Having some fun with word clouds of the family tree today.
But, I think I actually like the heart even better.
Word Clouds
Ross
Good Character or Social Standing
You have to wonder about the difference between two sentences in the 1840s in England. Both started out with drinking (too much) in pubs. One ended with transportation to Australia and 15 years hard labour, the other ended with a fine and a month in jail.
The first story I have told recently in a previous post. In 1844, Elijah Brown had definitely had too much to drink. He and his brother an friend refused to leave the pub. The constable was called and when he threatened them with the cage they they beat the constable severely. The constable was very lucky and did recover. The judge was not lenient and all three men were sentenced to transportation. There was definitely an ugly element here and Elijah was considered to be of bad character and had been in prison before. Elijah was a poor working man who lived in Isleham.
The second story is about the death of William Burman in 1842. William was also from a poor, hard-working family who lived in the rows in Great Yarmouth.
The story starts out the same. William is out with two friends and likely had too much to drink. Though at the trial his friend says he was not drunk, we could probably dispute that. A quarrel ensued over the price of gin and the pub owner and William argued. According to the testimony of his friend, the pub owner threw William down and beat his head on the floor. William never recovered and died from his injuries four days later. The pub owner was charged with manslaughter and allowed bail of £200 plus two sureties of £100. The pub owner stated that it was an accident; and witnesses confirmed that the pub owner did offer to pay for a doctor for Burman. At the trial, as well as the friend, there were two witnesses for the defense who, although they did not see what happened, did hear the argument between William and the pub owner. They both stated that William banged his head on the bar on the way down to the floor. It should be noted that at trial there were also many witnesses for the pub owner’s character, stating that he was a good man. The judge in the trial told the jury to pay more attention to the last two witnesses than the friend of William Burman. The jury came back with a guilty verdict and the judge ordered one month hard labour.
On the same page of the prison registers as the pub owner’s one month of prison for manslaughter is a man who received transportation for 10 years for house stealing; and another who received seven years transportation for two counts of biagmy.
In a quirky twist, Elijah Brown from the first story later became a pub owner in Australia.
So, is the difference in these sentences because of the pub owner’s good character, or maybe influenced by his social standing? Your guess is as good as mine, but the differences remain interesting.
Ancestor Histories William Ross and Mary Gordon
We know that William Ross and Mary Gordon were from Ireland. That is all we know about them. There are leads I will follow when next I am in Ireland and Scotland for William Ross Jr., which will hopefully get me further down the line.
For now, however, I have nothing to say about them. Therefore their pages are very sparse. Hopefully, something will be discovered in the near future.
Ancestor History George Halliday
It easy to jump to incorrect parents when matching names. This is especially true when online records are scarce as is the case with Irish records. For George Halliday, it is still a research in progress.
On both his marriage certificates, he listed his father as James. His mother was listed as Sarah Parker on his Scotland marriage certificate. Although George did have miscommunications about names (see blog post on updating Alice), as his youngest daughter was named “Sarah Parker Halliday” it would seem correct that his mother’s name was Sarah Parker.
We can be certain, however, that the James Halliday and Sarah Parker who moved to Australia in 1841 are not the parents of George Halliday. This couple immigrated under the bounty immigration program where they were assisted immigrants. That means that their passage was at least partially paid to Australia by the government to settle there. They would not / could not have had a daughter in 1842 in Australia, gone back to Ireland to have a son George in 1843, then returned to Australia to have another daughter in 1844. It is also unlikely that they would have emigrated to Australia with their son aged five, but not their two year old, which is what George would have been at our earliest estimated birthdate of 1839. In addition, his mother is indicated as deceased in 1872 when he married Jessie Cochrane, whereas the Sarah Ann Parker/Halliday in Australia did not die until 1873.
It is possible that Solomon Halliday (1832) and Eliza Halliday (1835) are siblings of George. They were both born in Ireland and living in Preston. Solomon and his wife Elizabeth stood up for George at his first wedding.
George and Solomon both had a father named James, were both born in Ireland and they were both cattle dealers in Preston. It would seem unlikely that there were two separate unrelated James Hallidays with sons moving to the same place from Ireland, having the same occupation and connecting strong enough that one would stand for another at his wedding.
George listed his father as a labourer on the date of his first wedding in 1860 and a provision merchant on the date of his second marriage in 1872. On his death, his wife listed George’s father as a cattle dealer. Both Solomon and Eliza have listed their father James as a weaver in 1854 and 1855 respectively. In Eliza’s second marriage in 1867 she listed her father as a labourer, which is in line with George.
Eliza’s third son is named George.
Research is still ongoing…
Ancestor History Mary Ann Hodson
Mary Ann had a short life. Living, at the most, 28 years. She was born and raised in Lancashire and worked in the textile mills.
She had her only child, Alice, during the time of the Cotton Panic in Lancashire. The cotton panic was due to overproduction in a compressing market. It was also closely related to the American civil war as some of the mills were set up for the American cotton and others used Egyptian cotton. Those using the American cotton faced supply issues during the war. England in general, and Lancashire in particular, were involved in taking sides. Some places flew confederate flags in support of the south and the cotton production. Others, such as the cotton workers meeting in Manchester supported the freedom of the slaves. Lincoln sent a thank you to Lancashire call them “…an instance of sublime Christian heroism” and sent three shipments of food to the people of Lancashire.
In 1865, the US civil war ended and the cotton recession also ended in Lancashire. Mary Ann, however, lived only a few short years after that, as by 1871 she had passed.
