Hi Hutchin,
Thank you very much. I received and transcribed a download of Capt. Wm. Graham's will last night
I don't think we are cousins, because William Graham was not my ancestor, so neither was Robert or Frances. The story is a bit more complicated. William Graham was married to Lavinia Sally Ann (née Harffy) whom I have been trying to trace for years now. After his death she married Lt. Robert Cooper of the Royal Engineers who died in Quebec, Canada, in Jan. 1799. Their daughter Catherine Johanna Louisa Cooper was baptized in Arthuret, September 1799. In 1811 Lavinia Sally Ann married Francis Dubourdieu, also of the RE, and went with her third husband and her daughter to Germany (Stade, Hanover) where her daughter married a Hanoverian officer of old nobility and thus became my ancestor. Lavinia Sally Ann died in 1853 in Germany, aged 80, 2 years after her daughter.
This Lady has always been very mysterious ... having had three husbands, three christian names, but no maiden name, no parents ... When I began researching, she was known by the name of Dubourdieu; Rumour had it that she was a "Lady Graham"; her second husband must have been a Mr. Cooper as that was his daughter's name; and that was about all. Only recently I learnt that her will can be found in a German archive; in this her maiden name is mentioned as Harffy. I still haven't seen it as it can not be obtained on the internet. And I still do not know where and when she married Wm. Graham or where she came from.
As the young widow (born about 1772) had her daughter from the 2nd marriage baptized in Arthuret in 1799, I think that 7 years after William's death there were still (probably fairly good) relations between her and her first husband's family, the Graham of Netherby (as only now confirmed through Bridget's help
For this reason I should be really glad if you could have a look at the 1801 will of Frances Graham. Every hint to William, his widow and son will be of great interest. Rev. Robert Graham's will might shed a light on Capt. Wm. Graham's situation, too. (He must have been really well off. A thousand pounds in case of remarriage looks like an awful lot of money. So does a hundred pounds for mourning.)
Although we may not be cousins, your informations might be interesting for me, too. E-mail me at e_roeder(at)web.de. Of course, I can send you my transcription as well.
On Saturday we are leaving for our holiday in England. Although not Cumbria, this time.
Cheers
Elisabeth