George Robert Woodhouse (1906-1991)

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I have once again updated The Williams Family Tree and it now has 93,405 individuals, 27,302 families and 8,880 sources. At least that is what my Legacy database informs me! According to the website, there are a mere 93,361 individuals so I must go on a hunt for the missing 44.

I have included a fair amount of information about the family of George Robert Woodhouse (1906-1991). I was sent an email concerning the marriage of George’s sister, Gladys, to William Edgar Capon as they had a son, Richard William Capon, who died intestate earlier this year. However, it transpires that George’s sister, Gladys May Woodhouse (1908-1999) married Harry F. Loveday (1907-1974) and not Mr. Capon. Harry and Gladys appear not to have had any children. So that put the mockers on as far as heir-hunting is concerned.

George Robert Woodhouse (1906-1991), courtesy of Ian Lamb (Lamb-Andrews Family Tree on Ancestry)

George Robert Woodhouse (1906-1991), courtesy of Ian Lamb (Lamb-Andrews Family Tree on Ancestry)

There are conflicting reports as to the ancestry of George Robert Woodhouse so if any of his descendants read this and can update me with any information I would be most grateful.

Cousin John Oliver Thomas has sent me lots more information that has at long last been added to the database. Thanks John, I’m sorry it sometimes takes a while but your info does get in eventually. Please keep it coming.

Now that I have a new job I can’t do as much research and updating as I used to so things will slow down for a while. But don’t let that put you off sending me new stuff …. 🙂

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Dawson and Dadd

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DAWSON

Amongst the information sent to me recently was The Dawson Family Tree from my cousin Jenny – recently married into the Leith and Dawson families. Her husband, Ian Leith White, is descended from the left-hand section of the tree via James Dawson and Ann Roy. Ian’s great, great, grandfather was James Leith who married Ann Dawson.

Dawson Family Tree

The Dawson Family Tree

There is a slight error on the right-hand line of descendants as Sir John William Dawson was the son of James Dawson and Mary Rankine and not, as it would appear from the above, Alexander. James was the son of John Dawson and Isabel Mitchell. However, the interest lies with Sir John William Dawson (1820-1899).

Portrait of Sir John William Dawson (from wikipedia)

Portrait of Sir John William Dawson (from wikipedia)

From his biography; “Sir John William Dawson was a geologist, palaeontologist, author, educator, office holder, publisher, and editor; b. 13 Oct. 1820 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, son of James Dawson and Mary Rankine; d. 19 Nov. 1899 in Montreal.”

His son, George Mercer Dawson, researched the family history and drew up his own family tree in 1881. Ufortunately, it does not contain any dates. However, the tree is very interesting to study.

Genealogical Tree of the Dawson and Mercer Families

Genealogical Tree of the Dawson and Mercer Families (https://sirjohnwilliamdawson.wordpress.com/)

All this information, and more, has been added to The Williams Family Tree.

 

DADD

Investigation continues into the Dadd families of Kent. My daughter, Christina, married Rickie Dadd and we have traced his family back to his 4x great grandfather, Edward DADD (1792-1876). There is a lot of confusion on some of the family trees on Ancestry about this family but Edward had 8 children by two wives. He first married Philadelphia Guest in 1817 and they had one daughter, Mary. Philadelphia died in 1821. Edward then married Mary Ann Barton (nee Jutson). Mary previously married Richard Barton in 1817 but he died in 1818.

Another, more documented family is that of Thomas Dadd (1798-1834). He married Elizabeth Newing in 1822 and they had 6 children. The interesting thing about these two families is the names of the children.

Two DADD families from Kent

Two DADD families from Kent

When you view the family information side-by-side you can see that Edward’s 3rd, 4th, and 5th children were named Thomas, Mary Ann, and Emma. As were Thomas’ first three children. Also, Thomas Dadd (left) born 1827 and Emma Dadd (right) born 1827 were both baptised on the same day; 8 Jul 1827, Whitstable, Kent.

I have no doubt that Edward and Thomas were related and most probably brothers but, so far, I have not been able to find any confirmation – or otherwise. If anyone has any information about these two families please get in touch.

Phil
phil@w-f-t.co.uk

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Family Tree of Leith and Leith-Hay of Leith Hall

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My cousin Jennifer married Ian on 4th July and we were there to enjoy the celebration. A fantastic day in superb surroundings. Congratulations to you both.

Ian’s middle name is Leith and it turns out he is descended from the Leiths of Leith Hall. The hall is now owned by the National Trust and you can view more information about it on their website.

Jenny and Ian kindly sent me a document entitled Family Tree of Leith and Leith-Hay of Leith Hall and I set to work to incorporate it into The Williams Family Tree database. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for!

