Hi Maria
How absolutely wonderful to be in touch with you
I can't tell you how excited I was to receive your message this morning.
I have been researching my grandmother Hannah Frances Nixon's family history for the last two years and have uncovered an amazing story so far. I have so much to tell you, but also a lot more to find out, including about your family who I know nothing of so far. It would be best, I think, if we could be in touch through our private emails from here on. You can contact me at *
The bones of the family story are that Francis Nixon and Mary Bradburn married in 30 May 1876 in Castletara (or Castleterra), Co. Cavan Ireland. They had seven surviving children that I am aware of, all born in Co. Cavan, Ireland, and the oldest of these was Abigail Nixon, your great-grandmother. The others were:
Charlotte Anne Nixon, born 19 Dec 1883, emigrated to Glasgow, Scotland, married Robert Goudie and had at least one daughter, Charlotte Goudie. However I haven't managed to track any living descendants yet - still working on that one.
William Henry Nixon, born 17 Feb 1890, eventually emigrated to Gleichen, Alberta, Canada around 1913, joined the Canadian military and fought in WW1, returned to hospital in Canada and died on 8 Feb 1921 as a result of his wartime health issues. He was buried as a war veteran in the Calgary Union Cemetery. Looks like he never married or had any children.
Mary Nixon, born 19 Oct 1891, emigrated to Algoma, Ontario, Canada in 1915, married James Robert Harvey, but died during pregnancy on 29 May 1920. No surviving children that I've been able to find.
Emily Jane Nixon, born 6 July 1893, emigrated to California, USA in 1914, married Stanford Veino, and then ? Hickman. She died in San Mateo California on 4 July 1958. I am still following up a potential lead as to whether Emily had any children.
Sophia Nixon, born 12 Oct 1895, emigrated to Coventry, England and married Edward Trowell. You may be interested to know that Sophia has two granddaughters who still live in the Coventry area. I am in touch with one of them - we connected via the Ancestry.co.uk website in much the same way as you and I have found each other. She will be so excited to know we have found another cousin!
And lastly, of course, my grandmother Hannah Frances Nixon, born 16 Nov 1898. Frances, as she was known, emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1920s. She and my grandfather, David William Woodhead had two sons, one of whom was my father who sadly passed away 2 years ago. Her other son is still alive, as are her four grandchildren (and our children). We all live in NZ.
So you will be able to see that the W.M. Nixon who traveled to England with Abigail would have been her brother William Henry Nixon. This is very interesting to me - another piece in the jigsaw of William's life that I have been piecing together, as I didn't know for sure he had been in England. However it does make sense as on his immigration papers in Canada he says he is from England, not Ireland.
I have found birth/baptism records for all of the above through the Roots Ireland website, except for Abigail. So for some time I thought there were only six children, not seven. However Abigail popped up recently in two places - firstly in an obituary I obtained from a California newspaper for Emily, where her sister Abbey Johnston of England is mentioned, and secondly Mrs Johnson is mentioned (along with her Boscombe address) as sister and next of kin in William's Canadian military file. When I mentioned this to our Coventry cousin, she said she remembered her grandmother Sophia mentioning a sister Abigail, however as there appeared to be no record she thought she must have been mistaken.
Anyway, so much more to share with you, including photographs of three of Abigail's sisters! Also, a rather sad story about the childhoods of five of the Nixon children. Once again, how lovely to be in touch. Let's talk again soon. I so look forward to hearing all about your branch of the family.
Anita
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