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« on: Tuesday 23 April 19 05:03 BST (UK) »
Thank you Maiden Stone. Info came from handwritten notes of Irvin Bishop, a great grandson of Thomas Bishop who was born in Grenada in 1917 and died in 1995 in Greenwich, London. Alice Jane Dobson
1. Born in Ireland in the county of Limerick.
2. Daughter of John Dobson, an English soldier who came with the English Army from Yorkshire and is known to have taken part in the Battle of Vinegar Hill (1798) – a lifetime boast of his in his later life through the West Indies.
3. John Dobson married twice in Ireland:
a. First to Linda McNamara and had one son called Johnny; and
b. Secondly to Mary Butler, an Irish girl whose father was of some means who objected strongly to the marriage of his only daughter to the English soldier of fortune and of the Protestant faith (Alice Jane of refined nature).
4. John Dobson, with wife and child of the same name, Alice Jane, fled Ireland for the island of Antigua where there were many English families at the time and a stronghold of the Anglican faith in the West Indies.
5. Before leaving the county of Limerick he privately arranged with a friend to send him out the ‘Limerick Free Press’, copies of which were sent to him for years afterwards to the West Indies.
6. Alice Jane Dobson, (nee Butler), was known and admired for her red, red hair and singing voice to which John Dobson added a sweet baritone to the delight of all who heard them which made them very popular among the people of Antigua, especially those of the upper classes.
7. Unfortunately, John Dobson with the usual imprudence of the Irish, went and rented the lovely big house on the island known as Jolly Hill where he and his wife hoped to entertain paying guests with their acting and singing as the island did not have many concert halls at the time.
8. The venture failed. Dobson was left literally penniless with a wife and child of the upper class. Fortunately, a friend (Baillie) who had a big plantation called Bacolet on the island of Grenada asked him to go and take charge of it.
9. The Dobsons of man, wife and child left Antigua for Grenada in 1865 on a sailing ship going to St George’s, Grenada. On the way the ship met up with one of those rainstorms for which that part of the world is famous.
10. The Dobson family got wet for days running. When they reached Grenada and went onto the plantation the delicate wife caught a horrible cold. Despite all that the servants did to combat the cold, Alice Jane died. John Dobson was besides himself with grief for his young wife. He had her buried at the foot of the steps of the plantation house so that she should be always near to him and his little daughter.
11. The grave stayed there with its marble tag on with the wife’s name and country of birth which were printed as a constant reminder through the change of owners.
To answer the other questions:
Do not know when Alice Jane Dobson born - but all notes point to it happening in Limerick.
I cannot find any reference to a Dobson family on the passenger lists to Antigua but am assuming between 1855-1965??
No record of Mary Jane's death or of the burial place at Bacolet or death notice.
John's marriage to Mrs Bayne's is in Irvin's notes. Mrs Baynes and John Dobson had a son called Richard. After John died Mrs Bayne and Richard eventually returned to the UK and Alice Jane never saw her half brother again. I do have a Grenada Births & Baptisms record of a birth in Grenada to Sarah and John Dobson on 1 Nov 1879.
Alice Jane Dobson married Thomas Bishop (her first husband) in St Andrew's Grenville Grenada (again from Irvin's notes). No record of Thomas' death but believed about 1888. There were three children of Alice and Thomas' marriage - Archie Gerald Wells Bishop, Florence Bishop and Tommy Bishop. After Thomas died Alice married a Mr McMillan. There is a reference on Grenadian Girl Word Press to Archie Gerald Wells Bishop (the son) probating the will of Alice Jane McMillan (his mother) in June 1947 in St David's Grenada.
Mrs Baynes owned an estate called Marlmount in St David's Grenada and when she married John he took over the estate and worked on it as an overseer I think. Alice and McMillan had a daughter that i know of called Alice Sylvia McMillan who married a Lennard Sergeant in Grenada. Alice Sylvia died in 1993 and I have a copy of her Administration of Probate.
I haven't identified a particular Butler family - just a general Google search with "Butler".
I hope this isn't too long and doesn't take up too much of your time but have tried to show the sketchy nature of the 'handwritten story'.
Sue