Wright Family History.

[corinthian]

Hi James,

I'm sure you're right - I got my date from FamilySearch which is often incorrect. I can't quite read the image it's a bit blurry - what is the date in 1839?

Regards

Coreen 

[corinthian]

Hi James,

Have also found this extract from The Northern Standard and Monaghan,Cavan,and Armagh Advertiser dated 02/02/1839: Jan.29 in St.Ann's Church,by the Rev.Dr Dickenson,Francis Brooke Norris,Esq.,her Majesty's Surveyor-General in Ceylon,to Elizabeth Jane,daughter of T.S.Cooper,Esq.,Comptroler-General (sic) of Stamps in Ireland. A bit confusing to say the least.

Coreen     

[jimmytheone]

.

[jimmytheone]

Hi Coreen,

Oh dear, I ever more confused. Was Francis Brooke Norris Isabella Gilio's husband, I haven't actually seen his forenames? If so the Asiatic Journal recorded her death [definitely death and not burial] as occuring on July 22, 1836; "At Colombo, Isabella, wife of Francis Brooke Norris, Esq., H.M. surveyor-general, aged 27."  So we're back to your DoD of 1836. [Unless FBN went for the younger model, and they often did - if he were just a little older than Isabella 'H.M. surveyor-general' looks like quite an acheivement.]

As for reading the date on the image I posted, it's no less blurry at this end but I'd say it was 21-6-1839, which is a different day, month and year to the one above??? It's certainly not 22-7-1836 is it.

Another thing I noticed; Amelia Gillio must, obviously, have gone to India before October 1823 when she wed there, therefore the "Misses Gillio" who were reported to be departing for India on board the Katherine Stewart Forbes in the July 1824 issue of The Oriental Herald [if it's monthly it is presumably up-to-date] must be Margaret and Isabella. I'm surprised to find Margaret marrying on January 26, 1825* if she was still in England just six months before. Still, I guess the women were shipped out to India to find a husband, though it seems it was generally a death sentence. Or would the marriage have been arranged beforehand?

* on FamilySearch as 'Gillid'.

Regards,
James.

PS. I expect you've seen this but I've answered my own question as to FBN's age;

Deaths Mar 1879
Norris  Francis Brooke  78  Kensington  1a 78

[corinthian]

Hi,

According to the Families in British India Soceity (FIBIS) website Francis Brooke Norris married Isabella Gillio in Bombay 05/05/1829. At Ghundwarah to Isabella,third daughter of the late George William Gillio,Esq.,Bombay Civil Service.

According to the India Office Family History Search website Amelia Gillio either left for or arrived in Bombay 15/02/1822 & Margaret Gillio 24/05/1824.

According to Memoirs of a highland lady,Isabella Gillio,left the UK for India 28/09/1827.   

All of the children of George William Gillio & Margaret Grant died at relatively young ages,only the 'impudent' Amelia surviving into her 50s. I don't suppose any of the daughters had much say in who they married. I just hope it wasn't as bleak as it sounds.

Still confused about the date of death for Isabella - not sure if we'll ever be able to get to the bottom of it. 

Regards

Coreen

[jimmytheone]

Hi,

So who was the other person who made up "the Misses Gillio" who sailed in 1824? A sister we don't know about?

James

[corinthian]

Hi,

I don't know - if so she's never mentioned anywhere by name. There is a six year gap between Margaret & Isabella. As well as Amelia,both Margaret & Isabella are mentioned several times in the Memoirs & quoting from the same, ''Mrs Gillio parted with the last of her daughters,her youngest child,and with us who she loved almost as well''. This is on the date of 28/09/1827, when the author's family & several others depart for India. I think this youngest daughter must have been Isabella. She would have just turned 18 years old at the time. Presumably Mrs Gillio remained in the UK. 

Actually,just remembered,Isabella, at the time of her marriage, is recorded as the third daughter of George William Gillio,so there wasn't a daughter between Margaret & Isabella.

I don't know - another Gillio mystery!.

By the way - there was a George Gillio baptised in St Marylebone,Westminster 23/05/1775, parents George & Mary, who appears to have been declared bankrupt in later life. I think that this was a nephew of our own Joseph Ferdinando Gillio - son of his brother George.

