tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281826165923921682024-03-20T00:42:48.109-07:00BICKERSTAFFS - England to New EnglandMy great-grandfather Thomas Bernard Bickerstaff and his sister Agnes emigrated from England to the U.S. Their story is an interesting one, with several mysteries: who was their father? How did they keep in touch with family members when they were raised in the poorhouse? And whose probate hearing did Agnes attend in the early 1900's? Will these mysteries ever be solved? [Ongoing genealogy research on this family...]K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-74776163744001178492019-04-20T23:38:00.000-07:002019-04-20T23:38:05.359-07:00COMING SOON...I will update this blog in the near future! There have been a few more contacts with descendants, along with quite a few pictures received of Thomas Bickerstaff and family on Nantucket, courtesy of Bob Bickerstaff. [Thanks Bob!]K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-6710405060191956572010-12-30T08:44:00.001-07:002017-08-09T16:45:58.144-07:00Bickerstaff Descendants - U.S. ?<div style="text-align: justify;">
My mother's grandfather, Thomas Bernard Bickerstaff, had 11 children, 8 of whom lived to adulthood. All are deceased. Where are their descendants? They would be of my mother's generation, my first cousins once removed; their children would be my second cousins. </div>
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Richard C. Bickerstaff - had 2 children, my mother and my aunt, both still living<br />
Charles B. Bickerstaff - had a son and a daughter [deceased]<br />
Agnes B. Bickerstaff Coffin - had 3 children, 2 boys [1 deceased] and a girl<br />
Barbara P. Bickerstaff Gifford - had 2 sons, both deceased, and a daughter<br />
Alger F. Bickerstaff - had 1 son [that I know of], now deceased<br />
Robert P. Bickerstaff - had a son* and a daughter<br />
Erla M. Bickerstaff Russell Chase had no children that I know of<br />
Myrtle L. Bickerstaff Gifford - do not know if she had children<br />
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*Robert's son Bob Jr. is the Bickerstaff who corresponded with John Eric Wolfe in England regarding the family in England and the "20,000 pounds going to Chancery" <em>[see prior posts re: Agnes and Thomas Bickerstaff's mystery father and probate court]</em><br />
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<em>*Corrections 7/2012 per Bob Bickerstaff [not a "Jr."]: </em><br />
<i></i><br />
<i>Agnes Bickerstaff Coffin only had one child - </i><i style="background-color: white;"><i style="background-color: white;">a son. </i></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;">Alger F. Bickerstaff had three children. One daughter is deceased. </i><br />
<i> The other daughter and the son are both still living.</i><br />
<i>Erla Bickerstaff Russell Chase had four children from her first marriage.<i style="background-color: white;"></i></i><br />
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<i style="background-color: white;">Myrtle Bickerstaff Gifford did not have any children. </i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i><br />
<i>Another correction - sadly, both of Richard Bickerstaff's daughters, my mother and my aunt, have now passed away. </i><br />
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<i>Would love to hear from any Bickerstaff cousins.</i></div>
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K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-22988296799580110832010-12-12T12:34:00.002-07:002010-12-14T13:17:16.895-07:00Thomas Bickerstaff's Bakery in Nantucket, Massachusetts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPx-2QIVq67Q7haXrhOkzEnDUg25wrwPPp-e-2j1Y31OiMuuIygtqxsgi7PDWzzArVcYWXQCw2ifyTkmPo8J3UOxRS7r5goHa32SQSrLkUk8EP97iviIoJyWTWze3jWF18EWWi-wk7pyxm/s1600/genealadj--bakery+article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPx-2QIVq67Q7haXrhOkzEnDUg25wrwPPp-e-2j1Y31OiMuuIygtqxsgi7PDWzzArVcYWXQCw2ifyTkmPo8J3UOxRS7r5goHa32SQSrLkUk8EP97iviIoJyWTWze3jWF18EWWi-wk7pyxm/s320/genealadj--bakery+article.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Copy of an article from <em>"The Solicitor"</em>, Nantucket, Massachusetts, circa 1908. Includes a photo of Richard Bickerstaff [my grandfather], son of Thomas, standing next to the bakery's horse-drawn delivery carriage.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">According to the article, this was the oldest bakery in Massachusetts [at the time], being 60 years old. It was built in 1848 by Charles Newcook, and had 2 proprietors before Thomas Bickerstaff., who had worked for both the previous owners. Daily delivery trips were made to the summer cottages, as "city folks" flocked to "the cool shores" of Nantucket every summer. Nantucket had only 1 railroad, and cars had been recently forbidden on the island, thus the horse-drawn carriage.