8th: What happens when you run an audit?

Thought it time to run an audit against my database, primarily to figure out if I had any pictures and sources not where they were meant to be.
One that proved to be misplaced was a headstone photograph for Daniel and Mary Ann (LIPSON) SKEWES at Bere Ferrers.
Which made me realise I had him in my database twice, and hadn't fully confirmed whether or not there was a third wife shortly before he died, nor when he and Mary Ann had married (no LIPSON/SKEWES marriage obvious).
The latter was easily solved - findmypast.com now has a heap of Devon records indexed, and there was Daniel's marriage to Mary Ann in the right timeframe, but she was a JOHNS instead of LIPSON. She had married an Andrew JOHNS back in 1818. Couldn't easily spot his death.
Jury still out on the 3rd marriage though.

9th: FUGE to Illinois

A FUGE of Cornwall researcher popped out of the woodwork this week with a post in my Guestbook re two of my lot she had found in Illinois.
This does rather explain my abortive attempts at finding them in England beyond 1871.
I'd obviously not tried very hard, although my notes do say I'd tried Australia.
Samuel, and his brother John Edwin both pop up in Chicago.
As a result, given I appear not to have looked at this extended Bere Ferrers family (descendants of Hugh HAMLEY and Elizabeth, daughter of Matthias ROWE and Sarah DUNKIN, via their dtr Mary Elizabeth HAMLEY who married William FUGE) since before the 1911 became more readily available, next update my WorldConnect db LornaHenderson will have rather more details on the CORROCK family.

21st: Better searching

The more alert of you may have noticed that the blog version of my research diary has changed. Not just the look, but also the location.
This is because I've shifted it to being fully hosted on blogspot, rather than on my domain pages. Main reason for this shift is to enable better searching - use the search box "powered by Google", rather than the one at the top in the blog navigation bar which I've never had much success using.

Continuing the METTERS/SKEWES family updates.
Found an old "to do" note to myself to check out Ellen Maud SKEWES again, and as a result I've removed the son I had assigned to her and assigned him back to the other Henry and Ellen SYMONS/SIMMONS. Interesting that both Ellens were born Bere Ferrers, however the Henrys were Henry William SYMONS and Henry James H SIMMONS. Still looking for the latter Henry and "my" Ellen after their marriage in 1894 though.

Big Brother has been updated, so all trees should now show be latest versions.

Feb 25, 2008: Early Taranaki, pre 1st 6 ships

Forgot to mention (back on the 21st) that the Toronto descendant of Hugh HAMLEY and Elizabeth ROWE found a web reference to a William LAKEMAN of Bere Ferrers who would definitely fit the bill of being the grandson mentioned in the will of Matthias ROWE in 1836.
I interpreted the will to refer to grandsons William, James and John LUKEMAN, but could easily re-interpret that as LAKEMAN.
I found the baptisms of (I assume twins) brothers James Rowe and John sons of John (carpenter) & Mary LAKENHAM of Lydford in the Bere Ferrers registers in 1816.
Check out William LAKEMAN, early resident of New Plymouth.
I've not managed to find his baptism, but this is the right age, place, and I think parents.
What I found most fascinating about this was the additional connection it gives me into Taranaki, and prior to the so called "first 6 ships" that brought my 2*great grandparents, and so many of the forbears of my Taranaki relations.

Addenda: Found William's baptism in 1811, which has convinced me even further that he's the right chap.
Interesting to re-read some of my New Plymouth history books in light of this new link. I've always thought of the first 6 ships as beginning the main European population of New Plymouth and environs, but the "Brougham" is described on 13 Feb 1841 as having "sailed on Monday last for Taranaki" (from Wellington). She has on board about sixty persons and a full cargo of houses".. and .. "With sixty persons Taranaki may be considered as colonised." (Rutherford and Skinner p xiv)
The Brougham arrived in New Plymouth on the 12th Feb, and the "William Bryan" arrived on 30th March 1841, landing passengers on the 31st.

