Alice Gillell is Alice Gillett...Ashton Under Lyne...1865 to 1915

In the past, I've posted about the burial of Alice Gillell Dodd. In my latest, check of the records, I located a marriage record that indicates her name was Alice Gillett.

Alice married Robert Dodd in the first quarter of 1894 in Stockport, Cheshire, England.

With the probable correct spelling of Alice's maiden name, I now have a new line of research.

If you have info to add, please leave a comment for me.

The Three Poppies...Dodd's in World War I

In 2015, to commemorate the dead from World War I,  ceramic poppies were placed around the Tower of London. Each poppy represented one dead Englishman from the war. Click here to see pictures. Three of those poppies were for members of the McKee family.

Poppy 

Henry "Harry" Dodd (s/o Frederick William Dodd + Esther Middleton)
DOB: 21 Dec 1896 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England
DOD: 13 Aug 1917 France

http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk/d.php

Henry Dodd M.M.
Lance Corporal, 49482. 11 th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. Killed in action 13 August 1917, aged 20. Born: Ashton under Lyne. Enlisted: Stockport. Son of Frederick & Esther, 173 Curzon Road, Ashton under Lyne.  

Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper, Belgium. 

Award of the Military Medal published in the London Gazette, 14 August 1917. Announcements are normally made approximately three months after the particular act for which the medal is given.

Click here to see  memorial on monument at Hurst Cemetery.

Poppy 

Albert Dodd (s/o Albert Dodd + Mary Jane Hibbert Taylor)
DOB: 28 Dec 1892 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England
DOD: 22 Aug 1916 France
Albert's rank was Gunner and he is buried in Peronne Cemetery, Maricourt, Somme, France. Click here for more information.

Click here to see  memorial on monument at Hurst Cemetery.

Poppy

John William Dodd (s/o Albert Dodd + Mary Jane Hibbert Taylor)
DOB: Dec Q 1895 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England
DOD: 22 Oct 1918 Germany
John's rank was Private and he died as a POW. His service number is 48500. John is buried in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Click here for more information on John's service.

Albert and John wrote letter home and portions of their letters were published in a local newspaper.

http://ashtonpals.webs.com/1915page14.htm

(1915 Pg 14) 

Published in the Reporter 25 Sep 1915
TWO ASHTON BROTHERS
Corporal J. W. Dodd, who is attached to the machine gun section of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dodd, of 153, Burlington street, Ashton, and who, as announced in the Reporter last week, was wounded in the leg while fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula on August 7th, is making good progress. He is now in hospital at Plymouth, and writes on September 13th as follows: - "I have arrived in England. We are nice and comfortable, and have plenty of good food. I am able to walk a little today. I am going to have a piece of skin put on my leg, as the wound is to big to heal itself." The wound has not touched the bone, the bullet being buried in the flesh, according to a previous letter sent by Corporal DODD. A brother, Gunner ALBERT DODD, is serving with the Royal Field Artillery in France, where he has been engaged on active service for about ten weeks. In a letter to his parents he says: - "We are having it a bit quiet just now. I am writing this letter at one of our observation posts. I get 24 hours every eight days on the telephone. I have just been watching some of our shells bursting right in the German trenches. It is worth seeing. the other day we blew up one of their trench mortars and the men who were working it. We also dug one of their shells up that had not burst. It was about 9ft in solid hard clay." The observations post referred to by Gunner Dodd is a captive balloon, from which the effects of the British shellfire is seen, and the results telephoned to the battery below.

Percy Vincent Fletcher 1896-1960 England and Canada

I've continued to review entries in my database systematically. As a result, I have additional information on Percy Vincent Fletcher.

Percy Vincent Fletcher (s/o Arthur Fletcher + Agnes Dodd)
DOB: 25 Jan 1896 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England
DOD: 12 Aug 1960 Canada (Most likely in Mississauga, Peel, Ontario)

DOM: Jun Q 1919 St. Paul, Stalybridge, Cheshire, England

Mabel Bradley (d/o Samuel Eli Bradley + Mary Jane Cooper)
DOB: 7 Apr 1895 Bollington, Cheshire, England
DOD: 1978 Canada (Most likely in Mississauga, Peel, Ontario)

Mississauga is in the metro area for Toronto, Canada and I'm currently looking for obituaries for both Percy and Mabel.

