Still Fixating on the Whitfield Family

In genealogy, a problem that you can't resolve is known as a "brick wall".  I'm still hitting my head against the brick wall posed by Anne Unknown, wife of James Whitfield, peruke-maker in London, mother of Eleanor Whitfield and grandmother of Ann Bland, who in turn was the wife of Robert Elliot. What's tantalizing is that another researcher has discovered a great clue!  A newspaper   obituary tells us that Anne's uncle is Sir Robert Cotton, 5th Baronet of Connington, and her first cousin is Sir John Bruce Cotton, 6th Baronet of Connington.  With information like that you'd think that finding out who Anne's parents were would be as easy as flipping through a volume of Burke's, but alas, so far no one can find her.  I'm not having much luck discovering the family of James Whitfield, either.  I know that he is the son of another James Whitfield who lived in "Hodington" or Headington, Oxfordshire, but I can't discover anything at all about James the elder.  Many genealogists that I've read suggest that if you need help smashing through those brick walls, you should widen your search to other members of the family and you may find valuable clues.

Now Anne (Unknown) Whitfield's granddaughter, Anne Bland, married Robert Elliot, who appears to have come from a fairly prosperous middle-class family but who was essentially a tradesman (he built a career as a currier in both Hammersmith, England and later in Ontario).  Anne Whitfield's daughter, Eleanor Whitfield, was the wife of James Bland, a gardener in Hammersmith (his brother, Stephen Bland, was a sword-cutler to the King, which sounds pretty fancy but is still a job, i.e. not something a nobleman would do).

However, it's interesting to look at the family that James and Anne Whitfield's daughter Margaret married into.   Eleanor's sister married a man named Lionel Spencer Berkeley.

From Notes and Queries, p. 418, ed. William White. 

Here's an excerpt of what Volume III of The Peerage of England by Arthur Collins has to say about the Berkeley family:

 

 

So, in case you're overwhelmed by the meandering style of this family history, let me set out some key points.

• Margaret Whitfield's father-in-law, Henry Berkeley, held positions in which he directly served  English royalty (he was page of honour to Queen Anne, and Master of the Horse to George I).  He had a distinguished military career and was a Member of Parliament for many years.  
• Her husband's grandfather was the 2nd Earl of Berkeley.  He was for a time the equivalent of an English Ambassador to Holland, and was later, among many other positions, on the Privy Council of England. 
• Her husband's uncle was the 3rd Earl of Berkeley.  He also had a distinguished military career, which culminated in the position of Vice-Admiral of Great Britain,  and like his father was on the Privy Council.  

James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, Margaret Whitfield's Uncle-in-law. 

I could go on some more about the Berkeleys, but the point is, this is quite a family to be attached to. Not to mention that: 

•  Lionel Spencer Berkeley's mother, Mary Cornwall or Cornewall, was the daughter of the wealthy Colonel Henry Cornewall, M.P. for Weoboly, Hereford and  Herefordshire, and Susanna Williams, daughter of Sir John Williams.    Her brother Velters was also an MP, and her other brothers were all officers in the military.  
• His paternal grandmother (wife of Charles Berkeley) was Elizabeth Noel.  She was the daughter of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount of Campden, and his third wife Hester Wotton.   

While all of these glamorous connections formed by James and Anne's daughter doesn't directly tell us what Anne's connection to the Cotton family is, it does add credence to the idea that the Whitfields are connected somehow to the Baronets of Cotton.   People very rarely drastically jump class lines when they marry--if someone connected to nobility marries into a family, it can be a sign that the first family has good connections as well.

