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Hi,

Hoping someone can help me with any burials for the name Bailes, Bails or Bales in Alston.

Any help much appreciated

Ta

Impy

My partner's grandfather was Henry Williams of Sierra Leone. He married Catherine Colebourn in Liverpool in 1915. Henry was listed as 23 years old, ship's fireman, son of John Williams, Carpenter. We have been told that Henry held Sierra Leone AND Liberian passports. We are also told that he came from Freetown.

I have absolutely no idea how to proceed in tracing Henry's African background, but the name suggests he descended from one of the American slaves "repatriated" to Freetown, Sierra Leone after the American War of Independence when a large number of former slaves who had fought for the British ended up workless & homeless on London streets.

There are some Williams' on IGI who I'd like to think are linked to Henry, but I have no proof at present

Impy

I have a request for information on Brown, Colebourn & Co, Ship & Insurance Brokers of Liverpool. I already have a bit on Colebourn (who is our topic of interest), but I'm hoping to trace Brown, in the hope that he might shed some light on questions we have about Colebourn & family.

In 1853, Gores list Brown, Colebourn & Co. They also individually list William S Colebourn (of B, C & Co) at 12 Canning St. These earlier directories (and newspaper ads) list them as a partnership, but later ones show Colebourn & Co, without Brown. Then, Colebourn suddenly disappears from newspapers and directories at least a couple of years before his death (of Haemorrhoids!!) in 1864.... I think he may not appear after around 1859.

There are things that don't add up about this family. William Swettenham Colebourn presumably had money and lived comfortably (at 1 Priory Rd at the time of their youngest child's birth in 1861), and seemed to be part/full owner of a small, but healthy, ship & insurance broking business. Then he vanishes from the business community, has a curious cause of death (Haemorrhoids might be the root cause, but one might expect a complication to be the actual killer, such as blood poisoning... and as such to be the main cause on his death cert).... and would haemmorrhoids force a man out of work so long before he died?

Added to this, William left no will (or at least, not one large enough to be in the probate books)... nor did his wife, Elizabeth (née Blair), who died in 1870.

They left 5 surviving children (one had already died) William Blair Colebourn, Margaret Eleanor, Walter Larkin, Mary Charlotte & Robert Henry, who were in the care of their aunt, Mary Blair in 1871... ages ranging from 9-18. In 1881, all the children except Walter were still together in Toxteth. I have never been able to trace a death, abode or emmigration for Walter.

William became an insurance clerk, and in 1881, Robert was an apprentice in the tobacco trade, so both were established in decent jobs. William is untraceable after this time, Robert Henry shaved a number of years off his age and was a humble Dock Labourer by 1891. Mary Charlotte also disappears and Margaret married John Tickle & moved to Yorkshire.

My questions are:
What happened to William srs partnership with Brown, and who WAS Brown?

How can all of the family money disappear so rapidly (I've found no newspaper references to bancruptcy around the time of Colebourn's disappearance from the shipping notices & directories)

Where did William Jr, Walter & Mary Charlotte go?

Why did a literate young man with prospects in the tobacco trade end up as a dock labourer? (I have explored the possibility that he was a different man, but there is only one Robert Henry Colebourn born anywhere within a wide time range, and the dock labourer is known under this full name in family certificates)... on top of this, Robert Henry gradually shaves more years off his age with each record, calls himself James Murray in 1901 (which was his wife's stepfather's surname and her grandfather's forename... definitely not a different man in her family, as her stepfather was West Indian and had no children with her mother... only, after a long search, did I find these because of the name matches on their 5 children's forenames). Similarly, in 1891, he had listed himself, "wife" & child by only their forename initials, though the others on the page were fully transcribed (including his mother-in-law in the same house).

Was Robert just worried about being caught out living over the brush with Catherine Lyon (he married her in 1901, she bigamously married another man in 1914), or were there more sinister reasons for his loss of fortune, and his deceptions designed to keep himself hidden?

Any thoughts or further info from directories that might provide more information would be much appreciated

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me track down anything on this fanily, primarily Stephen Harvey Page born 1832, who it's believed moved to Canada in 1850 (from England). He married Nancy Ann Colbran c1859 and the family flitted between Quebec & Ontario for a few years, settling there (in York East) by the mid-late 1870s.

I'm particularly looking for any census returns before 1881, especially an 1851 which shows Stephen, hopefully with parents, though I don't know if he emigrated with them or on his own. Also interested in any marriage details between him & Nancy (known as Ann in census returns), which also might give some clue about his parents.

Ta

Impy