Researching the Rawcliffe family was my first venture into family history and I was puzzled by a number of issues relating to Maria.
Mystery One
To my great surprise the result was two certificates - for Maria, daughter of Robert Rawcliffe and Jane Carr of Hambletlon, Lancashire born 15th January 1859 and another daughter Martha, born to Robert and Jane on 20th January 1863.
Four months later baby Martha died. Maria would only have been four years old then, so could hardly have remembered her youngest sister. Moreover their mother Jane died two years later, so could not have kept the memory alive of baby Martha for very long for her other daughters. So why did Maria adopt her name along with her own? We shall never know
Mystery Two
These were the days on Family Search when the name was given of the submitter of the information - an American address and I suspect a descendant of Maria's sister Alice who emigrated to USA. I did write but the letter came back "unknown", so very frustrating. Many years later I traced the American connection, but no-one has come up with any clue to the "Septima" name.
The only other record I have found mentioning "Septima" was on Ancestry in the Lancashire, Church of England Births and Baptism.1813-1911.
Mystery 3
The puzzle does not end there, as both the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk Project (OPC) and Family Search record the baptism of a Peggy
Rawcliffe, born 1861 to Robert and Jane, which means Martha would not
be the seventh child but the eighth. Sadly Peggy survived only 16 days.
So baby Martha may have had only a very short life, but her legacy lived on in the name of my great grandmother.
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Bull Street, Poulton-le-Fylde, just off the Market Square was the home of my great grandparents James Danson and Maria Rawcliffe and their large family of eight sons, one daughter and later orphaned granddaughter Annie. In their early married life, my grandparent also lived in the same block. In the 1960s, Bull Street was demolished to make way for a small shopping mall.
Maria with her only daughter Jennie (1897-1986) and in front her granddaughter Annie Maria, who following the death of her young mother, made her home with Maria.
Maria here with her eldest granddaughter Annie Maria Danson, born 1905. Annie looks to be about 13 years . So this photograph can be dated to around 1916 when Maria would be 57.
The early 20th century was a sad time for Maria, with her death of her husband, eldest son, daughter in law (mother of Annie above) and two sons, killed in the First World War. Maria died aged 60 in 1919.
But the family still have memorabilia from Maria's life - her kettle, and her teaset and some jewellery.
Complementing the kettle was a tea set which is now with Maria's granddaughter. Maria was very proud of the teaset which she got from collecting coupons from a newspaper offer.
Below - a necklace & brooch sent by son Frank who was in hospital in Malta during the First World War
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their family history and memories through photographs.
Mysteries in families are intriguing. But they can also be frustrating as you try to figure them out. Sometimes you're lucky and discover the truth of the matter. Other times you finally have to admit you'll probably never know the answer. Funny thing, though, you never, really & truly give up. There's always that every once in a while little niggling thought that if you just tried again . . . :) Nice portrait pix to match the theme!
ReplyDeleteThree mysteries! it's fun to read your search for answers.
ReplyDeleteI love the jewelry pictured.
This was a fine post and introduced me to some new concepts of naming traditions. Over the years with SS I've learned so much from your blog about family customs that has been helpful in my own research. As to your first question about your great grandmother Maria's photo, I think she looks older than 40 and maybe older than in the picture with granddaughter Annie. The style of her photo with the closeup and faded vignette outline also looks more modern than what I'd expect for 1909. On the other hand there may have been a new photo studio fashion in 1909 that was unique to Britain.
ReplyDeleteTo me Maria looks about the same age in the first and last photo... May I point out that if born 1859, in 1909 she would have been 50, not 40... Maybe a portrait taken for her 50th birthday? - or her 60th, if Mike is right in his comments about 1909 seeming too early. Either way, not really all that big an age difference between the two photos...
ReplyDeleteWow, there is so much research here it’s hard to know where to start. But I’ll give it a try. In the first photo, Maria looks to be the same age as in the last one — and may possibly be wearing the same double breasted jacket over black (instead of white). Re the name Martha, in some cultures there was a tradition for parents to name a subsequent child after one who died young, so maybe Maria adapted this tradition by adding Martha to her name. Re Septima, it was not uncommon for clerics to use Latin in church records, so I suspect it was the minister/priest who added the word for the 7th child (perhaps unaware of Peggy’s earlier birth/death making Maria the 8th child). Overall excellent sleuthing on your part to unearth these mysteries and share them on this blog post. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your kind comments and your thoughts on Maria’s age in the first image and on the other “mysteries” in her life.
ReplyDelete