I love a good mystery… here’s another photo that I found at a local thrift shop. I know it’s a long shot, but I am hoping to find out more information about the the photo, the person in the photo or the studio.
The back of the photo reads “GRAND STUDIO STOCKPORT – – BAKER & CO 18 UNDERBANK” (I believe).
I’ve posted it to a Facebook site called “Stockport Heritage Trust Group” hoping someone will know something.
Does anyone know anything about the Studio or the person in the photo? Thank you!
Here’s my story about how I found “our” Irish Roots.
I had been researching my husband’s family tree for some time when I finally made an exciting break through. As far as I know, my Father-in-law did not know his grandparents. So, he didn’t have much of an idea of where they came from originally. So it was pretty thrilling when I found a direct connection to his Immigrant Ancestor from Ireland. Both my husband and his dad were surprised to hear that they are indeed Irish.
My Husband’s DNA results
The first clue that I came across proving his Irish descent was on an 1881 Canadian Census record that I found on Ancestry.com. I was able to attach it to my husband’s 2x Great-Grandfather, William Wright. You can read more about William Wright on my previous post here.
In the screenshot below, William is listed on the census with his wife, Elizabeth Quirt and their son, David Arthur Wright.
Wright, William (age 27) Methodist. Irish. Blacksmith.
From that clue I was able to trace the line back to his father (yet another David Wright) and his father before him…John Wright, who was born December 24th in the year 1796. This would be my husband’s 4 x Great-Grandfather.
Finally I had a record of immigration from Sligo, Ireland. Here’s the kicker… I seem to have misplaced that record. I know for certain that I had it saved on Ancestry and now as it is with Ancestry sometimes… poof!! It’s gone. So frustrating!!
It just goes to show that you should always print or save copies of what you find. Record your sources. I’m not sure why that record would just disappear but I am positive that I saw it. I wouldn’t have just came up with the name Sligo.
So, my next question that I need answered is this… Is John Wright actually from Sligo? Or is that just the port that the ship departed from? How and where do I continue with this search? Out of desperation I tried Google.
I was able to find some reference to Irish Immigration to the USA on Olive Tree Genealogy. This is a great website!! I found reference to John Wright aboard the Brig Juno from Sligo and now I had a date! He arrived in the port of New York on August 16th 1816. From there I found a clipping from the Irish-American newspaper “The Shamrock” dated August 17th, 1816.
So there he is… John Wright arriving in New York City on board the sloop MacDonough from New London, CT having been transferred there from the brig Juno from Sligo, Ireland! I know that this is our John Wright because the dates all match up… at the time he would have been 19 years old and we find him 7 years later (1823) still in New York, marrying Sophia Draper. They had several children together before immigrating to Canada.
As it is with genealogy sometimes, I now find myself with even more questions than when I began… who is Mariam Wright? Who is Jane Wright? My assumption is that they must be sisters or perhaps a mother and a sister? It sure would be helpful if they had recorded ages on the passenger lists! There was also another “Wright” on the ship, a James Wright, but he is listed as coming from Newtownstewart, Ireland which is approximately 100 km from Sligo. Could he be a relative as well? Is it just a mere coincidence that John and Sophia’s first born child was also named James Wright? Or one of their daughter’s Jane Wright??? More research is obviously needed. Does anybody have any suggestions for me??? Perhaps a trip to Ireland is in our future!!
I am also curious as to what prompted the voyage to America? Why did so many young Irish men and women make the 56 day long journey across the Atlantic?
I clearly have so much more to learn. For now John Wright is my “brick wall” in the Wright Family Tree. So if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear from you!!
John and Sophia Wright are buried at Pioneer Cemetery in the Mount Forest area of Ontario, Canada. One day I hope to get there and pay our respects for their long journey that led us here to Canada.
I have to admit that I am a bit of a thrift store junkie. I don’t know exactly what it is about old books and ephemera that I am so attracted to. For me it kind of goes hand in hand with my obsession with ancestry/family history/genealogy. Learning about the past, reading historical fiction novels and learning about the worlds in which my ancestors lived speaks to me.
Sometimes when I’m at a local thrift store or yard sale I come across the occasional old photo or postcard. When I do, I usually will pick them up. The below photo is one that I found this year.
