Finding George Courtney c1841

I have long been fascinated with the village of Barton Stacey and whether it holds the key to unlocking the mystery of my mysterious Mr Courtney.   Very early on in my research I discovered an Elizabeth COURTNEY , the wife of William BOUND of Barton Stacey who had connections to the PAICE and JOYCE families.   As it turns out some time later I found she was a descendant of William Courtney, gentleman, who had been involved in the Swing Riots of 1830 .  Some of Williams descendants had the middle name Hinxman, a quite unusual name.  However it is also a family name in my Paice family, Thomas HINXMAN being the second great grandfather of Abigail Paice the wife of the mysterious Arthur George Courtney.  Many years later a group of unknown DNA matches connected to the Australian convict Silas COLE from Barton Stacey also emerged.  It would seem these matches are somehow connected to our Paice family from Kingsclere Hampshire.  You can read...

George Courtney  of Shoreham - Theory #1 The mystery of Arthur George Courtney my second great grandfather continues. It was deduced back in 2010 that the Arthur George/George William COURTENAY who is listed in the 1871 with Abigail Courtenay nee Paice and their 3 daughters at 14 Sun Street, Woolwich was highly likely to be George Courtney of Shoreham Sussex. The ages and occupations are similar and in addition this George Courtney does not appear in the 1871 census anywhere else. It was on this basis that I DNA tested in 2010 hoping to be a match to his family. It's now over a decade, I've tested many more in my family and still no obvious matches to any of them! Family Tree of George 1842 on WikiTree (@WikiTreeOfficial). This deduced George was born 8 Nov 1842 to parents George and Sarah (WILKINSON) in New Shoreham Sussex, with the birth registered at Steyning. George was the youngest of 4 children, Frederick James, Eleanor and Mary Elizabeth. By the time of the 1851 census...

It occurred to me that Abigail and Edith Courtney may have been sent away to school at Holdenhurst whilst their parents had gone away.  Perhaps they had family residing there.  They were clearly not estranged from their mothers family as their cousins Henry and Martha Paice were visiting at the time of the 1881 census, suggesting their stay with the Brown family at Holdenhurst was not just a few days. Most of the Paice family lived around Droxford, Hampshire.  Their fathers family was possibly from Middlesex.   There was one Courtney family residing in Holdenhurst at the time of the 1881 census.  Four women of independent means born in Ireland and boarding at 'Stoney Crop'.  Sidney, Eleanor, Charlotte and Florence Courtney.  It does accord with the family story that the Courtneys were 'a bit better' - assuming that means wealthy of sorts?  Also, in his memoirs Ted Roberts describes his mother Abigail Courtney to have 'a little bit of Irish ...

At the time of the 1881 census, Abigail Courtney and her sister Edith were lodging in the small hamlet of Holdenhurst Hampshire, with a married couple named William and Jane Brown.   Martha Paice nee Marsh   and  Henry Paice  were also visiting.   Henry and Martha are half siblings to the mother of Abigail and Edith, Abigail Courtney nee Paice  (wife of 'George') .   A  Downer family is also living next door, who may also be possible connections to the Paice family. Why are they in Holdenhurst and where are their parents?   They are listed as scholars, so perhaps they had they been sent away to school, but where is their sister Alberta, twin to Abigail?   This photo is believed to be George’s daughter Abigail Courtney at school in England.  Could it have been taken in Holdenhurst?  She’s said to be the one with the white scarf around her neck near the tear on the bottom left hand corner. Believed to be Abigail Co...

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 c1...

This blog documents my ongoing research to establish the origins of   Arthur/George/William Courtenay/Courtney   my mothers paternal great grandfather.  I first started seriously researching my Courtenay/Courtney line with traditional research in about 2006 and explored many possible theories as to his identity.  In late 2010 I undertook DNA testing expecting my primary theory to be immediately confirmed.   I'm still searching... . Read my initial post -  The facts about George, or is it Arthur or William? For an overview of my research relating to George, please go to the  Research Summary . For more information about all my family research, please check out my  Genemonkey Website . This blog is an ongoing 'works in progress'.  Please contact me if you can help, via the form on the left hand side of this page. Featured image: By Richard Rixon, 1841 – Saint, A., Guillery, P. (ed.), Woolwich – Survey of London, Volume 48, p. 60. Yal...