' Evening John ,
Weidners , from memory .
John Frederik Weidner travelled from Slodheim ( ? Schlodheim , google it ) in Thuringia to England in the 1790's , as a young man from a family well established in Slodheim . He apparently settled in Liverpool , because sometime later , in I fancy , the 1820's , he apprenticed his son to a tea and coffee merchant in that city . It was only a two year apprenticeship , which leads me to believe that the boy may have been quite old , and therefore educated , and presumably reasonably well to do and needing commercial experience .
My great Grandfather John Frederick Weidner was born in the 1850's in Newcastle , the son of J .F.Weidner , a clerk ( which could mean what we should call an office manager ) His mother was Mary Ann Gallon . Another Gallon , possibly a brother , owned land at Ponteland and Elsdon , and was rich enough to run his own pack of otterhounds . He drowned while hunting the otter in Dumfriesshire , and there is a memorial to him in Elsdon Church or churchyard . Your Harriett would seem to fit into the scheme somewhere , because you know of a Liverpool connection .
I know nothing of any siblings of my great grandfather ( who was Lord Mayor of Newcastle in 1912 or '13 ) except for a mention that he had a brother , who worked for the railway , which was most likely the NER , which had a near monopoly in the the North East . Harriet must fit in easily , but I am unsure
about the number of generations between JFW I and Alderman Weidner .
Alderman Weidner married Isabella Carverhill , and they had 10 children . I shall stop there because I am coming into living memory and it is not for me to post our family all over a public forum . I shall dig out the ' file ' and find any more details which I may have . I suggest that you Email me , if this is possible through this forum .
Wallis and Steevens of Basingstoke were ironfounders and general engineers , and both families were Quakers . Steevens was only a sleeping partner . Wallisses prospered for over a century , and finally closed their doors in the 1970's They specialised in traction engine building and as dealers and agents for agricultural machinery . Latterly they specialised in road rollers , both steam and diesel . I have a history of the firm , and this has a genealogy of the family . You are sure to find out more about the firm from a websearch .
It is coming up to my cocoa time , and I shall leave it there for now . I look forward to hearing from you
8889