Family TAYLOR from Deepfield - COMPLETED

[Geraldo]

Maggie.....

Re your messages of 26.02.2010 (10.15) & 27.02.2010 (17.51).

I have now d/loaded and printed, hi-res, the relevant page from the 1911 census in the hand of my g/grandfather Joseph.  You are right - it's a lovely evocative document, so thanks for the tip.

I subscribed to 'Find my Past' and I have thoroughly searched migration lists.  Unfortunately they take me no further because there are no first names or other useful info on the lists.  In fact, I am surprised with the brevity of the entires - but still it's good to have decent scans of the hand-written registers.

Onwards and upwards...............

[Geraldo]

Whoa....

The passenger list for the "Kinfauns Castle" proved to be more helpful that first thought - but it blew away my hope and theory that (maybe) the whole TAYLOR family had migrated to S/Africa in view of the fact that there were several other TAYLORS listed.

The scans reveal that these TAYLORS were heading for Durban, whereas Emily & John definitely disembarked at Cape Town.

So the lists WERE helpful after all but in a disappointing way.



   

[Geraldo]

Barnardo's (Barkingside Ilford) have agreed to do an equivalent of one of those "no win no fee" searches on Emily's sons, William and Arthur, both of whom were shipped to Canada - meaning they will not levy a charge unless they can identify the sons from the facts as known and my theory.  I have been unable to establish HOW or WHEN they came to be placed in Barnardo's care (which must have been via England) meaning they probably HAD to be returned to the UK in order to get involved with Barnardo's, but the mechanics of this remain a mystery!

Enquiries are also under way (with the Archive Department of the Scottish Government) to trace the work record - and hopefully the d.o.b. - of Jack TAYLOR - (my uncle) who was, I suspect, Emily's ELDEST son, who worked in Edinburgh for some years, after the 1939-1945 war.  

I thought those who are following this thread (Maggie and Wozzle in particular) would like to see a photograph I took, only a few days ago, of Emily's YOUNGEST child - my dear Aunt RUBY - who will celebrate her 90th birthday in a few weeks time. 

As you will see, she bears a REMARKABLE resemblance to the photo of her mother (above) which was taken about 100 years ago!  (The eyes have it!)

Ruby, born 1920, was the youngest of 3 children born to Emily from Emily's marriage to Henry PAICE in 1918.         

[Geraldo]

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Received a copy of Emily TAYLOR's Birth Certificate today.  In actual fact I didn't REALLY need it, but official copies of pertinent documents are,somehow, better than printing scans from the internet.

I'm really "in to" this family research thing: this site has helped and encouraged me enormously.  If I get no further it's been enjoyable, and a HUGE learning curve too......

.........but I ain't finished yet!
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[wozzle]

geraldo that picture of your aunt ruby has shocked me
my mother passed away in oct of last year
and i have to say that picture is the spitting image of my late mother
even down to the cardigan your aunt has on
especially round the eyes
even the glasses look the same
the only difference i can see is that rubys face is not as thin as my mums

[Geraldo]

.

Ten minutes ago I received a telephone call from a researcher at Barnardo's in connection with this matter.  (Barnardo's in London were one of several lines I have been pursuing)

The contents of the 'phone call quite literall blew me away.  I await confirmation of this in writing, but it does seem as though they have metaphorically 'unlocked the box' and been able to answer all of my questions thus solving the mystery which has surrounded this side of my family for many years.

I will, as requested by Wozzle and Maggie, divulge all on the Forum at the appropriate time.   

Wow!
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[wozzle]

look forward to seeing what you have found out
mick

[Maggie1895]

Mick, I'll second that!

Geraldo, From the 'Wow' in your message it looks as if you have been faced with a really unexpected breakthrough.   Sometimes they don't take you in the direction you were expecting and it can take time to take everything in.

Good luck with it

[Geraldo]

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Wozzle - a brief update below, as requested....
Maggie - you are 'spot on';  meaning some totally unexpected developments which has blown me off course for a while.

I must admit I was beginning to run out of steam and wonder whether I was ever going to get any further  (all logical lines of enquiry were arriving a dead end) when an unexpected call was received from Barnardo's during the early morning of 9th March 2010.  They had previously informed me they were prepared to make an initial search on the information I had given - for free - but if able to locate the relatives concerned there would be a charge to recover whatever records were on file.  I thought that was a good deal, and on that basis I asked them to go ahead, being particularly interested in details relating to the three brothers, William, Arthur and Jack. 

The researcher at Barnardo's explained she was going on holiday at the end of the day, but wanted to pass-on the news that she had 'traced' Emily's 3 sons, and could confirm they were taken into Barnardo's on 22nd September 1909. (Some of the info given does not 'add up' as you will see.) 

Conclusion: either Barnardo's records are wrong or some of my research is up the proverbial wall!

Here's what Barnardo's have told me:

William Taylor (who ended up in the USA, was born on 8th December 1901 at Devonport in Devon.  (This does NOT seem likely because there is evidence that Emily & John Taylor left Southampton by ship to South Africa, in October.  So, the most likely scenario (in my opinion) is that William was born that year, yes, but earlier.   This information, if correct, substantiates the recent thinking that when Emily left Highfield Farm she was already pregnant. 

I had always thought Jack was the oldest - not so - it was William.

Barnardo's have Arthur Taylor next who, they say, was born in Bristol on 14th August 1903.  (How could this be? ) I assumed that Emily and John were resident in South Africa between 1901-1909.  What is the truth?  At the moment I do not know the answer.

Jack Taylor was (according to Barnardo's records) born in Liverpool on 30th June 1905.  Again the same conflicts of evidence, but, having now Jack's d.o.b. has enabled me to trace the early part of his naval career.  I found this 'on line' from the National Archives, but unfortunately service records post  1928 have not been released to the NI.  I am not able to prove I am Jack's next of kin and in any case I cannot produce his death certificate (even if I wanted to) so £30 for the privilege of looking at a document I don't need is uneconomic to say the least!

I have been able to confirm that Jack entered the navy on 30th June 1923 - his birthday if these dates are correct - at age 18.   It looks as though he trained at HMS Ganges, went on serve on HMS Calcutta, Victory l,  HMS Columbine and Victory ll.

After a long and protracted conversation with the Barnardo's researcher who informed me I am entitled to Arthur Taylor's papers only, on the grounds that he had no children and there are no other direct descendants.  I am prohibited from accessing William Tayor's papers because he has living relatives in America.

Barnardo's charge is heavy - £100 - but it looks as though I'm going to have to bite the proverbial bullet and cough-up: having got this far I feel I cannot stop on grounds of cost alone.  There is, unfortunately, a 6 month wait for this research to be carried out so patience will need to prevail , but the potential rewards are high.   Material supplied includes full admission history, placement details, a precis of events, all record book entries, location photographs, Canadian Progress notes and even a photographs of the child!

I have now e-mailed the researcher pointing out the anomalies described.  I do not expect a reply until she returns from holiday.