I googled exactly what it says on the photograph and came up with a website about the history of Work Point Barracks. I have sent off an email hoping to get a little more information.
Does anyone recognize somebody? Can anyone help me learn more about this? Any help would be appreciated. Please feel free to share.
My hope is to reunite or share this with anyone who may know or be related to any of the young men in this photo from 1943.
This is my husband’s 2x Great Grandfather. His name is William Wright. He was born on October 29, 1853 in Egremont, Ontario (in Grey County). His parents were David Wright and Susannah Foster. From what I can see his mom was only 17 years old when she had him, his father 22. It seems to me like he was the eldest of 12 children!!?!!
One thing that was really interesting for us to note is that his father is listed as Irish. This was news to us at the time we discovered William Wright, because we had no idea the Wright family came from Ireland! If we were needing another reason to drink green beer and celebrate St.Patty’s Day…we had just found it. Yes!!
William Wright, MP
He made his living carriage making and general blacksmithing for many years. He then ran a grocery business on the northeast corner of Main and West Streets in Huntsville, Ontario.
1895 Huntsville Forester Newspaper Clipping
He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Quirt lived their in their home on Lorne Street. We had a chance to visit Huntsville a couple of years ago, so of course we went to see the house…which has a lovely plaque with his name displayed.
Heritage Huntsville
William Wright, I’ve learned was a Member of Parliament from the Muskoka region who was elected into office in 1904, he won re-election in 1908 & 1911. According to his profile on the Parliament of Canada website, he served for 4,792 days (13 years, 1 month, 14 days). He also has a Wikipedia page click here to see it.
Another clipping from the Huntsville Forester Newspaper
William and Mary had four children. David Arthur Wright born 1879 (my husband’s Great-Grandfather), Edith May Wright born 1887, Mary Elizabeth Wright born 1892 and Sara Eveline Zada Wright born 1896.
William Wright passed away January 4th 1926 and is buried with his beloved wife in Huntsville, Ontario at the Locks Cemetery.
A while back I sent in my DNA to be tested through Ancestry. Below are my Ethnicity Estimate results.
My DNA Results
I was a little disappointed that there really wasn’t anything surprising to me, as I know that my Dad’s family is all from Great Britain. I don’t know what I was hoping for… a little more variety perhaps? Some big family secret?
I mentioned before that my Mom was adopted at birth, so of course the people that I called my Grandparents are nowhere to be found in my DNA results. Duh. What I do have is a large amount of matches for the Smith and Taylor families – who were her birth father and mother’s surnames. I’ve never met anyone of them yet, although I hope to one day! The next time I find myself in Michigan I will be sure to say hello. If nothing else, it confirmed for me that the names we came to know as my Mom’s birth parents were absolutely correct.
I have to admit that I was hoping for more matches on my Dad’s side of the family as Apps was my surname at birth and I feel more of a connection to this side of the family. Does that make sense?
So, to aid in my search for more Apps’, a few weeks ago I asked my Dad to spit into a tube for me and I sent in his DNA sample to Ancestry. Well, just in time for Father’s Day yesterday, I received an email that the results are in!! Take a look below…
My Dad’s DNA Results
It seems his results are not too much different than mine. England, Wales & Northwestern Europe – I’m at 89%, my Dad is at 82%. Norway – I’m at 9% and my Dad is at 4%. Ireland and Scotland – I’m at 2% and my Dad is at 12%. He also seems to have 2% from Sweden.
What interests me more and what I will be looking into over the next little while are the actual DNA matches. I’m hoping to contact some of them and see how we are related. Looks like there are 237 matches that are 4th cousins or closer, which means that I have quite a bit of work ahead of me …
Also, as a sidebar…with the two of us having 3,443 centimorgans of shared DNA – there is no question that my Dad is indeed my Dad… 🙂
Angels with Dirty Faces – Airborne troops smile from their Horsa Glider as they prepare to fly out as part of the second drop on Normandy…D-Day June 6, 1944 (Source : Imperial War Museum)
To me, in the very well known photograph above, the face on the very top left could be that of my Grandfather…and then written below “ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES” is the name Margaret. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I mean my Grandmother’s name was Margaret…hmmm. What do you think?
Margaret and Eddie Apps on their wedding day August 16th, 1943
