USA births 1867,69,78

[wendy beasley]

Hi Philip,
Mary Cordner-James was my grandmother.  I don't know how much you know about her children, and what happened to them, or even if you are interested in that aspect of the family.
My father, Frank Cordner-James, said that his father and his uncle (his fathers brother) married the two sisters.  He was very clear on that.  The family story went, according to John Henry Cordner-James (he was born James but added his wifes name to his), that he and his brother both liked Mary and Alice very much, so they tossed a coin to see which they would marry, as both were so attractive.  Alas, while Alice was out going and liked to go out, as did John,  Mary prefered to stay at home more, as did William.  Mary had a very lovely singing voice, and the children would sneak out to near the top of the stairs, to listen, on the evenings they entertained, to their mother sing.  It is said that if the coin had fallen the other way, the marriages would have been happier!
If this is the kind of info you enjoy, I would be happy to tell you more.  However, I am about to go away for a month, and internet access may not be great, or even possible.  I will try to check to see if you are interested.
I f Mary was your grandmother, I know of all the children, except Joan's.  Are you one of her's?
Wendy, one of Franks!

[KathMc]

First, welcome to Rootschat Wendy. Second, Blimey, how lucky are you Philip. What a great thing to get this reply. Enjoy your new cousin.

Kath

[wendy beasley]

Hi Philip,
I read your comment about perhaps the Cordner's  move around a lot to avoid the consequences of criminal activities, at least that seem to be implied.
Let me reassure you. We have been to Cambridge and many other excellent universities, and have many professionals in our ranks, with out a whiff of dishonesty.  Even my Aunt, the one you mentioned, who wrote under the name of Nora C James, was an incredible person, and while have many books of hers (but not yet the banned one) I have been told by those that did read it that it was FAR from obscene she merely made the mistake of being ahead of her time, and let it be known in the book that her heroine had had pre marital sex with her partner.
Did you know that she was very active politically? That she stood up for women's rights?  That she flew planes in the war to deliver them to the aerodromes?  Her fiance died in the first World War, and she never found someone else. 
She wrote fiction and nonfiction, animal stories and cook books, romances and social commentaries.  Quite a lady.
As for some of the others ( I wish you were going to Ireland for the October meeting) there were some pretty fine people among  them, doing incredible things.  The Cordner/James combination has produced mostly very bright, very creative and adventurous people.  Of course, like fast cars, if they do come off the road it can be pretty messy!  However they are few and far between.
If you do want to know more, and they are worth it, we could do some sharing, as I am pretty sure you are from Joan's line, and both my uncle Philip, and my father were very fond of their little sister.  did you ever meet Joan Marie, from Malaysia?  A Saint, with a great sense of humor, and great courage.  Did you know the stories about what Wild Bill Hitchcock's show lead to?  The spy?  The merchant service Captain, the rancher, the writer, lawyer, the astrophysicist, the archaeologist, the head of design and technology serving several major Canadian banks... you see what I mean.  We may be travelers, and some are hard up at times, but they are honest.
Give us a chance.  We would love to hear from you!
Wendy

[KathMc]

Wendy,

I just checked Philip's profile and he hasn't been on in a while. I would try sending him a personal message if I were  you. Maybe he just hasn't gotten any notification of the reply you made. And if he doesn't want your family, I'll take them.  ;DThey sound fascinating.

Kath

[J.J.]

Wendy,

I just checked Philip's profile and he hasn't been on in a while. I would try sending him a personal message if I were  you. Maybe he just hasn't gotten any notification of the reply you made. And if he doesn't want your family, I'll take them.  ;DThey sound fascinating.

Kath

ditto...what a terrific found rellie  ( Ditto Kath's welcome as well...!)

[wendy beasley]

Thank you! 
It seems that the only person not to have read it is Philip.
What I have found so helpful on Roots, is people like you, Kath, SW and Cosmo to mention a few, who jump in with help when all seems at an end in ones search. 
I am so new at this, so let me say to all of you from all of us newbies THANK YOU!
Wendy

[KathMc]

Wendy,

That is the great thing about Rootschat. I've posted requests for something and literally within minutes had great people jumping in with a response.

[philipsearching]

Hallo, all

I've been kept very busy at work this year and have had to time to do any research.

Wendy - I certainly didn't mean to imply that the Cordners were generally a bad lot, - just that two of them had troubles with the law.  If there is a black sheep in the family it would have been in my direct line, or so the family legends would have it.  I have read Nora's banned book and I would not consider it obscene by today's standards - it offended the morality of the time.

Cosmo, - many thanks for the info on Nehemia and Elizabeth, - I didn't know about them.

My great grandparents were Marie Massereene Cordner and John Henry James, a mining engineer originally from Redruth, Cornwall.  Marie died in either 1933 or 1940 in Hendon. I am aware of five children: John D, Philip, Norah Ruth, Frank C and Joan Margot.

Joan Margot James (1905-1970) had two children, one I think is alive, the other (illegitimate?) was my late father Jeremy Robin Raymond William Richardson (1929-1973).  As my parents separated when I was 4 and I only saw my father about 6 or 7 times after that, I know very little about the family apart from paper records.

My mother claims that my father told her that John Henry, who was quite wealthy, became fed up with his wife's alcoholism, left her to move in with his mistress and left the mistress all his money and property in his will.  It might be true, but I believe that my father did have quite an imagination!

I love to hear family stories which make the names on the certificates come to life again.  I am sad that I know so little about my father's family.

I'll try to make time to get back to regular Rootschatting once the workload eases off.

All the best
Philip

[wendy beasley]

Great to read your response Philip.
For most of August I can only get spasmodic emails in or out, as I am in the back of beyond. 
Marie had the children you mention, and Michael William P Cordner b 1903, he died in B.C. in the late eighties.  He and his wife,'Peggy' were both recovering alcoholics, I am told, and were unable to have children.  They adopted a boy and a girl, I have never met them.  There is a Tim Cordner on Vancouver Island who knew , or knew of , him.  Tim is Frank Cordner,s grandson, a fine young man and a father of two pretty grown up kids.  So if you want more information about Mike, as I will soon myself I could give you Tim's contact number.  Mike was rather good on the piano, and that is an understatement.
Philip and Frank both told me that their family held together pretty well until Denise died.  He was adored by the whole family, and the parents were just so different that they could not seem to be there for each other.  That's when Marie began to drink, and John began to look for sympathy/comfort else where.
His getting a mistress, and having children by her I'm told, made it worse for Marie, and she began to do strange things to alienate the children from their father, with considerable success.
There is a lot more to tell about all that, but I would love to hear what happened to Joan, and her children and grandchildren.
Are you coming to Ireland in October?  I could stay on a day if it would give you time to catch up on things you want to know.
I dare not risk longer on this internet, as I will end up having to type it all again!
all the best
Wendy