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Hello,

I'm looking for a James BAXTER b. circa 1830.  He married my 3xGreat-Grandma, Margaret (MILBURN or EMERSON) in August of 1851.  Then, his residence was "Guisbro" (as spelled on the certificate), and he was a sawyer, same occupation as his father, Thomas.

The 1851 census must have been taken before their marriage.  I think I found my Margaret, age 17, with a Wm. BOYES family in Guisbrough, sub-registration district Lofthouse.  (Got this from another source; unsure whether she was a servant or relative there.) 

Can anyone locate 20/21-year-old James in 1851?  There's a Thomas BAXTER, sawyer, in Walsoken, Cambridgeshire (born in Walsoken, Norfolk), but no James among the family.  And the same family in 1841 doesn't have a James among their children, when he should be there at age 10/11 with the other kids.  (Unless the one who was transcribed as 11-year-old Thomas is actually "James"?)

Thank you for checking!
~JudyLynn

I know RootsChat is not meant to locate living persons.  However, our family has become involved with DNA genealogy, and really want a member of our HORN branch to participate.  Problem is, there are no male HORNs left on this side of the Atlantic.    So I need some help finding descendants of my great-uncle who remained in England when his parents and siblings immigrated to the U.S. 

I wonder if anyone who’s familiar with folks in Morpeth / Ashington would be willing to PM me if you can help, or if you actually know/knew any of these family members?

Uncle Thomas John HORN was born in Morpeth in 1882.  In 1906, he married Isabella (HOGG).  We have a couple of old Christmas cards bearing the address 21 1/2 Humber Terrace East, Hirst / Ashington.  (Which the 1911 census confirms.)  We know he had a daughter Eva HORN, whose 1907 birth record was found.  She was said to have immigrated to Canada.  I also have a lovely photograph of Uncle, Auntie, and one of the babies –- no name written on it, of course. 

Uncle Tom was also said to have had 3 sons in the Royal Air Force.  They too might have gone to Canada.  I’d never heard their names, but freeBMD tells me:
Thomas John HORN [Jr.] b. 1909
Joseph C. HORN b. 1911
Fred HORN b. 1912
Leslie HORN b. 1916 (perhaps this was a female?)

Aunt Isabella HORN d. in Newcastle Sep qtr of 1930.  How might I obtain an obituary?  (Can’t find a likely death date for Uncle Tom.)

Can anyone point me in the right direction to locate information?  Any suggestions?  Years ago, I wrote a letter of inquiry about this family to the newspaper editor, enclosing reimbursement to send me a copy of whatever they chose to run.  I never heard back from them (nor received my wee bit of money back!), so have no idea whether any HORN cousins knew we were searching for them! 

Many thanks in advance,
~JudyLynn in Pennsylvania

PS: Moderators, please let me know if I’m breaking the spirit of the law!  This request is honestly not just to satisfy my curiosity or add to a database :-)  I’m hoping to make contact with relatives before the last one passes away!

Could some kind soul please try a lookup of the John & Mary EDWARDS family in 1871, in or around Llandilofawr?

Here in Pennsylvania, there is a John EDWARDS & Mary (THOMAS) of Llandilo / Llandilofawr with children:
Joseph b. 1856/7
Evan R. b. 1861
John T. b. 1863
Thomas b. 1871/2
+ Jane (who m. a DAVIES and remained in South Wales)

There is a "half-brother" relationship mentioned in an old obit that indicates this family is connected to my own John & Mary EDWARDS.  Several kids’ names are the same in both families, and it’s rather confusing :-)

Many thanks,
~JudyLynn

Hello all,

Haven’t worked on this line in years due to the sighting of a brick wall off in the distance.  But DNA testing has produced no real matches either, so I’m seeking direction for old-fashioned research.

My great-great-grandfather was William WHITMORE, son of John WITMORE & Mary Ann (EDWARDS).  Before he was a year old (1866/7), William with his parents emigrated from the port of Bristol, England, to my hometown of Shamokin, Pennsylvania in the U.S.  John died in a coal mining accident shortly thereafter, with a daughter Sarah born posthumously.  There is no trace of John’s parentage or where he was born, though William claimed to have been “English” – a descriptor that often referred to anywhere in the British Isles! 

