Hello everyone - I am an unworthy newby
but am grateful for having found this site. I've been working on three separate families for nearly 15 years but as I don't want to take up a lot of time, I am hoping someone out there can point me toward one family in particular. I am looking for definitive information for one Charles Slingsby Wainman, b 1860-1862, son of William Wainman of Carr Head, Yorkshire and Mary Augusta O'Hanlon/Hanlan Wainman. I have his date of birth, date and place of death/burial (which is in my hometown here in the US) - but despite following years worth of hints and loose ends, I can find nothing regarding this "Mary Augusta O'Hanlon/Hanlan" Wainman. William Wainman, the father (and an extremely wealthy landowner in Yorkshire) died in 1872 at his estate at Over-Silton (one of at least three estates he owned) when Charles was about 12. That same year, a case was opened - it is held at the Kew Archives - I'm in the States and have no way to access the information but here is the case number and header:
C 16/833/W60
Short title: “In the Matter of Charles Slingsby Wainman an Infant by
Mary Augusta Wainman His Mother and Next Friend
Cause number: 1872 W60.
Documents: General summons.
Plaintiffs: Revd Thomas Atkinson and another.
Was there a question of paternity? Was he left out of the will? Why? What was the outcome of the above case?
Some 12 years later, Captain Charles Slingsby Wainman had married The Honorable Dorothea Leslie, granddaughter of Sir Charles Stephen Leslie, 26th Baron of Balquhain - despite his best efforts to make a 'go' of a life and business in what was then 'frontier' North Carolina, within six years he was dead, barely into his thirties, leaving behind a wife and two little ones.
Captain Wainman came here with - supposedly - a very large fund of money and died with less than 20 pounds sterling to his name. He was not a spendthrift, worked exceedingly hard, was extremely well-thought of here and greatly mourned when he died. Sad to say, he and one of the other companions who came to NC with him were duped out of their life's savings (andstupendous amounts of money -hundreds of thousands of pounds ) by a retired English Captain - a con man, who after he passed, was sued (the estate) for over 15 years by parties from Australia to Washington DC.
I'm still left with a half dozen mysteries - and one pressing on me currently, is Charles Slingsby Wainman's mother Mary Augusta O'Hanlon Wainman - where was she from, who were her parents? I feel she certainly must have been from some family of 'note' - nearly everyone in the Wainman lineage from around 1800 to 1880 was connected to the Peerage, M.P.'s and most were exceedingly well off. Mary Augusta seems to have materialised out of thin air. She died in 1888.
All the records I can find state Charles Slingsby Wainman was born in England but his death certificate states Wales. I'm working on a history of his family and the two friends who accompanied him here - I want to be able to do justice to the memory of his wife and children - and of course, to him as well. I'll save the other two names for a later date.
It goes without saying that if anyone is looking for links to the Wainmans of Skipton/Yorkshire/Carr Head/Over Silton - do not hesitate to contact me - I'm happy to share.
I hope all reading this are safe and well - what a horrid time this is. I've taken to praying twice a day at specific times for everyone, everywhere. In the States - things are not well; it beats any Science Fiction reading I've done in my nearly 60's years. I have good moments.( finding this site was a treasure) and I have days where I have literally sat in a closet and cried. As for leadership here - well, I can't begin without launching into either profanity
or hysterical laughter (sometimes both) several times a day. Our leader is a bloviating toad - and I'm being kind. At other times, I quote William Hurt ..."I feel so much better now that I've given up hope."
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Again - hoping this reaches someone who needs info - and a kind word - love to all, especially the UK - the land I wish I had been born in.
