Author Topic: Johana Whitson  (Read 3313 times)

Offline AsH62

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Johana Whitson
« on: Saturday 24 February 18 00:46 GMT (UK) »
Hi. A bit embarrassing but I have been loking for a man instead of a woman! Johana Whitson was born in 1888 in Penicuik. I originally had the name without the final ‘a’ and was looking for a boy. The family fascinates me because Johana and her sister were both illegitimate, born seventeen years apart (Barbara born in 1905) and despite the fact that their grandfather was a local police inspector, their mother Janet Duff Whitson lived in the same house with her parents and children and the police inspector was even a witness on one of the birth certificates. Janet’s death certificate shows that she never married and that on her death in 1953 in Newington it was Barbara who was the witness. Barbara stayed single and died in 1986 but I have absolutely no idea what happened to Johana. I have just returned from an annual trip to the Edinburgh archives and found that I was always going to fail because I was looking for a man! Has anyone come across Johana please, it must have been odd in those days for a ‘respectable’ family to have a daughter with two illegitimate children living in the house with them.

Offline Gadget

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 24 February 18 08:35 GMT (UK) »
Hi

My 2 x grt grandmother had a sister named Johan(n)a (b. Kirkcudbrightshire)  but was down on censuses as Jo/Joan and female. It took me ages to find her baptism and follower her through marriage and death. 

What is your last 'sighting'  of Johana/Johanna?

Gadget

Added - I have her up to the 1901 census
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Offline *Sandra*

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 24 February 18 08:40 GMT (UK) »
Could this be the family you refer to  ???

1901 10 Windmill St Edinburgh Buccleuch Midlothian

John Whitson   62 Clerk of City Market.
Barbara Whitson   64
Janet Duff Whitson   31 Envelope Marker.
Thomas Duff Whitson   29 Spirit Merchant Assistant
Johann Whitson   12 Granddaughter born Penicuik, Edinburgh

Johan Whitson - F - 1888 - 697/ 143 - Penicuik


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Offline Gadget

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 24 February 18 08:41 GMT (UK) »
Yes - that's the family I've found.

Don't see a death though.
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Offline AsH62

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 24 February 18 08:56 GMT (UK) »
Good morning Sandra and gadget
Thanks for the reply.
Yes that is the right family I last saw her in the 1901 census that you have found where her grandfather had left the police and was a city clerk. After that I haven’t found anything, marriage, travel, death ...
I am kicking myself for not realising until I got back from Scotland, I wasted ages trying to find Johan/John/Jo ...
In the 1901 census it gives her father as Thoma Duff Whitson but he was her uncle.
It’s an unusual name and an unusual situation so I really want to unravel it.
Alison x

Offline Gadget

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 24 February 18 08:57 GMT (UK) »
Did you find the rest of the family on 1911?
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Offline *Sandra*

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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 24 February 18 09:17 GMT (UK) »
John Whitson (widowed)and Thomas D are together in 1911 - 15 Gardners Cres.
Barbara Whitson passed away 1908

Barbara Whitson  - 72 years -  1908 - 685/4 643 - St Giles

Sandra
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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 24 February 18 09:22 GMT (UK) »
Any sign of Barbara, jnr?  I think I found Janet.

I'm wondering if Johana reverted to her putative fathre's surname. It was fairly common in Scotland.
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Re: Johana Whitson
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 24 February 18 10:05 GMT (UK) »
Have you looked for her as Joan/Joanna/Joanne?

Quote
the police inspector was even a witness on one of the birth certificates
Unless the person registering the birth was unable to write and signed the certificate with an 'x', witnesses do not feature on Scottish birth certificates. Do you mean that the birth was registered by the baby's grandfather?

Quote
In the 1901 census it gives her father as Thoma Duff Whitson but he was her uncle.
No. The census says that she was the granddaughter of the head of the household, John Whitson. It says nothing about her relationship to Barbara, Janet or Thomas.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.