Thomas Logan Traill Williamson

It would be great to find any descendants of Thomas Logan Traill Williamson - and to find out more about him - including photos. Please send me a message if he is your ancestor and if you have any information you would like to add. 

Thomas Logan Traill Williamson (Photo: Ancestry.com) 

Here's an interesting find in an Australian newspaper from 1898: 

In The Age (Melbourne) 2 August, 1898, an advertisement was placed seeking Thomas Williamson, the son of Thomas Logan Williamson (refer previous posts on him). 

Thomas Williamson must be Thomas Logan Trail Williamson (1), born 1856 or 1857 in Waiuku where his master-mariner father, Thomas Logan Williamson,  appeared to be having a few years  ashore as the first postmaster of Waiuku and  licensee of the Kentish Hotel.  The family were based in Onehunga before and after their sojourn in Waiuku. 

B Cunningham must be Bertha Alice Cunningham born Leathart (1872 - 1942), daughter of Elizabeth Leathart born Williamson and Robert Alexander Leathart,  and grand-daughter of Thomas Logan Williamson master mariner, and Elizabeth Williamson born McKenzie. The missing Thomas would have been Bertha's uncle - her mother Elizabeth's brother. 

Bertha married James Fraser Cunningham on 28th December 1897.  So, I wonder if Bertha and James were visiting Australia as newlyweds, and decided to track down her uncle while they were there? 

This advertisement places Bertha in Melbourne or possibly with a connection in Melbourne - or a forwarding address? I can find no other evidence of Bertha or husband James in New Zealand or Australia at this time to corroborate this.  Also, I can find no news or evidence of Thomas Logan Trail between his birth (1857) and his marriage (1899), but clearly he must have spent some time in Australia in between. 

Thomas Logan Trail Williamson can be placed back in New Zealand in 1899 when he married  Winifred Isobel Atkinson (born 1874) (2).

It seemed Thomas and Winifred moved around a bit during their life together.  In 1900, Thomas was registered in the Patea electorate, living at Otairi as a farmer. It can be assumed that Winifred was with him, but she does not appear to be registered to vote. 

They were probably back in Auckland by 1907. The first of their recorded children was Jean Winifred, born 1907 (possibly Onehunga, reg. in Auckland) but died on 21 March 1909 and is bured in Waikaraka Cemetery,  

Their only son, Thomas Arnold, was born in Onehunga on 31 March 1909,  ten days after Jean Winfred's death.  The following year, on 17th December 1910, another daughter, Barbara, was born. 

In 1911, the Williamsons were recorded as living on Norman's Hill Road, Onehunga, and Thomas was a house decorator.  By 1913, in the Wise's Directory, Thomas is  still in the same line of work, listed as a painter and still living at Normans Hill. 

The following year, Thomas and Winifred moved to Whangarei, where Thomas is listed as a theatre proprietor, and Winifred's details give their address as Mill Road, Whangarei in the 1914 Marsden electoral roll.  It appears they took over the local picture theatre - in February which would have been in the earliest days of moving pictures.   On August 5th,1914, at Whangarei, Winifred gave birth to their last child, a daughter called Nancy Winifred. 

NORTHERN ADVOCATE, 20 FEBRUARY 1914

Seems like they were there for only a while, as I can find no further evidence of their advertisments from later that year.  

WIlliamson's  Queen's Theatre was advertised as "bright and cheerful, and furnished almost to extravagence". A wide-ranging programme was advertised in local papers, and it seems pictures were shown every night. The last found  advertisement of the Queens' Theatre which  included "Williamson's" in the name was in late July, and the last mention of the Queen's Theatre's programmes was in December 1914. 

By 1919, Thomas and Winifred are back in Auckland, living at 57 Upland Road, Remuera,  and he is described as a dairy farmer. In the 1928 electoral roll, Thomas is listed as a dairyman living with Winifred at nearby Remuera Road in Auckland (no number given  - but probably 228?). 

According to Auckland City Council records, Thomas Logan Williamson, dairyman, was living at what is now known as 606 Remuera Road between 1923 and 1931.  The houses have since been renumbered and 226 become 606.  I can not account for the one-house-number discrepancy (226 /228), but the records certainly help confirm the family's location.  (Check out this document for further information on the area they lived. Skip to page 62 for the actual details.) 

Son Thomas Arnold Williamson died at their Remuera home, aged 12 years old, on May31st, 1921. He was buried in the same grave as his sister Jean Winifred at Waikaraka Cemetery. 

