After a pause for a couple of months I have decided to return to writing some more History.
I thought would kick-off by relating a few of interesting discoveries from my own family history research with the justification, should I need one, that it may inspire others to undertake their own investigation.
I have previously on this blog written a little about the family of my grandfather the photographer Arthur Harold Clarke. On this occasion I wish to focus on his wife, my maternal grandmother’s forbears. Her mother, Harriet Kate Ross (née Walters) was the daughter of Harry and Mary (née Joynt). Harry Walters was a veteran of the American Civil War and as such was awarded a war disability pension.
He served in the Union Navy on four vessels, Ohio, Iroquois, North Carolina, and Preble. The last of these blew up in somewhat suspicious circumstances in Pensacola Bay on the Florida coast on the 27th April, 1863. (1)
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| U.S.S. Preble (1839) |
U.S.S. Preble (1839)
After leaving the Union Navy Harold returned to Walsall, England and married Mary (née Joynt). The surname “Joynt” is quite an uncommon one and is thought to be derived from the French Huguenot name “Joyant”. Soldiers with this name were apparently awarded land in the west of Ireland as a reward for serving in William of Orange’s army in his campaign against James 11’s Catholic army culminating in William’s victory at the battle of the Boyne on the 11th July, 1690(2). Mary Joynt’s father, Oliver, was born in Kilala, Co. Mayo, Ireland where his father was one of a number of farmers with the same surname.
My grandmother’s maiden name was Ross and as the name suggests her father, Alexander William Stewart Ross was Scottish born in Edinburgh in 1868. His father, Neil Stewart, had been born in Perth, Scotland in 1827 the son of a shoemaker. This man, Neil Stewart, was something of a black sheep of the family in that he served at least two prison terms for theft in Edinburgh’s Calton Jail and also had a very unconventional relationship with the mother of his children as he had a first wife still living who he had not divorced. This first wife, Mary (née Christie) is a bit of an enigma as after appearing in the records with her husband in Dundee, Scotland in the 1850’s she then “vanishes” for several years in which she may or may have not been committed to a mental asylum. Her story epitomises the frustration of stalled research often faced by family historians widely referred to as “a brick wall”. Neil Stewart died in 1874, not long after his release from jail, leaving two young children.
My grandmother’s father and his older sister were raised by their mother, Jeanet Scott in Hawick, Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders.
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| Carlton Hill Edinburgh showing Jail in the foreground |
Neil Stewart Ross’s father and grandfather, both named Alexander, were both shoemakers in Perth, Scotland. His grandfather marks the furthest trace back I have on my family tree so far. I know he was married to Janet Stewart in Perth on the 12th November, 1798 at which time he was serving as a soldier in the 72nd Regiment of Foot. From these facts it was possible to estimate his birth year to cc 1769 and as the 72nd was a Highland regiment it is quite possible that Alexander Snr. was born further north. (3)
I have been researching my ancestors for over 20 years now and while writing this I found a guide to myself which I wrote in the early days of my quest. I must admit that I have never been very good at following through on them! As they were compiled before the explosion of genealogical information being available online some of the “tips” are a little dated. Whatever, I thought to close I would just share a couple of them which I found helpful (after updating them to fit the internet age)
1) Always start researching records from a known fact never an assumed one.
2) Spend some time exploring the website you are using for easier navigation.
3) When looking at electoral rolls always be aware of changes in the franchise.
4) Be prepared to try different spellings of names in records. They can be mis-transcribed or may have been alternatively spelt by your ancestor. (Common in days of lower levels of literacy).
5) Try to be methodical and keep clear records.
(Not something I have been very good at doing)
Pictures; U.S.S. Prebble by Per Honor et Gloria - (Drawing of USS Preble (1839). This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art.) Carlton Jail, Edinburgh by Cornell University Library - originally posted to Flickr as Edinburgh from Calton Hill, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7295173
Notes
1) The official inquiry attributed the explosion as due to a fire caused by the carelessness of a crew member.
2) This battle and its aftermath remains a focal point in the tensions between the two communities of Northern Ireland. The protestant, loyalists' parades on the 12th July by the Orange Orders celebrate William’s victory. The catholic, nationalists, however, regard these parades as triumphalism and resent their incursions into areas which they now see as “their” areas.
3) The 72nd Regiment of Foot was raised in 1778 by the Earl of Seaforth in the western highlands. The vast majority of men enlisted were highlanders. The recruitment was no doubt fuelled by the twin forces of the economic pressure and political oppression. The eviction of tenant farmers to create more profitable largescale farms for the landowners, known as the Highland Clearances, compounded the impact of the oppression of highland culture in response to the Jacobite risings of the 18th century. (The Earl of Seaforth himself was of a family of Jacobite sympathisers). One of the measures enacted in the Act of Proscription of 1746 was the prohibition of the wearing of traditional highland dress unless on military service. All of which gives a great background to the life of my great4 - grandfather and his family.
For me the family connections to great historical events are the most exciting discoveries from my genealogical research.
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