X00307: White Bear Hotel

In the 1841 census as well as some of his children's birth and baptism records show Thomas Williams as being the publican of the White Bear Hotel on Dale Street in Liverpool.

I was doing some research on the history of the hotel and found out that Herman Melville stayed at the hotel on 8 November 1856, according to his diaries.

I was trying to determine the time period in which he would have owned the hotel. I first found this article [D06804] from the Liverpool Mercury, 22 September 1837 and mentions that Thomas Williams just took over the operations:



Then I found this article [D06806], also from the Liverpool Mercury, dated 3 May 1871 that mentions that the hotel has remained under the same ownership for 30 years.



So that gives us a range of 1837 to 1841 in which Thomas Williams ran the hotel.

Next, I'd like to find out more about the history of the Inn - when it was founded and when it went out of business. It no longer exists.

Update on X00287 Samina Foxwell Williams

I had posted previously about X00287: What happened to Samina Foxwell Williams. Evidently she married a Joseph McInnis at some time in the 1870s and died in Walnut, Pottawattamie County, Iowa in November of 1878. Since then, I've been trying to find either some indication of a marriage record, a death record or anything about Joseph McInnis.

According to one historical site that has biographies of Iowa pioneers, there was a Joseph McGinnis who lived in Pottawattamie County. But the bio says that he married a Roxanna Bridges in May of 1878 and it does not mention a prior marriage, so it is not likely the same person.

I did some searching on Newspaperarchive.com but didn't find any clues there.

I contacted the Pottawattamie Genealogical Society. They weren't able to find any marriage or death records, but did find a Joseph McInnis aged 40 born in Ireland and a widower in the 1880 census living in Brighton, Cass County, which is close to Pottawattamie County.



I then found a Joseph McGinnis living in Illinois in the 1870 census working as a farm labourer.



If it is the same person as in the 1880 census, it would mean that he got married and his wife died between 1870 and 1880, which would fit. It's a possibility, but definitely needs more investigation.

Next actions:
* Look more in depth into the census records
* Continue to check records from Iowa (and other locations)
* Check other newspaper sources

X00291: What happened to Hester Sophia Williams after 1841?

Hester Sophia Williams is daughter of Thomas Williams and Sybil Foxwell for whom I have very little information (a similar case to Samina Foxwell Williams - see X00287)

There are two sources that I've found for her so far:
1) Her 1833 baptism record [D00028]



2) The 1841 census where she appears with the rest of the family [D01530]



So, here are the details that we have:

• She was baptized in 1833 and so was likely born about 1833 [D00028].
• The family moved to Canada around 1842 and eventually settled in Guelph, Ontario. The 1851 census for Guelph did not survive, so the earliest census in which the family appears is the 1861 census (where she would have been about 28 years old). She does not appear with the rest of the family in the 1861 census [D01597].

Here are the possibilities:

1. She died in the UK before the family came to Canada. In that case she would have died between 1841 and 1845.
2. She stayed in the UK and never came to Canada. That would have been very unlikely as she would have been under 10 years old when the family came to Canada.
3. She came to Canada, but died prior to 1861
4. She came to Canada, but married prior to 1861.

I'm going to dismiss option 2 as unlikely. So, the next actions are:

• Check UK deaths and burials for 1841-1842 [Option 1]
• Check Guelph and Orillia burials prior to 1861 [Option 3]
• Check Guelph and Orillia newspapers for deaths prior to 1861 [Option 3]
• Check marriages prior to 1861 [Option 4]
• Check later census records for a hester, ester or sophia born 1833 in England [Option 4]
• Check death records for a hester, ester or sophia born 1833 in England [Option 4]

Sources:
[D00028] Saint Peter (Liverpool, Lancashire, England), "Baptism Record - Hester Sophia Williams," Batch No P020273; Dates 1826 - 1833l Source Call No 0093877-0093879; FHL microfilm.

[D01530] 1841 census of England, Liverpool, Lancashire, folio 45, page 37; digital images(accessed 6 May 2018); citing PRO HO 107/559/15.

[D01597] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Guelph, Guelph, p. 14; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018).

Profile: Gabriel Williams (1825-1854)

Gabriel Williams [1825-1854]

Gabriel Williams was born in 1825 [D00029, D01459, D01530] in Gloucester, England, the son of Thomas Williams (ca. 1792 – 1868) and Sibyl Foxwell (1798-1874). He was the fourth child and second son of the couple.

Gabriel grew up in Minchinhampton, Gloucester. The Williams family moved to Liverpool in the 1830s and when Gabriel was old enough to begin working, he followed in his father’s footsteps into the clothing industry and worked as a hatter’s assistant in Liverpool [D01530].

The Williams family emigrated to Canada West in the early 1840s and first settled in Orillia, Simcoe County but eventually relocated to Guelph, Wellington County. Thomas Williams set up a business as a brewer in Guelph and like his brothers, Gabriel worked as a brewer as part of his father’s business [D04688].

Sadly, Gabriel died 22 May 1854 at the age of 29 years and was buried on 26 May 1854 [D01459].



Sources
[D00029] (Minchinhampton, Gloucester, England), "Baptism Record - Gabriel Williams," Batch No C049002; Dates 1813 - 1875; Source Call no; 0857041; FHL microfilm.

[D01459] "Deaths," Guelph Mercury, 25 may 1854; digital images, Ancestry.ca (ancestry.ca : accessed 9 Jun 2018)

[D01530] 1841 census of England, Liverpool, Lancashire, folio 45, page 37; digital images(accessed 6 May 2018); citing PRO HO 107/559/15.

[D04688] Canada. Ontario. Wellington. Assessment Roll for the Town of Guelph, 1853. Guelph Public Library, Guelph. Guelph Public Library, Guelph. Guelph Public Library, Guelph.

X00287 Samina "Minnie" Foxwell Williams

One of the daughters of Thomas Williams and Sybil Foxwell was named Samina Foxwell Williams. She was born in 1841 in Liverpool, England and emigrated with the rest of the family in the 1840s. For the longest time, I wasn't able to determine what happened to her after 1871: I couldn't find her in any of the Ontario census, marriage or death records.

I did eventually find a name in the Greenwood Cemetery burial listings of a Minnie McInnis who died in 1878 and is buried in a location close to Thomas and Sybil Williams. I figured that Minnie could be a possible nickname for Samina. As far as I am aware, however, there is no surviving gravestone. I'll verify that the next time I'm in Owen Sound.

So, I had a look in the Owen Sound papers and came across this article from the November 29, 1878 Owen Sound Times:



The sister (Mrs John Douglas) would be Louisa Williams. So, it would appear that she married a Joseph McInnis sometime between 1871 and 1878 and died in Walnut, Iowa in November 1878 (one newspaper gives the date as November 25th and another one gives it as November 26th). Thus far, however, I have not been able to find a marriage or death record for her.

So, I'm still looking for marriage and death records. Here are the known facts about Samina "Minnie" Foxwell Williams McInnis:

• Born Jan 20, 1841 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
• Baptised May 20, 1841, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
• Emigrated to Canada West in the 1840s, first settled in Guelph. Later moved to Owen sound.
• Was in Owen Sound in 1871 and unmarried (from the 1871) census
• Marriage to Joseph McInnis sometime between 1871 and 1878
• Died November 26 1878 (or November 25th) in Walnut, Pottawattamie, Iowa, USA
• Buried Greenwood Cemetery November 30, 1878 Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario, Canada