 

Jean Winifred Williamson 1907 - 1909 
Thomas Arnold Williamson 1909 - 1921 Waikaraka Cemetery 

Thomas died in Epsom on December 31st 1933, age 77, and is buried at Hillsborough cemetery. 

The 1938 electoral roll has Winifred (widow) and youngest daughter (spinster) Nancy Winifred living at 88 Balmoral Road, Auckland.  

Assuming Nancy Winifred (at the time of her engagement) was living with her mother, by 1940 they were living at Kingsview Road, Mt Eden. 

In 1946, Winifred was living at 16 Croydon Road in the Eden electorate.  She died on 17th December, 1948, and her address was given as 42 Meola Road, Point Chevalier.  She was cremated at Waikumete, but apparently not buried there, with her ashes being returned to the funeral director. 

Barbara (married name Allen)  died at Amberlea Rest Home, Algies Bay in June 1997 and was buried next to her second husband John Ashwin at the cemetery in Matakana.  Nancy Winifred (married name Newman) died in 1999 and is buried in Hillsborough. 

Meanwhile, Bertha Alice and James Fraser Cunningham ended up running the hot springs at Ngawha in Northland for several years.  They had no children. 

We may never know why Bertha was looking for Thomas in Melbourne, what he was doing there, and if she found him. 

Notes:

(1) Thomas's name has been variously spelled Trill, Trail and Traill.  See New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages index for more information. 

(2) For some time there was a discrepancy in the information on Thomas Logan Traill's wife.  In NZ Births, Deaths and Marriages records, it had his marriage registered as number  4767  and his wife as  Christina Clara Tasker.  Yet all electorate records and other births and deaths records had his wife as  Winifred Isobel Atkinson.  After doing research on each of the supposed wives - and wondering if Thomas Logan Traill  had a double or secret past - it came down to a simple transcription error at NZBDM.  Christina Clara's correct marriage registration number was 1899/4767 (to Frank Reid) and Winifred Isobel's marriage registration number was 1899/4768 (to our Thomas). These numbers had been incorrectly assigned to the other - it appears.  Someone must have noticed this and contacted NZBDM as they are correctly registered now.  So - check your family tree records - in mine, I have released Christina Clara to her correct husband, and acknowledged Winifred as Thomas's wife.   

The Royal Connection Part 3: The Peverell-Hungerford Ancestors

This follows on from The Royal Connection Part 1 and Part 2 which trace our family ancestry from King John of England to the present day. 

Katherine Hungerford (born Peverell) (c.1382 - c.1438) Katherine (aka Eleanor) Peverell was the younger daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Peverell and his second wife Margaret de Courtenay. Sir Thomas and Margaret had one son, George, and two daughters, Eleanor (wife of Otes Trenewith alias Bodrugan, John Raleigh, and William Talbot, Knt.) and Katherine, who  married Walter Hungerford on 8 Oct 1396, in Penhale, Cornwall. 

Hungerford Arms

The marriage of SIr Walter Hungerford and Katherine Peverell is symbolised in the heraldic badge showing Hungerford knot uniting Hungeford sickle and Peverell garb.

Katherine's husband Walter (1378 - 1449) was the 4th, but first surviving son and heir of Thomas Hungerford, Knight, of Farleigh and Wellow, Somerset, Heytesbury and Mildenhail, Wiltshire, etc., Speaker of the House of Commons, and Chief Steward to John of Gaunt. Walter's mother was Joan Hussey (c.1349 - 1412).  (In her will, Joan gifted to Katherine her black mantle turned with minerver. )


Walter was the 1st Baron Hungerford Knight of the Garter, Knight of the Bath, of Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset, Heytesbury and Mildenhall, Wiltshire, etc., and, in right of his wife, of South Cadbury, Somerset, King's knight, Constable of Malborough Castle, 1399-1403, Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire, 1401, 1404, 1407, 1411, 1413, 1414, Chanberlain of the household of Princess Philippe, 1406, Knight of the Shire for Somerset, 1410, Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, 1413-14, Chief Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster south of Trent, 1413-37, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1414, Steward of the King's Household, 1417-21, 1424-26, Constable of Windsor Castle, 1417-38, Chamberlain of the Duchy of Lancaster, and 1425-44, Lord High Treasurer, 1426-32.  

