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I am researching an ancestor, John Washer, who emigrated from England to the US, Boston specifically, around 1720. The story is that his mother was friends or neighbors with a ship’s captain, and signed him up as a cabin boy for a voyage to America. When they landed in Boston, he ran away and started a new life. There were various pockets of Washer families all over England at the time, so it’s hard to say for certain where he came from. My assumption is that it was somewhere coastal, near a shipping port, and in an area without a lot of prospects for a young man. Initial searches in the usual places online turn up a John Washer, son of John, baptized in Brighton in early 1712. Many researchers stop here and assume this is the one they are looking for. The problem is, there was another John Washer, son of John, who was baptized in the same parish in 1716. So maybe the first one died. I decided to comb through the digitized Brighton record books and piece the Washer family together, and I found that the two John Washers were likely born to different families- their fathers, both named John, were cousins. So, still a possibility that 1712 John Washer is the one I’m looking for. His mother had died when he was small, and his father had remarried. Perhaps he didn’t get along well with his stepmother, and was eager to get away. It also seems that Brighton was a fairly destitute place in the early 1700s, and had been ravaged by devastating storms. What I am hoping to determine is, how likely is Brighton (or Newhaven, or someplace nearby) to have been a place where ships might depart, on trade or other business, and travel to Boston, in the early 1720s? From looking at the record books, I know that there were a lot of people listed as mariners, ship carpenters, etc. at this time. Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, these three unmarked photographs were found amongst my grandmother's family photos. They are definitely not her parents but could be her grandparents or great grandparents, or great-uncles/aunts. Her family lived in the Sherbrooke/Compton area of Quebec, Canada, but mostly had come from England in her grandparents' generation. I would suppose that these photos were all taken in Quebec.

Likely family names here would be Bell, Cairns, Bishop, Woodrow, Feaveryear.

The cabinet card of the older couple is 5 1/4" x 8 3/4" x .055" thick (cardstock) and the photo is 3 1/8" x 5 1/2". The corners are rounded by wear but were probably square originally. There are no markings front or back other than some imprinted scrollwork around the photo. The photo looks faded and slightly green/yellowed. My best guess is that these are my grandmother's great-grandmother and step-great-grandfather, Lydia Hannah Bell (nee Woodrow) and James Feaveryear. They came from England around 1836 and settled in Quebec. Lydia was born around 1805 and died in 1894. James was born around 1813 and died in 1885.

The smaller card (CDV?) of the woman is 2 5/16" x 4" x .015" thick (card) and the photo (seems like a tintype?) is 3/4" x 1" and is taped to the back of the card. There are no markings front or back apart from the printed scrollwork around the oval opening. I don't know who this is with any certainty but I wonder if it could be her grandmother Almina Matilda (nee Bishop) Cairns, who was born in 1851 and died in 1897.

The tintype is  2 3/8" x 3 7/16" x .01" thick and has a 1" circular indent as though it were kept in a wallet with a coin pressed against it. My best guess is that this is either her grandfather John Henry Bell or his brother, Henry Charles Bell. John Henry was born in 1830 in Norfolk, England, and died in 1920 in Quebec. His brother Henry Charles was born in 1827 in Norfolk and died sometime before 1881. Both came to Canada around 1836.

Any help with dating these photos and/or picking out details and hints that could help me identify these people would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

John Henry Bell (b. England 12/25/1832, d. 11/28/1920 Quebec) is my great-great grandfather. He emigrated either to the US or to Canada but I cannot find records. He married Harriet Elizabeth Bates (b. 1834, also England?) in Stewartstown, NH in 1857. He fought in the US Civil War, but seems to have lived primarily in Quebec (and permanently, after the war). I would be glad to find information about either John Henry Bell or his wife Harriet Bates- where in England they came from, and who their families were.

I have one source which claims (with no evidence) that Harriet Bates' mother was named Margaret Cairns. Otherwise I have nothing other than her birth and death dates (1/14/1834 - 2/29/1904)

Regarding John Henry Bell, I believe he had a brother named Henry Charles Bell (sometimes given as Charles Henry Bell, or H.C. Bell), b. ca. 1829, who also lived in Quebec after emigrating from England (although he got married in and lived for a time in Massachusetts first). Helpfully, Henry Charles listed his parents as John and Hannah Bell on a census. That is all the information I have regarding their parentage. I don't have a death date for Henry Charles Bell, nor can I find a grave for him.