</div>K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-13912928751908117842010-12-02T14:54:00.009-07:002010-12-23T15:38:53.742-07:00RECAP...WORKHOUSE TO PROBATE<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hannah Bickerstaff and her young children lived with her sister's family [the Batemans] in 1861. Most likely when Hannah became ill and unable to support herself, she was forced to move into the Thames Workhouse with Agnes and Thomas, where she died in 1863; the children then ages 5 and 3. Agnes was sent out to school by the age of 13, boarding in Towersey Cottages with other girls from the Workhouse. When she was 14, she arranged with the Workhouse and the emigration group of Maria Rye's to emigrate to Canada. When she turned 18, she moved from Canada to the U.S. Her brother Thomas lived at the Thames Workhouse until he was 18 or 19, when he left to join his sister in the U.S.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Per her journals, Hannah's adult daughter Agnes Bickerstaff corresponded with the Batemans through at least 1928; and per the Merchant Marine journals of Hannah's grandson Richard Bickerstaff <i>[my grandfather]</i>, he was able to visit the Batemans in England during his tour of service <i>[about 1917]</i>. None of these journals, unfortunately, give much more than names and dates. I had no idea Agnes and Thomas even knew their mother's family until I learned of the journals.<i> </i>Did Elizabeth Bateman perhaps visit her niece and nephew at the Workhouse?<i> </i><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Family history has it that Agnes Bickerstaff returned to England in the early 1900s for the probate of a Will, of a man she believed to be the natural father of herself and Thomas. I found her in the 1913 passenger list of a ship on her return voyage from England; family history says she was unable to prevail with the court and so <i>"20,000 pounds went to Chancery"</i>. From inquiries and general correspondence over the years, it is my understanding that (a) since Agnes and Thomas Bickerstaff were illegitimate, they were not legally able to make a claim against the man's estate; and (2) it is assumed that the man's estate went to the Chancery court for distribution to the Crown as he either had no heirs or had no Will. Also according to family history, this man's name was <i><b>Thomas Bernard or Burnard</b></i>; Hannah's son <i>[my great-great grandfather]</i> Thomas Bernard Bickerstaff was supposedly named after him. <i>[Note: later, add the names of other illegitimate children in the family, also supposedly having as middle names the surnames of their father...]</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I thought it might be easy to pinpoint the probate documents of a man named <i>Bernard/ Burnard</i>, based on the date of Agnes' return voyage from England ... but I am told this is not so. Either the records are not indexed by name, or they are so vast as to be impossible to search without an exact date. Since the probate case appears to be the only clue to the identity of Agnes' and Thomas's father, I was very disappointed to hear this. If anyone has any other suggestions of avenues I might pursue in this vein...please let me know!<br />
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The story of <i>"20,000 pounds going to Chancery"</i> came from the family in England. <i>Eric Wolfe</i>, a descendant of Eliza Bickerstaff's in England, corresponded for a time with <i>Bob Bickerstaff</i>, a grandson of Thomas Bickerstaff's here in the U.S. [Eric and Bob would have been third cousins.; Eric was in his 80's when he tracked down the Bickerstaffs in the U.S.] It was he who passed this information to Bob.<br />
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As far as I know, the only info passed down directly from Agnes or Thomas was the "little black book" Agnes compiled on the family history. Although my mother believes she saw it as a child as her father Richard had a copy, no-one knows what became of this book And which version of the Bernard/Burnard story did it contain? Supposedly, at first Agnes believed their father was an Henri Bernard, from France, and Hannah was a dancer who would not give up dancing to accompany him back to France. [The only occupation I've seen in England censuses showed her to be a lace maker.]<br />
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In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, both Thomas and Agnes stated their father was born in France; in 1910 Thomas said the same [Agnes has not been found in that census.] In 1920 both stated their father was born in England. Agnes' death certificate [1934] showed father's place of birth as "Tames", England, name unknown. Thomas's death certificate [1940] showed father's place of birth as England, name unknown. Agnes's return voyage from England and probate court was April 1913; evidently she learned the name of their father between 1910-1913. Hannah's sisters Eliza [Kirtland] and Elizabeth [Bateman] both died before 1900 so it was not they who imparted the information to Agnes. Although Agnes' correspondence was with the Batemans [grandchildren of Elizabeth], it was Eliza's great-grandson, John Eric Wolfe, who conducted the U.S. correspondence and reported on the probate matter to Bob Bickerstaff. It seems the whole family contained clues to the father of Thomas and Agnes; I wonder why they waited until after 1910 to pass it on?!<br />
