Seeking Family of Mary Ann Fisher, born Oct. 1895, Basford

[millymcb]

Hi All - I have been following this thread with great interest. Now we are on a new thread I thought it might be useful to bring Ruskie's timeline along too.

Milly


It has been suggested that I repost the timeline for anyone who would like to catch up. This is the information that rootschatters have gathered so far - and relationships are unproven. Carol is awaiting certificates and information from Nottinghamshire Archives regarding Workhouse records.
The transcription of the newspaper article which gives a good outline of the case is on page 9/10.


c 1874 - Harriett Fisher born Ilkeston Derbyshire, father George

c 1876 - James Hall born

1881 census - 3325/100/3  Harriet born abt 1874 - parents George and Harriet

1891 census - 2665/ 25/ 43  George and daughter Harriet (surname transcribed as) Fislin 17 yrs (b abt 1874)

1895 - Oct-Dec Mary Ann Fisher birth Basford

1896 - 29th January - Mary Ann Fisher baptised Ilkeston. Mother is Harriet Fisher

1896 - 7th March - Marriage in Ilkeston of James Hall (age 20 years, father William) married Harriet Fisher (age 22 yrs, father George) [GRO ref Basford 7b 205 Mar.Qtr 1896]

1897 - 13/14 November Loughborough Fair - James Hall committed cruelty to child.
Hall says he was with his wife from his marriage until the fair.
She went off with another man at the fair.
She and another youngster went away.

1897 - About December - Hall's wife was looking for him and said they had purchased the child at Derby. It did not belong to him. Hall disputed this. Hall said child was 2 years old October last. He said he married the mother at Ilkeston Old Church when the child was a few months old. He was
then working at Stanton Ironworks Company

1898 - 12th January - the case against James Hall was heard at Loughboro' Petty Sessions and he was sentenced to ten week's hard labour. Custody of Mary Ann given to NSPCC.

1898 - Saturday January 15th - Newspaper article of trial published in Leicester Chronicle and the Leicestershire Mercury (Leicester, England), Saturday, January 15, 1898;
pg. 2; Issue 4536. Also a smaller article published in the Nottinghamshire Guardian on same date

1898 - 1st March - Mary Ann entered Barnardos in Stepney Causeway - Age 2 1/2 years)

1901 census - Harriet Fisher, single born abt 1873 living in Nottingham with daughter Alice 2 yrs. She is in the Basford workhouse.3191 /118 /6 (mistranscribed as Harritt Fisher)

1901 census - Mary Ann (with new surname Williams), a 5 year old nurse child, Dr Barnardos Home, is with the Owen family - 759/ 96/23 living in Kent

1904 - December - Mary Ann returned to Barnados because Mrs Owens was too ill to care for her.She had been fostered by the Owens family for 6 years. 

1905 - 25th May - Mary Ann sailed to Canada

1909 - Jan 14 - Mary Ann receives a letter from Norman Williams, who believes he could be her brother and asking her to write fully all she remembers of her relatives.
Jan 22:  Mary Ann said she remembers nothing of any relatives and was placed in home when very young.

1911 census - Harriett Fisher is an inmate in Bagthorpe Workhouse, with 13 year old Alice Fisher and 6 year old John Fisher. Harriet is a charwoman b Ilkeston.

1919 - Deaths Mar quarter
Fisher    Harriett   age  45    Nottingham    vol 7b   page 444
(not confirmed)

[Tiki1962]

Tis a fascinating and harrowing story but it is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. I wish you success in your search Carol. Thank you to all those generous Rootschatters!

[loobylooayr]

I am intrigued by the note on the timeline which I've copied below-

1909 - Jan 14 - Mary Ann receives a letter from Norman Williams, who believes he could be her brother and asking her to write fully all she remembers of her relatives.
Jan 22:  Mary Ann said she remembers nothing of any relatives and was placed in home when very young.

How did Norman Williams know of Mary Ann more than 10 years after the event and how was he able to contact her in Canada (I'm assuming he is in England )?

Would Barnardo's have given him her Canadian address so he could write to her - and why would they do that if they knew Williams to be a name they had given her?

Sorry to pose a possibly irrelevant question - but it's puzzling me

[giblet]

Not sure if this will help any

Claimed by Descendants
WILLIAMS    Mary    Ann    birth 18/09/1895    Eng    ship Dominion    1905    aged 9

Unclaimed by Descendants
WILLIAMS    Norman  A    birth 1898    Eng    ship Kensington    1905    age 7

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~britishhomechildren/

This is the only birth i can find that fits for Norman
Births Dec 1898   (>99%)
Williams    Norman Alfred         Brentford    3a   97

[CarolRR]

loobylooayr - Barnardo's were sending shiploads of children across the Atlantic and if they were in Barnardo's care, it wasn't uncommon for them to get separated as they seemed to send groups, by gender.  My grandmother left England with something like 144 other Barnardo's girls.  The information that I provided regarding Norman Williams was a journal entry in the Barnardo's file.  It appears as though Norman contacted Barnardo's who then forwarded the letter to my grandmother's 'placement' home, and my grandmother must have replied back through Barnardo's for them to be aware of the content of the letters.  I don't find it strange, as by then, many years had passed since my grandmother had entered Barnardo's and it's unlikely that an administrative person sorting these communications would look back into the files to see where her surname came from.  As I flip through the records in front of me, nowhere does it indicate who or why "Williams" was chosen as her surname.

[loobylooayr]

Sorry , I must have missed something earilier.
Whilst I'm aware that lots of children were shipped to Canada and Australia at that time, I did not realise Norman Williams was also a Barnardo's boy in Canada. I thought he was someone in England trying to find a missing sister from his family. I was just puzzled how a boy in England found out about your grandma in Canada.
And I should have realised that perhaps paperwork back then would not be as thorough as today.
Too late at night for me I think.
Apologies once again,
And good luck with your research,
Looby

[CarolRR]

HI Giblet, I don't ever recall seeing the date of 18/09/1895 as my grandmother's birthdate - that must be a typing error.  Barnardo's chose 1/8/1895 as her birthdate -  it doesn't really matter but I don't think that it should be part of the record.  Also, I don't think that the Norman Williams issue is really worth spending time on - I honestly don't see any connection to him whatsoever.  Barnardo's refer to my grandmother as Mary A. Williams in all of their reports and correspondence and this boy had a sister named Mary Williams who he was looking for.  Just a coincidence ...  I'm sure of it.

[CarolRR]

Looby, no need to apologize.  Thank you for being concerned enough to ask about it. 

[loobylooayr]

Thanks Carol