Katherine and Walter had at least 6 children:
- Elizabeth (c.1400 - 1476)who married Sir Philip Courtenay (1404-1463) of Powderham.

-  Walter Hungerford  -  born c.1402 and his father's heir. Walter was a prisoner of war in France  in 1425 and his father paid three thousand marks for his ransom. He later returned to France in the retinue of John of Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford in 1435, where he was killed.  Walter predeceased his father and died without issue.

-  Robert (c.1403–1459) who became heir after his brother Walter died and became 2nd Baron Hungerford on the death of his father.  He married Margaret, 4th Baroness Botreaux. He served in the Hundred Years' Wars and served in parliament from 1450 to 1455. He is buried in Salisbury Cathedral. 

- Edmund  our ancestor(c.1409 - 1484, see below)

Margaret - born c. 1410. Married Sir Walter Rodney. 

- possibly Thomas, ancestor of the Hungerfords of Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, of the Hungerfords of Windrush, Oxfordshire, and the Hungerfords of Black Bourton, Oxfordshire.
 - and possiby Edward, ancestor of the Hungerfords of Cadenham, Wiltshire.

              - - - - - 

A renowned warrior, Walter Hungerford is said to have defeated the King of France in a duel outside Calais in in 1401 when there with the English army.  He fought in many engagements in the Hundred Years War  - including Agincourt in 1415. Walter can probably be identified correctly as the officer who on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt expressed regret that the English had not ten thousand archers, which drew a famous rebuke from the king. In Shakespeare's Henry V, however, this officer is the Earl of Westmoreland. In 1417, he was made an Admiral of the Fleet under John of Lancaster and fought in 1418 with Henry V at the seige of Rouen.  

In November 1418, Walter was designated Steward of the King's Household. He was an executor of King HenryV's will, and was a member of the House of Lords 1436 - 1449 (his death). Our ancestor Walter  was clearly a busy man,  with a close eye and ear - and possiby influence - on the powerful end of the country's management. 

Walter died on 9 August 1449. He is buried in Salisbury Cathedral alongside Katherine, within the iron chapel erected by himself, which is still extant, although removed from its original position.

Garter stall plate, Windsor Castle, of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford.

 Walter Lord Hungerford  and his second wife Catherine Peverell. The table tomb was constructed on the site of the chantry chapel in 1779 with fragments from that chapel and  elsewhere.  The top consists of two cut to size Purbeck floor slabs with brass indents.

Katherine died sometime between November 1432 and May 1439 and is buried alongside her husband Walter in Salisbury Catherdal. 

Walter Hungerford added largely to the family estates, including extending Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset which had been constructed by his father Sir Thomas Hungerford. Walter was a man of piety, and built chanteries at Heytesbury and Chippenham, and made bequests to Salisbury and Bath Cathedrals. In 1428 he presented valuable estates to the Free Royal Chapel in the palace of St. Stephen at Westminster. He also built an almshouse for twelve poor men and a woman, and a schoolmaster's residence at Heytesbury. The original building was destroyed in 1765, but the endowment, which was regulated by statutes drawn up by Margaret of Botreaux, wife of Hungerford's son Robert, still continues (Jackson, Anc. Statutes of Heytesbury Almshouses, Devizes, 1863). In his will, he left his 'best legend of the lives of the saints' to his daughter-in-law, Margaret, and a cup which John of Gaunt had used to John, Viscount Beaumont.

Farleigh Hungerford Castle as it used to look

Follow this link for a much fuller account of Walter Hungerford's life.

Our family ancestry continued through Edmund Hungerford (c.1409 - 26 March 1484) who was the fourth son of Walter, 1st Baron Hungerford and his wife Katherine (born Peverell).    (More on Edmund in Part 4, coming soon) 

Wikipedia - Walter Hungerford 
Knight-France-Peverel
Tudorplace.com http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/HUNGERFORD.htm

The Royal Connection Part 2 (Baucke/Turner/Ratcliffe side of the family)

This follows on from  "At Last - the Royal Connection (Barker/Baucke/Turner/Ratcliffe side of the family) Part 1" which traces our family ancestry from King John of England to the present day.  Part 2 continues the research of each direct descendant from where Part 1 left off.  Please note there may be some discrepancies between dates  of births, deaths and marriages, and several variants of names and spelling  in each post. Most dates should be taken as approximate. 