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</div>K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-55220564995141026252010-11-19T13:36:00.000-07:002010-11-19T14:10:05.061-07:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><em>The following is the text of a letter written by Agnes Bickerstaff, daughter of Hannah. She was age 31 at the date this letter was written. What makes this letter so poignant to me is that Agnes seems to have considered Miss Rye a mother figure - the only one she'd ever known, orphaned as she was by age 3, raised in the Workhouse and sent to Canada with other orphans from the Workhouse at approximately age 14. Although she seems to have become a self-reliant woman who supported herself all her life, she obviously still felt the lack of a mother. Miss Rye sent hundreds of young children to Canada...I doubt she had much of a personal connection to any of them.</em></div><br />
LETTER from Agnes Bickerstaff to Miss Rye:<br />
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<br />
1889 [Miss Rye] Annual Report - Letters<br />
New York, U.S., Sept. 1889<br />
<br />
Dear Miss Rye,<br />
<br />
Have you another lot of girls over yet? If so, will you please write and tell Mrs. G.; she wants one about fifteen or seventeen years old, a good healthy honest girl. I know she will have a good home, and the best of care if she is sick, and she will never want for anything if she behaves herself. Now my business is done, I will tell you a little about myself. I am well and have plenty of work. You do not know how much good your last letter done me, it is so nice to feel you have someone who has confidence in you.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">How I should like to see you; I look at your picture almost every day, it was so kind of you to send me one. My friend Mrs. T., wanted me to ask you if you would send her one; she was E.B.* before her marriage. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I hope you are well, and wish very much indeed that I could see you. My brother has been very sick with exema in his face, but he is getting better now, he sends his best respects to you. Hoping it is not too much if you would write me once in a while, if only a few lines. I remain,</div><br />
Yours respectfully, <br />
<br />
A.B.<br />
<br />
[Notes added to report by Miss Rye:] This girl came from Thame Workhouse in 1873*-- also *E.B. <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The brother alluded to followed his sister, on account of the pleasant letters she wrote him.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em>*E.B. is Emma Baldwin, who was Agnes' friend from the Workhouse, and who went to Canada the same time as Agnes.</em></div><em><br />
</em><br />
<em>*date is wrong---not 1873, should be 1872 [when Agnes went to Canada]</em>K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-828182616592392168.post-43291389157606141002008-09-09T17:27:00.001-07:002010-12-11T16:22:08.792-07:00A Little Background...Family Circumstances early 1800's<div align="justify">The Bickerstaffs resided Thame, Oxfordshire, England and appear to have been a poor family. Richard Bickerstaff was a gardener. He and his wife Mary Willoughby had 11 children, not all of whom survived to adulthood. Their next-to-youngest daughter Hannah, born 1835, was the second daughter in the family to have children out of wedlock. [The first, her sister Eliza, had 4 children before marrying a younger man and having 4 more children with him.] </div><br />
<div align="justify"></div><br />
<div align="justify">Hannah was living at home when she had her first child, daughter Agnes, in 1858 [per her address on Agnes' birth register]. She had son Thomas in late 1860, and by the 1861 census, she and her children were living with an older sister with 9 children of her own. Hannah died in 1863; her death record indicates she had been ill for a year. She died in the Thame Workhouse, or poorhouse. Her children were 3 and 5 years of age. </div><br />
<div align="justify"></div><br />
<div align="justify">Agnes and Thomas Bickerstaff remained at the workhouse. For many years I could not understand why another family member had not taken them in. However, I have come to understand that all the family was poor, usually with many children of their own. </div><br />
<div align="justify"></div><br />
<div align="justify">Agnes was sent out to school at approximately age 13. At age 14 she and 2 other girls were sponsored by the Workhouse to emigrate to Canada as part of the child immigration party of Miss Rye. She remained in Canada until she turned 18. She then emigrated to Elmira, upstate NY [sort of across the water from Ontario, Canada]. </div><br />
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<div align="justify">Thomas evidently remained at the Workhouse; at age 18 he is mentioned in the Minutes of the Workhouse as having been involved in an incident with an unruly visitor at the gate. At about age 19 he joined his sister Agnes in Elmira, NY. It appears, from Directories, that he learned his trade of baker in Elmira. He and his sister later moved to Nantucket island, Massachusetts. Agnes never married; she made her living as a paid companion or nurse to older women. Thomas married and had 11 children, not all of whom survived infancy.</div><br />
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<div align="justify"></div>K. Danielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08706053393073357950noreply@blogger.com0