one big family???

[greenvalley]

I think I'm going mental...

here it goes:
great grandfather WILSON leaves Scotland - lives in JAMAICA and writes a letter to his sister, lamenting the death of her husband Eric. There was only one Eric, married to a Wilson female, who died in Scotland in 1866 - and since Agnes came from Dundee I kind of supposed that I found the right family.

Great grandfather marries and then dies in Jamaica and widow moves to England - her son Billy meets GRANT girl from Walbottle and they marry.

Grant girl's maternal grandfather is an Edward BURKE/BURGH from JAMAICA, but he marries in Haydon Bridge and lives in Acomb. Why was Edward Burke/Burgh a naturalised British subject? Why were his parents in Jamaica? When did he come to England?

Now I find that Elizabeth Lawson ANDERSON, who is a full cousin of Billy (daughter of aforementioned Eric), died in The Farm in WALBOTTLE on 25 August 1921. What was she doing there?  Billy and his wife were living in London...

Is this a conspiracy to drive me mad? 

In 1901 Elizabeth is still happily living in Elgin Scotland. Her mother died in 1920 - so why did she go to Walbottle? Please don't tell me that there is an Anderson - Grant connection, as well as an Anderson Wilson one.

Could it be that Elizabeth was just travelling and happened to pass away in Walbottle?

Does anyone have any suggestions that could save my sanity??

Greenvalley

[Michael Dixon]

I'll call you Green for short.

No, can not save your sanity, because after reading your query, mine has also gone. ( I did not know that the Dutch could do Double Dutch !!  LOL )

( Go on and read it, as if for the first time ! )

Your ggf Wilson... his widow's son Billy... is Billy ggf's son.
So Billy Wilson ?

What was Billy's mother's first name ?

So Billy  ( from Jamaica ? )marries somebody in/from Walbottle with surname Grant. First name ?

Her maternal g/f was Edward Burke/Burgh from Jamaica.

So Billy from Jamaica has married in England a girl who had  a Jamaican grandad.....who married in Haydon Bridge, lived in Acomb.

Elizabeth Lawson Anderson, daughter of Eric and Agnes yes ?....cousin of Billy... ends up in Walbottle... but by then Billy and unnamed wife are living in London.

Time scale is by now 1920s ?

Just trying to get to the starting gate of your query.


Michael Dixon
Newcastle

[greenvalley]

ok, here I go again...

John Wilson goes to Jamaica, about 1864 and married in 1875. He dies 3 years later, widow returns to England about 1891.

Son Billy meets Sally Grant from Walbottle and they marry in 1910, in London where Billy was living. I start researching the family tree, and finally find Sally's mother, Jane Burgh (took ages because she was of course born as Burke, not Burgh). Only to find that her dad was born in Jamaica.....

Meanwhile, Billy's cousin Elizabeth Lawson Anderson, whom he may or may not have know, died in Walbottle in 1921. Elizabeth lived in Elgin, Scotland, at least until the 1901 census. She was born in 1861 so she was about 60 when she was in Walbottle.


The bloodline between Billy and Lizzy isn't 100% proven yet. Very likely but not defiite.

Question is: how come all these people end up in the same places? Edward Burke and John Wilson never knew each other. It's taken me years to find John's trail in Jamaica and now I'm stuck again with Edward.

And what was Lizzy doing in Walbottle?  Can it be just a coincidence?

Or, don't tell me, is there a link between the Anderson and some of the Grants in Walbottle and her being there had nothing to do with cousin Billy.....

Are you still receiving? Am I losing the plot or what?  ??

Greenvalley

[lizdb]

?
I think the problem is that there are just too many plots going on at once!

First question -where does 'widow' settle in England when she returns to England - have you got her on 1891 census(if she returned before census day) and 1901 census (if she is still alive) AND have you got her death. And leading on from all that have you got her birth, and has she got siblings and where did they settle?

Could be Warbottle and so that is where she makes her base in England!!

ok, so her son Billy (who is living and working in London, nothing unusual about that) meets this nice young girl and discovers they have something in common - came from Jamiaca - and they marry. She comes from Warbottle. Have you found young Billy in 1901 census after his return from Jamaica? Could be that he spent his childhood in the famous Warbottle and met his future wife there, a local girl - even though work had taken him to the big city.

So cousin Eliz dies in Warbottle. If she is Billy's cousin, then her mum or dad must be sister/brother or sister in law/brother-in-law of Billy's mum or Dad. Assumming she is related to Billy's mum - known only to me as 'widow' and assuming there is a family link with that now famous place Warbottle, it is not surprising that, after spending some time in Scotland she returns there in her latter years, or maybe she was just visiting Auntie Widow, or other cousins who were still living in Warbottle when she was unfortunate enough to die.

I think (?) if you take this slowly and carefully and find out as much as you can about the wider family - births/marriages/deaths for them all etc - it could all fall into place
Or - perhaps it wont!

[lizdb]

P.S

Just noticed it is Walbottle - how could I get it wrong when it seems everyone has been there at some time!
I must confess I dont even know where it is.

[JenB]

Walbottle is to the west of Newcastle on Tyne  http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=417500&Y=566500&A=Y&Z=5

Jennifer (geography graduate - I love maps!)

[topo]

There used to be  quite a few coal mines in and around Walbottle and also a large steel works - any help? Both my Hubby and I have ancesters from Walbottle (miners and steelworkers). We both went to Walbottle Campus (as did our offspring!). The school was next to the farm. Both the farmhouse and outbuildings have been converted to exclusive homes.
Judi

[greenvalley]

Avis, the widow settled in London. Billy went to Dulwich College, University and then worked in London. There are no family ties there to Walbottle, until he meets Sally in 1910.

Edward Burke must have returned to the UK between 1841 and 1851 (not on 1841 Census but is there in 1851) - John Wilson went to Jamaica about 1864, from DUNDEE Scotland where he lived. So he never met Edward.

Billy was born in Jamaica and so was Sally's father, but since Billy was born in 1875 Edward had long gone to the UK - they never met.

Lizzy was a cousin to Billy from his dad's side. Her mother and his dad were brother and sister. So again there is no connection to Walbottle whatsoever.

That's why I was losing the plot - because it seems that there are too many plots going on....

[lizdb]

Was just mulling this over whilst doing some gardening, and wondered if it is a bit like a situation in my famiy trees. Whilst researching my dad's grandad (Thomas Edmonds) we got a bit sidetracked by his cousin's family, the Farringtons who lived in Harwich. At first I couldnt believe it - what an amazing coincidence that his cousins lived just a few doors from the Green family, who were my dad's grandma's family! When there were NO other branches of either side in that part of the world at all!

But then when I thought about it - of course!  the Greens and Farringtons WERE nothing to do with each other, other than neighbours and good friends - until Thomas Edmonds was visiting his cousins one day and met the neighbours daughter, Nellie Green .... the rest as they say is history!

So some of your plots and sub plots may appear to be more linked that they actually are because you are looking at them in hindsight.

I would guess that there is no link at all between sally's ancestors and Billys, I may be wrong. If there is some family link with Warbottle, Billy could well just have been visiting rellies there - perhaps cousin Elizabeth was living there pre 1910, and that is how he met Sally, and one of the things thay had in common was a link with Jamiaca.

So it could just be that cousin Eliz happened to move there between 1901 (when on census in Scotland) and 1921 (when died)