Sir Walter of CORNWALL  (c. 1245  - c.1313)  Branell Manor, Grampound, St Austell, Cornwall. Walter was the son of  King John's second son, Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall (c.1208 - 1272) and one of his mistresses,  possibly (and generally credited to have been) Joan de Valletort  - origins unknown,  but who was married to Ralph de Valletort (d. 1267), feudal baron of Harberton, Devon, and feudal baron of Trematon, Cornwall. 

Walter was a Knight of the Shire, and Coroner of Cornwall. He received a grant of the royal manor of Brannel, Cornwall, from his half-brother Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (d. 1300) in which he was called "brother".

Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall, half-brother of Walter of Cornwall

Walter married a woman whose identity is uncertain and had a son William and a daughter Margaret. He died in 1313.  

Arms of Richard of Cornwall, Sir Walter's father: Argent, a lion rampant gules crowned or a bordure sable bezantée as drawn by his contemporary Matthew Paris (d.1259) (Wikipedia)

Margaret Cornwall (married Peverell) (c. 1276 - 1349) born Winchester, Hampshire, was the daughter of Sir Walter of Cornwall  and an unrecorded mother. Margaret married James Peverell (born c. 1275 - died 1314) of Hamatethy (in St. Breward), Newland, and Parke, Cornwall, by 1307  and with her marriage portion went lands in Pendale and Nansough in Cornwall. They  had a son Hugh and a daughter Joan. James' died in 1314 and is buried  at the Church of the Grey Friars in Bodmin, Cornwall. Afer James' death, Margaret married Richard Sergeaux (c. 1270 - 1340) of Pake (in Elgoshayle) Cornwall. They had one son, John.  Margaret died in 1 August, 1349, and was buried in the Church of the Grey Friars, Bodmin, Cornwall. 

Sir Hugh Peverell (c.1308 - 1372) Peverell Manor, Sampford Peverell, Devonshire. Son and heir of James Peverell and Margaret of Cornwall, grandson of Sir Hugh Peverell and Walter of Cornwall and great-grandson of King John Lackland. In 1320, he married (Margaret) Elizabeth Cobham (born c.1302, Sampford Peverell, Devonshire, died 1385m Devon). They had at least 6 children: Joan, Thomas, Amicia, Dionesia, Margaret, and John. 

Hugh was a knight of Hamatethy in St Breward, of Rillaton, andTrevegan in Egloshayle, Cornwall. He was bachelor knight to Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales. A knight bachelor fought under another's banner, and carried that banner into battle. A knight bachelor's banner was a pennant tapering off in a tail. In 1355, he was exempted for life from being put on assizes (criminal courts) and juries, probably in recognition of his service to the king. 

According to historic records, Hugh was buried in The Church of the Grey Friars, Bodmin, Cornwall; however, the Find a Grave site has evidence of him buried in the church of St John the Baptist, at Sampford Peverell.  Maybe that's just a memorium to him? 

The coat of arms of the Peverell family. 

Sir Thomas Perevell (c.1340 - c.1422). Knight of Parke (in Egloshayle) and Hamatethy, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1290s. He was the son of Sir Hugh Peverell  and Margaret aka Elizabeth Cobham. Thomas married Margaret de Courtenay, daughter of SIr Thomas de Courtenay and Muriel de Moels. Margaret was bon c. 1342 in Exeter, Devon, and died in c. 1422. She is buried in Salisbury Cathedral. They had a daughter Katherine who become Thomas's sole heir and  married Walter Hungerford in 1402.  


Here endeth Part 2.  Look forward to Part 3 soon.

Sources: 

Genealogy - Knights from Continental Europe

Cybergata.com 1

Cybergata.com 2
Cybergata.com 3

Wikipedia (Richard of Cornwall)
Wikipedia -pennon 
Wikipedia - knight bachelor

Knight-France
Knight-France Peverell

Wikitree - Cornwall 

Wikitree Cornwall6
Wikitree_Peverell8

Plantagent Ancestry

Our royal, titles and noble ancestors 

At Last - the Royal Connection (Barker/Baucke/Turner/Ratcliffe side of the family) Part 1

Subject to verification from further checking of births/death/marriages and possibly DNA,  on Mum's mother's side of the family,  we are descended from royalty!  Our closest English monach ancestor is  KING JOHN 1 of ENGLAND (also known as John Lackland because he wasn't expected to inherit anything, being Number 4 son). But then,  millions of other people around the world, including our present royal family, are also descended from King John, so I hardly think it qualifies us for an invite to a royal wedding, nor do we qualify for any estates or titles. 