With the aid of The Peerage, Electric Scotland, Patrick’s People, and a few other websites I have taken Ian’s ancestry back a further 10 generations! Apparently, it all started with the De Leyth Clan arriving in Scotland from France in the fourteenth century. They settled around the Midlothian and changed their name, taking it from the port of Leith of Edinburgh.

Leith Hall

Leith Hall

It seems that a William Leith, who died in 1371, married Jane, the daughter of Donald, 12th Earl of Mar. Then came Laurence Leith of Barnis (1380-1437), Provost of Aberdeen (1401, 1403, and 1411). Some 9 generations later we arrive at John Leith of Barnes (1570) who married Marjorie Forbes, daughter of Arthur and Margaret Forbes and the start of the Leiths of Leith Hall. John and Marjorie had two sons, Alexander ‘HardHead’ Leith (ancestor of Leiths of Bucharne Blair which I have yet to research) and James Leith of Barnes and Leith Hall – also known as James Leith of New Leslie (just to confuse things further!).

Suffice to say that my research is still underway and I am actually updating the database as I write this blog. Amongst others, the Leith family has links to James II King of Scotland, James IV King of Scotland, and Bamber Gascoigne.

King James IV of Scotland

King James IV of Scotland

Arthur Bamber Gascoigne

Arthur Bamber Gascoigne

My work continues and no doubt there will be a lot more of the Leith family added to The Williams Family Tree in the fullness of time.

Phil.

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Another 400!

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Well, over 400 actually. That’s the number of individuals added to The Williams Family Tree since my last post. With the kind help from Mandy Parker-Morrissey and Jean Morrissey (nee Harris) I have managed to add numerous members of the Harris family and their cousins including over 50 Strangwards!

Albert Edward Harris and Doris May Harris (nee Strangward)

Albert Edward Harris and Doris May Harris (nee Strangward) Photo courtesy of Leslie Gilbert (Les Gilberts Family Tree.FBK)

The crucial factor as far as the Harris family was concerned was confirmation from Mandy and Jean that Albert Edward Harris’s parents were Ernest Harris and Mary Ann Jones. The marriage certificate gave the names of the resepective parents; James Harris and William Jones.

Marriage Certificate for Ernest Harris and Mary Ann Jones (26717)

Marriage Certificate for Ernest Harris and Mary Ann Jones (26717)

The next step was a little confusing at first as it turns out that James Harris married twice, and so did his second wife – or did she? James was born 11th Sep 1828 and was baptised on 31st May 1841. He first married Elizabeth Smith on 25th Nov 1850 and they had two children; Henry and Edwin. James then married Emma (Hawtin) in 1873. Emma already had a child, Nelly Hawtin (born 1872), supposedly by a John Hawtin. However, I have yet to find any proof that John Hawtin existed. Anyway, James and Emma Harris had a further five children; Florence, Ernest, Walter, Selina, and Laura Clara.

There is more work to be done on the Harris family as I got side-tracked by more information from Mandy and Jean about Jean’s sister, Brenda Margaret Harris and her family. Brenda married Brian William Halsey and his father was William Henry Halsey, as was his father and his father before him. This takes us back to William Halsey (born 1811) who married Louisa Simonds (born 1810) on 30 Apr 1833 in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire. They had nine children. William Henry Halsey (1) married Mary Ann Sibley and they had six children. William Henry Halsey (2) married Lily Mortimore and they had two children. William Henry Halsey (3) married Christobel Dora Langley – research continues.

Other family names added include Bumford, Swallow, Grundy, Kitchen and Smith. There are also a lot of cousins that need to be tied in to the various families and further research into Morrissey, Wyatt, Houghton, Kavanagh, Murray, Hickin, Welch, Parker and Baxter is on the cards.

Many thanks to Mandy and Jean and everyone else who has contributed lately. Please keep the information coming and if you have any information on the above families please get in touch.

In the meantime, enjoy the good weather while it lasts …

Phil.

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Morrissey, Redshaw and Peake (amongst others)

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Many thanks again for another week full of new information.

Mandy Parker-Morrissey has very kindly sent me information about the Morrissey family. Jean Morrisey is my uncle Nev’s sister. She and Mandy will be sending even more information as and when they can. Thanks to both of you.

Thanks also to Bernadette Norton who sent me an email about the connection to the Redshaw family. She is the granddaughter of Elizabeth Doris Redshaw (1902-2002). The information she gave has led to updates for the Pover and McCoy families as well.

Further to an message from Keith Parr we have together updated the information on George Peake and his two marriages – I only had one previously. More information is required on this branch and hopefully, together, we’ll crack it.

While updating all of the above and more I am also devoting some time to adding all the photographs of individuals that I have not got around to uploading to the website. I didn’t realise quite how many had been missed out. That’s the trouble with putting things off until tomorrow!!

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