Just keep digging, digging, digging

Just keep digging, digging, digging 

Wow! It's been a while since I've written a blog post on here. A lot has happened since I graduated this time last year (including the whole world going to poop). 

As you can see I have changed the title of my blog.  This is to reflect that I started my Ph.D in October.  My thesis is on the motivations and social significance of philanthropic practice in the Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Currently I'm working on a general profile piece on the class structure of Northampton prior to industrialisation. Obviously lockdown hasn't made this easy but it has meant I have been returning to a lot of my family history resources. Now, whilst this is a great use of skills, I do find myself getting distracted but sometimes this fresh look can be useful.

The Search for Herbert John Major 

For a while, I've been researching a section of my Maternal family and they've proven quite a challenge. You can read about some of the challenges here:

Timothy Major

Anne Elizabeth Ayres

Well Hello Again Family 

Research Update

One of the hardest members of this branch to track down has been Herbert John Major, the illegitimate son of Susanna Marion Major, Timothy and Anne's second daughter. Herbert was born in the Brackley Union Workhouse on 12 March 1898,[1]where he was also baptised on 2nd April 1898.[2]The 1901 Census has Herbert (referred to as Jack - this is common with this family. Walter Edward, Herbert's uncle, didn't know that was his name until just before he died), aged 3, living with his grandfather, Timothy, yet listed as his son.[3]  Herbert’s mother marries Alfred Garbett in Chapel Brampton in October 1901 and this is when things get complicated.

When trying to find Herbert after 1901 I couldn’t find him on the 1911 census. As noted, Susanna was married and by 1911 she had moved to Shropshire with her husband and three children, Dorothy Kate (Bn 1902) Arthur John (bn 1906) and Florence May (1909).[4]  Herbert wasn’t with Timothy Major at this time, who had moved from Helmdon to Syresham.

I then found Herbert on a shipping list going to Canada as a home boy/Barnardos Child.  Herbert travelled to Canada from Liverpool in March 1909 on the Dominion.  It’s hard to understand why this happened without obtaining the files from Barnardos, however, what we do know is that in 1906, Alfred Garbett was summoned to court for ‘neglecting to provide efficient educational instruction for his son’.[5]This could only be for Herbert as none of the other children were old enough to go to school at the time. Alfred did not appear in court at the time and again neglected to appear a month later for non payment of fines.[6]  It may be possible that the family moved to Shropshire to avoid this fine. However, there is no records to place Herbert in Shropshire prior to him leaving for Canada. The next record for the family is the birth of Florence May in Beckbury, Shropshire in 1909.          

For years, the only record I could find of Herbert in Canada was the 1911 Census which placed him in Ontario with the Cowee family.  That was until this week, someone on a facebook group for British Home Children had found a potential death record for Herbert in 1965 in Alberta, Canada. I ordered the certificate (it cost around £3.20 and came within 24 hours) and it confirms that it is him.  The reason it has been so difficult to find him for all this time is because he changed him name to Herbert John White. He died on September 14^th 1965.  He had been living in Alberta for 35 years.  (I like Canadian death certificates, they tell you loads). Now I knew he had changed his name I was able to find him in the First World War where he had enlisted in the Canadian Army as part of the Canadian Expedition Force.  It is known that many British Home Children enlisted as they saw it as their passage back to England. Herbert’s papers show that he named Susannah as his next of kin with a home address, he also signed his last living will papers to leave all his belongings to his mother too.  This would suggest that he was still in contact with her after he left England.

Although there are still many questions about Herbert, the fact that I have now found out that he survived the First World War and lived to be 67 is a start to ending his story. I am now hoping to be able to contact Barnardos to apply for his file.  I’ve been unable to find any living descendants, particularly as it seems he didn’t get married or have children so I am hoping that this will help with my application.  I will update with my progress as and when.  As the title of the post suggests, if you keep digging you never know what you might find. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my search so far.  I hope to start posting about my finds again both with my family research and interesting discoveries with my Ph.D more regularly. 

See you soon.

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[1]G.R.O, Birth Certificate 1^st Quarter, 1898, Vol 3b, pg 8 no. 429

[2] Ancestry.com. Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912 [database on-line]

[3] 1901 England Census Class: RG13; Piece: 1407; Folio: 10; Page: 11

[4]1911 England Census Class RG14; Piece: 986 Folio 15996

[5] Northampton Mercury, April 6 1906

[6] Northampton Chronicle and Echo, May 30^th 1906