Most - or all - of our knowledge about King John came from watching Robin Hood on black and white tv in about 1964 - 65. He was Prince John then, and was plotting to take  the crown while his brother, King Richard the Lionheart  was off on crusades overseas. 

Donald Pleasence as Prince John in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1955 - 59) 

John was the youngest of Henry II's four surviving sons, but  Numbers 1,2,and 3 all eventually died, leaving our John the king, although his nephew Arthur (son of deceased brother Geoffrey) probably had a greater claim to the crown.  (Shows that it always pays to have a few spare heirs.) 

Personalitywise, he was a mixed bag, inheriting some of his father's administrative skills, but he lost Normandy and other French lands to King Phillip II of France. He was also known for his spitefulness and cruelty  and fits of rage where he would bite and gnaw his fingers in anger. He is rumoured to have murdered his young nephew Arthur who had a valid claim to the throne after the death of Richard.  John had a penchant for opulent clothes and jewels, enjoyed gambling, reading,  and hunting, and was known for his fondess for bad wine. He was relatively short at 5'5'', and had dark red hair. He was also said to be 'sinfully lustful and lacking in piety". His illegitimate daughter Joan was strategically married off at age 15 to Llywelyn the Great of Wales - but further family disputes arose when Llywelyn become challengingly powerful - endorsed by the Pope - and sided with John's French enemies against him. 

When faced with an armed revolt from his own barons, John had little choice but to sign the historic Magna Carta  in 1215 which curtailed royal power. He is most infamously known for his baggage train losing the Crown Jewels in The Wash on an incoming tide when retreating from the invasion of the French Dauphin Louis.  

King John died shortly afterwards  of dysentery in 1216.   Here's a fuller account  and analysis of his life. 

Our direct descent zig-zags through the male and female, and legitimate and illegitimate lines but eventually wends itself from us to  KING JOHN 1 of ENGLAND (my generation's 22x great-grandfather).

But wait, there's more - we actually have him as our 22x greatgrandfather two times, as  two distant descendants** of KING JOHN 1 married.   See below: 

Us

↑

Elaine BARKER

↑

Dorothy Clara BARKER born BAUCKE 

NZ, 1899 - 1987

↑

Elizabeth Helen (Nel) BAUCKE born TURNER 

Marden, Herefordshire, 1878  - 1959, NZ

↑

Catherine (Kate)TURNER born RATCLIFFE 

Staunton Coleford, Glouocestershire, 1850 - 1933, NZ

↑

Thomas RATCLIFFE 

Siddington, Gloucestershire, 1814 - 1892, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

↑

Thomas RATCLIFFE

↑

Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, 1776 - 1854, Siddington, Gloucestershire

↑

Dinah RATCLIFFE born PANTER

Hankerton, Wiltshire, 1735 - 1815, Rodmarton, Glocestershire

↑

Anne PAINTER born HAVILAND

Oaksey, Wiltshire 1702 - 1742, Hankerton, Wiltshire

↑

Myles HAVILAND

Winstone, Glocestershire, 1666 - 1753, Oaksey, Wiltshire
↑

John HAVILAND

↑

Winstone, Glocucestershire, 1628 - 1670, Winstone, Gloucestershire

↑

William HAVILAND

Winstone, Gloucestershire, c.1605 - c.1640, Winstone, Gloucestershire 

↑

John Freeman de HAVILAND

Poole, Dorset, c. 1552 - 1617, Winstone, Gloucestershire

↑
Matthew de HAVILAND
Channel Isles, Guernsey, 1527 - 1620,
 St Warborowes, West Lothian, Scotland
↑
Frances de HAVILAND born HUNGERFORD
Poole, Dorset, 1480 - 1539, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset
↑
Lady Margaret BLOUNT*
See her ancestral link to King John below this  chart
Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire, 1465? - 1531? Down Ampney, Gloucestershire 
married
Sir John HUNGERFORD* 
Down Ampney, Gloucestershir, 1460? - 1524, Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
↑
Thomas HUNGERFORD
Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, 1430? - 1494, St Margarets, Westminster, London
↑
Sir Edmund HUNGERFORD 
Down Ampney, 1409? - 1484? Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
↑
Katherine  HUNGERFORD born PEVERELL 
Park Hamatethy, Cornwall, 1380? - 1438? Salisbury, Wiltshire
↑
Thomas PEVERELL 
Park Hamatethy, Cornwall, c.1340 - c.1422,  Penhale, Cornwall 
↑
Sir Hugh PEVERELL 
Peverell Manor, Sampford Peverell, Devonshire, 1300 - 1358, Peverell Manor, 
Sampford Peverell, Devonshire

↑

Margeret PEVERELL born de CORNWALL

Winchester, Hampshire, 1280? - 1314? 