So who did James and Anne Whitfield's other children marry?  The only other sibling of Eleanor's who lived long enough to marry was her sister Anne, who married a man named John Latimer in 1746.  This is probably the same John Latimer (or Lattimer, as it is spelled in the apprenticeship documents) who was her father's apprentice and paid him an apprenticeship fee in 1731.  They had a son named Cotton Edwards Latimer and a daughter named Margaret Sophia Latimer.  What was John's social standing?  I haven't yet found his family, but I'm still trying.  Remember that James Whitfield's father was from Headington?  Coincidentally, there is a Latimer family (headed by Edward Latimer, wine merchant (1774-1845) who had a thriving business in Headington and owned a place called Headington House from 1815-1848.  Of course this is later than James's time, and this Edward appears to have been born elsewhere.  As far as I can tell, they are not connected.  Dead ends everywhere!

The Whitfields also seem to have a connection to Twickenham (both James Whitfield and his wife died there).  There probably isn't a relationship here either, but the Twickenham Museum Website has some information about a Mr. George Whitefield, pronounced Whitfield, and his religious influence in Twickenham.  Yesterday I went to the Toronto Reference Library where most of the library's genealogical material is held, and looked at two books on the history of Twickenham. One (Twickenham Past, a Visual History of Twickenham and Whitton by the Borough of Twickenham Local History Society, published in 1993) was quite interesting but had nothing of direct relevance.  (I did discover that Twickenham during the Whitfield's time was awash with famous writers, such as Alexander Pope).  The second book (Memorials of Twickenham, Parochial and Topographical by Richard Stuteley Cobbett, published in 1872) had some information which I can't connect to our family at the moment.  One chapter contains excerpts from the register of Parish burials from 1743 to 1762, and it contains the two following entries, on pages 68 and 71 respectively:

"The wife of Lionel Berkeley, Esq.  May 6, 1751."
"Cornwall Berkeley, infant son of Lionel Berkeley, Esq., August 30, 1753".  

And on page 100 there is this entry, describing memorials on the floor of the church nave:

"Here lies the body of Martha Berkley (the faithful widow of Lionel Spencer Berkley) who departed this life the 29th day of April, 1751, in the 30th year of her age.  Whose conduct was an ornament to herself, a pattern to her sex, and a pleasure to her husband".  

So, since he is dead by 1751,  this is obviously some other Lionel Spencer Berkeley.  There is a Lionel Spencer Berkeley who married a Martha Colthart in St. Mary's Church, St. Marylebone, London, on March 28, 1740, according to England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973.  The Registers of Marriage of St. Mary le Bone, Middlesex, 1668-1812 and of Oxford Chapel, Vere street, St. Mary le Bone, 1736-1754 also has the following entry under marriages in 1740:

"March 28.  Lionel Spencer Berkeley Esq. of St. Anne's, Westm, & Martha Colthart of St. James, Westm. L."  

The two Lionel Spencer Berkeleys were probably related, although I don't know how.  So it turns out that this information is probably not that relevant to my search for the Whitfield family.  I'm not giving up!

Birth Family of Helen Paton, Mother of William Rutherford

Who were Helen Paton's parents?  Unfortunately, her marriage record to our ancestor James Rutherford do not give us their names, and our Rutherford family tree is also silent on the matter. Helen Paton died before Scotland began keeping civil death records, and her death record is pretty sketchy--it doesn't even give her age.  There are several family trees on line which suggest that her parents are William Paton and Margaret Laird of  Inchillan.   I've done some investigating and while I can't find any direct evidence that Helen is the daughter of William and Margaret, I have found enough indirect evidence to convince me that it's very likely.

William Paton and Margaret Laird had a daughter named Helen on July 6, 1809.

They also had other children.  Their three eldest were born in Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland, before Helen was born.  First was Margaret, born September 21, 1800, then William Jr. was born August 2, 1802, and Janet, born July 31, 1804.  Helen and the younger children were born in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire:  Ann Paton was born September 2, 1811, Laird Paton was born March 12, 1814, and Andrew Paton was born January 11, 1816.