The only child that they had that I'm aware of at this point is:
Marjorie Fletcher
DOB: 1921 Stalybridge, Cheshire, England
DOD: Unknown
DOM: Unknown

Percy served in the British Navy. His first date of service is 12 Mar 1912 aboard the Ganges. His last date of service is 19 Feb 1920 aboard the Vivid I. His service number is J16251. He is listed as an Iron Fitter.

Percy emigrated to Canada aboard the Athenia, arriving in Canada on 4 Jul 1926. He was followed by Mabel and Marjorie aboard the Doric, leaving Liverpool, England on 16 Apr 1927. Ship's records show that the last address for the Fletcher family in England was 20 Chorlton Street, Openshaw, Lancashire, England.

Percy and Mabel settled in Canada and lived their lives out there. For the latter part of their lives, they lived at 514 Lakeshore E, Mississauga, Peel, Ontario, Canada.

Both Percy and Mabel are buried in Springcreek Cemetery, Mississauga, Peel, Ontario, Canada. Look for the following Find A Grave memorials: 13934899 and 13934904.

British Update

I've updated the tree book. Click here to download the latest PDF of the book.

The National Archive of the UK released the 1939 Register, which was taken just prior to World War II. According to the website Find My Past, the register is accurate because the register was used for rationing. Because of its use, people tended to take it seriously and provided accurate information. I found some information for the British members of the McKee family. Here's the updated information.

1.1.2.4.4
John William Smith DOB 18 Mar 1897 Ashton Under Lyne, County Lancashire, England DOD Bef 1957
Marriage 31 Jul 1920 Ashton Under Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Isabella Young DOB 7 Apr 1898 Ashton Under Lyne, County Cheshire, England

1.1.2.4.10
Richard Smith DOB 3 Sep 1904

1.1.2.4.12
Henry "Harry" Smith DOB 18 Mar 1908

1.1.3.3.2
Ernest Dodd DOB 13 Feb 1890 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England DOD 1961 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Married 18 Aug 1917 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Clara May Webb DOB 1892 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England

1.1.3.3.3
Sarah Ann Dodd DOB 17 May 1893 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Married 4 Apr 1915 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Henry "Harry" Ibbotson DOB 1886 Stalybridge, County Lancashire, England DOD Bef 1939
Children:
Ernest Edmund Ibbotson DOB 16 Oct 1915 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England DOD 1991 County Cheshire, England
Eunice Ibbotson DOB 1917 Ashton-Under-Lyne, County Lancashire, England
Alan Ibbotson DOB 20 Aug 1918

1.1.3.5
Albert Dodd DOB 8 Apr 1866
Mary Jane H. Hibbert DOB 23 Dec 1868

1.1.3.5.6
Alfred Dodd DOB 21 Aug 1901

1.1.3.5.6.3
Glenys Dodd DOB 1941 Stalybridge, County Cheshire England; DOD Jan 1942 Stalybridge, County Cheshire, England
Note: Glenys was previously unmatched with parents. She is the daughter of Alfred Dodd and Florence Elizabeth Jones.

1.1.3.7.1
Elizabeth Bowen DOB 2 May 1903

1.1.3.10.2
Frank Wallwork DOB 23 Sep 1895 DOD 1962 Ashton and Mossley, County Lancashire, England

If you have anything to add, please contact me.

Surprise in my Cheshire ListServ

I still subscribe to a few lists. Younger researchers might or might not pay attention to this older technology. Basically, you subscribe to an email list, people send emails to the list address, and emails with contents are sent to everybody who subscribes to the list. The Cheshire ListServ has always been an active one and well worth the time to go through the email I receive because of the subscription. I've written about this list before in the post British Bonanza.

Click here to find out more about these lists.

