I have done a fair bit of research on the Robinsons, as I have many in my tree, so was wondering if I might have been distantly related to Elon -- sadly not. I was hoping a genealogy magazine would publish this info, but they dont seem interested, so I produce it here:
Cora Amelia Robinson was born in 1923 in Liverpool, her parents being John Robinson, a stonemason from Liverpool, and Bregchie Elizabeth Theron from South Africa, who married in 1911 in Pretoria. John had emigrated to South Africa in 1910, but they must have returned to the UK soon after their first child Levi Robinson was born in about 1912, and had four further children in Liverpool, including Cora. Cora returned to South Africa with her mother and married Walter Musk, the grandfather of Elon. She died in 2011 in South Africa.
John Robinson’s parents were Levi Robinson and Matilda Marsh who married in 1878 in Walton, Liverpool aged 19 so born about 1859, the father mentioned as a Edward Marsh. This Matilda Marsh, according to many trees on Ancestry, was the daughter of Edward Marsh and Emma Cadwallader. But I could not find a birth record or baptism for Matilda. I found them on the 1871 census, with a John Henry Marsh aged about two years as a brother of Matilda. I found that strange, that they had Matilda in about 1859 then John Edward in about 1869, so a gap of about ten years between siblings. The GRO births listed a possible John Henry Marsh born in 1869 in the right area, but the mother’s maiden name was Kilgour.
I did a search on FindMyPast for a Marsh and Kilgour marriage but without success. Then I searched just using Emma Kilgour’s name for a marriage and found a record: in 1859 a Edward Powell had married Emma Kilgour in Manchester. I checked the GRO births for the surname Powell with mother’s maiden name Kilgour and I discovered three births including Matilda. I then found Matilda Powell’s baptism in 1860.
Edward Powell appeared to have changed his name to Edward Marsh on the 1861 Census, after the baptism of Matilda. I also found three further Marsh births including John Henry Marsh. I‘ve yet to find out why the family changed their surname.
I also researched the Edward Marsh who married Emma Cadwallader in 1859. They did have a daughter called Lizzie Matilda Marsh born in 1862 in Oswestry, Shropshire, and she married Edward Hughes in 1887.
So it is easy to be mislead when searching for possible marriages and only one comes up that appears to match. But in this case due to a surname change it was missed, and about 112 trees on Ancestry have the wrong parents of this Matilda Marsh, the great great grandmother of Elon Musk, who was born Matilda Powell. 42 mention Emma Cadwallader. I found only one tree that mentioned Emma Kilgour.
I mentioned earlier about Matilda Marsh (born Matilda Powell) marrying Levi Robinson in 1878. Levi was the father of John Robinson the stonemason who emigrated to South Africa to marry Bregchie Elizabeth Theron, whose daughter Cora Amelia Robinson married into the Musk family. On Levi’s and Matilda’s marriage certificate, Levi is a Smith, which I think is a Ship Smith, and his father is William Robinson, a Gardener. On the 1871 census Levi and his father William are living in Birkenhead with his mother Sarah, with Levi aged 13 born in Mowcop, Cheshire. But I could not find them before 1871, which made me wonder whether there was another surname change – and it seems there was!
Searching for Levi Robinson’s baptism around 1858 with father William Robinson and mother Sarah produced very little that appeared correct. However, dropping the surname gave me a possible record: a Levi Duckworth baptized in Mowcop, parents William Duckworth and Sarah. I was then able to find Levi Duckworth (transcribed as Duckwood?) and family on the 1861 census located in Mow Cop. The GRO birth records revealed a Levi Duckworth birth registered in the first quarter of 1858 in Congleton, Cheshire with mother’s maiden name Thorley. I found in the marriage indexes William Duckworth’s marriage to Sarah Thorley in 1854.
So William Duckworth appears to have changed his surname to William Robinson after the 1861 census. I found a newspaper entry in the Cheshire Observer and General Advertiser dated 6 April 1861 whence a William Robinson was sentenced to one month’s hard labour for Bigamy, no futher details given. There is also a marriage index record in the first quarter of 1861 for a William Robinson and Sarah Duckworth at Burnley Register Office in 1861. Whether it’s the same William and Sarah, I don’t know…
Levi Duckworth/Robinson had the following siblings:
James Duckworth 1855-1855; James Duckworth/Robinson 1856-1934 who married Jane Hilton; Hannah Duckworth 1860- and Joseph Robinson 1865-.
William Duckworth was born about 1831 in Brereton, Cheshire and occupations were Collier and Coal Miner; William Robinson was born about 1831 in Broxton Heath (Brereton Heath?), Cheshire and occupation was a Gardener. Not to be confused with another William Robinson born about 1826 in Eastham, Cheshire, and also a Gardener…
Levi Musk’s English family tree is a real puzzle in places; with some surname changes thrown in, it’s not the easist tree to research, and I can see see why some folk have gone down a certain route without checking actual facts.
