Three wishes time travel

[genjen]

My paternal great great grandmother, Jane Raitt, b. 1849 Aberdeen, - "Who was the father of your children?"

My maternal great grandfather, John ( or Matthew) Smith, b.1856 - 1862, Sunderland - " Who were your parents and why do you keep changing your name and date of birth?"

My maternal 3 x great grandmother, Ellen Cunion, b. c.1796 somewhere in Yorkshire, probably "Why is yours the only Cunion baptism which is missing? Was it to make life difficult for me some two hundred years later? Go on then, who were your parents and where were you born? And did you die before 1841 for the same reason - just so that I would never be able to go any further back on this line?"

So my questions are all asked out of frustration really. If I could answer these crucial questions, I just might get round to asking some more interesting ones about their lives!!

Jen

[kooky]

I am missing three 2xgt gr mothers. They were all Irish!

I would like to ask Matilda Fisher nee Jones, father Thomas, who her mother was. Matilda was b. about 1843 in Enniskillen. She died in 1920 and was my maternal gt gr mother.

I would like to ask Henry Kane my paternal gt gr father who his mother was. His father was James and they were from Dundalk. Henry died in Glasgow in 1914.

I would like to ask John Edward Boshell my other paternal gr gr father who his mother was. His father was also John Edward and they both lived in Dublin. He was born about 1840.

Kooky

[Northerngirl]

The questions have all proved very interesting.  I think though that Gengen is nearest the mark to my own questions.  I think I would like to ask my 3 x greatgrandmother Elizabeth (nee Shaw) Murray why her husband didn't wait until after 1855 to die (in Scotland) so that I would know that he was definitely a Murray and know who his parents were.  He very inconveniently died in 1843 and nothing else is known of him other than he was meant to be a blacksmith.  

And for number two I'd ask my 2 x great grandmother Mary Straughan (and any combination of that spelling therafter) why she registered her illegitimate child - my great grandmother - as Jane and not Mary Jane which she was known by thereafter.  

For the minute (I'll know doubt change it) my question for number three would be that I'd ask my Nanna (my Dad's foster mother) who of my Dad's  biological mother's sisters (unknown) in the next village tried to adopt him when he was eight years old but failed.  

NG

[genjen]

The questions have all proved very interesting.  I think though that Gengen is nearest the mark to my own questions.  I think I would like to ask my 3 x greatgrandmother Elizabeth (nee Shaw) Murray why her husband didn't wait until after 1855 to die (in Sotland) so that I would know that he was definitely a Murray and know who his parents were.  He very inconveniently died in 1843 and nothing else is known of him other than he was meant to be a blacksmith.  


NG

Hmmm - can I have some more questions please? Paternal 3 x great grandfather, William Smith, married 1813 in Nairn. Why did you die before even the 1841 census so I can't tell if you were born out of the County?

And

3 x great grandfather, Joseph Milne, born 1815, Lonmay, married 1840, died before 1841 census - "Why did you die so young and where were you buried?"

I know - I am cheating. But three questions/wishes always seemed a bit on the stingy side to me.

[Northerngirl]

Gengen as I'm the boss of this thread I can grant you as many wishes as you like - I'm going to cheat myself and ask some more questions.

NG

[genjen]

Thank you. I shall apply myself to thinking up some more.

[Northerngirl]

Subsection i of Q1

What did your husband actually die from - he was 28 years of age - he did not die of a melancholic accident nor an infectious disease - he was a blacksmith - strong and healthy?

Subsection i a) (see how it works gengen) What does it mean in 1881 that you are an annuitant - was this a blacksmiths widow's pension or an insurance pay out and why so many years after his death?

Subsection ii of Q1

And by the way when you and he were accused by the kirk elders of unclean fornication to which you both repent does that equate to your marriage ceremony - and is it actually you who are responsible genetically for all those very premature births (after the couple are married of course) that occur in my family!!!!!!!?

Subsection iii of Q1
...And by the way did you know that your father William was accused by the kirk elders of begetting a child with Betty Kirk and thereafter abandoning it until accused and your mother Margaret coming forward to plead that she and William Shaw had married at Gretna Green two years earlier to this and she had not revealed it by change of surname from Paterson to Shaw - phew!!!

Subsection i of Q2
Who was the father of your child Jane - if in fact you know as you live at New Inn at the time and it is an inn on the A1 between Berwick and Belford and I wonder did he have any more children particularly girls who I can compare my DNA with?

Subsection ii of Q2
Did your father have a brother called Rinyan - always and on all attempts gloriously misspelled, misheard and guessed at - which would mean that they are the Straughan family of Doddington?

Subsection iii of Q2
Why did your sister, Elizabeth give birth to a child - two months earlier than Jane's birth at the same place, then move off to Buckton where the child dies then move back to Cheswick, New Inn for the birth of Samuel who you register as Starughen in 1866 and then give him his (supposed) father's surname for the 1881 census when you have married another man with an entirely different surname - and by the way is it worth me spending £7 on your sister 's marriage certificate to see if you Mary Straughan (who disappears entirely after 1861 and are driving me mad) are a witness?

Subsection i of Q3
Did the sisters make a formal application for the adoption or just sent a letter or word of mouth?

Subsection ii of Q3
Was it before or after their mother died in the same year?
NG

[MarieC]

Hmmm -

1.  I'd ask my gggrandfather Edward Martin what happened to him after he went insolvent in London in the 1850s and disappeared completely.  (Tissues at the ready because I fear that the answer may be very sad!)

2.  I'd ask his parents, Thomas and Agnes (nee Jenkins) where they came from.  They were inconsiderate enough to be Roman Catholic and to die before the 1851 census, and I seem to have no possibility of tracing them.

3.  I'd ask another gggrandfather, Allan JRB Cameron, which of the two places called "Aughamore House" in Co. Leitrim, Ireland, he lived in!  This is very confusing!

(You can see that I cheated with question 2!)

MarieC

[Nick29]

An interesting exercise is to note down your 3 wishes now, and then check in 12 months time, and see if they're still the same.