Genevieve
14-09-2005, 02:27 AM
I thought I'd share this recent success story as I learnt quite a lot from it...
My father's maternal grandparents were Herbert BARNES and Caroline HAZELL. Until recently all I knew was that Caroline's parents were Frederick HAZELL and Caroline SHEARER and that Harbert's father was Charles BARNES.
These were the two shortest branches on my tree and had defied my efforts to make any progress at all over several years.
I was aware of a PHEABY family, in particular an Alice PHEABY (she never married) who was known to my father and his sister as an 'aunt' but who we thought was merely a close friend of the family.
Whilst re-reading an old letter from my father's sister in the US I noticed that she'd said she thought Alice PHEABY was a half-sister of Caroline HAZELL. She was a little younger than Caroline so maybe Frederick HAZELL died soon after Caroline was born and her mother then married a Mr Pheaby and went on to have Alice?
Pheaby is an unusual surname so Alice's birth entry was easily located and I quickly decided to order a copy of her birth certificate.
A few days later I was regretting my haste when I found, in a census, a whole tranche of younger HAZELL siblings for Caroline. All were born after Alice and (putting aside extramarital goings on) put paid to the theory that Caroline and Alice were half-sisters. I'd wasted £7 and resolved not to get so carried away in future.
In due course Alice's birth certificate arrived. Sure enough her father was Harry PHEABY and her mother Alice PHEABY - no connection to Caroline.
But...the mother's name was given as Alice PHEABY previously BARNES formerly RODWAY. Alice was actually Herbert's half-sister!
I soon found out that Herbert's father Charles BARNES had died in 1880 and that in Feb 1882 Alice (senior) had married Harry PHEABY. Alice was 31 and Harry only 25 a widower with a son under two years old. In Nov 1882 Alice junior was born.
I don't suppose I will ever know if this marriage was a 'happy ending' for two young people who'd lost their spouses or a convenience for one or both of them.
There is a postscript - I wrote to my aunt to let her know the news and to thank her for the snippet of information that set the whole thing off. She replied enclosing a gift - a cameo brooch she had been given by Alice PHEABY. When Alice gave the brooch to my aunt she said that it had belonged to her mother who had worn it the day that Alice was born. My aunt though that as my 'detective work' had shown that it had belonged to my gt gt grandmother I should have it. That was absolutely lovely and the best thing that has come out of my family research.
Finally, Caroline SHEARER actually turned out to be Caroline SHEARS which explained why I'd been stuck for so long. Once I'd got that right I made rapid progress there too. But that's another story...!
My father's maternal grandparents were Herbert BARNES and Caroline HAZELL. Until recently all I knew was that Caroline's parents were Frederick HAZELL and Caroline SHEARER and that Harbert's father was Charles BARNES.
These were the two shortest branches on my tree and had defied my efforts to make any progress at all over several years.
I was aware of a PHEABY family, in particular an Alice PHEABY (she never married) who was known to my father and his sister as an 'aunt' but who we thought was merely a close friend of the family.
Whilst re-reading an old letter from my father's sister in the US I noticed that she'd said she thought Alice PHEABY was a half-sister of Caroline HAZELL. She was a little younger than Caroline so maybe Frederick HAZELL died soon after Caroline was born and her mother then married a Mr Pheaby and went on to have Alice?
Pheaby is an unusual surname so Alice's birth entry was easily located and I quickly decided to order a copy of her birth certificate.
A few days later I was regretting my haste when I found, in a census, a whole tranche of younger HAZELL siblings for Caroline. All were born after Alice and (putting aside extramarital goings on) put paid to the theory that Caroline and Alice were half-sisters. I'd wasted £7 and resolved not to get so carried away in future.
In due course Alice's birth certificate arrived. Sure enough her father was Harry PHEABY and her mother Alice PHEABY - no connection to Caroline.
But...the mother's name was given as Alice PHEABY previously BARNES formerly RODWAY. Alice was actually Herbert's half-sister!
I soon found out that Herbert's father Charles BARNES had died in 1880 and that in Feb 1882 Alice (senior) had married Harry PHEABY. Alice was 31 and Harry only 25 a widower with a son under two years old. In Nov 1882 Alice junior was born.
I don't suppose I will ever know if this marriage was a 'happy ending' for two young people who'd lost their spouses or a convenience for one or both of them.
There is a postscript - I wrote to my aunt to let her know the news and to thank her for the snippet of information that set the whole thing off. She replied enclosing a gift - a cameo brooch she had been given by Alice PHEABY. When Alice gave the brooch to my aunt she said that it had belonged to her mother who had worn it the day that Alice was born. My aunt though that as my 'detective work' had shown that it had belonged to my gt gt grandmother I should have it. That was absolutely lovely and the best thing that has come out of my family research.
Finally, Caroline SHEARER actually turned out to be Caroline SHEARS which explained why I'd been stuck for so long. Once I'd got that right I made rapid progress there too. But that's another story...!