Author Topic: 1851 census coventry  (Read 8964 times)

Offline BrRamsay

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Re: 1851 census coventry
« Reply #18 on: Friday 07 November 14 04:06 GMT (UK) »
I have no information on his wife other than her name, Anne Strachau.  That is not a common name, so there is hope.

It apparently is a region in Germany, but the name has been found in England for generations.  "Strachau" may also be a variant on "Strachan" (or vice versa).

In the late 1800's there was someone named "Strachau" in commerce in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.  Since Benjamin's younger brother went to England to find a wife, Benjamin may have done the same.

Interesting, the 1896 South African Medical Journal mentions a panel discussion with a Dr. Strachau participating. That is another possibility for her family connections.

I can probably do more digging, but I don't have in hand any more information.  Good luck in your search.

--Brady Farrand

Hi, my records have her name as Emily Anne McIntyre and known as "Annie". The previous contributor to the thread is a relative of mine (we know each others families it turns out) and separately from me, she also identified the wife of Benjamin Alfred as being Annie McIntyre.

Having said that I'm intrigued about the Anne Strachau reference. I'm wondering how that name came up and if maybe they are the same person and she was married twice?

Other than her name and dates and places of birth and death, nothing else is known. Emily Anne McIntyre was born in Durban (Natal, South Africa) in 1870 and died 27 Oct 1928 at Highflats near Ixopo (Natal, South Africa)

Offline PickeringGrandChil

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Re: 1851 census coventry
« Reply #19 on: Friday 07 November 14 05:23 GMT (UK) »
It will take a full, detailed examination of all my information to figure out where I got the attribution of Anne Strachau as Benjamin Alfred Pickering's wife.  However, some info is available.

I own a copy of a letter from Benjamin's brother Joseph to my grandmother, his daughter, which says

"Have you heard from your Auntie Anne or cousin Gertie?"

and

"Do you remember Mrs. Strachau (Aunt Anne's Mother) and the white Cockatoo that bit your ear?  Mother, you & I stayed a few days on the Barea with Mrs. Strachau."

From Edward Pickering's will, I know that Benjamin received the the house on Manning Road, Barea.
However, I do not see a reference to Benjamin Alfred's wife in that document.  Since Blanche Shepherd had no sisters named Anne, and only a brother named George, who lived in England (where Joseph would not be visiting), I assume that "Auntie Anne" is the wife of one of Joseph's brothers who lived in Berea.  That her maiden name was the same as her mother's married name is another tenuous assumption.

Since I seldom commit to the genealogy such tortured assumptions, I believe that I found the name of Benjamin Alfred Pickering's wife somewhere else.  But I do not now know.  I will try to get around to that research soon.

Offline BrRamsay

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Re: 1851 census coventry
« Reply #20 on: Friday 07 November 14 05:52 GMT (UK) »
Hi,

I'm really interested in all this because using the Strachan suggestion, I'm finding some interesting Google search combinations for Strachan and McIntyre. There was a trading Strachan family in the Umzimkhulu (Griqualand East area) which is near Highflats where Benjamin Alfred and Annie Pickering lived. The strachan trading company was run by Donald Strachan and he had a cousin called "Doonie" McIntyre and there is other information saying that Donald Strachan's mother and father were Robert Strachan and Mary McIntyre. Mary died soon after arrival in South Africa (Byrne Immigration Scheme) in 1851 and Robert died in a building accident in Durban a few months later. If there is a link, our Emily Annie McIntyre/Strachan could have been the grand daughter or a child of a relative, possibly "Doonie" McIntyre or his son?

All of this is speculative but the information you have is giving a new lease of life to the research so am very happy you posted what you know.

Everything I have said can be found from Google searches by a mix of "McIntyre", "Durban" "Strachan" etc. Keen to collaborate with you on this one.