Records show that Helen's younger brother Laird Paton had strong ties to the Rutherford family, ties which suggest a close family relationship.   Laird, who grew up  to become a carpenter,  had moved to Montreal by 1846, when Erskine Presbyterian Church has a record of him marrying Ann Scott. From that point forward, birth, marriage and death records in the William Rutherford family, and also in the family of Helen Rutherford (William's sister, who lived in Montreal for several years before her death) are frequently witnessed by Laird, who, if he were Helen's brother, would have been both William and Helen's uncle.  For example:

1. 1856: Laird Paton is a witness to the marriage of William Rutherford Sr. and Elizabeth Jackson. 
2. 1864:  Laird Paton is a witness on the burial record of Frederick Clarke Boyland, daughter of Helen (Rutherford) Boyland.  
3. 1866:  Laird Paton is a witness on the baptism record of Andrew Rutherford, William and Elizabeth's son. 
4. 1868:  William and Elizabeth have twin boys, and name one of them Edward Laird Rutherford.
5. 1868:  Laird Paton is a witness on the baptismal record of Helen Paton Boyland, daughter of Helen (Rutherford) Boyland.
6. 1869:  Edward Laird Rutherford dies; Laird Paton is a witness on the burial record.
7. 1874:  Laird Paton is a witness in the baptism of Ann Paton Rutherford, daughter of William and Elizabeth.  

Most of these records are from the Montreal Erskine Presbyterian Church, which all three families appear to have attended. 

I have also seen records which suggest that Laird Paton and William Rutherford were in business together during their early days in Montreal.  Eventually Laird formed the company Laird Paton and Son, and William Rutherford started William Rutherford and Sons.

Fun fact:  Laird Paton's son, Thomas Laird Paton, was the first goalie to win the famous Stanley cup.  Here is his bio from the HockeyGods website:

Thomas Laird Paton (1854 – February 10, 1909), was a Canadian Amateur Ice Hockey player of the early era of the sport.  Paton played the position of Goaltender for the Montreal HC (Montreal AAA) and was a member of the first Stanley Cup Winning Team in 1893. Paton would be a founding member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association Hockey team (Montreal HC).  Paton began goaltending at age 30 and had a successful nine-year career (six years with the lowest goals against average in all of organized Hockey). 
Paton was a pioneer goaltender in organized Hockey. Tom's Hockey career can be traced back to the early Montreal Winter Carnivals, where he backstopped his Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal AAA) to their 1st championship in 1885, posting three shutouts in four games, including one in the final. He again won the carnival championship two years later.
Paton would play goal at the 1st International Hockey game, at the Burlington Winter Carnival in Vermont - February 26, 1886. His Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal AAA) would defeat the Montreal Crystals, and the host team, the Van Ness House to win the carnival championship.
Paton's career would be marked by dominance. Throughout every season he played between 1888 and 1893 for the Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal AAA), his team would win the AHAC championship.
Paton is most notable to be the first goaltender in Stanley Cup history to be awarded the trophy. Ultimate Hockey considers his performance in 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892 and 1893 to be worthy of winning the equivalent to the Vezina trophy that the NHL awards today for top goaltender - He was regarded in many history texts as being undefeated in 1890 and 1891
In 1892 despite a poor regular season effort Paton and the Montreal AAA defeated the Ottawa HC in the final game of the season to win the 1892 AHAC season championship by a score of 1 to 0.
Paton would be go on to be awarded the Stanley Cup in 1893, and retire at the end of the 1893 AHAC season. He is also the first goalie to retire from Stanley Cup Hockey competition as a current champion.
Paton would introduce the game of Hockey to Toronto in late winter of 1887. During a trip to Toronto to visit his friend Hart Massey, Paton learned that no one had heard of the Hockey games that were being played in Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. Paton and Massey then sent a cable to Montreal, and ordered a box of 18 sticks, a puck and a set of rules to be sent from Montreal, and then organized some demonstration games with 10 local Torontonians at the Granite Curling Club.
Throughout all his pioneering efforts and success in early Hockey, Tom Paton is not a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame

How Is John Bulmer Rutherford Related to James Augustine Rutherford?