Well today, the very kind Vanessa Dixon posted a link to a YouTube video of Dukinfield Cemetery & Crematorium. The video is basically a walking tour of this large cemetery. I have several burials there. Here's the Find A Grave list:

George Duncan Dodd
Agnes Eleanor Kay Gough
Norman Joseph Gough
Isaac Henshaw
Jane Anderson Smith Henshaw
Dinah Smith Kay
James Taylor Kay
Agnes Eleanor Anderson Smith
Clara Smith

Since I'm not jetting off to Dukinfield anytime soon (sigh...), being able to see Vanessa's video was a lovely surprise. Vanessa has 187 other posted videos. So I suppose I'll be picking through YouTube videos and seeing what else Vanessa has that I might find interesting.

Older technology (ListServ) working with newer technology (YouTube)...It's a good genealogy thing...

P.S. Vanessa also has a photostream on Flickr. Looks like it's visual arts night.

Try Going Local

An article in the online free eZine GenealogyInTime suggested that if you are looking for information outside of the United States that you use the localized Google search engine for the country in question. I have only two international locations that I need to search in: England and Ireland. I decided to check out what different results I'd get if I used Google.co.uk. Here's what I found.

Discovered Marriages
Ernest Dodd married Clara May Webb 18 Aug 1917
http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Ashton-under-Lyne/stpeter/marriages_1915-1917.html
Marriage: 18 Aug 1917 St Peter, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs.
Ernest Dodd - 27, 2nd. Kings Own R. Lancaster, Bachelor, 79 Mount Street
Clara Webb - 26, Cardroom Hand, Spinster, 7 Hawthorne Grove
    Groom's Father: Frederick Dodd, Labourer (wife Ester Middleton)
    Bride's Father: George Webb, Gas Stoker
    Witness: Henry Ibbotson; Sarah Ann Ibbotson
    Married by Banns by: T. W. Pughe Morgan, Vicar
    Register: Marriages 1915 - 1917, Page 100, Entry 200
    Source: LDS Family Search

Sarah Ann Dodd married Henry Ralph "Harry" Ibbotson 4 Apr 1915
Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930
Name: Henry Ibbotson
Marriage Date: 21 Mar 1915
Parish: Ashton under Lyne, St James the Apostle
Parish as it Appears: St James Church Ashton-Under-Lyne
Spouse's Name: Sarah Ann Dodd
Reference Number: L163/1/5/3
Item Number: 6
Archive Roll: 847

Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930
Name: Henry Ibbotson
Birth Year: abt 1886
Age: 29
Marriage Date: 4 Apr 1915
Parish: Ashton under Lyne, St James the Apostle
Parish as it Appears: St James, Ashton-Under-Lyne
Father's Name: Thomas Ibbotson
Spouse's Name: Sarah Ann Dodd
Spouse's Father's Name: Frederick Dodd (wife Esther Middleton)
Reference Number: L163/1/2/3
Item Number: 1
Archive Roll: 847

Alfred Dodd married Florence Elizabeth Jones 30 Oct 1922
Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930
Name: Alfred Dodd
Birth Year: abt 1901
Age: 21
Marriage Date: 30 Oct 1922
Parish: Ashton Under Lyne, St Peter
Parish as it Appears: St Peter Ashton Under Lyne
Father's Name: Albert Dodd
Spouse's Name: Florence Jones
Spouse's Father's Name: John Jones
Reference Number: L74/1/2/10
Item Number: 2
Archive Roll: 519

In addition, I found two christening records to two daughters Cecila and Florence. However, if you look on Ancestry.com, you find that the two daughters might be one daughter named Florence Elizabeth Cecilia Dodd. Therefore, children for this couple remains a fuzzy area. 

