To: rutti tutti (and others interested in Edward Pickering, 1839-1906, of Durban, South Africa)
From: PickeringGrandChil of California, USA
Perchance, are you familiar with Edward Pickering's descendants? I would love to hear what you can tell me of my South African relations, especially Joseph Thomas Pickering (Edward's son), my great grandfather.
His first wife was Blanche Gertrude Shepherd of Portsea, Southampton. While pregnant with my grandmother (Blanche Gladys Pickering, 1898-1981), she was sickly so she returned to England. My grandmother was born aboard ship before it docked in Southampton. Grandmother, Great Grandmother, and Great Grand Aunt returned to South Africa, but when Blanche Gertrude Shepherd became even more ill they returned to England where Blanche Gertrude Shepherd died (in 1905, I think). Her sister, my great grand aunt, would not return my grandmother to the wilds of South Africa, so she took my grandmother and immigrated to Canada.
I do have copies of Edward Pickering's will and other documents, including two letters from Joseph Pickering found in my grandmother's papers after she died. I have not resolved the ancestry of Edward Pickering's mother "Margaret Raybould," nor do I understand why the 1851 census seems to name her mother "Mary Potts."
I will try to check back to see if there is any elucidation you (or others) may be able to provide. If you want, I can provide more details of this Pickering diaspora to America.