John Bulmer Rutherford (known as Bulmer to his family and friends), my husband's grandfather, wrote to his mother, Ida (Bulmer) Rutherford of Montreal, while he was serving during World War I.  We recently found two of his letters among some family papers.  One of them was sent from Highclere Castle in England, where he was visiting relatives. Below is a transcript of the letter, which was only partially dated, but must have been written in 1918.

"Highclere
Oct 13th

Dear Mother, 

As you see I am at Highclere just now and am having a very restful time for a few days.  I received Dad's cable yesterday but it is very late and I am not going to answer it as I know you have the information you wanted by now.  As soon as I arrived in London I went to Mr. Rowson's place to make sure he had the news but I presumed that Mr. Hodgson would have been informed officially some time before.  I wrote to Mrs. Williams at Liverpool and asked her to break the news to Marjorie if she had not already been informed.  It turned out that she was sick at the time and the doctor would not let them break the news.  I went up to Liverpool on Wed. night (I arrived from France Fri night) and spent the day with Marjorie Hodgson.  She was bearing it very bravely, far better than I thought she could stand it considering that she had been ill.  She said that General Dodd's cable had arrived at home in addition to Mr. Rowson's.  It had helped her a lot to know that Sid had not suffered in the least.  I brought her the little personal things that he would have wanted kept.  I also wrote to Mrs. Hodgson and presume that she has received the letter before this one.

Sid and Oliver Becket were both killed instantly by the same shell just two hours after the opening barrage of the battle for Cambrai.  It dwarfed into insignificance everything up till that time but as you have seen the casualty lists you will realize that Canada had to pay the price of her victory.  It was the pivot point of the whole front and all these later victories have come about as a result of what the Canadians accomplished there.  It had to be done and nobody else could do it.  When I came away the greatest part of the battle was over & the city was below and in front of us and within easy reach of our guns though not in our hands.  Of course since then it has fallen. 

I was staying in town with the Blaiklocks or Col Birks  whichever you please.  I told Polly B. that she ought to call it the 16th Canadian Gloucesters (16 Gloucester Sq) as their passing visitors certainly number a battalion.  She was very struck with the idea so it is christened as such.  Geoff Williams and Geordie Nick were both staying there at the time in addition to many others so it was very fine.  Mrs. Blaiklock is a wonderful hostess and Col Birks is fine.  I went up to Liverpool and came back to town for a day and then up here on Sat.  Uncle Jim is away to-day but expects to be back to-morrow.  Kenneth, the youngest boy, a little younger than I am, is here at present.  It was a perfect day to-day the first for some time and we were out on the lake and tramped through the park and incidentally took a few photos, which I will send home if they turn out.  I am feeling very comfortable (sic) arrayed in some of Ken's clothes (civvies).  I am not going to Scotland as I do not particularly want to go alone.  Nick might have gone up but it is too late as he has to report to his depot to-day.  I just missed Fred Peverley by a few days as he went back to France just as I arrived in Eng.

By the looks of things the end of the scrap seems to be in sight now.  This is not the time to talk peace though.  Not when we have him more or less on the run.  The time to talk peace is when he says he surrenders unconditionally, which he will do sooner or later.  I do not understand why they address all their notes to Wilson.  I guess they are afraid of the Americans in the future for they have really had little to do up till now.  I am going up to town for a couple of days before going back which I do on the 18th.  

With love to all the family,
Your Loving Son, 
Bulmer"

The Sid Hodgson that Bulmer discusses in this letter is a fellow Montrealer and McGill student, Sidney James Hodgson, who was killed in battle in September of 1918, at the age of 20.   Bulmer obviously survived the battle.

