52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

 

 

 







Gotta Find Them All!
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WEEK 15 – DNA

April 12, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 15 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the topic is DNA. This could have been a really long post once I got started writing, but I figured I would keep it short and simple.

I wasn’t really sure whether I should talk about the DNA matches I have worked with, or the amount of sleep I lose pouring over the results of my father-in-law’s test, trying to figure out his Paternal grandparents origins.

I decided to just lay down the facts of my results. The following are my results from AncestryDNA.

I have 53, 225 total matches and 522 4th cousin or closer. Out of all these matches I have only had time to figure out 29 matches. Guess I need to spend some time working on my genealogy for a change instead of my husbands.

In comparison, my father-in-law has 50,141 matches and 1,525 4th cousins or closer. I have figured out 39 of his so far. His paternal family from South Carolina has been difficult to research.

My mother-in-law, who has French-Canadian ancestry, has 49,871 matches and 3264 4th cousins or closer. I have figured out 75 of her matches so far.

Ethnicity Results 2018

The results above are from 2018 and show my ethnicities, which sound about right considering most of my family were from Ireland, England and Scotland.

Ethnicity Results 2019

Since Ancestry updated their reference samples you can see my numbers have changed slightly, although I’m mostly still English, Scottish and Irish.

As technology improves, and the data is recalculated, I expect my results to change again.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, DNA | No Comments

WEEK 14 – BRICK WALL

April 5, 2019 by Leanne

This week in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “Brick Wall”.

My biggest brick wall so far for my family research would be my Paternal great grandmother, Ethel Driver.

Ethel was born in 1890 in Hotham, Victoria, Australia. Her birth is listed in the Australian Records Index at Ancestry.com. Her mother is listed as Mary Driver, and no father is named. Is he a Driver? Or was Ethel born illegitimate?

Ethel Driver birth Registration

Ethel married William Hugh McConnell in about 1910. They lived at Mepunga, Victoria, Australia until about the mid 1950’s, then they moved to Otway Road in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia.

Ethel and William Marriage Registration

William died in 1968 and Ethel in 1991. They are buried together in the Warrnambool Cemetery.

There are a few trees on Ancestry that have a John Driver as Ethel’s grandfather, he apparently died in Warrnambool in 1908. There is also a Rebecca Cole who is listed as John’s daughter living in nearby Terang. She could possibly be Ethel’s aunt, a sister to Mary. Both of these people are worth looking into during my next research session on Ethel.

Neither of these people will help me sort out Ethel’s father, although knowing more about Mary and her family may help pinpoint a time and place for a connection between Ethel’s parents.

If you are connected to these families and might know something to help with my research, please send me a message. I’d love to hear from you.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, DRIVER, McCONNELL | No Comments

WEEK 13 – IN THE PAPER

March 29, 2019 by Leanne

For this week of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I decided to write about my husband’s Paternal Grand Aunt, Rachael McClellan Legare.

Rachael was born 24 October 1927 in Awendaw, Charleston County, South Carolina. She was the daughter of Daniel J. Legare and Helen Sadie Elliott.

The first newspaper article I found for Rachael was about her appendicitis operation in 1943.

Charleston News and Courier, 11 April 1943
The News and Courier, Charleston, S.C. 17 September 1944

Then I found one where she was visiting her sister Helen in 1944.

While researching Rachel, I found other newspaper articles, that I have not included here, from the early 1940’s when she had received School Honor Roll mentions.

The News and Courier, 27 May 1947

The article above and to the left lists Rachel as being one of The Medical College of the State of South Carolina’s recent nursing graduates in 1947.

The main reason for this post is shown at the right. My father-in-law had told me about his Aunt Rachel who had drowned as a young woman. So I went looking online and found the following newspaper article.

Rachel’s death came less than 2 months after she graduated.

I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Rachel, her friends and her family that day.

The panic she must have felt knowing she was in serious trouble. The guilt her friends must have felt for not being able to save her.

Then there’s her family, knowing she was out there in the water somewhere, all alone, until the early hours of the morning when her body was found!

The News and Courier, 14 July 1947

Rachel was 19 years old, a young woman with plans for the future.

There were many “In Memoriam” notices in the papers over the years from her parents and siblings, her family obviously missed her deeply.

She was unmarried and had no children, but she will not be forgotten!

You can see her headstone at Find A Grave # 41839832.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, ELLIOTT, LEGARE | No Comments

WEEK 12 – “12”

March 22, 2019 by Leanne

This week’s post for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt, is the number 12.

I was thinking about what I could write, and came up with a lot of ideas. Someone aged 12 years. Someone who was born or died in December. Someone who had 12 kids. #12 on an Ahnentafel list.

I decided to pick # 12 on my Ancestral Chart – my mother’s father’s father, Robert John McKenzie.

