Tuesday, June 20, 2023

George Miller in Esquessing

I've book looking through property records in hopes of finding some more clues about George Miller. Unfortunately it is a common name. I did come across a reference to a George Miller living in Concession V in Esquessing, Ontario:



I figured that it was somewhat unlikely that it would be the same one, but he did live in Halton region at one point.

So, I managed to look up the record and found that it was Lot 1, Concession V. A George Miller bought the land in 1826 and sold part of it in 1831. THe timing there might be ok, but then part of it was transferred via a will in 1848:



That makes it very unlikely that it's the same George Miller, because the one in my family died in 1891. I've confirmed that it was transferred via a will.

So, unfortunately, not the same George Miller. But at least I was able to rule it out

Monday, June 12, 2023

X00317 Update

Well the 1931 Census is available and so I thought i'd see if I could do a little ore research on X00317 - What happened to Ernest Ashton after 1912?.

I first managed to find Ernest by himself in the 1931 census, living in Toronto West as a boarder



But then, where is the rest of the family? So, I decided to do a search for Clarence Ashton, and found him listed as a step-son:



Clarence is living with his mother, Jennie Massey, it would appear and she remarried a may by the name of William Ashford. To confirm the details, I found the marriage record for William Ashford and Jean Ashton



As well, I found the reference to a divorce between Ernest and Jennie in 1926, although I have yet to find the original record for that.

So I have now found them up to 1931.

Next Steps
  • Check for British records to see if Ernest had moved back to the UK
  • Continue to check newspapers and cemetery records for the family
  • Check Toronto area directories to see if Ernest appears in them
  • Consider the possibility that the date of death in the family bible is not accurate

Monday, June 5, 2023

X00300: Who is Ann Sipin - Solved!

So, a few years ago, I posted about X00300, the question of who is Ann Sipin who shows up in the 1861 census living with Thomas Williams and family. She appears to be a member of the family somehow, but the surname was not one that I have found anywhere else.

I was looking at the 1861 census record again and started wondering if the surname could perhaps have been Tipping, rather than Sipin. It would make sense as one of Thomas William's daughters married into the Tipping family.

I checked, and Elizabeth Ann Tipping, who would have been born in 1853 did not appear with the rest of the Tipping family in the 1861 census. So it would make sense that the "Ann Sipin' in the 1861 census with the WIlliams family is in fact Elizabeth Ann Tipping.