This letter is particularly important for the light it sheds on relationships between Canadian Rutherfords and those who remained in Britain.  Specifically, who was the Uncle Jim who hosted Bulmer during his stay at Highclere?  I believe "Uncle Jim" was in fact James Augustine Rutherford, the Estate Manager at Highclere.  According to census records, his youngest son, Seymour Kenneth Rutherford, was born around 1900.  Bulmer was born in 1897, and so would have been three years older than Seymour, or Kenneth as he appears to have been called.  However, although James Augustine Rutherford (who was born in 1856) was a generation older than Bulmer, he could not have been Bulmer's uncle.  I believe that they are cousins.  

Bulmer was the son of William Rutherford Jr. and Ida Bulmer, and the grandson of William Rutherford Sr., who immigrated from Scotland, and Elizabeth Jackson.  He would have been the great-grandson of James Rutherford of Jedburgh, Scotland, and his wife Helen Paton.

James Augustine Rutherford, on the other hand, was born in Stallingbusk, Yorkshire, England in September of 1856 to James Rutherford and his wife Ann Foster.  His siblings were Helen (1858), Jane Elizabeth (1861), Ann Isabella (1863), Maggie Laird (1865), John Edward Foster (1869) and William Archbold (1871).   His father, James, was a land agent and later a gardener, and census records consistently show that he was born in Scotland around 1828.   One of his children carried the family name Laird (Maggie Laird Rutherford), and one of James Augustine Rutherford's did as well (Godfrey Laird Rutherford).  (Laird was Helen Paton's mother's maiden name).  I believe that James the father of James Augustine was a son of James Rutherford, forester, and Helen Paton, of Jedburgh.  Their son James, who was William Rutherford's brother, was born on November 9, 1829, in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland.   If I am correct, then William Rutherford Jr., Bulmer's father, would be James Augustine Rutherford's first cousin, and Bulmer would be his first cousin once removed.  I have to say that there are a few genealogies online which state that the James Rutherford who was born in 1829 lived and died in Scotland, but I don't see any sources, and I believe that my theory explains the relationship between Bulmer and the Highclere Rutherfords. 

By the way, Highclere Castle, home of the Earls of Carnarvon,  is now famous as the estate where the TV show Downton Abbey is filmed.  James Augustine Rutherford was the estate manager when the 5th Lord Carnarvon (of King Tutankhamen fame) lived there.

Here is a picture from the book Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey:  the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona, Countess of Carnarvon (London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2011).  Major J.A. Rutherford (James Augustine Rutherford) is front and centre. 

Here is some evidence of John Augustine Rutherford's leadership in military matters before the start of the war, from the Reading Mercury newspaper, May 12, 1900.

And here is a death notice for Major Rutherford, from the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer Newspaper, June 11, 1929, p. 10.

Death of William Rutherford's Brother in Montreal

 The clipping above is from the Southern Reporter newspaper, Selkirk, Selkirkshire, Scotland, June 19, 1879.  I find it kind of mysterious.  First of all, I didn't know that William Rutherford had a brother who had also moved to Montreal (William is undoubtedly the "Mr. Rutherford, lumber merchant...brother of the missing man" referred to in the story).  And why wasn't Alexander working with his brother in the lumber business?

Here's the Montreal newspaper (the Montreal Daily Witness) where the story originated.  May 12, 1878.

Below are two clippings which show James Rutherford's wicked gardening skills. 

From the Kelso Chronicle, September 28, 1849.  

 

From the Kelso Chronicle, Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland, July 16, 1869.  

David Scott, Auchtermuchty, Bankrupt

Our ancestor Thomas Chalmers Scott, who immigrated first to the United States (Detroit, Michigan) and then to Canada (Toronto) around 1842, when he was in his 40s.  His parents, who lived in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland, were David Scott and Katharine Greig.   I have never been able to discover much about his parent's lives, but the free weekend at findmypast.com has helped me discover some clues about Thomas's parents.

The clipping from the Caledonian Mercury newspaper, April 24, 1813 (above) indicates that David Scott of Auchtermuchty was partnered in business with a man named Thomas Chalmers. I had always assumed that T.C. Scott had been named after the well-known churchman Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) who lived in Fife as well, but now I'm thinking probably he was named after his father's partner and, presumably, friend.  It looks like 1813 was not a good year for the business.

