Joseph Reuben Deakin

[bellowsbrick49]

 Thanks to Tony and Rootchat for all the help on this . I am certainly glad I asked about Joseph Reuben Deakin here . It seems that in the hands of solid investigators , DNA can get answers where none were available before .

[bellowsbrick49]

The breakthrough on this brickwall has shown Joseph Reuben (Taylor) Deakin to a part of the Taylor Bristol based category. Bristol seemed to have given Joseph Reuben opportunities , which he took in his early working career  , to travel round the world and try different things . I think otherBristol based Taylors probably did similar things . The skills he gained probably influenced the roles he could perform later . For instance my father mentioned he was thought to have been a language student at Cork in Ireland - this could have hleped with his role later as a Theatrical Messenger escourting foreign actresses to the Leicester Square Theatre . And there were many other things to do when he travelled round the Bristish Empire . My point is that Bristol and its opportumites probably influenced the things he could do later in life . So Bristol helps to explain the man he was. But can "Bristol" be as helpful with his Dad?

As he is my next Brickwall :- But can the same DNA luck be made to work with his father  Joseph Deakin  born around 1807 in Birmingam who probably died in the Birmingham Workhouse in 1807 . He appears on the 1841 ,1851 and 1861 Census in Bristol . He was a Bellows Worker .

I reckon I have had this brickwall for about 15 years at least . The problems for me here  are:-  1) there are loads of Deakins and Deakin families in Birmingham 2) Many of these seem equally possible like John Onions Deakin 1836 ,St Martins ,Birmingham -but which is the Dad of this Dad?) 3) As this is my one remaining big brickwall ( and one that is  difficult to crack) I do not have any current family tree platform memberships - I just use Ancestry Credits "as and when" required 4) My DNA is with "MyHeritage" so it cannot be used on Ancestry for DNA tracing. Any ideas on how to progess this would be welcome . Thanks

[bellowsbrick49]

Nothing new to report  ,but the Death Certificate for Augusta Sophia Deakin (death 1858) arrived this morning . The occupation is given as "Wife of Joseph Deakin Bellowsmaker" - and  that is as clear as it can be that she was indeed the wife of Joseph Deakin the Bellows Maker . This death certificate is  also interesting in other ways :- the Cause of Death  was shown as "Cancer of Breast operated on 14 months since Certified". So this shows how Medical Care like this Cancer Operation was available to ordinary people and, even more remarably, it shows that she survived for 14 months after the operation . Of course , it is not known if she would have died earlier if they had not operated. I would say that this is a good example for showing that   advances in medical care  were available and were also being applied to the general population . I am somewhat surprised she lived as long as she did after the operation . I think that this that by the time surgery had progressed away from the era when surgeons were often little more than "cut and saw" butchers as regards their skill levels.