John’s widow, Mary Ann, remarried and had more children.  That marriage license and her 1892 obituary give her time/place of birth as 1844 in South Wales, and list her parents as John & Mary EDWARDS (the brick wall *sigh*).  Her obit also gives the name of two brothers: Joseph and John, plus an unnamed sister.  Several EDWARDS families were in the Shamokin area with Johns and/or Josephs, however, and I’m not entirely sure which belonged to whom.  One local tombstone shows a family “from Llandilo, South Wales.”  Maybe my family was from there; maybe not.

Free BMD lists the marriage of a John WHATMORE to Mary A. EDWARDS in Crickhowell, 4Q 1863 (11b-270).  Can anyone tell me what further data it should provide if I ordered it? 

A dozen years ago, a friend of a friend in that area found an index listing the birth of a William WHITMORE in Crickhowell, Brecknockshire, 2Q 1866.  But she said the Registrar couldn’t find the entry in that parish.  She then contacted the Registrar in Tredegar, Gwent, and apparently didn’t locate it there, either.  She said some registers had also been sent to Abergavenny and Caerphilly; no attempts were made to search there, so I still don’t know where to find it.  (Understand this was before widespread computerization of records and such, so things might be more accessible nowadays.)

I’m obviously unfamiliar with the geography, and even further confused by renamed counties or borders with parish records being passed around :-)  Can any of you experts in the area recommend where/how to start looking for my people?

Thanks for any help!
~JudyLynn in Pennsylvania

Some kind chatters have already helped with census records of this family in the Devon Lookups category; time to invite discussion!  To start, my GGGGrandma was Mary Ann (DAWES) MURTON bap. 1817 in Bere Ferres, daughter of Peter DAWE & Betsey.  This couple resided in Beer Ferris, Devon, in 1841 & 1851 with children, then by 1861 had moved to the Calstock area (Gunnislake) of Cornwall.  According to those census records, my Peter DAWE/DAWES was born between 1793-96 in Redruth.  Betsey was born 1794-1796 in Beerferris, Devon; her maiden name may have been VIGUS.

Peter & Betsey’s children were born between 1821-1836 per the censuses.  Living two doors down in 1861 is a possible other child, Peter DAWS b. 1819, with wife Mary and kids.  This young Peter said his birthplace was St. Mewan's, Cornwall (near St. Austell).  Does anyone know of this family?

There’s a family group sheet on the LDS's Ancestral File of the following:
Peter DAW b. circa 1755 in Redruth
m. in Redruth in 1780, to Mary (WILLIAMS) b. circa 1759 in Redruth
children born/baptized in Redruth =
Eleanor/Elinor b. 1781
Grace b. 1783
Mary b. 1786
Ann b. 1788
Grace b. 1791
*Peter b. 1793 [IGI has a baptism 24 Nov 1793]
*William b. 1796
John b. 1798
Francis b. 1801

I have contacted the submitter for details, but she replied that she hadn’t worked on DAWs for years and could not help me    So I have no idea whether she glued a few random records together, or had reason to assign all these children to the same couple.  (Besides all being born to a chap named Peter!)

Her Peter would of course fit the birth year of mine. And ... living next door to my Peter in 1841 was this family:
William DAWE b. 1795/6, miner, not born in Devon [Cornwall, perhaps?]
Hannah, wife, b. 1805/06 in Devon
Kids: Mary b. 1825, Francis b. 1826, William b. 1832, John b. 1833, Nathaniel b. 1835, Peter b. 1838.

This William would also fit the birth year of Peter & Mary (WILLIAMS)'s son.  My Peter named his three eldest children the same names William did, perhaps supporting a connection between the two.  However, I've also found a William b. 1795 in Redruth to Francis DAWE & Johanna ... and a Peter bap. 1792 in Redruth to Thomas DAWE & Jane (MURLEY/MORLEY).

Any ideas out there?  Better yet, any cousins?
~JudyLynn
in Pennsylvania

PS: Yes, I spelled “Bere Ferris” differently throughout -- in case a future chatter uses the Search tool