Is there a resident of Napanee who can help solve a family history puzzle for a visitor to this Forum from Sheffield, England?

A few weeks ago, I came by chance upon a blog that was kept up for only a one month – February 2007 – by “Barista”. (http://millerfryer.blogspot.com/) The blog is a collection of 41 postings of pictures, some of which relate to the family of James and Lucy Miller who emigrated to Canada in 1884 and their descendants.

One picture is of a watercolour painting of “Donnington House”, painted by Lucy Miller, the family home they left behind in Shropshire, where James had been a farmer. A recent ‘Comment’ was posted by ‘Anonymous’, who owns the original picture, passed to her after her father died. She has contacted me, is a grand-daughter of James and Lucy Miller, and is mystified as to how a copy of the painting came to be posted by ‘Barista’.

Who is ‘Barista’? And what is her connection with the house in Napanee shown in one of the photographs (captioned “Napanee 1957″)? Might the young girl on the horse have been a visitor who, perhaps returned a year later (“Nalanee 1958″) with her brothers and sisters? Do you recognise the house in Napanee in the photograph from 1957? Or the elderly gentleman with a steadying hand on the horse? Is there a connection between this house and the Miller or Fryer families of the weblog?

I’ve made a copy of this request which I have posted on our family weblog, which you would be very welcome to visit.(http://www.perrinfamily.co.uk/) I’d be delighted and grateful for any help.

Please post a reply on this Forum or email me directly at norman.perrin@googlemail.com Thank you for reading this posting. Norman Perrin. Sheffield. Yorkshire. England.

I have found and not found descendants of James Miller, whose emigration with his family I traced from Shropshire to Canada in 1884. Searching for a lost copy of a photograph of Donnington House, and discovering that the original site from which I downloaded the copy was no longer live, I did a wider search.

Finding …. a watercolour of Donnington House  by Lucy Miller. James’ wife? His daughter – shortly to young to have drawn the house from life? ….. on a blog, “Miller Fryer” . Here are pictures of the family of James Miller. Most remarkable a photograph from maybe 1915 of all his 6 sons. 

But utterly frustrating is that postings to the blog were only kept up in 2007 – and the author of the blog is known as “Barista” – who has posted no profile details nor any contact information!

So, I left a comment on one of the pictures. Maybe Barista will one day return to the blog? Or maybe see this posting? In which, case cousin, please do leave a message.

James Miller (1843 Atcham Shropshire), nephew of John Miller, (1797-1831), my 3x Great-Grandfather

On the reverse, handwritten, is a list of names and dates of birth of Ruth’s aunts and uncles, the brothers and sisters of her mother Elizabeth Murkin. It is a most unusual and remarkable record.

These aunts and uncles,  brothers and sisters of Elizabeth Murkin, were, all but one, the last born, Susan, christened in St Mary’s church, Henham, Essex. From the church record we learn the names, Peter and Ann, of their parents.

I have tonight added the names and birthdates of these Murkin children of Peter and Ann Murkin, my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents.

Yet William’s family – his parents and siblings – remain a mystery.  So too does the central question: were his first wife, Sarah Mallin and his second wife, Hannah Miller (nee Mallin) related and if so how?

So, the Christmas puzzle I set myself was to compile as much evidence as I could and, by inspecting it, to see what I could learn.  To that end, I listed all the Staffordshire-born, males by the name of Cooksey in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. This I cross-referenced to likely births and marriages in the IGI (all the while recognising the risk, even the inevitability of error.) Building this database turned into a mammoth task, just completed the day before the end of the holiday. As yet, I have not properly inspected the data for any emerging ‘pictures’. However, first indications are that the work has drawn a blank; I am no wiser about who William Cooksey was. 

Perhaps I should return to Mallin and undertake the same task?

Sarah’s maiden name was Mallin, hence son William’s second given name. I have often wondered at the relationship between William’s first wife, Sarah Mallin, and his second wife, Hannah Mallin. I have researched, so far without success.

Coming upon the MI set me thinking again about William’s first wife and family. I knew that in 1841, by which time William had married Hannah and had a 2 year-old child, that the three children from his first marriage were not living with them. Where were they?  Living together, is the answer, in Great Bridge, West Bromwich, with two other men (whose occupations are too faint to read) and a female servant. 

The census entry produced a surprise: a fourth Cooksey, a Sarah, aged 20 – born apparently about 1820.

I have now added William and Sarah’s children to the family tree.

I do, of course, have sources of most of the data, listed as footnotes in the written ’stories’ of the various branches.

As always, small steps must be the start of that long journey.