Genealogy Chat

My gt grandmother was born, she believed on 4th apr 1918. Her name was Ellen (known as Nellie) Hetherington. The surname was that of her "adopted" parents.
Apparently she was daughter of a well to do american lady who was married to a local farmer. He went away to war, and she got pregnant in the meantime. Isabel Hethington apparently looked after several nurse children, Ellen's mother left her with Isabel when she was a few weeks old, said she would be back in a few days and was never seen again.
When Isabel died in about 1960, amongst her things was a birth certificate for an Ellen, born 1917 in Longtown, Carlisle, mothers name Wear. This would seem to fit, except that the birth date didnt tie with when my nana thought she was born.
I am trying to find out where this cert has ended up.. I can find no bmd record for this. Apparently my gt aunt went to the record office in carlisle for another copy and they couldnt find it either.

The other info that has been passed down is that apparently Ellen's real mother officially opened the working mens club in Parton, Cumbria and so presumably had some standing in the community.

Also, apparently Ellen once went to see the Kinsella's in Whitehaven (same name as the fruit and veg place in the market I presume) who were relatives of her mother's husband (the one that was away at war) they were not at all pleased to see her and told her to get lost and never to come back.

Any ideas on the way forward would be great, my gt nana unfortunately died in 2003, but my nana and her 5 sisters would still be very interested in knowing her origins.

I have just spoken to my mother, and apparently nana looked very much like the Kinsella's.. she seems to think that the relationship is different to what ive put above.. who knows at this point!!

A couple of ideas. There's a website pastpresented all about Parton. Had a quick look but couldn't see anything about the opening of the club. Might be worth contacting the site owner, to see if they know anything. The club was listed in the 1914 directory on that site, but not in the 1910. If you could find out when it opened, then there may be an article about it in the local paper. If you had the mothers name, then that would help!

Yep, once we get the mothers name, all will be much clearer! Im trawling through ww1 records at the mo, trying to see if theres any kinsellas. Ive already checked for wear - Kinsella marriages. None that ive found.

There are 4 births for Kinsella, mothers maiden name Wear, on free bmd 1912-1920 in Whitehaven district, but none 1917/18 for an Ellen

Ah.. from the parton site.. apparently planning permission was requested as follows:

Ref. Date Project Client
553 1908 Dec 31 Young Men's Club Carruthers

AH!!! You could have something though.. maybe thats the lady we are looking for's other children??. I presume she might have tried to keep ellen a secret??

Also, thinking about it, I dont suppose Ellen would be registered with the surname Kinsella as she was illegitimate?

These are the entries on BMD...

Births Mar 1912 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinsella Eva Wear Whitehaven 10b 1345

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Births Dec 1913 (95%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinsella Benjamin M Wear Whitehaven 10b 1272

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Births Jun 1915 (87%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinsella Kathleen Wear Whitehaven 10b 1386

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Births Mar 1920 (98%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinsella Benjamin Wear Whitehaven 10b 1609


Interestingly.. none when hubby would have been away at war!!!

There's a birth in June 1918 in Whitehaven, of Louisa Kinsella, mothers maiden name Wear Vol 10b, p 1223 (I think - page is hard to read). Could this be her??

Got a marriage!!!

Patrick Kinsella 1898 Jul-Aug-Sep Whitehaven Cumbria, Cumberland
Elizabeth Wear 1898 Jul-Aug-Sep Whitehaven Cumbria, Cumberland

Whitehaven 10b/ 1082

Hmm.. this one isnt american though..

Elizabeth Kinsella
Age: 22
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1879
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: Patrick
Gender: Female
Where born: Whitehaven, Cumberland, England

Civil Parish: Whitehaven
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
Town: Whitehaven
County/Island: Cumberland
Country: England

Ann, as far as I know the cert said Longtown, which is near carlisle!!???

I don't know that area at all, so wouldn't have a clue where Whitehaven and Longtown are. Do you have the cert?

I dont have it at the moment.. my gt aunt is trying to find it, she doesnt know which sister ended up with it when my nana died.

Whitehaven is abt 40 miles from Carlisle.

I really thought we had sussed it there until Elizabeth turned out not to be from America!

Have you found Elizabeth on the 1891? She may not have been American, or the birthplace on the census you found was wrong.

1891 England Census
about Elizabeth Wear
Name: Elizabeth Wear
Age: 12
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1879
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: William
Mother's Name: Ann J
Gender: Female
Where born: Whitehaven, Cumberland, England

Civil Parish: Whitehaven
Ecclesiastical parish: St Bees
County/Island: Cumberland
Country: England

Definitely not american by the looks of it..

The other things that dont quite tie up are, that in 1901 she is a miners wife. The club opened somewhere between 1910 and 1914, so she would have had to have a nice change of fortune to be important enough to open it.
Also, My nana was told that her mums husband was a farmer.. Patrick was a miner!?

Think we're close, but not there yet, lol.

If she was American, they might have got married in the US?

Is that a possibility???????????



sylvia

The Kinsellas are a very Whitehaven based family from what ive seen on census' etc. Its worth a look tho.. off to ancestry.com I go. lol

Oh..... fiddlesticks... lol.

My ancestry.com membership has run out, and I dont really want to pay $25 for another month, could anyone else have a look for me? There are apparently 64 Kinsella Marriages, but I havnt worked out if I can search for both Kinsella and Wear??

Found this birth

WEAR Ellen L mmn Wear Longtown.10b 962 AMJ 1918

Andy