The Australian Melting Pot

The Australian melting pot strikes again.
Only once have I ever found a connection between my paternal ancestral forest and my maternal one.
Even then it was rather tenuous.
Helen CLYNE, a descendant of a FINLAYSON family who just have to be connected to my James FINLAYSON of Clayoch (Caithness), married John GIBSON in Victoria. Their son George, married his cousin Edna GIBSON, whose grandfather was my 2 greats grandmother's second husband, Capt John GIBSON. Confused? Of course.

Just this week another connection, slightly less tenuous, has popped out of the woodwork.
A thank you for posting the info on Jane SINTON was received, welcome, and surprising, in that not many people stop and thank you for the data being shared.
Another of the Sth Australian branches of the Jane SINTON/ James TELFER/TELFORD tree, originating on the Scottish Borders, has now been better documented.  Along the way the delights of the communal, free, WikiTree have also been shared, and Lisa is underway using software developed for the purpose of sharing family trees - but I do recommend that you don't fully trust online trees for your data - keep a master copy on your own computer using a good genie package ( I use TMG, but also recommend RootsMagic. Load any trials that take your fancy and try out one to suit you, data can always be shifted from one to the other using GEDCOM export/import).

The connection? In our initial email swap I noticed that Lisa also mentioned James son of Gaius WINES as one of her ancestors - Gaius' second wife was one Hannah WINES, one of my Somerset rellies from South Petherton. Chances are Gaius is as well, but the connection isn't documented , at least not that I currently know of. (Perhaps my Thomas and Gaius' grandfather Robert are siblings?).

I'd transcribed Gaius' 1869 will when I was in Taunton, way back in 1994.  It had mentioned ""and as I assisted all my sons when they emigrated to Australia I have not further provided for them by this my will but my desire is that if my son Robert shall return to England within 5 years after my said daughters shall have come into possession of my said property he shall receive the sum of ten pounds ... contributed and paid equally by my said daughters and that if either of my sons James and Sampson shall return to England within the like period then I wish him to have the sum of five pounds paid in like manner".
Tucked inside the will was an account: beavers and gloves £1; for cake 7s; cheese 6s; ale 6s; wine 2 4; bottle gin 3 6; Mr Clark for ham 8 3; owe John Banfield for one sack of barley; paid for butter  1 4; Sounds like a good send off.

Where things lead..

Prompted by the correspondence with Sheena, I became curious as to why the Wilma MacDONALD who married David OAG, had Finlayson as a middle name. Interesting journey.
I nearly stopped looking once I'd hit her grandparents as they were living in the Orkneys rather than Caithness, but then noticed that her father said he was born Pulteneytown, so I persisted one more generation "just in case" there was going to be a connection.
David FINLAYSON, born Pulteneytown in 1827 turns out to be the son of a cooper William FINLAYSON born Bower. At which point my mild curiousity went up a notch or two.
William, wife Catherine (LIDDEL) and family had moved to Whitehall, Orkney by 1841, and were still there in 1851 but then they vanished, and I couldn't find a death for him at all. Nearly gave up, thinking he might have died between 1851 and 1855, so not in civil registration.
Idly searched ancestry for his son Neil and found his death at age 90 as Capt Neil FINLAYSON in Toronto.
Yes, William, Catherine and family had indeed vanished from Orkney (apart from David who stayed behind). They'd emigrated to Trafalgar, Halton Co, Ontario along with a David who looked like he might be William's brother.
That led me to the Bower baptisms of a David and William children of James and Elizabeth (COGHILL) FINLAYSON of Stemster.
Someone must be researching this family as there are patron submissions on the IGI, but I've not yet figured out who they are to see what conclusions they may have reached working back from James and Elizabeth in Bower.

3rd: FINLAYSON dna

Updated the FINLAYSON DNA results page, and linked David and Donald on the patriarchs page back to the dna projects portal site for additional info.

Identifying John CREBERs

When working on Devon families around Walkhampton, Buckland Monachorum, Whitchurch etc, you just cannot avoid CREBERs. I've convinced myself that the Joan CREBER who married Henry TOOP is the one at Dotterbrook in Tavistock in 1841, with what looks like her father John. And that this John is the one who married Margaret GILES. John buried Walkhampton 1845, Henry and Joan (CREBER) TOOP buried Buckland Monachorum, 1844 and 1850 respectively.
Does anyone agree, or disagree, and if the latter, have you more evidence than I on where he belongs?

Family Tree DNA are offering good discounts for their tests until the end of August. Anyone interested in joining the FAIRBAIRN, SINTON, ROWE, RUNCIMAN, DAWE or FINLAYSON projects should get in quick.
If you do so, make sure you find the right surname project and use that to order the test or else the discounts wont be applied, eg a 37 marker test is $119 US, and a 67 marker includes the mt dna test for only slightly more than the usual 67 marker Y-DNA test, at $289 US.

All those buses coming along at once

Updates from contacts on several fronts in the last few days. Just like buses, nothing for ages on a branch, then along come several contacts all at once.
David & I have been talking FINLAYSON dna (a FINLAYSON Surname DNA project has now been set up if anyone is interested).
Then along comes Jocelyn asking about my William TAYLOR/Isabella FINLAYSON. We were last in contact in 1999. This time I got more serious, and although I still haven't quite convinced myself that her Henderson TAYLOR is the son of William and Isabella, it does look quite likely.
However, in the process, I reviewed what else I had on William, and finally convinced myself that yes, he was the son of William TAYLOR and Janet SMITH of Wester Watten, AND that Jean (who married David McBEATH), was indeed his sister. TAYLOR chart updated.

Then today there were two separate contacts with regard to Devon CREBER connections.
Katherine pointed out that Mary TOOP, dtr of Robert John Newcombe TOOP and Mary Ann SPRY, had married Philip BLOWEY, son of Frederick BLOWEY and his cousin Laura Marina BLOWEY. Two of Philip's brothers married two of my SPRY relations, and Robert TOOP's uncle married one of my DAWE relations.
In the process of checking around this info I also found that Mary's step sister Margaret King TOOP had married a John C W ROWE (1919, registered Tavistock). Wonder if he'll turn out to be another rellie?
Whatever of the many charts all this was on have been updated too.