↑

Sir Walter of CORNWALL 

Branell Manor, Grampound, St Austell, Cornwall, 1245 - 1313?

↑

Richard PLANTAGENET  (of Cornwall) 

Chilham Castle, Kent, 1210 - 1272, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire

↑

♔John (Lackland) KING of ENGLAND ♔ 

Beaumont Palace, Oxford, 24.12.1166 - 19.10.1216, Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire 
married 
Isabella of ANGOULEME

 - ♔ - ♔ - ♔- ♔ - ♔ - 

And here's  our second connection to KING JOHN 1: 

To recap,  each of FRANCES de HAVILAND (born HUNGERFORD)'s parents were direct descendants of RICHARD PLANTAGENET of CORNWALL, the son of KING JOHN 1. 

 FRANCES de HAVILAND born HUNGERFORD

↑

Sir John HUNGERFORD* 

(See above for his ancestral link to  King John 1) 

Down Ampney, Gloucestershir, 1460? - 1524, Down Ampney, Gloucestershire

married

Lady Margaret HUNGERFORD born BLOUNT*
Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire, 1465? - 1531? Down Ampney, Gloucestershire 
↑
Edward (Edmund) BLOUNT 
1429 - 1468
↑
Sir John Edmund BLOUNT 
1385 - 1443 
↑
Isabel de CORNWALL 
1348 - 1424 
↑
Brian de CORNWALL 
1317 - 1391
↑
Edward de CORNWALL 
↑
Richard PLANTAGENET  (of Cornwall) 
1252 - 1296
↑
Richard PLANTAGENET
Chilham Castle, Kent, 1210 - 1272, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire
↑

♔John (Lackland) KING of ENGLAND ♔

Beaumont Palace, Oxford, 24.12.1166 - 19.10.1216, Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire 

 - ♔ - ♔ - ♔- ♔ - ♔ - 
Henry II
married 
 Eleanor of Aquitaine 

WHO'S WHO AMONG OUR DIRECT ANCESTORS: 

Eleanor of Aquitaine:  (1122 - 1204) One of the most powerful amd influential women of Middle Ages. Mother of King John I. Queen Consort of King Louis VII of France (marriage annulled 1152) and Queen Consort of King Henry II of England, and regent while her son King Richard was on crusades. Described as extrovert, lively, intelligent, strong-willed, "and admirable beauty".  She led a crusade to the Holy Land with her first husband Louis VII, and is credited with establishing many of the rituals of courtly chivalry. She is also credited to have introduced first built-in fireplaces to England after finding it so much colder than France.  She spent 16 years imprisoned under house arrest by her husband Henry II for treason, but was released upon her son (Young Henry)'s deathbed request. She retired as a nun to the abbey at Fontevraud, where she was buried upon her death in 1204.

King Henry II (1133 - 1189. Reigned 1154 - 89). First Plantagenet King. Not a popular king and hated by almost everyone. Had disputes with Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, his wife (Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he imprisoned for 16 years) and four of his sons: Young Henry, Geoffrey, Richard (the Lionheart), and our ancestor, John. On the upside, he was considered to be an administrative genius, and restored firm government and various forms of justice. Apparently, as a person and as a king he was pretty unspectacular. 

King John: (1166 - 1216) See information above. Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Father of Richard Plantagenet, 1st Earl of Cornwall.

Richard Platagenet, (1209 - 1272)1st Earl of Cornwall, King of Germany, Comte de Poitou; second son of King John and Isabella of Angouleme. His older brother Henry III gave him  Cornwall for his 16th birthday. Went on Barons' Crusade to Holy Land - negotiated truce and release of prisoners. None of his legitimate children had any chidren, but he had at five children with his mistress Jeanne de Valletort Warenne, including our ancestor Walter of Cornwall (1245 - 1313). 

Here endeth Part 1 of our royal connection.  Look forward to the next instalment. 

Eliza Mills born Eliza Claudia Leathart - Was she ever found?

