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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Kent Lookup Requests => Kent => England => Kent Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: emilyandrosiesmum on Wednesday 18 March 09 19:46 GMT (UK)
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looking for info on Elizabeth Mitten of Whitstable born 1880. Aged 11 she was a "boarder" in the household of Rev Wallace, Clayhill, Surrey along with Lily May Mitten (sister?) who was a parlourmaid. Elizabeth married my great great grandfather George Hatcher in 1901. It was his second marriage, he was 56 and she was 21! There is a rumour in my family that she was black, which seems unlikely as there probably wouldn't have been many black people in rural Kent at that time.
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Hi
This looks like her birth registration
Births Sep 1879 Mitten Elizabeth Ann Blean 2a 797
In 1881 she is listed as Adoptive Daughter in the household of James and Annie FitzGerald in Eythorne.
I think you will need to get her birth certificate to find out more about her parentage. Who did she name as her father on her marriage certificate?
Barbara
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Hi both :)
I agree you need the birth certificate. In the meantime, here's Lily with her parents in 1871:
1871
RG10/951 94 13
Hawkhurst, Kent
James Mitten, head, 19, Ag lab, b. Surrey Lambeth
Charlotte, wife, 25, b. Sussex Warbleton
Lily M, dau, 5 mo, b. Kent Hawkhurst
Hmmm. Interesting, that - Charlotte was a Fitzgerald
Marriage Jun 1870 Eastry 2a 1161
James Mitten - Charlotte Eliza Fitzgerald
Charlotte dies in Sep 1879, Blean district
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This is so great! I am a novice at all this and it is wonderful to get help from you all. If anyone can help further i would so appreciate it. Many thanks
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Looks like Charlotte died in childbirth, eh? :-\
So, this was 1881:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/05v1/
RG11/996 68 23
Tracing James back, I can confirm he was Charlotte's brother:
1871
RG10/999 71 10
Eastry, Kent
Sandwich Lane
Rebecca Fitzgerald, head, wid, 54, Laundress
Caroline, dau, unm, 21, Laundress
James, son, 16, Under Gardener
Harriett, dau, 13, scholar
Arthur, grandson, 1
All born Eastry
From there:
1851
HO107/1631 233 14
Eastry, Kent
Sandwich Rd
John Mills, head, wid, 73, Gardener, b. Maidstone
Rebecca Fitzgerald, dau, mar, 34, Housekeeper, b. Eastry
Charlotte Fitzgerald, granddau, 7, scholar, b. Surrey Lambeth*
Caroline Fitzgerald, granddau, 1, b. Eastry
*although she said Eastry in 1871, I'm pretty sure it's her. There doesn't seem to be a birth registered for her in Eastry, but there is one in Lambeth:
Charlotte Eliza Fitzgerald
Jun 1843 Lambeth 4 305
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In 1861, Rebecca is down as married but again, her husband isn't with her.
Now searching FreeBMD (http://www.freebmd.org.uk/) for a marriage between a Rebecca Mills to a Fitzgerald, I can see only one:
Mar 1843
W London 2 207
Rebecca Mills to Caesar Fitzgerald
(www.familysearch.org shows the marriage on 1st March 1843, Saint Bride Fleet Street, London)
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Thanks to you i have the complete answer to my post! I thought the name Caesar Fitzgerald was unusual enough to try googling it. Sure enough the first link was to a BBC Wales article about a woman's search for her black ancestors, who turn out to be mine too (by marriage only of course)! Caesar Fitzgerald was "a man of colour from Sierra Leone" and his wife was a Tuareg. The author of the article has written a book and i have just received it from amazon. There is a picture of Elizabeth Mitten. I am about to start reading it.
Many thanks again
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Some people have all the luck 8) 8)
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Oh Wow - what fascinating stuff 8)
Casalguidi :)
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How exciting for you :)
Barbara
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Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as we enjoyed researching and writing it.
We also have pics of Lily Mary Mitten, Herbert Mitten and James John Fitzgerald.
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Hi, this is all so interesting to read. My Great Great Grandfather was in fact Caesar Fitzgerald. I actually have dark skin which seemed to have jumped the generations. Funnily enough I also resemble the image of the child in the picture from the post from the lady who wrote the book. However my own children are both white.
My grandmothers name was Olive (also slightly dark skinned) who lived in Folkestone, Kent. I am only just reading up on this all. My aunt has the book mentioned which I am looking to read very soon. I am interested to see the line before my Grandmother. How far spread the roots go throughout Kent.