St Michael's Garston

[mway1]

That is so interesting to me. Funny you should mention copper, one of the ships Hein sailed on was owned by the Rio Tinto Company, which reopened Phoenician copper mines in Spain.

[garstonite]

its been raining here - hopefully look for the grave today or tomorrow 

[mway1]

Evening Garstonite,

Don't worry if the weather prevents you from taking a trip for a while. I am happy to wait. Plenty of other research to be done. I can find evidence of a H Wilkens who died at sea in 1896, but several of the other details don't line up, such as age and last place of abode. Though crew agreements often got his age wrong which could be a language barrier issue? I may order a copy of the crew agreement for that voyage to see if the signature matches after my next pay day.

Best,

Michael

[mway1]

Morning Garstonite,

Just noticed there was a "Harry Wilkins" buried at St Michael's on 23rd October 1899. Would be a longshot to go from Hein -> Henry -> Harry and Wilkens -> Wilkins. But not impossible.

Only death at sea I can see is a H Wilkens from Germany in 1896 - but it claims his age was 36 and his abode in Baltimore - so I doubt it is him.

Best,

Michael

[AlanBoyd]

I can't quite see how this all fits together, and perhaps you already know all of this anyway, but...

1911 census
135 New Park Road, Salford
Robert Hein Wilkens age 27, single, clerk in flour mill, born Garston
lodger, brother-in-law

1911  same address
William Thomas Johnson 35, ships boatman, Whitehaven
Annie Elizabeth Johnson 30, Garston
May Winifred Johnson 8, Salford

So presumably AEJ is RHW's sister.

1901 census, same address
Henry Wilkens 25, master boatman Liverpool
Annie E Wilkens 20, sister, Garston
Robert H 17 brother, Garston
Eva Jane 15 sister, Garston
WTJ 25  boarder, boatman, Carlisle

Eva Jane has already been mentioned – presumably these four are all children of Hein Wilkens?

[mway1]

Alan,

That's quite right.

Mary Elizabeth Taylor married Elijah Crowther and had at least 3 children. Elijah passed away, and she remarried Hein Wilkens (my great great grandfather). I am particularly interested in researching him at the moment, and have been tracking him through several crew agreements.

With Mary Elizabeth, he had four children:

David Henry Wilkens
Annie Elizabeth Wilkens
Robert Hein Wilkens
and
Eva Jane Wilkens (my great grandmother and future wife of Frederick William Way of the Manchester Ship Canal).

On some censuses Hein is Henry and Wilkens is Wilkins.

By the time of Eva Jane's marriage Hein is listed as deceased. The last crew agreement I can find him on is in 1893 - stepping off at Swansea though it looks as though he was meant to step back on the ship before it was sold.

So he passed away sometime between 1893 and 1907.

No records of his death in the UK. There is that record of a suicide on the Ohio of Sunderland in 1896 - but the age of the sailor seems wrong, so I will need to order a copy of the crew agreement to compare the handwriting.

There is also that record of the burial of a Harry Wilkens in St Michael's.

That is why I am so interested in Mary Elizabeth's grave - to see if it makes any mention to Hein, and specifically whether or not he was considered dead by her death in 1901.

[AlanBoyd]

Thanks, it all makes sense now.

[mway1]

its been raining here - hopefully look for the grave today or tomorrow 

Morning garstonite,

I was wondering if you ever had an opportunity to look at this?

[garstonite]

So sorry - but you will have to wait a little longer - unfortunately I have gone blind in my right eye and am having treatment 3 times a week at St Pauls Eye Hospital in Liverpool - I am 73 and they say between 8-10 weeks should solve the problem - so please bare with me