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Degerness and Ross Family History

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A cousin of a cousin

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In the middle of a search for something completely unrelated, on page 97 of The Skeena: River of Destiny by Dr. R.G. Large I found this

…for two or three years, a Dr. Bluett-Duncan. a wealthy Englishman who was a cousin of Mr. Tomlinson’s, had lived with Mr. Duncan at Metlahkatla, giving his services freely.

…and

………down

……………the

…………………rabbit

………………………hole

……………………………I

…………………………………go

I remembered that Robert’s aunt had married a Bluett, so he had cousins of that name. Perhaps his cousin Maria Dorothea had married a Duncan.

It looked liked a possibility as Maria had visited Robert and his family at Meanskinisht. She arrived in New York on her way to the Skeena River on 05 July 1905.

The crossed out name is Bluett, Maria D.

However, Maria never married, and her brothers’ names were Richard Douglas and Sterling Henry. I searched for additional siblings, but none were found. However, on the same page as Maria’s probate information in England was a Duncan Campbell Bluett-Duncan, so perhaps another branch of the Bluett family.

Tracking down that other branch and working out the births and marriages, I found a James Duncan Bluett who also went by the last name Bluett-Duncan. He was a cousin to Maria.

So, I found him. He was born in Witton Lancashire about 1846 (his birth was registered in the first quarter of that year) and died on 03 January 1921. He received his license as a physician through the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh in 1883 and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in England that same year. That puts him perfectly in the time frame to be assisting Duncan at Metlakatla for a few years, while Robert was also there. In fact, he arrived in New York on the SS Oregon 25 August 1884, likely on his way then.

So, James Duncan Bluett-Duncan was a cousin of a cousin of Robert Tomlinson.

East Ham to Croydon

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In my genealogy coursework reading yesterday, the information was about using electoral rolls to find your ancestors. So, I thought that looking at my husband’s grandparents lived using the electoral rolls was a good way to understand what information I could find.

When Arthur John Algar and Bridget Whelan were married in 1923. He was living at 19 Chesley Gardens in East Ham…

… and she living at 320 Fulham Palace Road in Fulham.

320 Fulham Palace Road – Google Maps

They both worked in London and met through work, but definitely did not live in easy commuting distance of each other. They married in the register office with Arthur’s mother and brother standing as witnesses. As Bridget had come over from Ireland when she was a teen to work, it is not surprising that she had no relatives to stand up for her. Arthur was Protestant and Bridget was Catholic, so marrying in the register office removed any religious disagreements as well.

They moved to 18 Nutbrowne Road in the parish of Dagenham in the Dagenham Ward. I am not sure if this was their first house, but by 1925 they were living there and raising their daughter Beattie.

In 1927 they moved to 50 Stanford Way in the parish of Mitcham in the East Ward. It was there that Paul’s mother Peggy was born.

In 1932 they moved closer to central London to 9 East Way in Shirley, Croydon, which is in the polling district of Addington. It was here they brought up their two girls. They lived at 9 East Way for the remainder of their lives.

As you can see, the distance between these residences is not huge, but I imagine the neighbourhoods were very different.

My grandmother’s mirror~A hardworking woman

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My grandmother always worked hard. She tells the story of her grandfather not believing in play, but only in hard work:

…when my grandfather was away, my uncle put us some swings just over…there for the kids to play on. But when my grandfather came back he said there is no time for playing, we’ve to got work…

My grandmother must have gotten her work ethic from him. I cannot remember many days that my grandmother was not working. Whether it was at home or at the store, she always worked and was always busy.

I always spent at least a couple of weeks staying at her house every summer and I have vivid memories of her getting ready for working at the store in the mornings.

Every day she would wind her hair into a bun and pin it all up. She would get out her mirror, which always had the bobby pins right in the little holder and she would wrap her hair up.

She must have loved the mirror, which is now one of my most treasured possessions. When it broke Aage fixed it for her using a wing nut to hold the mirror leg.

I look at the mirror and I hear my grandmother talking to me about what work was planned for the day.

Bridget’s Parents

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Bridget Whelan had to leave her home in Ireland at a young age. She needed to work in England. There, she met her husband and had two daughters. This video looks at where Bridget’s parents came from in Ireland.

The Wayside Log

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In 1879 Robert Tomlinson was tasked by the Church Missionary Society to establish a new mission in British Columbia’s northwest. From their mission at Kincolith they left, crossing rivers and mountains, they finally found a place that the First Nations had named Ankihtlast (Robert’s spelling). The WaySide Log is a diary kept by Alice Tomlinson (nee Woods), with parts written by her brother Ned, detailing their trek in 1879. This video provides a brief glimpse of the trip.