Welcome to this weeks Hunt and it's Chinas turn. She's tried to give you an easy one this time, but.................!!!
Good Luck and Good Hunting.
Barbara
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Hi, all…let’s try something different this time. Like a Hunt with results, perhaps
William Henry Addison, my g-g-grandfather, was born in New Brunswick in 1812. This is fairly early for NB, as it was split off from Nova Scotia in 1785 as a refuge for United Empire Loyalists. These Loyalists were people who had sided with Britain in the recent American War of Independence and were forced out of the American colonies.
No, don’t stop reading!
The 1851 Canadian census records William living in Saint John, NB, with his wife Jane. They had 7 children at this time, the oldest born about 1838. Jane’s place of birth was England, and she immigrated in 1837, according to the census.
I couldn’t find a marriage in New Brunswick, as there was no civil registration there at the time…backward colonials…
Then, RC’s adee7 found a marriage of a William Henry Addison to a Jane Cartmel in 1836 (IGI). In Liverpool! I’d never have thought of looking there.
Well, William was a ship’s block & tackle maker. I found a later newspaper reference to him as a ship’s carpenter.
I also found numerous listings of Saint John ships in Liverpool, loading and unloading cargo. Apparently sea traffic between those two ports was heavy and there were more sailings from Liverpool to Saint John than to any other Canadian port. So, I think it’s entirely possible that William found a bride in Liverpool, married her, and she followed him to NB the following year.
I also found the marriage allegation. William is listed as being “of this parish” (St Peter’s, Liverpool)…however, he only had to have resided there for 15 days. They were married by license, not by banns, and according to the current Church of England website, this method is still recommended if one partner in the marriage is from a foreign country.
There wasn’t any personal information on the marriage allegation. However, there was one priceless little tidbit on it…William’s actual signature.
Jane Addison died in 1875 at the age of 60. There was a newspaper notice. No death certificate, as NB still didn’t require any civil documentation. How inconsiderate
Two years later in 1877, William married again. There was a marriage bond, of which I have a copy. Again, William’s actual signature is on it. The co-signer of the bond was the father of the bride-to-be, and he signed with a mark.
William is listed in the 1881 Canadian census, living with his new wife Eleanor and their 3 children. Apparently he fathered one more child before he died in 1885. He is still listed as a block & tackle maker.
William’s signatures of 1836 and 1877 are not identical. However, they are similar. 41 years of working with the hands, cold, wet, arthritis and no available anti-inflammatory medication are bound to have an effect on anybody’s signature. I have identified 23 points of similarity between the two signatures…although there is no definitive number it’s about double what seems to be considered indicative of common authorship of two signatures.
So…the puzzle: Are the William Henry Addison of 1836 and the William Henry Addison of 1877 the same person? Is Jane Cartmel of Liverpool my g-g-grandmother? Who are her parents, and where did they come from? Can we trace her family back to the Domesday Book? Just kidding Maybe…
If you’re still reading, I salute you, brave soul
Some ancillary notes:
1. There is a Saint John, New Brunswick and also a St. John’s, Newfoundland. They are not the same, and this is how each of them is written. St. John’s is probably more famous, but it ain’t the right place
2. Wouldn’t it be nice to have 1861 and 1871 Canadian censuses between 1851 and 1881? Dream on. There weren’t any
3. There are no William-and-Jane Addisons in the English census of 1841, 1851 or 1861 in Lancashire. No children born to William and Jane Addison anywhere in England between 1836 and 1841 except somewhere near Whitley Bay (IGI, I think). It’s almost as if William and Jane were…elsewhere… Yes, I know this is a dangerous way to do genealogy, but the argument from silence does have a place.
4. I have been on the phone to the New Brunswick archives people…very friendly and helpful. However, they did confirm that there are no civil records. William did not leave a will.
So…the bottom line: I am fairly convinced that my William Henry Addison married Jane Cartmel of Liverpool. I would like to trace her family. Yes, I could do it myself using the IGI, but I’d like to see what else turns up. Over to you, gang
