My
mystery is - why was 6 year old John Robert Donaldson (my husband's
great grandfather) left behind in South Shields, County Durham
when his parents moved 350 miles south.
We can often find out the "who, where, and when" of our ancestors, but what about the "why"?
South Shields is a community on the River Tyne in the north east of England, dominated by the sea and maritime activity.
An aerial view of the River Tyne, with South Shields
on the left of the photograph.
Taken coming into land at Newcastle Airport.
John
was born in 1854, the son of Robert Donaldson, a shipwright, and
Isabella Walton of South Shields. On his birth certificate, only the
Christian name John was given but in other records, he appears to have
added the name of his father Robert. An
obvious next step in research was to find the family in the 1861
Census, but frustratingly, in the days before online records, this
proved impossible to trace. Yet all the indications were that direct
Donaldson descendants had remained in South Shields down the
generations.
It was only much later the opportunity to do national searches online at http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ and http://www.findmypast.co.uk that I discovered at by 1861 Robert and Isabella were at Portsea in Portsmouth on the
south coast of England. With them were two young sons Thomas, aged 4,
born South Shields and one year old Frederick W. (Walton perhaps after
Isabella's maiden name?) born at Portsea, indicating a move
c.1857-1860. But there was no mention of their eldest son, John who
would have been 6 years old.
How
had the family travelled 350 miles from South Shields to Portsea, by
rail or more likely by sea? Was work the reason, with Robert now
employed at Her Majesty's Dockyard as a shipwright? Why was John not
with them? I could find no trace of a death of the young boy.
Back in South Shields, I returned to the 1861 census and found John's maternal grandparents, John and Hannah Walton, with the household also including their grandson John Robert Walton aged 6. This must be "my" John Robert Donaldson, mistakenly recorded in the census with the wrong surname. An entry in the 1871 census gave further confirmation - a John Donaldson, aged 16, born c.1855 was living at the home of his maternal uncle Robert Walton. Death records showed that John must have lost his grandparents (and his home) in 1868.
Image Courtesy of Pixabay
Back in South Shields, I returned to the 1861 census and found John's maternal grandparents, John and Hannah Walton, with the household also including their grandson John Robert Walton aged 6. This must be "my" John Robert Donaldson, mistakenly recorded in the census with the wrong surname. An entry in the 1871 census gave further confirmation - a John Donaldson, aged 16, born c.1855 was living at the home of his maternal uncle Robert Walton. Death records showed that John must have lost his grandparents (and his home) in 1868.
Aged 24, John married Jane Elizabeth Rushton. and they had four sons -
John Robert, Henry, Thomas, Frederick and one daughter Isabella. Interestingly
these names echoed those of his siblings in Portsmouth. For Robert and
Isabella had more children, making a family of Thomas, Fredrick, Henry,
Robert, Charles, Isabella and Alfred. The fact that John retained the
name of his father and mother for his eldest son and daughter suggests
that the split had been amicable. One cannot help wonder did the two
families ever meet?
But why John remained in another place remains a mystery and we shall never know - another factor that makes family history so absorbing.
But why John remained in another place remains a mystery and we shall never know - another factor that makes family history so absorbing.
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Those oddities are always interesting. In the 1880s, two daughters of my gggrandparents had a similar situation. The second son on the youngest daughter lived with his aunt, the older sister, from the time he was four or five years old. The farm of the aunt, which was near the farm of the mother, was left to the boy when the aunt died (he was still living with her). Why, and what's the story. Never know.
ReplyDeleteThat's so interesting. I'm glad you found out he grew up and married and had children, and did have his own surname rather than his grandparents. I can only think of sickness to have promoted the parents to leave him with his grandparents...then his uncle. Whether it was his own, or he was to help with his grandparents because they were sick, those seem possibilities. I'm sure you've thought on it quite a bit, though you are right, we'll never know.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my maternal great-grandparents. Their oldest child either stayed or moved back to Mexico while the rest of the family moved to Brazil. I also don't know why she did this.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with Barb, my guess would be illness.
ReplyDeleteI have an infant left behind with grandparents when the family emigrated. I think at the last minute everyone must have decided the voyage to Australia was too risky for the baby.
That is interesting. I was going to say possibly a health reason and medical attention was better there (and I see that has already been mentioned). Why is a very common question.
ReplyDeleteHow hard it must have been for his parents to have to make a choice to leave him behind. I’m also wondering if it had to do with sickness. It’s amazing what family history research can uncover.
ReplyDeleteIt's the "why" that are so evasive. Intriguing post!
ReplyDeleteYou can only guess! School? Parents both working in factories? Illness? It seems so sad!
ReplyDeleteWhat a quandary! It does seem very strange. I wonder if the grandparents were getting old and weaker and they needed someone to stay and help with the household chores? A six year old would have been expected to do basic things like get firewood and run errands for them. He must have missed his family terribly, though!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for taking the time to comment. I must admit it had never occurred to me that illness could be the reason young John did not travel with his parents. I suspect it was work that prompted Robert, a shipwright, to move to Portsea where he worked at HM Shipyard.
ReplyDelete