I’ve chased down every genetic clue I could find to find my elusive 2nd great grandfather, Arthur 'George' Courtney. The best so far has been a match on the ‘X’ chromosome, also known as Chromosome 23. The 'X' chromosome has special inheritance characteristics and can sometimes be easier to trace back in time.
It was in 2018 that I first I discovered a large match sharing about 92cMs, with both my mother and her sister. Given its size, it was an exciting discovery as the special inheritance factors suggested it was a paternal segment for my Mum and her sister, probably inherited from George Courtney. We also shared smaller autosomal matches with this match and other extended family members and I soon discovered many matches that all led back to the same person - Ada Williams, born about 1892 in Notting Hill. Imagine my surprise when my match told me - ‘that’s my Romany line!’ I've previously written about this match - Could George be a Romany?
Ada was the child of John Williams and Esther Taylor Williams. She had two siblings John b1891 and Emily Maud b1897. In 1912 she married Henry Wylder and in 1919 James Baxter Rae. As our match was on the ‘X’ chromosome it was clear from the line of inheritance that our connection could only be via Ada and not from either of her husbands. As my George was born c1841, I clearly had to research Ada’s ancestry back at least two, three or even more generations in order to find our common ancestor. I researched her family tree and discovered that her mothers side went back to Jeremiah Taylor and Sarah Fisher. Sarah was a well known Romany who died with other family members in the Hartlake Bridge Disaster in 1853.
Tracing Ada’s father, John Williams, has proven much more difficult. Who were his parents? Based on ‘X’ inheritance patterns, if John’s ancestors hold the key to our connection, it could only be from his mother’s side.
It is not clear if John and Esther ever married, even though she indicates she was married in each census record. Esther did marry James Dean in 1883 and was living with him at 19 Bangor Street Middlesex at that time. This address was clearly a family home as her brother Samuel and her cousin Isaac were residing there in 1891 and her brother Alexander and his family were there in 1901. We don’t know if James died or not, but records suggest Esther had taken up with John Williams by the time of Ada’s birth in 1892, both giving the address of 30 Hunt Street, London.
John is not ‘at home’ in any of the census records. From the baptismal records of his 3 children he is described as a hawker, a labourer and a flower seller. There are no details regarding his date or place of birth. I’ve purchased all three birth registrations of the three children and he is clearly named as the father for all three, the mother Esther Williams, formerly Dean.
The best clue was in the birth registration for son John born in 1891, stating John junior was born in the Fulham workhouse, Brickfield Green Place on 5th July 1891. I have not been able to find Esther in any census record for 1891, census night being 6th April, several months before the birth.
The 1891 census for the workhouse does record a John Williams, stated as a widower, aged 69 so born about 1822. Could this be him? If it is, there is a significant age difference given Esther was born in 1858. According to the workhouse records, this John Williams was first admitted to the workhouse on 22 September 1890 but I could find no admittance record for an Esther Taylor, Williams or Dean. If Esther was living there at the time, there is just enough time for her to have had a relationship with John subsequently having his child nine months later. Or is this the wrong John Williams? Where was Esther on 1891 census night if not at the workhouse?
In 1897 when daughter Emily was baptised, the couple recorded their address as 24 Bangor Street. John was the informant and clearly stated he was the father. If he is the same person as John b1822 he would have been 75 at the time? Not impossible, but seems unlikely. Is there another John Williams lurking about? It is such a common name. By 1901 Esther is living in Kensington with the children, she gives her status as married, however by 1911 she is a widow, so John probably died somewhere between 1901-1911.
This account would not be complete without mentioning another key player in my ancestor puzzle - Ann Webster b1820 Marylebone, Middlesex, aka Ann Rudd, Ann Muggeridge. We have many DNA matches to her family and these include shared and triangulated matches between Webster descendants and the Williams/Taylor group. Ann was residing with my George and his wife Abigail at the time of the 1871 census, described as a nursemaid presumably in residence to help out with three month old twins. Given our DNA matches, she is clearly a relative of some kind, but how? Her known family names are Webster, Reneson, Rositer, Hall/Hull. Interestingly, one of the witnesses to her marriage in 1837 was a Henry Taylor probably of Middlesex. Henry may have had a daughter named Frances who married a William Whittington on the same day as Ann and James Rudd. Could Henry be the clue to connect the two groups? I’ve tried to trace him but it is such a common name and has proved very difficult to sort out all the Henry Taylors living in Middlesex at that time.
Do you know anything about any of these families?
Can you help me identify John Williams and his mother so I can continue researching the connections between these two families? I’m of the strong opinion that there must be a connection between the Webster/Rudd/Muggeridge family and the Williams/Taylor group possibly through John’s maternal line, but it is by no means certain as the Taylor’s do remain a possibility. I’d appreciate any tips or suggestions. Not only am I keen to find the origins of George Courtney but I would dearly love to be able to firm up my ancestral connection to the Romanies.
As Romany families had a tendency to marry closely, our connection could be much further back in time than a 92cMs ‘X’ match might initially suggest. Such is the luck of the DNA lottery, due to recombination. If you wish to know more about the ‘X’ chromosome this blogpost by Roberta Estes is an oldie but a goodie, first published in 2012 - https://dna-explained.com/2012/09/27/x-marks-the-spot/
You can view Ada’s tree (as I currently know it) on Wikitree, the free family website - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Williams-111418#Ancestors.**********
This article was also published in the December 2023 edition of the 'Romany Routes' Journal of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society, Vol 16, No 5, pps 218-220.
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This blog is dedicated to finding my second great grandfather Arthur 'George' Courtney c1841. To see a summary of my research click here. If you can help answer any questions raised in this blog, please contact me via the contact form on the sidebar on this page, or send me a private message via Wikitree, Ancestry or Facebook.