Regards

Coreen   

[jimmytheone]

Hi Coreen,

Can I pick your brains once more?

Have you fathomed the relationship between Elizabeth Smith, nee Grant of Rothiemurchus, author of Memoirs of a Highland Lady, and Margaret Grant, wife of George William Gillio?

Also, thick as I am, I cannot make sense of this quote from her book; 

"...Mrs. Gillio, with her pretty little dark daughter* and her Hindoo maid. She was the daughter of Major Grant of Craggan, whom the fortunate General William had educated and sent for to India. She had come home with her children, and... "

* Is this a euphemism for mixed race?

Who is General William, and why did he educate Margaret Grant? Was she orphaned and brought up by the General? And was he 'fortunate' because he was "General William Grant was a footboy in my uncle Rothie's family", one of the locals who was given a chance to 'better themselves' or just because of his connection to Margaret?  I see there is a note "P. 238. A certain William Grant. — It was when Doctor William Grant was living at the Doune that there befell a quarrel in the kitchen between the cook and the turnspit; she came crying to her master that the boy had raised a knife at her and cut off her hair; he meanwhile took to his heels, and Doctor William, coming to the door, saw him running down the avenue at top speed. "Come back, you black thief, till I give you your wage!" shouted the Doctor in Gaelic. "Wait you till I ask for it," called back the boy. This was how General William Grant came to enlist" but I don't know what was on p.238.  You wouldn't think such a connection would leave Margaret so close to the author as to be a regular visitor. Did the servants generally take the master's name or was this coincidence?
 
Do you know who Margaret Grant's parents were, other than Major and Mrs.?


I had a quick look at the Dupree family, as in James Dupree who married Marian Johnson Wright; it looks as though they were a Huguenot silk weavers with several mentions on the net. One has an Isaac Dupree [James's grandfather?] as a weaver at 28 Elder Street ["a highly valued house"] who "undertook to raise a body of twelve of his workmen to resist the Young Pretender".
Another of an Isaac Dupree of 'Spittlefields', silk weaver, going bankrupt in 1855.  [London magazine or, Gentleman's monthly intelligencer..., Volume 24 - which elegantly printed "b--kr--ts"]

One website has MJ Wright's in-laws as Noah Dupree and Jane Wright but the only marriage I can see that fits has the wife as Jane Deacon. There was mention of a Noah Dupree in connection with a Mr Wright regarding the dealings of the House of  Lords.

Any idea where the Johnson middle name came from?

Sorry, what a lot of questions, though some are merely rhetorical.

All the best,
James.

[corinthian]

Hi James,

Like you I have also been trying to work out the relationship of Elizabeth Grant & Margaret Grant,without success. I do know that she was a niece of the unmarried General Grant & I think that she had two brothers ''Mrs Gillio,once Miss Peggy Grant of Craggan,niece to the old General & to Peter the Pensioner,....''. I think I recall that her father was William Grant but i'm not sure how I know that - possibly from the Memoirs book. There is another passage from MOAHL that reads ''Mrs Gillio was already there with her daughter & her brother,Colonel Grant'' and a little further on ''...Mrs Gillio,her brother,and Lewis Grant''. I think her brother Colonel Grant was another William but I do not know who Lewis Grant is. There seems to be an awful lot of Grants in the book, I suspect they were a prolific family & were all related in one way or another.  I also have no idea why General Grant was fortunate.
 
I think the description of Mrs Gillio's daughter as a pretty little dark daughter is referring to her hair colour only. The Gillio surname originates from the north west part of Italy in the Torino area so perhaps the daughter was olive skinned?? I don't know how long the Gillios had,by then,been in the UK.   

I have carried out very little Dupree research but I know that there is quite a lot of info about the family available on the internet.

I'm not sure where Marion's middle name of Johnson came from - I thought possibly it was the maiden name of her father's mother. All I know about Marion's father was that his name was Joseph Wright & his occupation is described,at various times, as Gent,Schoolmaster,Clerk. At the baptism of son,Joseph,in 1805, he is described as a 'clerk in a ....pathic office'. Unfortunately I cannot read the rest of the word that ends in 'pathic'. 

Sorry I was unable to help you any further.

Regards

Coreen