The Queenslander January 25 1896

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9332, 5 February 1896

I found these two notices while doing some random research on the name LEATHART(a great-grandmother's maiden name).  So I set off to find out who ELIZA CLAUDIA MILLS was,  what happened to her, and how she was connected to us. 

 ELIZA CLAUDIA LEATHART was born on the 23rd of January, 1833,  and was christened at Saint George the Martyr Southwark, Surrey, on October 6th, 1833.  ELIZA's  father was CHARLES LEATHART and her mother was CLAUDIA ELIZABETH MARY LEATHART (born GRUNEISEN).  The family at the time of ELIZA's birth lived at Litchfield Street, Soho,  and CHARLES'  occupation is given as perfumer. 


ELIZA's father, CHARLES LEATHART, was born on December 10, 1806 and baptised on January 3, 1807, at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn, Camden. His parents were JOSEPH LEATHART and MARIA LEATHART born DAVIES - and these are my own ancestors through their son (and CHARLES' brother) CUTHBERT CADWALADR LEATHART (1808 - 1873) who was an early pioneer settler to New Zealand.  That solves the mystery of how ELIZA is related to me. 

CHARLES LEATHART baptism record 

 ELIZA's mother CLAUDIA ELIZABETH MARY GRUNEISEN was born August 25th, 1805 and was baptised on September 19th at the Old Church, St Pancras, the daughter of CHARLES JOHN FREDERIC GRUNEISEN and MARY ANN GRUNEISEN born COLE . 

CHARLES JOHN FREDERIC GRUNEISEN was born in Stuttgart on July 1, 1763 and moved later moved to England where he became a naturalised citizen by an Act of Parliament on December 23, 1796.   In 1808, his occupation was listed as merchant. He died in 1824.  

 MARY ANN COLE was born in Woodbridge Suffolk England in about 1788. In the 1871 census, she was 83 and described as an annuitant living with her unmarried daughter (CLAUDIA'S sister) MARIAN GRUNEISEN (aged 52) who was a lodging house keeper at  53 Oxford Terrace (now possibly part of Sussex Gardens). There were two  domestic servants and one other lodger - an insurance broker - at the same address.  

As a note of interest: CLAUDIA's brother CHARLES LEWIS GRUNEISEN (1806 - 1879) was a well-known author, journalist, music critic and adventurer whose exploits  and obituary even reached the newspapers in New Zealand. He was one of the first war correspondents and cheated death many times. On at least one occasion came very close to being shot as a spy but for the intervention of Lord Palmerston. Later, he was instrumental in establishing the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden and was a well-known opera critic.  CLAUDIA clearly must have grown up in an academic, intellectual and musical environment, and I wonder how much of this was passed on to her children.  

Also of interest, later in the century, another high achiever in the GRUNEISEN family was CLAUDIA's distant cousin EDUARD GRUNEISEN (1877 - 1849) a German physicist known for the Gruneisen Parameter and the Mie-Gruneisen Equation of State.  He was a signatory to Vow of Allegience of the Professors of the German Universities and High Schools to Adolph Hitler and the National Socialistic State. 

CHARLES LEATHART and CLAUDIA ELIZABETH  MARY GRUNIESEN  married in on 22nd of September,1827, in St Pancras Parish Chapel, Camden.  

They had at least five children:
CHARLES GEORGE (1828 - 1894) 
JULIA PLACID married name HEWITT (1831 - 1910) Emigrated to Australia 1858. 
ELIZA CLAUDIA (1833 - ?) 
GEORGINA BOADICEA MARIA married name MOOR then JONES (1836 - 1908) Emigrated to Australia
THEOPHILIUS (1834 - 1836) 

Further research throws up more information about CHARLES  and CLAUDIA and their circumstances. CHARLES had been in a partnership with Samuel Graffney (the younger) as whosale manufacturing perfumers of 26 Warwick St, Regent St. Their partnership was dissolved by mutual consent on 11 March 1839. An interesting discovery is the inclusion of a Leathart (most probably this CHARLES) connection to a famous English court case in 1842 where  the tort of "passing off" was first articulated - regarding a hair product formulated by "Leathart", used by one manufacturer and then copied by another. 