The clipping below, from the Perthshire Courier, April 20, 1815, suggests that Chalmers &Co. was a cloth manufacturing business.

The clippings below show land owned by Chalmers and Scott being sold off in 1813, presumably to cover business losses.  The following clippings seem to show that Chalmers, at least, recovered financially. 

 

From the Perth Courier, Thursday April 15, 1813.  

From the Fife Herald, November 4, 1841.

From the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 5, April-September 1819.  This suggests another bankruptcy. 
 

From the Fife Herald, Cupar, Fife, Scotland, May 27, 1847.  Was this David Scott's business partner?

From the Fife Herald, Cupar, Fife, Scotland.  June 10, 1847.

 The Pigot's Directory of Scotland for 1825-6 (below) shows both David Scott and Thomas Chalmers listed under Manufacturers and Agents in Auchtermuchty.  The 1837 edition of the same publication shows only Thomas Chalmers' name. 

Will and Estate Papers of John Norton of Hartford, Connecticut

John Norton (or Naughton) Jr. was born May 24, 1651 in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut, and died on April 25, 1725 in Hartford, CT.  He was my husband's 7th great grandfather.  He was married to Ruth Moore and was the son of John Norton Sr. and his wife Dorothea.  Below is his will, an inventory of his effects, and a distribution list (who got what).   

Tracing the Ladd Family in "The Ladd Family" and other Ladd Family Records

Back in 1890, a gentleman named Warren Ladd wrote a book entitled  The Ladd Family:  A Genealogical and Biographical Memoir of the Descendents of Daniel Ladd of Haverhill, Mass., Joseph Ladd of Portsmouth, R.I.,  John Ladd of Burlington, N.J., John Ladd of Charles City Co., VA. It was "Printed for the author by Edmund Anthony and Sons, New Bedford Mass, 1890."  And it traces the ancestors of Calvin Palmer Ladd, husband of Polly Harmon and father of Elizabeth (Ladd) Bulmer, right back to their earliest American roots.   This book is somewhat anectodal, which makes it even better!   The book is exhaustive and it's petty to quibble but some of the names of Ladd spouses are misspelled.  Also he often doesn't give much detail about the birth families of Ladd mothers. 

To begin with, here are a few documents relating to Calvin Palmer Ladd.  Here's his death record;  he died in Massachusetts on November 12, 1889.

It lists his occupation as "Inventor", his place of birth as Haverhill, and his parents as Joseph and Sarah Ladd.  He died at 81 years, 2 months and 26 days of age and suppression of urine.  He was married to his second wife at the time of his death. 

We know from Calvin Ladd's application to join the Massachussets chapter of the  "Sons of the American Revolution" society that his father was Joseph Ladd and his grandfather was Ezekiel Ladd, which fits nicely into Warren Ladd's chronology.

 

It's hard to believe that a businessman such as Calvin didn't leave a will, but I can't find one for him.  

Here are some excerpts from The Ladd Family, beginning with Calvin P. and going backwards from there.

Actually, our ancestor Calvin P. Ladd married Mary Patience Harmon, not Mary Parson Harmon.

And here are his parents, Joseph Ladd and Sarah Ring. 

Here she's called Mary Payson Harman, and his daughter Elizabeth's husband is referred to as John Bulwer.

Here's a bit about Ezekiel Ladd and his wife Ruth Hutchins. 

 

Ezekiel was the son of Daniel Ladd and Mehitabel Roberts.

Daniel was the son of another Daniel Ladd, and his wife Susannah Hartshorn.

  Daniel was the son of Samuel Ladd and Martha Corliss.

Samuel, in turn, was the son of Daniel Ladd, an original settler who came to America on the ship Mary and John which sailed from London, England, in 1633-4, and his wife Ann, last name unknown.  Warren includes a lot of biographical information about this original Daniel Ladd but for now I'll just record the basics.