Discovered World War I Correspondence

Albert Dodd and John William Dodd

http://ashtonpals.m.webs.com/   (1915 Pg 14)

Published in the Reporter 25 Sep 1919

TWO ASHTON BROTHERS

Corporal J. W. Dodd, who is attached to the machine gun section of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dodd, of 153, Burlington street, Ashton, and who, as announced in the Reporter last week, was wounded in the leg while fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula on August 7th, is making good progress. He is now in hospital at Plymouth, and writes on September 13th as follows: - "I have arrived in England. We are nice and comfortable, and have plenty of good food. I am able to walk a little today. I am going to have a piece of skin put on my leg, as the wound is to big to heal itself." The wound has not touched the bone, the bullet being buried in the flesh, according to a previous letter sent by Corporal DODD. A brother, Gunner ALBERT DODD, is serving with the Royal Field Artillery in France, where he has been engaged on active service for about ten weeks. In a letter to his parents he says: - "We are having it a bit quiet just now. I am writing this letter at one of our observation posts. I get 24 hours every eight days on the telephone. I have just been watching some of our shells bursting right in the German trenches. It is worth seeing. the other day we blew up one of their trench mortars and the men who were working it. We also dug one of their shells up that had not burst. It was about 9ft in solid hard clay." The observations post referred to by Gunner Dodd is a captive balloon, from which the effects of the British shellfire is seen, and the results telephoned to the battery below.

Parents: Albert Dodd and Mary Jane Hibbert

John William Dodd death record:

http://tamesidefamilyhistory.co.uk/pow.htm

Dodd J Private Manchester Regiment 

153 Burlington Street, Ashton under Lyne (dead)

Action Ashton 11 Jan 1919

Parents: Albert Dodd and Mary Jane Hibbert

This record may indicate that I have an error in that I have John marrying Sylvia Storer in Q4 1935 and having a child (Shirley Dodd). The name Dodd is common in the area and it might well be that I have records two different John William Dodd men crossed. Any help sorting this out would be appreciated. 

Discovered Deaths or Burial Locations

Nellie Dodd

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Ashton-under-Lyne/stmichael/index.html

Burial: 26 Dec 1901 St Michael and All Angels, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs.

Nellie Dodd - 

    Age: 22 mths

    Abode: 153 Burlington Street

    Buried by: C. H. Bagott

    Register: Burials 1892 - 1908, Page 226, Entry 1806

    Source: LDS Film 1550973

    Parents: Albert Dodd and Mary Jane Hibbert

Alfred Dodd and Florence Elizabeth Jones

http://www.stg.org.uk/content/pages/documents/1376749516.pdf

R36 G8 

ALFRED DODD 30/12/1948 (Parents: Joseph Dodd and Agnes Anderson)

FLORENCE DODD 17/01/1979

(Low headstone in book format) In loving memory of (left side) 

A dear husband and father ALFRED DODD who died 26th Dec. 1949 aged 47 years (right side) A dear wife and mother FLORENCE DODD who died 11th Jan. 1979 aged 76 years

Ada Hannah Smith 

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Ashton-under-Lyne/stmichael/index.html 

Burial: 21 Oct 1899 St Michael and All Angels, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs.

Ada Hannah Smith - (Parents: William Smith and Agnes Eleanore Anderson)

    Age: 11 mths

    Abode: Fleet St

    Buried by: George A. Pugh Rector

    Register: Burials 1892 - 1908, Page 193, Entry 1543

    Source: LDS Film 1550973

Conclusion

My voyage into the use of another Google search engine has answered a lot of outstanding questions and uncovered a possible problem with John William Dodd. I'm going to continue searching for additional information to see if there's anything else I've missed. As an exercise, this one has been rather profitable for my research project. So, if you are googling in other countries, you might want to try going local and see if you get results that you've missed using the American version of Google.

Henry "Harry" Dodd

I haven't been posting of late. I've been too busy trying to hold my life together...too much to go into and more info than you might want to hear. Anyway, I've started pecking away again at my family history. No guarantees on how consistent I might be over the next few months. But I came across something that any Dodd/Anderson researchers on this list will be interested in.

Henry "Harry" Dodd
s/o Frederick William Dodd + Esther Middleton
grandson of Joseph Dodd + Agnes Anderson
b. 21 Dec 1896 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England
d. 13 Aug 1917 France & Flanders World War I

Click here to see entry in list of honor.
Henry Dodd M.M.
Lance Corporal, 49482. 11 th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. Killed in action 13 August 1917, aged 20. Born: Ashton under Lyne. Enlisted: Stockport. Son of Frederick & Esther, 173 Curzon Road, Ashton under Lyne. Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper, Belgium.
Award of the Military Medal published in the London Gazette, 14 August 1917. Announcements are normally made approximately three months after the particular act for which the medal is given.