Robert John McKenzie

Robert was born in about 1875 in Victoria, Australia, probably in the Warrnambool area. His parents were Alexander McKenzie and Helen (or Ellen) Thompson. I still have not located a list of all his siblings yet.

In 1903, Robert married Eliza Jane Clements, daughter of John Clements and Sarah Sedgley. They had 4 children that I know of: –

  • Adeline Hope – born 1904
  • Gertrude Ivy – born 1905
  • Meredith Hector – born 1907
  • Gordon Cecil – born 1909

In 1916, his mother Helen passes away and his father Alexander follows her in 1925.

I found Robert in 18 Australian Electoral Rolls covering the years 1905-1931. His occupation is Farmer and his residence is in Woodford, Victoria, Australia at the family farm, Spring Valley.

1931 Electoral Roll

Robert passed away on 25 October 1931 in Woodford. He is buried in the Warrnambool Cemetery with his wife and 2 of his children, Hope and Hector, both of whom never married.

I am still looking for an obituary and headstone photo.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, CLEMENTS, McKENZIE, SEDGLEY, THOMPSON | No Comments

WEEK 11 – LARGE FAMILY

March 15, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 11 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the topic is Large Family.

William Absalom

My 3rd great grandparents, William Absalom and Mary Ann Rose, have the largest family of all my relatives that I have found so far. They had a total of 16 children. I cannot imagine having that many mouths to feed!

William was born in England in about 1830, a son of Charles Absalom and Eliza Knight. He immigrated to Australia in 1849.

Mary Ann, a daughter of John Fuller Rose and Ann Newman, was born in about 1834 in England and immigrated to Australia with her parents and siblings in 1838.

Mary Ann Rose

William married Mary Ann in 1855 in Victoria, Australia. Their children are listed below with their spouses.

  1. Eliza born in 1856 and died in 1935. She married William Edwards.
  2. Charles born in 1857 and died in 1938. He married Catherine McKenna.
  3. Annie born in 1858 and died in 1890. I believe she was unmarried.
  4. Charlotte born in 1860 and died in 1870.
  5. William was born in 1861 and died in 1916. He married Flora McDonald.
  6. Sarah born in 1864 and died in 1936. She married Alfred Jolliffe.
  7. Frances born in 1865 and died in 1938. She married William Smith.
  8. James born in 1866 and died in 1932. He married Mary Anne Knight.
  9. Mary Ann born in 1867 and died in 1938. She married Donald Robinson.
  10. John born in 1869 and died in 1945. He married Mary Ann Green.
  11. George born in 1871 and died in 1938. I believe he was unmarried.
  12. Avy born in 1872 and died in 1920. She married William Greaney.
  13. Henry born in 1873 and died in 1946. He married Nellie Keogh.
  14. Edward born in 1875 and died in 1926. He married Emily Hill.
  15. Letitia born in 1877 and died in 1923. She married John Ritchie.
  16. Robert born in 1878 and died in 1880.

William died in 1882, aged 52 and Mary Ann in 1898, aged 64. When he died, she was left with 8 kids aged 16 and under.

These dates are just rough estimates as I haven’t researched into their lives much, and they will probably end up being part of future blog posts. My line is through James.

Feel free to send a message if you are related to anyone in these posts.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, ABSALOM, KNIGHT, NEWMAN, ROSE | No Comments

WEEK 10 – BACHELOR UNCLE

March 8, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 10 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I chose to write about my grand uncle, my maternal grandfather’s brother.

Hector Meredith McKenzie, or “Hec” as he was known, was born in 1907 to Robert McKenzie and Eliza Jane Clements of “Spring Valley”, Woodford, Victoria, Australia.

Hector as a child

I don’t remember much about him as he died when I was young but there are a few things I can recall.

He lived with his sister, Adeline Hope McKenzie, who also never married, in the house they were born in. They used to bicker alot and when I look back on them, if I didn’t know better I’d have thought they were married. LOL.

He used to go to Warrnambool to play bowls, possibly croquet or bocce ball. I’m not quite sure if it was either of these, but I remember there was a box of colored balls that he owned under the bedside table.

He used to go to “his secret men meetings”, as his sister Hope used to call them. I presume this to be the Freemasons Masonic Lodge.

But the one thing that I remember most, was when I used to stay at their house during the school holidays. We used to play card games, pick fruit from the trees in their yard and he let me play with my food.

One night we had meat and vegetables for dinner. Aunt Hope was sitting at the head of the table and uncle Hec and I were sitting next to each other at the long side of the table. My aunt Hope was a lovely lady and we also had some fun times but she didn’t appreciate playing at the dinner table.