Feb 23, 2008: a two part FUG(u)E

I do so love working on Devon families, so much economy of effort.
I was checking to see what might have happened to Elizabeth Hamley FUGE, so searched FreeBMD for a marriage. Up she popped in the Jun qtr of 1886 (Tavistock) along with a Walter Frederick CREBYK (as indexed) along with a Charles Henry HAMLEY and Hannah Laura HAMLYN.
I was reasonably sure that if I checked the image Walter Frederick CREBYK would be one of the many CREBERs in the area. The image was a little hard to read around his surname, but with the benefit of local research knowledge, I would have interpreted it as CREBER. But to make sure before I added a correction for the FreeBMD index, I looked for him in 1891. There he was, obligingly using his full name, and with wife Hannah Laura, QED. But before I went back to looking for Elizabeth Hamley FUGE and Charles Henry HAMLEY in 1891 (to prove they are the cousins they look like they are), I idly checked my database for Walter Frederick CREBER, not thinking any of the Bere Ferrers CREBERs were mine, and there he was, untraced beyond 1881 until now.
Definitely economy of effort.
ROWE and KING charts updated.

GenesReunited has again come up trumps too.
I'd found someone with an interest in Charles CORROCK and Sarah Rowe Hamley FUGE. He turned out to be a great grandson. His mother, still alive, remembers Sarah. Malcolm also remembers his granny (Emily Louise CORROCK) and her sister Flo (Florence Amy CROSSE nee FUGE) keeping a wine shop on the sth edge of Mutley Plain, Plymouth when they were both widowed.

Feb 19, 2008: What happens when someone chats to a neighbour!!!

Updated Ernest with the latest on the HAMLEY family, and he remembered that some years ago when he started investigating his family tree he mentioned this to his neighbour, who surprised him by replying that her ancestors were also from Bere Ferrers, called FUGE and that there was a connection to the ROWEs by marriage, with children named Sarah Rowe Hamley FUGE and others with HAMLEY in their names.
Wasn't hard to dig out that connection. Mary Elizabeth, dtr of Hugh and Elizabeth (ROWE) HAMLEY, married William FUGE, bargeman of Bere Ferrers. Someone else is obviously working on the tree as there's a post-em against the marriage entry on FreeBMD with the details of the marriage cert!
ROWE descendants chart updated, yet again.
As is the Barter Descendants chart as a few more twigs were found/updated.

Feb 7, 2008: Small world

Another of those wonderful coincidences that I feel abound most particularly in this world of genealogy.
Over the last week or so I've been having an intermittent conversation with an Arnold, whom I assume is somewhere in Argentina, who has an interest in Scots in Argentina.

I was trying to figure out how to further identify the Richard RUNCIMAN who is shown on a website as being buried in Buenos Aires in 1875 aged 60. He has to belong to my family somewhere. Arnold suggested immigration records (Entradas) and a few other hints, which I forwarded to one of my RUNCIMAN relations in Argentina asking if he might help track down further information about Richard.

He replied that he would be delighted, and that he had a friend who was an historian who might be able to help.
In the meantime Arnold also gave me the email address of a lady, Maxine, who had published a directory of Brits up to about 1850. So I sent the info on. It turns out that Maxine (or her family) is the neighbour of my relation, and the historian friend he was talking about. Small world indeed.

Ongoing conversation, resumption of one from 2006, about the family of Joseph MUMFORD and Emlyn/Emmeline ROWE, and where she and brothers James and Henry (etc) ROWE of Bere Ferrers belong. I think I've convinced Angela, and reconvinced myself, that I am correct in assigned James Julian Dunkin ROWE to Matthias and Sarah (DUNKIN) ROWE. Both James and Matthias were blacksmiths, and whatever spelling of Dunkin you use for James Julian's 3rd forename, does point rather to Sarah being his mother.
They have a cousin James, who was of an age, one baptised 1787, the other 1788, so options do exist.