G'day all. Long time thread reader, first time poster. And outing myself here - Limeburner Mitchell is the RootsChat nom de keyboard of the aforementioned 'Grant', upon whose occasionally accurate research some of this thread is based.
Sorry I've not contributed to date. Parental duties.
I am loving these latest developments. I find Moatville's 04 Dec post very amusing indeed.
With an apparently intemperate brother and a pretentious father I can't believe my second great grand aunt would behave in such a way. Really I can't. And the very idea about a baronetcy being founded on the wrong side of the sheets is powerfully outrageous.
With the pot-boiling tendencies of this thread appearing to be dangerously on the bubble again, I might try to bring back some good old-fashioned BMD facts into the mix. There's a few such things that don't relate directly to the Ptolemaic Queen that I thought I'd share.
Firstly, Cleopatra's father John Burgoyne, as you all know or suspect, was absolutely not related to Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne. As Rol has indicated, he spent time as a civilian developing sapper building projects, and appears to have wound up at Woolwich. He was neither a Captain nor a Colonel. He died at Magdala Villa, Belvedere, Kent on 13 June 1873. Particulars of possible interest from his death certificate are:
Cause of death: Disease of the heart P. M.. Age: 54. Occupation: Clerk, Royal Arsenal. Informant: Information received from C J Carltar, Coroner for Kent, inquest held 16 Jun 1873.
So within three days of John Burgoyne senior's passing there was not only a post-mortem, but also an inquest. I wonder what the circumstances of his death were that the coroner required an inquest?
Secondly - I'll preface this by saying I'm pathetic at Irish research. Well, perhaps 'pathetic' is a bit harsh - with a madcap two year old to look after I really don't have time to get started. However, after all this time it's a shame I don't have more about the sketchy Irish period to add. In particular, there's one aspect of the Irish picture to which I'd like the answer. And that is: whatever became of Cleo's mother, Susan Smith Giles? In early 2009, I believed I had found a death for her back in Plymouth in 1854. However, upon my further investigation, that proved to be quite another Susan Burgoyne. (I do apologise if my previously published research findings have led anyone to accept that Cleo's mum was out of the picture due to passing on in Devon in the mid 1850s!) So quite why Susan Smith Burgoyne was out of the picture, and where she exited it, I don't now know.
Thirdly, re Hannah Burgoyne - given the timing I initially wondered if she may well be one of the late William Burgoyne the younger's daughters with his wife Grace. However, the Chelsea baptism and 1841 Census entry have scotched that thought.
Just on William the younger - pending the possible discovery of other children baptised outside Plymouth St Charles - I have him as William and Dorothy's eldest child. William junior was a builder/property developer and - surprise - a Clerk of Works in the Royal Engineers. William the younger died in Hong Kong between 1847 and 1851. I have his will, proved in February 1851. He leaves pretty well everything to his dad, gives a nod to his mum and makes sure his wife Grace and ther children are duly cared for out of various property and insurance investments. No brothers/sisters named. Still, it's all pretty textbook stuff. Although ... I could have sworn I read somewhere he was bankrupted just a litle earlier in the 1840s. Perhaps something to chase up when my boy leaves home.
The only children of William and Dorothy I have definitive baptisms for are Sarah Hardy and John. That's covering the period 1814-16. These baptism records appear in the Devon Family History Society's index of Devon baptisms for 1813-1837. William the elder was a carpenter, and along with Dorothy was living in Jubilee Street and Water Lane, Plymouth St Charles during the period. It may be that George was baptised outside Plymouth Charles, or in a parish not covered by the Devon baptisms? Certainly there is other published research out there that indicates William and Dorothy had sons William (1807) and James (1808) before they left Kingsbridge. (James Burgoyne was a witness at John Burgoyne's marriage to Susan Smith Giles.)
Great work everyone.
Yours, in awe of the research on display here,
Limeburner Mitchell, about to hit the 5500 character limit ...