Andrew Hook (1778/9 - 1881)

I found this article in the Alnwick Mercury, dated 1881 about an Andrew Hook who died about age 103.

Although it doesn't mention the parents by name, it mentions that he was born in Belford, Northumberland about 1778 or 1779 and that his father was a Northumbrian shepherd. Could he be a son of Andrew Hook and Elizabeth Logan? The date and location match, and Andrew Hook the elder was a shepherd. It might be a clue.

X00093 Elizabeth Logan Hook Death Information

Elizabeth Logan was my 5th Great Grandmother, and the wife of Andrew Hook. I had some difficulties in tracking her down later in her life, partly because I didn't have much to go on, and partly because the name of Elizabeth Hook is not that uncommon.

I found a few death certificate candidates and a few candidates in the 1841 census - including ones living in Belford, Northumberland, England. I had figured that the person in the Belford death record and 1841 census record was the most likely candidate, but wasn't 100% sure, until I found this news article in the Newcastle Courant:

The date corresponds with the date of death in the Belford death record and provides a link to Andrew Hook, and so I'm now confident that I have the right one.

On a side note, she's living with an Isabella Kinghorn in 1841 (born in 1820), and the witness to her death in 1847 was an Isabella Bromfield. Could it be the same person? Could Isabella be a granddaughter?

X00071 Andrew Hook EOL

Andrew Hook is my 5th Great-Grandfather and currently and End-Of-Line Ancestor. To this point I haven't found out much about him, other than he married Elizabeth Logan in Belford, Northumberland, England on 23 July 1786 and was a shepherd (according to his wife's death record). Elizbeth Logan Hook is listed as a widow in 1847, so he likely died before then.

Recently, I've found an index of a record for a burial on 24 October 1820 in Belford for an Andrew Hook. The age at death was 58 years, which would correspond to a birth year of about 1762, which would work with a marriage in 1786. so, it's a possibility. It's not definite, but the name, dates and locations match.

I don't have the original record yet, but I'll see if I can get a copy through the Family History Library and see if it gives any more information on it.

The genealogy sad dance

In my tree, I have a marriage between a George Miller and Margaret Farriage in Toronto Township in 1832 (October 25th, 1832 to be specific).


I was able to find a bit more information on George Miller - he was born 1809 in Poughkeepsie, New York - but not much on Margaret Farriage. It certainly doesn't help that the surname Farriage takes on a number of variations - sometimes there is only one r, sometimes e's replace the a's and sometimes there is no letter i.

I managed to find a Margaret Farridge through FamilySearch.org born May 1st, 1804 in Rothbury, Northumberland, England, daughter of William Farridge.



The name is close enough and the timeline is not outside the realm of possibility. As well, George and Margaret's second son was named William, so it all fits. But I was a little hesitant to make the jump that this could be the same person in both Nelson Township, Ontario and in Rothbury, Northumberland, England without more proof.

Now, this was back in the early days when I was just starting out in genealogy. I managed to get in touch with a distant cousin who had spent many years researching the Farriage line and she had the two as the same person, so I made the connection in my tree, figuring that I would verify it with my own research later.

So, fast-forward to a few months ago. I'm now getting around to verifying that line. There was a wavy leaf on Ancestry.com that led me to some other people who had Margaret Farriage in their tree. Most of them either had the same connection as I did or no date of death. But interestingly, two of them had a death date of 1809 with no source. I contacted them, but (like many people with trees on ancestry) neither of them know where the information had come from, and had likely copied it from someone else.

So, I ordered the microfilm reel for Rothbury and sure enough I found the burial entry:



It's blurry, but it's a Margaret Farriage, daughter of William Farriage died October, 1809, aged 5 years. It's definitely the same person.

So, the Rothbury Margaret Farriage born 1804 is not the same as the Nelson Township Margaret Farriage. I checked the Rothbury Baptisms to see if the family had named a later child Margaret, but didn't find anything. So, I now have to delink that branch of the family, and go back to square one as far as finding Margaret's actual birth date, place & parents. It's a bit of a genealogy sad dance, but finding out the truth is far better than wasting time researching the wrong family.