My uncle leaned over towards my plate and said something like “this is probably going to get us in trouble”. He proceeded to show me how to pile up my mashed potatoes into a volcano shape and hide all my green peas within the sides of the “volcano”. He then poured tomato sauce, or what we call Ketchup in the U.S., all over the top so it looked like lava flowing out of the volcano.

My aunt was extremely mad at him over this, and if I remember right, I don’t think we got dessert that night. Fun times!

I have located Hector in all Australian Electoral Rolls right up to the year before he died (1931 thru 1980). His occupation is always listed as a Farmer.

Hec McKenzie 1980 Electoral Roll

He died 17 September 1981 and is buried in the Warrnambool Cemetery, Row 9, Grave 047, Presbyterian section.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, CLEMENTS, McKENZIE | No Comments

WEEK 8 – FAMILY PHOTO

February 19, 2019 by Leanne

This week in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “Family Photo”.

Absalom descendants 1980s

This photo was taken at “Spring Valley”, Woodford, Victoria, Australia. It is of some of the Absalom descendants.

Front: Leanne, Wayne, Shane, Danial and Robert.

Back: Trevor, Lynette, baby, Rhoda and William.

I am not sure of the date but it was sometime in the 1980s. I am also unsure of who the baby is that Rhoda is holding, but it is either Kris or Maree.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, ABSALOM, McCONNELL, McKENZIE | No Comments

WEEK 7 – LOVE

February 15, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 7 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, the topic is “Love”.

There are many different ways to interpret this word, like the love between two people or something involving weddings, but I decided to write about my 6th great grandmother, [christian name unknown] Love.

I believe her maiden name is Love, although some people say it’s her christian name. I am hoping to find some documents to prove the answer to this question soon.

She was born in about 1728 and in 1749 married John Chislett. She was buried in about 1789 in Stoke Sub Hamdon, Somerset County, England. This information is from online trees and obviously not to be taken as gospel as I have nothing to back this up.

John and Love had at least 8 children that I know of:

  1. James
  2. Mary
  3. William
  4. Betty
  5. Ann
  6. Thomas
  7. Robert (this is my line)
  8. William

Was Love her first name or maiden name? Who were her parents and siblings? I obviously need to do alot of research on this line, and hopefully I will find some answers.

If you are connected to this line and have any documentation that could help answer these questions, please send me a message. Thanks!!

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, CHISLETT, Maiden Name Unknown | No Comments

WEEK 4 – I’D LIKE TO MEET

January 23, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 4 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “I’d Like to Meet”.

I have decided that my list is too long to pick just one person. There are so many people that have “dead ends” or “brick walls” right now. So many ancestors that leave me scratching my head trying to sort who they were.

So for this week’s post, my questions are for all those people!

  • Who were your parents? Since their names were conveniently left off death certificates and not listed in obituaries.
  • Who were your siblings? Maybe your parents names were mentioned in their obits instead. If they happened to have one I can find!
  • How many children did you have? Since you seemed to have them between census’ and then they would be gone before the next census arrived.
  • Why did you leave your home country to venture to a new one? What part of that country did you hail from?
  • What did you like to do for fun? What made you “you”? I’m sure you had some downtime between all those long days working in the fields, on farms, or in your businesses.

These are just a couple of the main questions I would like to ask. Maybe one day I will find the answers to some of them!

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | 2 Comments

WEEK 3 – UNUSUAL NAME

January 14, 2019 by Leanne

For Week 3 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “Unusual Name”.

While looking at my tree for an unusual name, “Speas” stood out. I have seen it written as Speas, Speace, Spes, Spies and Spease.

A search on Google found that Speas is usually a surname. According to the website, HouseofNames.com, the name Speas is Norman in origin. (you can read more at the above link).

Since beginning my research I have found three Speas in my tree. Mother, daughter and granddaughter. I am not sure where the name comes from or how many others may have this name as I haven’t done a lot of research on this line.

My 6x great grandmother was Speas Margery _____ (maiden name unknown). I have no other information on her at this time other than she married George Virgin sometime before 1758 and they had at least 3 children, all girls.

One of their daughters, my 5x great grandmother, was Speas Virgin. She was born about 1758 in Axminster, England and died in about 1833, aged 75. She married Hugh Champ before 1781, and they had at least 7 children.

Baptism for Speas Champ – England, Devon Bishop’s Transcripts 1558-1887

Their daughter, my 4x great grandmother, was Speas Champ. She was born 24 December 1795 in Axminster, England and died 1882 in Weymouth, Dorset, England, aged 86. She married Luke Stagg sometime before 1822 and they had at least 5 children.

Their daughter Hope Stagg married George Chislett in 1851, and they were two of my immigrant ancestors into Australia in 1857.

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Posted in 2019, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, CHAMP, CHISLETT, Maiden Name Unknown, STAGG, VIRGIN | No Comments

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