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Messages - en2gen

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1
Indeed!!! Thanks to all who tried to help me!

2
Mystery solved! For anyone following along on this quarry I will just tell you that one savvy user of FindMyPast has found in one military record the following, which I still can't get to come up in MY search of FindMyPast but it brings me the answer I was hoping for:

First name(s)    Alfred Ernest Albert
Next of kin    son of the late Albert Harragin
Last name    Harragin
Country    Trinidad & Tobago
Rank    Captain
Notes    later Major; MC awarded for gallantry at Damieh Bridgehead, Palestine, 22 September 1918
Battalion    1st Bn
Year    1914-19
Corps    British West Indies Regt
Record set    Caribbean Rolls Of Honour WW1
Contingent    1st Public Contingent
Category    Military, armed forces & conflict
Departure Date    18 September 1915
Subcategory    First World War
Troopship    HMT Verdala
Collections from    Americas, Caribbean
Honours    MC

And since then, some other things have come together that give me his mother's name, as well as the names of his wife and children. In addition, I have a family photo. As a side bonus, my search has connected me with a cousin doing research on my own paternal family line still in Trinidad. So, happy days! Thanks all.

3
I guess I'm puzzled by your comment. Who would you say the father is? I think I have found the grandfather, John Stephen HARRAGIN (1800-1859); but, as I mentioned, I only have discovered 3 of his sons and I think a missing son born between the one born in 1842 and the one born in 1854 must be Alfred's father.

Since this was a blog for researching "other countries" and mentioned the Caribbean, I was hoping someone might be researching in Trinidad and have some inside scoop on church or civil records or other sources. I may have to see if there are digitized records from the cathedral in Port of Spain, as that is where the baptism of any children would have taken place.

4
Yes, I see those military records references and there is a file (not digitized however) at the National Archives, Kew. However, whether his father's name would be included is questionable. I'm hoping there might be another source. Thanks!

5
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to look. You have found everything I have already found. I have a pretty good database of HARRAGINs in Trinidad. And, I think that the A.E. Harragin who is a guest at my great uncle's wedding in 1906 is actually Alfred Ernest. A lot of the family you have found are there as well. But.....WHO IS HIS FATHER? And why can I not find any reference to him in newspapers (plenty of references to Alfred's cricket career) or military records? Maybe I have not seen his military file?

The marriage of HARRAGIN/DICK cannot be found in Scotland because although it was reported in the Dundee paper in 1879, it actually took place in Trinidad. I don't think this couple are his parents because they were married two years AFTER he was born (1877). They did go on to have 9 children, one of whom is my great aunt whose marriage I mentioned above.

I am thinking that Alfred's father may be a sibling to George Francis Robert "Harris" HARRAGIN (who married Emily Dick and who appears in some records simply as "Harris" and is my direct ancestor). He was the son of John Stephen HARRAGIN and Anna Matilda GREY. The only additional children I have found for the HARRAGIN/GREY marriage are John Arthur HARRAGIN (1842-1902) and Thornton Frederick Walter HARRAGIN (1856-?) Thornton is a medical student living with his brother, John and family, in London in the 1881 census.

And that census is what's holding me up! It would be easy enough to think Alfred is a son of John Arthur because the marriage date is right and that couple went on to have children in 1871, 1783, 1874, 1876...and then a gap until 1885. But if so, where was Alfred in the 1881 census? He would have been 3 years old, so why was he not with the rest of the family?

I only show 3 sons in the HARRISON/GREY family as a result of that marriage and there are significant gaps in those births (John Arthur 1842, George Francis Robert Harris 1854, and Thornton Frederick Walter 1856). I have NOT found a marriage for that couple but I have found Anna Matilda Grey's birth recorded in Londonderry (northern Ireland). I suspect that the marriage took place there, but John Arthur is born in Trinidad in 1842 so maybe not. And his Anna Grey's father, Capt William O'Neill Grey (HM 30th regiment) died in Trinidad in 1841 (result of falling from a horse due to old war wound); as her mother, Barbara Eliza (nee Blake) in 1860. So it seems this couple came to Trinidad after Anna Matilda's birth in Ireland. BTW, her mother is the granddaughter of Sir Walter Blake, Bart, Meolough Castle, Galway for what that's worth.

I know this is a pretty lengthy post to bring you up to speed with what I have previously found, but doing it has helped me organize my thoughts on this family. I think I need to try to find additional sons of John Stephen HARRAGIN (1800-1859) and Anna Matilda GREY (1825 - ?) to solve this mystery of the father of Alfred. I'm guessing they were born between 1843 and 1854. Mother Anna must have been pretty young when she and John Stephen married (17 or so?) if her first child was born in 1842.

So, the hunt goes on! Thanks for your patience and help.

6
Alfred Ernest Albert HARRAGIN was a famous Trinidadian cricketer b: 4 May 1877, Port of Spain, Trinidad; died 21 May 1941, Port of Spain. He was also a decorated veteran of the Trinidad Contingent of the West India Regiment in World War I, serving in Egypt and Palestine. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) for his leadership in Palestine.

I have learned a lot about him, but can't find any mention of his parents. I would be happy if anyone can direct me to church or civil records for Trinidad or if they have any ideas on where else I might search. I'm following this Harragin line as it marries into my own, but this one has me stumped!

7
Nice Tony. I do note that one hand was overlooked in the colorization. Can that be fixed? Thanks, Louise
\

8
Oh thank you all. these are all very nice restorations and i really appreciate your help...and the correction on the dating. I so value everyone's time and talent being given so freely. You all are my go-to source when i need help bringing these ancestors back to "life". I wish I had your talents, but moine lie elsewhere, LOL!

Louise
California

9
Thank you for the restoration. And you who commented on the date are absolutely correct. I realized my mistake when I zoomed into the original photo after posting but I could not make an edit at that time. This has to have been sometime before Magdalena died in 1893. She was 45 years old when they immigrated in 1882, so if the dating holds up as suggested it would have been taken in Indiana, not Switzerland.

Thanks "Japeflakes" for the restoration. Very much appreciated!

Louise
California



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