The facts about George - or is it Arthur or William?
Arthur or George or William? Courtney or Courtenay? Which is it, or is he someone else entirely?
'George' remains my most elusive ancestor. I published my first blog about our mystery man, my 2nd great grandfather, the father of Mums paternal grandmother Abigail COURTNEY in 2018. You can view that post on my genemonkey blog at Wordpress. You can find all I know about him and his descendants at Wikitree. I call him George as that is the name his wife and descendants have used in the records.
This entire blog is dedicated to documenting everything I have looked at in terms of finding my elusive 2nd great grandfather. You can find a summary of my research here, but please note it is a progressive 'works in progress'.
Essentially, there are only 3 key records of his existence, all of which are conflicting! Note: The age in the census actually says 30 (not 36), so his birthdate is probably c1841!
George describes himself in the 1871 census as a 'labourer in a brassworks (unemployed)'. On his daughter Abigail's birth certificate soon afterwards his wife describes him as a 'silver and brass moulder'. By the time of his daughter Abigails death in 1928 his grandson indicates he was a 'civil engineer'.
Arthur George and his wife Abigail cannot be found in the 1881 England Census, although daughters Abigail and Edith are residing with William and Jane Brown at Holdenhurst, Hampshire. Could the couple be overseas somewhere? Maybe Ireland?
I can find no further record of Alberta - did she die as an infant with her death not registered despite it being a requirement at that time?
Who is Nurse Ann Muggeridge? She holds particularly interest for me given she was born in the same place as Arthur George, could she be a relative of some kind, there to help with the newborn twins?
Other anecdotal evidence from family stories may be relevant, or not?
- My grandfather Edward Arthur Roberts states in his memoirs that his mother had some Irish in her make up which is presumed to have been a reference to her paternal line – could George have been of Irish descent?
- My grandmother, Mona (Murphy) Roberts when asked by her children where in the South of Ireland their ancestors came from, always gave the response ‘Waterford and Wexford’. Her ancestors – the Murphys, came from Wexford. Could it be the Courtenay’s on their fathers side who were the ancestors she referred to as coming from Waterford?
- My mother always said that the Courtney’s were talked about as being a bit ‘better’. Did that mean more educated and upper crust? Could they have been gentry of some sort? Perhaps connected to the Courtenay’s of Devon or the Courtenay’s of Ballytransey, Cork?
- There are other stories told by my grandfather Edward Arthur Roberts about his relationship to the Delancey family and having a maternal ancestor buried on Saint Helena - could these be further clues to the origins of George?
