BOISSON in London in 1851 and 1861

[Wykin]

Thanks for your offer of help. I have a large collection of photographs relating to William Henry Shell and his life until he moved to South Africa. I understand he subsequently committed suicide in 1924 (?) They tell a fascinating story of his time as a pilot, POW and life with Mabel. I am trying to find out what happened to him in South Africa. I'm also interested to sort out the story of his father who was married to a Bridget Ruth then Isabelle Harrison. I understand he was originally a William Henry POLLEY( !) from Manchester, England. Being UK based I'm able to visit sites here but SA offers a little more of a challenge! The information I have is loaded onto Ancestry.co.uk

Any pointers would be really useful

Kind regards

Wykin

[rutti tutti]

Hi again,
I will look at the Natal marriages when I get into the FHC, maybe later in the week, that is the best place to start. I will also look for death notices etc. I will also look at the website and see what i can add. Who was WH's mother? I have John Henry dying 10 Jan 1935 buried in the military cemetery - He was a Lt (C,MM) I also have a ? Polley in my notes so will have to check it out further - I last looked this side of my family about 10 years ago! I have a marriage in 1893 for Bella and John
Ruth

[Robin G]

Hi

SHELL, William Henry, Warrant Officer South African Air Force
Died 11 Nov 1924
Buried at the Old Military Cemetery, Voortrekkerhoogte, Pretoria, South Africa
Surviving spouse Mabel E SHELL

Here is a link to a picture of his gravestone:

http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=930727

Regards

Robin

[Wykin]

Thank you both for taking an interest and providing further information.

WH's mother was Isabella Harrison 1872 -1968.  John Henry Shell aka Polley's father was a William Henry Polley 1818 - 1887 I believe he was born in Colchester, Essex England.

[Colthane]

Hi Robin, The Boissons you mention here were my great grandparents. Their daughter Alice Maud , married my grandfather Frank Baker. Please contact me if you want more information.

[RickDB]

I am currently writing a history of the Boisson family - we arrived in London in about 1751 as Huguenot refugees and I have lots of information about many of my ancestors. At the moment my attention is focused on our forebears in France, with luck I'm hoping we can get back well into the 16th century. I have very little information about the line that went to South Africa and was wondering if there was any business connections between Amyas Greenwood Boisson and Frederick James Boisson.
John Boisson (1782-1841) had (amongst others) sons Charles (1818-1877) and James (1825-1882). Frederick James (1850-1932) was the son of Charles and Amyas (always called himself Sydney) was the son of James; they were therefore cousins. Both went to South Africa although Amyas returned to England after establishing the "Boisson Plantation". Do any of you with SA connections know if they were partners or have any knowledge of Amyas' time in South Africa?
Thanks for your help,
Rick Du Boisson

[jillian1]

Hello
My link to the Boissons are my Great Grand Mother Kate Boisson, daughter of Charles Henry Boisson.
I have been doing Family History 20 years and if I can help with any history, family stories or photos please make contact. I have put some of my photos on ancestry which now seem to be on every ones
trees these days.

Jill

[RickDB]

Hi Jill,
I'm guessing you were the Jill T (nee K) who corresponded with my late aunt Dorothy Du Boisson - I have inherited all her research, including your correspondence, on the Boisson family and am continuing to delve into our origins in France. I have all her old photos, including ones you sent to Dorothy. I went through all the family photos with her and recorded a conversation about who they were and what she knew about them. She was a mine of information and had a great memory. I'm still sorting it all out using "Family Historian" software to collate the data. It seems your last correspondence with Dorothy was in 2002 and I suspect there may be new information of interest to you. From Dorothy's records I find I know more about my 6xgreat grandfather that about some of our extant relations! Hope we can fill in some gaps together.
Rick Du Boisson

[Weaving]

Rick,
I am researching my wife's Boisson heritage and had got back to Stephen B born around 1730-1745 so was interested in your comment about your ancestors arriving about 1751.
If the Stephen is common to both then have you found any evidence of where in France as haven't found anything for a Stephen/Etienne either in France or London.
Interestingly the Huguenots of Spitalfields site has a list of Boisson family members along with location and occupation. This seems to suggest the possibility Stephen was born about 1730 ie older than the death record suggesting 75 in 1820.
Another family tree on Ancestry suggests a Jean du Boisson as Stephen's father and there are baptism records for a Jean in 1693 and a John in 1701. If either of these were the father then it would suggest the Boissons came over earlier.
So would be very interested in your research re the arrival in England and further back if possible.
Many thanks,
Peter