / to thomas williamson in australia..under shepherd or middleton,so will now try somewhere else..
i have yet to go and try  passenger list arrivals ..although i did try immigration and travel briefly and up popped a thomas williamson, landing in cooktown QLD aUSTRALIA  ,i have yet to go back and search thoroughly...
i did a search and found  a thomas williamson b 1858 goole yorkshire..father edward/ mother elizabeth with bros..in the 1871 census ..so will investigate this more....i do appreciate the help,you have obtained,i have printed it   out and will now try peicing things together and see what i can put
together...
cheers Lynne

[newburychap]

Mary Ann was still in the UK in 1871- hadn't they stopped transporting people by then?

Believe it or not you didn't have to be a criminal to go to Australia.

Local papers in the late C19th and early C20th often had adverts trying to presuade folk to emigrate.

[Marmaduke 123]

There's a tree on Ancestry that has Mary Ann Middleton's mother as Ann Warwick, and also has her (the mother) remarrying an Ezekial Collins in 1882. Don't know how reliable it is of course.

There are quite a lot of Mary Ann Middletons - are you sure you have the right one? How do you know she was born in Cookham? I think you need to get the birth certicate of the Cookham one.

Jan/Mar 1859 Cookham 9c 491

There's also one born in Goole!

Oct/Dec 1859 9c 491

Anne

[lizdb]

mary ann middleton,born 1859..cookham berk...her father william middleton,...her mother ann shepherd....
mary ann (legal or not legal)we do not know for sure, first married thomas williamson,as there were williamson children..

Can I just pick up on these points? We need to be sure we follow the right Mary Ann Middleton - and the one we have found so far seems to have a mother Ann nee Warwick.

So - from the quote above - firstly what is the source of her birth year and place as 1859 Cookham for YOUR Mary Ann ?
Secondly what is the source of her maiden name Shepherd?
Thirdly can you explain "there were Williamson children " a bit more fully- where were there? What children? how do you know they were hers?

Also, when she married John Hunter in Australia, did she marry as Shepherd or WIlliamson, and did she say she was a spinster, widow, or what?

[Marmaduke 123]

There is a Middleton/Shepherd connection in Cookham, where there seem to be quite a few Shepherds but not so many Middletons.

In 1861 there is a John Sheppard (62) with a wife Lucy (52), a laundress born Bray. With them is Elizabeth Middleton born Cookham, daughter-in-law, aged 21. I think this means step-daughter.

In 1851 Lucy Middleton widow aged 43, laundress born Bray has several children including Elizabeth (11) born Cookham.

In 1841 Lucy and Henry Middleton and their children including Elizabeth (1) are in Cookham.

Lucy Middleton and John Sheppard married in Mar 1861, Cookham RD.

William Middleton father of Mary Ann born 1859 could, and I do stress could belong to the Lucy/Henry family . He is living as a farm servant away from home in 1841 and 1851.

One hypothesis might be that Lynne's Mary Ann Middleton/Sheppard is  the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Middleton, named for William's child, and born after 1861. That would explain the alternative names.

We do need to know the source and reliability of the information Lynne has given us though.