I am currently researching an ancestor named John Wall who lived in Bristol and the surrounding area. Currently the only document that we have for the person is a sheep skin showing their indenture which appears to be more of an apprentice contract. The sheep skin shows John Wall, son of Emma Wall, indenturing to John Mabyn or Maybn to learn the arts of haberdashery, drapery, and silk (something...I can't really make out the specifics of silk work). Emma Wall is said to reside in Staple Hill or Stapleton which I think are suburbs or boroughs of Bristol which is listed as part of Gloucestershire.
What I am looking for is twofold. I would really like to find out who his father is and when he emigrated to Canada (Chatham or Windsor, Ontario). Starting with the information we have on his father, we are presuming his father might have died in combat due to a sword that has been in the family for several generations. I have queried information on the sword which can be found here:
http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1135268#post1135268 To summarize that discussion I have found out that the sword is an Infantry Officer's Sword Pattern 1822 circa 1837-1845. Between the sword and the date of indenture (1848/49) which only lists Emma Wall and not John Wall's father I am assuming that John Wall's father died in combat or by other means while serving in the military. I would have thought that John Wall's father would have been the natural preference for someone to sign a legal document for indenture. Maybe I am wrong? As for emigration to Canada, I am not entirely sure when this took place, but am pretty sure that it occurred sometime between 1860 and 1900. One of my cousins has been looking up information on Ancestry.com, but to little or no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to look up emigration records between Bristol and Canada? Could someone please help me?
Thanks!
