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Independent Islands => Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey, Sark => Topic started by: Kiwi Girl on Monday 03 March 08 03:43 GMT (UK)
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Oh how I wish there was a needle in a haystack message icon!
I'm trying to track down a death date and location for Sybilla. In a book by Brantz Mayer published in 1878 it says that she went to live in Stonehouse, Plymouth - presumably with her mother Sybilla Houseal (nee Mayer) who died in 1824 and who was buried at churchyard of Saint George's, Stonehouse, Plymouth.
He says in the book that Sybilla Lane moved to Jersey where she stayed with her married sisters and their families, the Bluetts and the Dawkins. He says that she died there, but not when or where she was buried.
Her children were John Edward Thomas Lane, b. 1790, John Lane b. 1791, Thomas Lane, b. 1792 and George Dawkins Lane b. 1794. They would all have been born in Nova Scotia as the family did not leave there until Sybilla Lane's father died in 1799.
Anything sound familiar? Any help would be great!
:)
Cheers
:D
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Hi there
So if I was to search the death index would it be safe to say somewhere between 1824 and 1878 - or could it be narrowed down further?
Stewart
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Hi Stewart,
Thanks for that, sadly I don't have any more information to go on, She was born on 8 January 1763 in Pennsylvania, USA. She married Thomas Lane in Nova Scotia on 24 November 1789 in Nova Scotia.
When her father, Bernard Michael Hausihl (he changed his name to Houseal at some point in his travel) died in 1799 she and some of her siblings accompanied her mother to England. They were Royal / loyalists during the American revoloution and the Duke of Kent paid their way to England. Both her parents were born in Germany.
Her sister Amelia married George Dawkins in Nova Scotia in 1793, but died in Jersey in 1833. Her son John Edward Lane married Lauretta M Bluett on 16 May 1832 at St Brelades. Her niece Anna Anstruther married a Bluett too.
Does any of that help?
???
Thank you for taking the time to get back to me
:D
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Hi there
The needle has been found!!
Sybella Sabina Lane, wife of Thomas, died 7th Jan 1837 aged 75 years in St Helier.
It was one of those lucky finds. It took me 2 minutes of search time!!!
Stewart
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:o
Hi Stewart,
You are a miracle worker! I can't wait to let my Cousins and Aunts know. It was thanks to a wonderful Cousin in York that I got a birth date for her, and now you have completed the other end of the jigsaw - I'm very grateful :D
I don't suppose the records have where she is buried? or should I do a new post for that? Having only recently noticed that her son was married on Jersey too I will have to do a post for him too - very exciting!
Thank you so much!
Riwia
New Zealand
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Hi Riwia
Burial records are rather sketchy but I'll see what I can find.
Whilst I'm in the Archive Centre I can do the marriage as well if you give me the details.
Stewart
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Thank you so much for your time & effort! I am still buzzing over having a date for her. There is a certain air of mystery over her later years. She returned to England and then Jersey without her husband, but we don't know if she was widowed or if he left, Thomas just seems to have vanished (there is a rumour that he went back to South Carolina and remarried... I'd love to know for sure).
John Edward Lane married a Miss Lauretta M Bluett on 16 May 1832 at St Brelades. I've found a lovely site with pictures of a church called St Brelades, is it also the name of an area too? In which case they might not have been married at that church - I hope they did though, it's beautiful.
I don't know if they had any children because that's as far as I can go on that line.
Any more light you can shed would be most welcome.
Thanks again for all your help!
:D
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The island is divided up into 12 Parishes and each one has their own Church. If the marriage was a Church of England marriage then this is where it would have taken place.
St Brelades Church is right by the sea and is also known as the fishermans chapel. It got this name because when the fishermen went off to Canada to fish for cod, this was the last church that they could take Communion.
I live about a mile from the Archive Centre and pass it most days although it is only open Tues to Thurs. I'll see what information I can find for you but it may not be until next week as I'm already doing something Weds and Thurs.
Stewart
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Thank you - again! - so much!
I'm glad it's that church. It would be Church of England as Sybilla Sabyna Houseal's father was a Rev in the Church. He was originally a Lutheran but retrained and converted while he was in Nova Scotia.
:D
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How exciting to find this! I have to say I was always a little sceptical about the information in Brantz Mayer's book as obviously he had just got it from other relatives about 80 years later and some of the other information is just plain wrong. But this is wonderful. Thank you so much, Stewart and you too, Riwia, for pursuing this line of enquiry.
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Hi Hillary,
I'm thrilled too. It even ties in with the date of birth as she died the day before her birthday :(
It will be interesting to see what other information is on Jersey. Now I just need to win lotto so I can visit that gorgeous church and stroll the streets where they lived.
http://www.stbreladeschurch.com/
:D
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Hi there
Well lots of news but not all good I'm afraid.
I managed to do a bit of research today and sadly there is no record of a marriage for JEL and LMB in St Brelade. The index covers the period 1560 - 1900 and in fact no Lane's got married in that time at that church. I then looked at all the other Parish records up until 1842 working on the assumption that as they weren't on the 1841 census they must have left the island. Again I drew a blank. So you'd better cancel the flight!
But.... there is good news. First JEL and MMB had a son. George Edward Lane was baptized 18th Mar 1838 at St Helier Church. His parents were listed as John Edward Lane, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and Lauretta Maud. The God Parents were given (strangely) as the Father - proxy for George Dawkins Lane (Uncle) and Mrs Hannah Nesbitt. First time I have come across a proxy God Parent.
