U is for Unknown

For the letter U I give you my ‘Unknowns’.

These are, technically, the people for whom some or all of their name is listed as Unknown within my index up to my 5x great grandparents, which is the point to which I consistently have ‘placeholders’ set up (i.e. an index number is created for them even though I don’t have a name etc. for the individual yet).  This includes women who I only know their married name, and thus I have a Christian name for them but no surname yet.

There 157 unknowns in my direct line tree up to this point – quite a few then! Most of these occur in the 5x GG generation. I don’t know the names of 105 out of my 128 5x great grandparents). On the other hand, my earliest one occurs at the 2x GG generation (the mother of Walter Newby).

H ere I give you a quick list of some of my key Unknowns. If anybody can fill in the gaps, or suggest a way forward, please do!

1. The maiden name of James Green’s wife Esther

The Green family are to be found in the Forest of Green area of Gloucester. The issue is muddled somewhat by the existence of two James Green’s married to women named Esther, one of who is Esther Barlow. However, for various reasons, I’m reasonably sure that I am looking for the other Esther, for whom I can’t find a maiden name...

2. The family of Mary Ann Lumb, wife of Henry Hampshire

Mary Ann was born in 1830 in Flockton (Lepton?), and married Henry Hampshire in 1848. Unfortunately Lumb is quite a common name so I haven’t succeeded in identifying the family yet.

3. The parents of Phoebe Ann Hollyloke/Hollyboke/Hollyoke

Phoebe Ann was born in 1822. Her mother is called Sarah, but who was her father, and what is her mother’s maiden name?  

4. The mother of Mary Ann Birchall

Mary Ann’s father is John Birchall, musician, but he appears to have brought up Mary Ann (b. abt 1835) alone and as far as I can tell she is his only child, so no other children to work from and no further info on his family from which to identify his marriage...

5. The ancestry Richard Winter (b. 1834) and wife Sarah née Winter (b. 1839)

I haven’t yet been able to find out anything concrete about their parentage, and I’m intrigued as to whether there’s a pre-existing family relationship here...

Of course, there are 152 more, but these are just a selection of my ‘mysteries’. Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated, as always!

L x