Click here to get a copy of a certificate...a lovely certificate with pictures of the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium. The site includes a picture of the inside walls...filled with so many names. A soldier's name was added to the wall when his resting place was unknown. It's worth a look.

A cousin had told me about the fact that Henry appeared on the gate. I was googling when I found these two entries, which provide more detail than the cousin had told me. Lesson learned? Google it every single time!

Dodd Cousin

For the past few days, I've been exchanging emails with a distant Dodd cousin named Julia. Julia and her brother Raymond are interested in pursuing research on the Dodd line. I'm not even sure how Julia found me. Her email just popped up. But then, it isn't as if I'm not posting and fishing for information.

I've armed Julia and Raymond with everything I have on the Dodd line so that they are not starting from scratch. I've also contacted Vivian, another cousin from the same line. Perhaps they might be interested in working together. If anything further develops, I'll be sure to blog about it.

I think I received the following certificates from Vivian.

Marriage Certificate Joseph Dodd and Agnes Anderson

Birth Certificate Albert Dodd

Fletcher Researcher

In the flurry of all the British research, I happened upon another researcher who is working on the Fletcher line. His name is Peter and he lives in the U.K. I've sent him a gedcom with everything I have on the Dodd line. Thanks to the recent British Bonanza, I had something to send him! Anyway, if you're a Fletcher researcher, here's the address to Peter's website: www.fletcherfamilytree.net.

Here are the Fletcher's from my family tree:

Agnes Dodd d/o Joseph and Agnes (Anderson) Dodd
m 26 Mar 1895 St. John, Dukinfield, Cheshire
Arthur Fletcher b. 1875 Hyde, Cheshire

Agnes and Arthur had the following children:
Percy Vincent Fletcher b. 25 Jan 1896
Mary Louisa Fletcher b. 11 Jul 1897
Hepzibah Fletcher b. 10 Oct 1899
Jack Fletcher b. Mar 1903

After all this activity, I'm back in a lull...gets bits and pieces as I go back and concentrate on people who have the Custom ID of D for dead (or based on their date of birth, probably dead). Genealogy can be a goulish pursuit.

Agnes Anderson + Joseph Dodd in England

The family of Agnes (Anderson) Dodd is one of the English families that I'm chasing. Here's a run down of the family.

Jospeph Dodd
Joseph Dodd (b. 1835 Wallasey, Cheshire d. Mar 1900 Ashton Under Lyne, Cheshire)
m. 16 Mar 1857 Saint Stephen's Church, Audenshaw, Lancashire to
Agnes Anderson (b. 1834 Ireland d. 1886 Woodchurch Hospital, Cheshire)

Joseph and Agnes had the following children:
Sarah Jane Dodd b. 1859 (I have no additional information)
Fredrick Dodd b. 12 Feb 1861
William Edward Dodd b. 24 May 1863 (I have no additional information)
Albert Dodd b. 18 Apr 1866
Louisa Dodd b. 21 Nov 1869
Robert Dodd b. 3 Dec 1871
George Duncan Dodd b. 17 Nov 1873 (See Find A Grave memorial 68439906)
Agnes Dodd b. 23 Mar 1876

Fredrick Dodd
m. 17 Oct 1886 St. Michael's, Ashton Under Lyne Lancashire
Esther Middleton b. 1862 Mottram in Longdendale, Cheshire

Fredrick and Esther had the following children:
John William Dodd b. 13 Nov 1887
Ernest Dodd b. 13 Feb 1890
Sarah Ann Dodd b. 14 May 1893
Henry Dodd b. 21 Dec 1896

Albert Dodd
m. have no info
Mary Jane (Unknkown)

Albert and Mary Jane had the following children:
Sarah Jane Dodd b. 1891
Albert Dodd b. 1893
John William Dodd b. 1895
Alice Dodd b. 1898
Nellie Dodd b. 1900

