Experienced people, what would you guess?

[Dizzi R.I.P.]

Deaths Jun 1916 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

McQuilliam Francis 45 Preston 8e 776

[Mary in Oz]

Dizzy That Francis you found in the 1881 census is the son of Francis and Mary McQuillan born 1864 Sunderland..
Looks like he is a large Common Boarding house like his father in the 1891 census.

so looks like in 1881

Dad Francis could be at sea.
Mary daughter is working as a maid.
Mother Mary has died.
Son FRancis is a labourer living in a large Boarding house.

dont think that birth you found in Liverpool is part of this family..

The death you found could be that of the son Francis born 1864..

[Dizzi R.I.P.]

IDEA
GWILLIAM ISWELSH FOR WILLIAM
WHAT IF OVER YEARS AN MISS HEARD AND SPELL
ITS ERNEST WILLIAM

[Dizzi R.I.P.]

Ramus Links - pafg108 - Generated by Personal Ancestral File
www.members.optusnet.com.au/pramus/pafg108.htm - CachedErnest Quilliam [Parents] was born in 1877 in Pericoota Australia. He died in 1963 in Glen Iris ... Elizabeth was born in 1880. She married Ernest Quilliam. ...

[erich]

Dear Mary & Dizzi

It is amazing how much you have been able to dig out, thanks for your efforts. Since I haven't been able to find an Ernest McQuillan Hargraves with parents Francis Hargraves and Mary McQuillan, as listed on his marriage and death certificates, something slightly irregular must be going on, and an illegitimate birth must be one of the most likely possibilities. Those Francis & Mary McQuillans in Durham/Sunderland are certainly interesting.

But going from there to something more definite looks very difficult to me, but there may be some possibilities. For example, I read in a Family History magazine just yesterday that illegitimate births can be traced because the church often performed a social welfare function by pressing the father to marry the mother, or at least provide maintenance, and thus church records might have some useful information.

This may be difficult for me to do from here in Australia, so I am considering paying for a UK-based researcher to do a bit of investigation for me.

Thanks again.

[Mary in Oz]

Eric.. Only to happy to help.. In this case I would assume that Ernest added his fathers name to his after he was registered.assuming he was registered, as I am not sure that back then it was compulsory to do so..I cant remember when the law came in that it was the responsibility of the parents to register their children..in the christenings I have seen in parish records illegitimate children were shown as such and no father shown.
Good luck with the researcher and do let us know how you get on,,we will be very interested..

[Dizzi R.I.P.]

JUST TRIED THIS
GOOGLE
DURHAM+MCQUILLIAM GENEALOGY
A LOT THERE SOME OLD IGI

[erich]

Good luck with the researcher and do let us know how you get on, we will be very interested..

Thanks Mary. So here is my feedback, just for the record.

I approached two Family History researchers in the UK, one a more expensive one who has done work for "Who do you think you are?" and the other a cheaper one. Both ended up, after a little discussion (and a little checking on the more expensive one's part), giving me a similar answer - they didn't think they could help me. I think they felt it would be a difficult task and risked spending my money for no result, which I would have accepted, but I think they felt it might leave a sour taste in my mouth.

So no result, back to square one.

[Mary in Oz]

What a blow Eric.. and I thought all those researchers on WDYTYA were geniuses...

Am busy with lots of family here this weekend but will have another look next week and see if we can come up with something..I feel that there has been a fudging of some names to and it is not going to be easy..but see if we can find anything more..will give it some thought.

[erich]

Thanks for any help Mary. Yes I feel there is some problem with names, or some other deliberate inaccuracy in some of the info.

My next idea is to approach this from a different angle. The NSW archives have a probate record for my grandfather after he died in 1939, which I will now have a look at (when I can make the 120 km round trip to Kingswood - they charge $50 for a copy to be posted!!!). While I think it is unlikely it will give any new information about his ancestry, it should at least say something about his descendants. His second wife had died 5 years before, and he left a daughter aged 12 at that time, so she had to be cared for. Perhaps I can trace her (so far I have her on an electoral roll in 1949, but nothing more) or whoever cared for her, and their descendants, and perhaps, just perhaps, somewhere there there is a lead, a photograph, a letter, something. It's a long shot, but I don't have any short shots! : (