Now regards Sybilla. As I said, burial records are rather sketchy, particularly as around this time graveyards could be privately owned and no records exist. However I have located her grave in Green St. Cemetery, St. Helier. This cemetery has not been used for many years and in fact part of it is now a multi-storey carpark. SSL is buried in grave E8 of this cemetery and that part still exists. I visited the cemetery but it is very overgrown and the stone must be lying down and the area is covered in long grass. Some kind person though has transcribed all of the memorials and SSL's says (note the spelling):
Come Lord...
Sacred to the memory of Sibylla Sabina Lane widow of the late Tho. Lane Esq and daughter of the late Rev. B.M. Holseal of Halifax, Nova Scotia and died 3rd January 1837 aged 75 years
and also her sister
Amelia Dawkins widow of the late Captain George Dawkins who died 1834 aged 78 years and was buried in St. Saviours Chruchyard.
Where did you get the details baout the St Brelades marriage?
I'll let you think about that and decide where you would like to go next.
Stewart
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Wow - again Stewart :o
Your efforts are Herculean! Boy do I appreciate them too!
You have accomplished so much in such a short time. ;D
It's a poop about JEL & LMB, I'll have to see if the family have other information.
The find of the inscriptions for Sybilla & her sister are amazing, that is wonderful news and something more for us to work with. George Dawkins Lane is from whom I am descended. I'll have to see if we know who Hannah Nesbitt is. That is the joy of Family Tree stuff, as one puzzle clears up another one begins.
On behalf of my fellow Lane / Houseal family, thank you so much for your fantastic help. It's people like you who make the whole thing such a great experience!
Thank you sooooooooo much!
Riwia
New Zealand
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Hi Stewart,
After your great information I set about trying to find some pictures of Green Street Cemetery, but so far no joy. Do you know of a site that would have any?
I did find this rather interesting note:
Roseville Street is crossed next by La Route du Fort, built in the late 1960’s to access the new tunnel under Fort Regent. Cross the busy main road by the pedestrian lights, continue along Roseville Street for 200 metres then turn left down a narrow alley into Green Street cemetery. The grass and wild flowers in this atmospheric town graveyard are not cut until they have seeded, lending an air of natural untidiness in the early summer. The very imperial memorial in the far left-hand corner is for an Honorary Police Officer stabbed to death by a lady of ill repute, crying ‘Je suis stabbé’ as he fell.
http://jersey.com/walking/parishwalks/PDF/Walk4_StHelier.pdf
Sybilla is in some very interesting company ;)
P.S I just found a picture taken by E Smith in 2000
http://tinyurl.com/2tlpgq
I hope shrinking the link worked....
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Best if I take a photograph for you.
Yes she was the madam of a brothel!!
Stewart
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Fantastic work, Stewart, and thank you so much.
As for the Lane-Bluett marriage, sometime ago I asked for a lookup and Mike E replied confirming that it had indeed taken place at St Brelades Parish Church but he said the parish register was not available as it was undergoing restoration. Here's the link
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,214083.0.html
Now I'm going back to smiling about Sibylla (and Amelia). It's wonderful to have that part of the puzzle cleared up.
Hilary (one of Sibylla's great great great granddaughters)
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Hi there Stewart, our posts just crossed. I'd love to see a picture of the cemetery too. Thank you so much for your detective work. Where Sibylla ended up had seemed like an unsolvable mystery. Just shows you that there is still all that information out there waiting to be found.
Would there be newspaper reports of the deaths? I know I found some of the other sisters' deaths recorded in The Gentleman's Register.
Thank you once again
Hilary
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8)
My goodness! A Reverend's daughter and a fallen woman - death makes equals of us all.
Thanks again Stewart for your outstanding efforts.
;D
There's always a cup of tea, well coffee anyway, for you here in New Zealand.
:D
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Hi there.
Right I can confirm that they did get married in St Brelade. Although not listed under "L", I found them under "Unkown", so Mike was right.
I have some photos for you so could you send me a personal email with your email address in please?
Now about that cup of tea. My wife and I intend to visit New Zealand next year so I might take you up on it!!!
Stewart
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Just been looking at the Bluett family tree and I see that Lauretta Maude Lane's sister, Anna Maria Elizabeth Clarke Bluett married a Mr R Nesbit, perhaps that's where the Mrs Hannah Nesbitt connection is?
Keep looking :)
Hilary
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Hi - Not sure how far you have gotten since this was last posted but the following is part of my family tree. If you need/want any further info down this line let me know.
John Edward Lane and Lauretta Maude Bluett had three children. Sibylla 1836-1922, George (1838) and Lauretta Caroline (1846-1929). Sibylla married Ralph Daly Cocking and George Married Eliza Vzeilli. Both went on to have children. Lauretta Caroline married Charles Bogue Luffman and went on to become a writer and womens activist in Austrailia.
Amy :)
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Hi Amy,
How wonderful to hear from you! Are you descended from that line? It would be lovely to add to the tree and share what we have. PM me when you get the chance and I'll send what I have ;)
KG
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Hi,
George Married Eliza Vzeilli, spelling is so wrong.
That should be Eliza Uzielli 1839-1909 and George was born 1838-1880.
Kind Regards
Paul Williams