Louisa Dodd
m 29 May 1897 St. Michael's, Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire
John Owen b. 1864

Louisa and John had the following children:
Robert Andrew Owen b. 26 Jun 1899
Jack Owen b. 21 Dec 1904

Robert Dodd
m. between 1891 and 1895
Alice Gillell

Agnes Dodd
m 26 Mar 1895 St. John, Dukinfield, Cheshire
Arthur Fletcher b. 1875 Hyde, Cheshire

Agnes and Arthur had the following children:
Percy Vincent Fletcher b. 25 Jan 1896
Mary Louisa Fletcher b. 11 Jul 1897
Hepzibah Fletcher b. 10 Oct 1899
Jack Fletcher b. Mar 1903

I have some additional information on marriages for the grandchildren. If you are chasing info for this Dodd family, please contact me. I'm happy to trade info with other researchers.

British Bonanza

For about the past 24 hours, I've been consumed with a website. My marathon session started when I asked a question on the Cheshire (England) list about the National Burial Index (NBI) CD. The latest CD costs about $50 and has 18,000,000 burials on it. Before I plunked down my cash, I wanted to know what the coverage was for Cheshire.

In response to my query, I received lots of information, all of which lead me to the conclusion that I'm not interested in the NBI CD right now. I was most grateful for the help. Trying to figure out what to buy and what to do in another country can be a challenge.

One gentleman, Adrian Bruce, replied after all of the flurry of emails had pretty much subsided. He suggested that I visit the Bereavement Services page of the Tameside website. I'm familiar with the website. In England, the county and city councils all have websites that provide their citizens with government-related information and services. In past visits, I hadn't found much of interest for me.

On faith, I followed Adrian's instructions to look for Family History - Burial and Cremation Records. Below the link is a Search the Records link for 175,000 burial and cremation records from Tameside MBC cemeteries. The entries cover Ashton (Hurst), Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield, Droylsden, Hyde, Mottram and Mossley. I've had Dodd and Anderson relatives living in many of these places. So I gave it a whirl...OMG! Here's what I hit.

Albert Dodd (b.18 Apr 1866 Dukinfield d. 1940). He's buried in Ashton Cemetery, Section B, Grave 523. His appointment date was 15 Jan 1940, which I assume is the day he was brought to the cemetery. Albert's grave reference is a link. Click it and you find out who else is buried in the grave with him.

Mary Jane Dodd (b. 1867 Ashton Under Lyne d. 1943 (new info!). I knew from English census entries that Albert was married to a Mary Jane, and I knew the couple had the following children: Sarah Jane, Albert, John William, Alice, and Nellie.

Alice (Dodd) Mottram (b. 1898 Ashton Under Lyne d. 1967 (new info!). Alice's appointment date was 11 Mar 1967. Using Cheshire BMD, I had narrowed down possible marriages for Alice and one of them was to a William Hector Baden Mottram. I can now look at ordering certificates with a bit of assurance that I'm on the right track.

Glenys Dodd was the last person included in the grave site. Her appointment was 22 Jan 1942. I'm not sure who Glenys is. I'm assuming she's a granddaughter that I've yet to discover. In all of this I haven't stopped to check Cheshire BMD to see what her date of birth might be.

I've been in look up overload as a result of this initial success. Here's a list of everyone at the website that I've found so far:

George Duncan Dodd (b. 17 Nov 1873 Dukinfield d. 1918 Ashton Town)

Robert Dodd (b. 3 Dec 1871 Dukinfield d. 1915) w/wife Alice (Gillell) Dodd (d. 1915)

Sylvia (Storer) Dodd (Mrs. John William Dodd) (b. 1908 Ashton Under Lyne d. 1999 Ashton) The list includes John William Dodd's but none of them look like the right one.

