GG Grandmother from Tobago

[junedye64]

I have my G Grandfathers birth cert. He was born 1847 in Wapping Workhouse. Mother Margaret Steward. No father.

1851 census Ref H0107 1545
John Cygus (mistranscribed. Should be Seagers)33 Head Wapping
Margaret Cygus (Nee Steward)31 Wife West Indies
John Cygus 8 Son Whitechapel
Richard Cygus 4 Wapping
Thomas Cygus 2 St. George in East

1861 census Ref RG9/0279 (mistranscribed as Sackers)

Through another part of the family the story had been passed down of the Grandmother coming over from Tobago.
Margaret had a sister Letitia Stewart who was living/married to Daniel Leport
living in the same building as margaret in 1851.
George Stewart their younger brother was living with Letitia in 1851.
He was born in Whitechapel about 1834 so they came here between 1826 (When Letitia was born) and 1834.
George married in 1862 and on his marriage cert his father is named as Richard Stewart-Sailor.
I dont think Margaret or Letitia married, although I did find the banns read for Letitia and Daniel but no marriage.
Apart from Richard, have not found birth records for children.
I'd love to know the story of how the family came to be here from Tobago, but that is asking a lot.
If anyone has any ideas it would be great.

June

[Hugh Thompson]

Hi June, it's a long shot as these entrys are from Barbados but might be worth keeping in case they connect with your Stewards in Tobago later.
They were the only Stewards in the book.
Hugh.
From the Internet Archives, (address below),I found these Stewards in the book, "The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed, and others, who went from Great Britain to the American plantations, 1600-1700."

https://www.archive.org/details/origi...tspe00hottgoog

-----------------------
Parish Registers.
1679 parish of St James Barbados.
Amey Steward, page 505 had 10 acres and 1 servant.
----------------------
St Michaels. Barbados.
Baptisms.
1679.June.3. John, ye son of John Steward and Margaret his wife. page 424.
----------------------
1635. November. 20th. Ye port of London.
Passengers listed on the ship "Expedition", Captain Peter Blackler, Gravesend to Barbados,
William Steward age 21, page 139.

[georgiep]

Hi June
I expect you have already looked in familysearch but just in case..
Pedigree Resource has Elizabeth Steward bn 1827 Tobago died 1901 don't know where, marriage to Daniel Neport bn 1824 Bethnal Green died 1871, his mother Ann.
It's member submitted so first name could be an error.
Good finds Hugh, so far back!!

georgiep

[junedye64]

Thanks Hugh

I'll certainly hang on to them

June

[junedye64]

Georgiep

just seen your post.
Yes I did have those details of Letitia(Elizabeth) . Thanks for looking

June

[Mitochondrialseagers]

Hi June, just a reminder that although we feel that Margaret and Letitia Stewart/d are sisters we cannot be sure of this. Our assumption is based on the two women coming to the U.K at about the same time, both living in East London (often in the same buildings or road) and chiefly both were from Tobago. I think we felt that at the very least they would have known each other and may well have travelled to England together. There are several other links but none that states the two were sisters. It would be great if there is anyone out there who can suggest something that might help us to find the maiden name of Margaret (Seagers) we, both June and I have searched many records, have never found any certificate that would give us the maiden name of Margaret, it was stated that she was married on the census returns for 1851, 1861 and on the 1871 and 1881 she describes herself as widowed. Margaret also had possibly 7 children,we know that at least 4 lived into adulthood and had children, both June and I come from different strands of those children, yet none of her children appear to have been registered. No births, no deaths (of the remaining 3 children) no marriage for her, no death certificate for John Seagers, Margaret's (husband ) are they all a figment of our imagination or did this family really not ever bother to register anything, was this indeed possible with deaths after 1837? Does anyone know, can anyone throw some light on our problem? Lydia.

[Geoffers]

To try and get my head around a complicated story, may I ask a few questions?

I have my G Grandfathers birth cert. He was born 1847 in Wapping Workhouse. Mother Margaret Steward. No father.

Could you let us know if Richard continued to use the name STEWAR(D/T) later in life - or did he use a variant of the name S(E)ACKER(S), SE(A)G(O)E, SE(A)GER(S), CYGGUS?

Do you have a marriage certificate for Richard and if so what does it record for him (surname, age, marital status, occupation, father's name and occupation) and were the witnesses relevant?

Through another part of the family the story had been passed down of the Grandmother coming over from Tobago.

From this oral tradition, is there any information as to whether she was of European, local or African ancestry?

Margaret had a sister Letitia Stewart who was living/married to Daniel Leport.......I did find the banns read for Letitia and Daniel but no marriage.

What does the banns entry record for the name of both parties, how many times were they read and aer there any additional notes in the register to indicate why no marriage?

Have you worked through any TNA records to try and locate anything to do with Richard STEWART the sailor?

For example, you might try BT120/5 - or the index BT119/22 which relates to BT112?

See this research guide for more information.

As a long shot you might records kept as a result of various Aliens Acts - the indexes survive in HO5/25-32 which I understand are available via the pay-per-view site 'Ancestry'

[junedye64]

Geoffers
From 1851 Richard was using the name Seagers (variants of) name.

According the census Richard was married to Margaret White but we've never found a marriage.

The banns for Letitia Stewart and Daniel Leporte were read three times, but nothing to indicate why they never married.

Richard died 1897 and his name on cert. was Richard Segars age 50
Margaret his mother died 1892 age 72. Her name on cert. was Margaret Seagars widow of John Seagars.

We haven't researched Richard Stewart the sailor as yet. It's quite a new find.
Thanks for all the TNA refs Geoffers.

June

[Mitochondrialseagers]

Hi,
To answer one of the questions, my grandmother Eliza/Elizabeth/Lily Dawson (daughter of Margaret Miller nee Seagers) told us, my brothers and sister (plus our mother, our aunts and cousins who all knew the story) that our, as we thought our g/grandmother came from Plymouth Tobago on a big ship, she was a young/little girl. It transpired after initial research that it was in fact our g/g/grandmother who came on the ship from the West Indies, as stated on the census returns, 1851, 1861 and 1881. The story was also regarded as slightly "hush hush" but always told with a lot of laughter, because the implication was that the family were black, and then a few generations forward we were now white, this was always regarded as odd and funny! Please remember that this was at a time when people had not thought too deeply about prejudice and the damage that it creates. Anyhow my grandmother also said that when she was a little girl she remembered that an uncle Charlie visited, he apparently had tight curly hair and he was a mulatto. We now don't know whether this "uncle" was a real uncle or someone our family called uncle. So, the answer to your question is that we think that the family were possibly mixed race or black and also may have descended from slaves, but like everything to do with this part of our family we don't actually know. I would be very proud to be of African origin - as in the more recent past - but still do not know. As stated before, whilst we wish to research any leads we also would like first to know the maiden name of Margaret before trawling through the muster rolls etc. for Stewarts, who might not be connected to us at all.
Lydia

[Mitochondrialseagers]

Hi Geoffers,

I haven't quite got the hang of this site yet!
I think I should have sent my second response re: ethnic origin of our, June and my g/g/grandmother Margaret Seagers.
I did respond and my reply to you is now with the other posts for g/g/grandmother from Tobago. Next time I will reply directly to each question - ho hum, I expect I will get there in the end!
Lydie