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Essex Completed Lookup Requests / HART - Tendring, Canewdon and India
« on: Friday 17 April 09 05:34 BST (UK) »
After seven years of searching, I have finally discovered where my great grandfather was born. He was John James Hart (usually referred to as John), born in 1852 in Canewdon. He was the son of William Hart and Emma Miller. William was born in abt 1808 in Tendring, and Emma was born in abt 1821 in Cricksea (although one census says Ostend).
The reason it took me so long to confirm that John Hart really was my great grandfather, is that he spent most of his life in India, and shows up in England again on the 1911 census in Gravesend, with his wife and two youngest children, all three of whom were born in India. John became a Captain in the Royal Engineers in India, but being the son of an illiterate carpenter, I was told by many people with extensive knowledge of both colonial life in India, as well as military knowledge, that it would have been next to impossible for him to have attained the rank of Captain, having come from such a modest family background.
However, it seems that John did achieve the next to impossible, and I have managed to trace quite a bit of his life in India. What I now hope to discover, is more about his parents, William and Emma. I know when and where they were born, but nothing of their parentage, or any carpenter apprenticeships entered into. Young John started out as a carpenter himself, as did his older brother William. By 1881, young William was at the School for Military Engineering, Royal Engineers Barracks, Brompton, Essex. I have no idea whether or not John was at the school or not, but by 1879, he was married and living in Rangoon, and working as an overseer for Burma Railways.
If anyone can shed any light on The marriage and parentage of William Hart, b 1808, Tendring, and Emma Miller, b 1821 in Cricksea (or possibly Ostend), I would be extremely grateful. I do have some details of John's five siblings, but initially, my research aim is to go further back.
The reason it took me so long to confirm that John Hart really was my great grandfather, is that he spent most of his life in India, and shows up in England again on the 1911 census in Gravesend, with his wife and two youngest children, all three of whom were born in India. John became a Captain in the Royal Engineers in India, but being the son of an illiterate carpenter, I was told by many people with extensive knowledge of both colonial life in India, as well as military knowledge, that it would have been next to impossible for him to have attained the rank of Captain, having come from such a modest family background.
However, it seems that John did achieve the next to impossible, and I have managed to trace quite a bit of his life in India. What I now hope to discover, is more about his parents, William and Emma. I know when and where they were born, but nothing of their parentage, or any carpenter apprenticeships entered into. Young John started out as a carpenter himself, as did his older brother William. By 1881, young William was at the School for Military Engineering, Royal Engineers Barracks, Brompton, Essex. I have no idea whether or not John was at the school or not, but by 1879, he was married and living in Rangoon, and working as an overseer for Burma Railways.
If anyone can shed any light on The marriage and parentage of William Hart, b 1808, Tendring, and Emma Miller, b 1821 in Cricksea (or possibly Ostend), I would be extremely grateful. I do have some details of John's five siblings, but initially, my research aim is to go further back.