Agnes Eleanor (Kay) Gough (b. 1924 Stalybridge d. 2007)

Norman Gough (b. 1920 Stalybridge d. 1 Apr 2000 Ashton Under Lyne)

Isaac Henshaw (b. 1891 Dukinfield d. 1929)

Jane Anderson (Smith) Henshaw (b. 1893 Ashton Under Lyne d. 1961 Ashton and Mossley)

James Taylor Kay (b. 1892 Ashton Under Lyne d. 1957)

Dinah (Smith) Kay (b. 1895 Ashton Under Lyne d. 13 Oct 1979)

I'm sure I still have discoveries to make at the Tameside website but I'm just overwhelmed at the moment. I'm going to have to do so much backtracking to get all of the possible records.

And on ordering certificates...When you use an intermediary to order certificates, they cost north of 12 pounds (about $20). So being pretty sure you are ordering the right certificate is important if you don't want to spend a fortune on these things. In the past, I have ordered two and got one that was right and one that wasn't...batting 50/50 at these prices made me shy about ordering without some pretty good evidence that I'm ordering the right certificate. Using the Tameside website has given me lots of assurance. So I guess it's time to pull out the credit card.

I sent a great big thank you to Adrian and an open ended offer if he ever needs any info on dealing with research in the U.S. It doesn't seem like much given what I've gotten from Adrian's bit of kindness to me.

Joseph Dodd and the English Census

Since I was contacted by a Scottish cousin (Vivian), I've been going back and looking at the English lines (Dodd and Anderson). I decided to confirm my census references for Joseph Dodd, because I didn't want to send Vivian on a fool's errand.

I started with the 1881 census, because I had a street address. Agnes (Anderson) Dodd's uncle (Robert McKee) died 17 Sep 1880 and his intestate letters include an address for the Dodd family in England: 33 Old Cross Street, Ashton Under Lyne, Lancastershire, England. With this entry, I could begin to track backward in the censuses.

1881 Census: Shows Joseph Dodd (46) with Agnes and a street address of 33 Old Cross St., Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England. He's working as an Overlooker Cotton Weavers. They have the following children: Sarah (21), Fredrick (20), Albert (14), Louisa (11), Robert (9), George (7), and Agnes (5).

1871 Census: Shows Joseph Dodd (35) with Agnes and an address of Dukinfield, St. John the Evangelist, Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England. They have the following children: Sarah (12), Fredrick (10), Albert (5), and Louisa (1).

1861 Census: Shows Joseph Dodd (27) with Agnes and an address of Dukinfield, St. Mark parish, Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England. They have the following children: Sarah (1) Fredick (1 month). Agnes' mother (Agnes (McKee) Anderson) is with them.

1857 Marriage: Vivian sent me the marriage certificate for Joseph and Agnes. The certificate says that Joseph's father's name is Thomas Dodd. So I started looking for a Thomas with a son of Jospeh in Cheshire.

1851 Census: Shows Joseph Dodd (15) with the family of John Dodd (uncle). Thomas and Mary--Joseph's parents--are living with John's family. The address is Wirral, St. Mary parish, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. Joseph's birth place is listed as Wallasey, which is in Cheshire, England.

1841 Census: Shows Joseph Dodd (6) with his family in Wirrall (Lower Division), Birkenhead, Cheshire, England.

Unfortunately, birth registration doesn't start until 1837. However, I have a christening record for Joseph that shows that he was christened 21 Jun 1835. His parents are Thomas and Mary Dodd and their residence is listed as St. Hillary, Wallasey, Cheshire, England. So I'm pretty confident that the 1841 and 1851 census records are for the correct family.

I've sent Vivian the census records so that if she goes looking she will at least have what I think is correct. It will be interesting to see if she comes up with different information.

Cheshire Ancestor Article Bears Fruit...or in this case a cousin

I've been contacted by a Dodd cousin! Seems Vivian (from Scotland) found me thru the 2007 article that was published in the Cheshire Ancestor, which proves that writing about your research pays off. Sometimes it takes time but it does work at some point.

I've been sending Vivian gedcoms (Dodd and Anderson so far). I'll be able to tell Vivian so much about what happened to her family in the U.S. She should be able to fill in so much that I'm missing from the U.K. I'm looking forward to lots of fun exchanges with this lady.