 CHARLES and CLAUDIA came to New Zealand in 1841,  arriving on January 25th on  the ship "Slains Castle". They brought none of their children, but were accompanied by EDWIN LEATHART, aged 25, who was CHARLES' brother, and in other information is described as a paper hanger.  For unknown reasons, CHARLES and CLAUDIA returned to England by 1843 where CHARLES LEATHART is listed  in the P.O Directory as who.(wholesale?) perfumer or 53 Poland St, Oxford St.  EDWIN stayed in New Zealand - and appears to have been in fairly regular trouble with the law (more on that at a later date). 

Several questions arise: CHARLES'  two brothers FRANCES OWEN LEATHART and CUTHBERT CADWALADR were already in New Zealand at this stage  - in occupations far less genteel than perfumery.  FRANCES OWEN was a ship's captain, and CUTHBERT CADWALADR worked in a range of pioneer work from labourer, to bush publican, to mariner. (More about these men in future posts.) Was EDWIN brought out to the colonies because he was going to get in trouble in England, and did CHARLES and CLAUDIA accompany him to make sure he got here? Were they coming to check out the place to see if the wanted to emigrate? Were they visiting CHARLES' brothers? None of those would have been usual options for married couples with children. And who looked after the children in England? A small clue could have been in brother FRANCIS OWEN's acquisition of land pre-1840 Treaty of Waitagi; however, one of the conditions in the Treaty was that all pre-1840 land sales would be investigated and evaluated as the Governor's office saw fit to assess the legitimacy of the transactions. Given the lengthy time for communications to and from England, land could well have been gained and lost by the time CHARLES and CLAUDIA arrived.  Obviously further research is needed here. 

CHARLES LEATHART died in june 1846  - not too long after returning from New Zealand - and was buried on 5th June  at All Souls Cemetery, Kensal Green. His address at the time of his death was 63 Berwick Street, St James, Westminster. 

In the 1851 Census, it is probably our ELIZA LEATHART (aged 18) who was a house servant for the Baptist minister of the Spencer Place Chapel -  John Peacock (71), his wife Deborah (64) and their (implied) son, Ebenzer, (29) who was a printer.  The family lived at 7 Owen Row in Clerkenwell. 

In the same census, ELIZA's mother, CLAUDIA, was aged 43 and lived alone at 59 Robert St, St Pancras, Marylebone.  She was a teacher of the pianoforte. 

CALUDIA LEATHART  died in July 1857, and was buried at the HIghgate Cemetery of St James in Swains Lane. Her address at the time of her death was Stibbington St. Somerstown. 

ELIZA  was about 27 years old when she married JAMES MILLS  on May 24th, 1860 at Marylebone, Middlesex.  JAMES was a clerk, and his deceased father (also JAMES) had been a captain in the army.   JAMES lived in Charles Street, and ELIZA had been living in the Trinity District. Both were able to sign their own names,  with JAMES having a particularly attractive handwriting style. 

I cannot find any further evidence of ELIZA or her husband JAMES,  although it seems she must have left him and gone to New Zealand or Australia. The names are too common to be sure of any available records found online.  Whether she had contacted any family is uncertain - and whether she saw any of these notices and was able to collect her share of her brother's inheritance is also unknown.  I can find no unequivocal proof of any further information about her, including her death.   Further research may uncover more information, and I am intrigued to know the missing parts of the family story.  I know there is a large family of descendants of FRANCIS OWEN and CUTHBERT CADWALADRR in New Zealand and Australia, and maybe someone has more information.  It would be great to know. Feel free to contact me via the side panel.  

This is FRANCIS OWEN LEATHART  (photo from Ancestry.com. Many thanks to whoever posted it first.) 

                     

I thought this may have been Cuthbert Cadwaladr, but it seems the style of children's clothes is ,ore likely Edwardian - well after Cuthbert's death. So - this could well be a Cuthbert's son, Robert Alexander Leathart in his later years.  He may have 'let himself go' after his wife Elizabeth died in 1901? 

Please contact me if you can fill in any of the missing pieces. 

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1216, 21 June 1895, Page 20

Note: Many LEATHART  family trees and ancestry details make the error of attributing CHARLES and CLAUDIA LEATHART as ROBERT ALEXANDER LEATHART''S parents.  CUTHBERT CADWALADR and MARYANN SHREAD (several variants of name recorded) are ROBERT ALEXANDER LEATHART's (1842 - 1913) unequivocal parents.  There could also be confusion between two ROBERT ALEXANDERs  because one was CUTHBERT CADWALADYR's brother , (born 1817, England) and one was CUTHBERT CADWALADR's son (born Kawhia, NZ, 1842).