On this day in JANUARY ...

[nanny jan]

My 2xgt uncle Robert Richard Burgess was born in 1849, son of Robert Richard and Elizabeth (nee Gandy), in Cripplegate, London. He married Eliza Hall in 1868, they had 10 children and he died in 1903 in Rotherhithe.  He had a variety of jobs including as a black lead manufacturer.

[GrahamSimons]

My 4-greats aunt Mary Vazie was born on 18th January 1764 in Hexham, Northumberland. She is one of my mysteries - there is a note on a Victorian family tree that she married Edward Rotheram, Captain of Royal Sovereign at Trafalgar. So far I have no evidence to support this, except that Rotheram was born in Hexham: and what's more he married a wife of another name. Further analysis suggests she might have married Edward's older brother John who was a doctor and born 1751.

My 3-greats grandfather William Jaffray was born 18th January 1790 at Thomasland, Airth, Stirlingshire. He was a nailer but then settled to farming.

[LizzieW]

Harriet Hobson my 1st cousin twice removed (ie she was my gran’s cousin) was born in Bradford, Manchester in 1877.  She was under the age of 1, when her mother died from abdominal typhus.  Her father married twice more, and she had 5 half siblings.  I think I probably met her as she didn’t die until 1949, 3 months after my gran and certainly my mum used to talk about her.

William Everitt my 5 x g.g.uncle was baptised in Osbournby, Lincs in  1707/08

Essex Lightfoote my 7 x g.g.uncle was baptised in Holme Cultram in 1679/80

[stonechat]

Anne Brown was baptised 1710 at THorpe Achurch, Northants
(Baptised as Anna Brown)
Later Married Robert Wyman of Harringworrth - but marriage was in Thorpe Achurch
She was my 5 greats granmother

She and her husband led me a merry dance trying to trace the Wymans back.
Her son's marriage said he was of Harringworth but was not baptised there.

Ann and Robert had their first four children in Ann's parish and the last in Robert's

[genjen]

18th January 1831, Samuel Howe was born in Tollesbury, Essex - a 4 x great uncle. I have been looking at the Howe line recently. There seems to be a very definite depressive tendency. I have found three suicides so far and there is another one which I haven't linked definitely to my family yet but which I believe belongs in there somehow.

[terry h]

5g Aunt Isobel Cowe b 18/01/1814 Coldingham, Berwickshire, daughter of Richard & Jean Cowe nee Polwarth.

3g Uncle Andrew Young b 18/1/1825 Galashiels, Selkirkshire, son of John & Sarah Young nee Dickson.

3 g Uncle John Newton Chisholm b 18/1/1845 Gordon, Berwickshire, son of George & Jessie Chisholm nee Waddle.

Janet Chisholm nee Brodie b 18/1/1834 Muttonhole, Midlothian,  wife of 4g Uncle James Chisholm.

1st Cousin 4 x R Mary Hastie Haliburton daughter of James & Isabella Haliburton nee Hastie m William Scrimgeour 18/1/1959 Orwell, Kinross.

[Seoras]

On this day January 18th 1890 my great great grandfather John Tweedie died in Armadale. He was the son of my 3xG grandparents Robert Tweedie and Agnes Weir and was a coal miner, though like many who had moved to the mines came from farming stock. His wife Rachel was from Fife from a family of seafarers and she was named after her grandmother, and she in turn from her grandmother. The name Rachel continued down to my Aunt Rachel, she of my avatar.

On January 18th 1733 John Tweedie, the brother of my 4xG grandfather Robert Tweedie and son of my 5xG grandparents Robert Tweedie and Katherine Dimmock was born in Carnwarth. There are a lot of Roberts and Johns in my Tweedie line. My great grandmother broke the mould by being an Agnes. She was very petite and known by my mother's generation as wee granny Tweedie.

Oh and on the same day John Tweedie was being born in 1733, the first polar bear was being exhibited in America, it would feel at home outside my door at the moment 

It wasn't of course the world's first polar bear, just the first one exhibited in the USA ...... sorry for any confusion 

[genjen]

19th January 1822, James Augustus Grant Smith was born in Nairn. He is one of a family which has had me tearing my hair out for years. His parents were William Smith, a Mason, in Nairn and Margaret Forsyth, born in Duffus, Morayshire c 1896. They were my 3 x great grandparents. William Smith died somewhere between 1823 and 1841 - my gggrandmother was born in 1824 and he was dead by the time of the 1841 census - and I can find absolutely nothing about him at all. At James A.G. Smith's baptism, the witnesses included one James Augustus Grant of Viewfield, Nairn. He was a local bigwig. The witnesses were all people of not inconsiderable means. So, I have been assuming that my Smith family was not my usual ag'lab, road-mender, fisherfolk variety and that therefore there would be some reference to them somewhere.

No such luck! After his birth in 1822, I can find no further reference to this James. His father is lost without trace and, after 1841, so are his two older brothers, John and Robert. Only my gggrandmother, Margaret Smith remains visible, following her marriage to James Shaw. I have recently, with the help of another RC person, made some progress on a possible brother for William Smith and there was a brief moment when I thought she had actually found William himself. But sadly, the man she found was from Forres, not Nairn and he died in 1849, so that had to be shelved.

Anway, I am getting carried away.....

Also on this day, in 1929, William ( Billy) Milne married Dora Howe in Aberdeen. Dora was my grandfather's sister. I never met them but I have a memory of my nan describing Billy Milne as a bit of a rogue!

[Seoras]

That was an interesting post gengen. I know how you feel with that disappearing family, I have one myself.

My family appear to have an aversion to doing anything of importance on 19th January, back tomorrow.