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Contributed by:
Gil Hedley, Ph.D.
on
04 November 2009
Located in:
Comments:
Contributed by:
Piers Connor
on
27 December 2008
Located in:
Comments:
Ken,
I have more information about Frank Hedley. He arrived in the US (New York City) on 27th July 1882 on the ship Wisconsin from Liverpool. His age was registered as 20 and occupation as "Gentleman". Ref: http://www.castlegarden.org/quick_search_result.php?p_first_name=frank&p_last_name=hedley&m_arr_date_start=1881&m_arrival_end=1883
&submit.x=40&submit.y=8
His death is recorded as 1955 aged 91. This would have put his date of birth at 1864, not 1862. Perhaps his age was not recorded correctly at Castle Garden.
Regards
Piers
I have more information about Frank Hedley. He arrived in the US (New York City) on 27th July 1882 on the ship Wisconsin from Liverpool. His age was registered as 20 and occupation as "Gentleman". Ref: http://www.castlegarden.org/quick_search_result.php?p_first_name=frank&p_last_name=hedley&m_arr_date_start=1881&m_arrival_end=1883
&submit.x=40&submit.y=8
His death is recorded as 1955 aged 91. This would have put his date of birth at 1864, not 1862. Perhaps his age was not recorded correctly at Castle Garden.
Regards
Piers
Reply:
It appears that the FreeBMD indexes have been updated since I last checked. On this occasion I found a Frank Hedley born in Maidstone, Kent in the March quarter of 1864 (maybe he gave a false age in order to emigrate?). There was also a Francis Edmund Hedley born in Derby in the March quarter of 1864 but these are the only two male Hedleys born between January 1860 to December 1864 with forenames beginning 'Fra'.
Having found Frank, I looked at the 1881 British census and found him living at 31 Bower Place, Maidstone, Kent as a boarder (family headed by Edward W Wenbourne). His age was given as 18 and his occupation as "Railway Engine Cleaner". It is possible that this was at a gas works because Edward Wenbourne's occupation was recorded as 'Engine Driver Gas Factory Works'. There was also another boarder at the same address, George Chapman, whose occupation was recorded as 'Railway Fireman'.
Maidstone is only about 30 miles from where one of William (Puffing Billy) Hedley's sons lived - Oswald Dodd Hedley (lived in Beckenham). Oswald died in 1882 (April, aged 78), the same year as Frank left the UK but so far I have no indication that Frank was related to this Family. Oswald had five children and the only candidate parent would be Oswald's third child (second son), George W Hedley but I have no details about this individual other than his birth (Northumberland, 1848) and any link would make Frank a direct descendant of William rather than a grand nephew. George was shown as unmarried and living with his father in the 1881 census so maybe I should even be considering such an option.
I personally think it is much more likely that Frank was the son of James Hedley who, at the time of the 1881 census also lived about 30 miles from Maidstone but in the diametrically opposite direction - in Ashford. James was also associated with the railways - he was a railway engine driver aged 58 and hailed from Sunderland. He and his wife Emily (aged 49 and from Stoke, Kent) had six children living with them at home on the night of Sunday 3rd April 1881 (census night), all born in Maidstone and the two adult sons (Edward M, aged 23 and George, aged 19) were both identified as railway engine fitters. The next youngest child was girl, Ada E aged 15 so there is every possibility that Frank, aged 18 was also a son who had, for whatever reason chosen to stay/return to the town of his birth.
If we accept the purported link between Frank and William (PB) Hedley, then James, Frank's father, must have been the son of one of William's brothers. As far as is known William was the only son of his father's (also a William) relationship with Ann Atkinson. However William had a number of half brothers (from one of whom I am descended) including Joseph, 2xGeorge, Thomas, John, Jeremiah and Richard. Of these half siblings, I only have information about the descendants of Thomas and Richard so it is quit possible that James was the son of one of the other brothers.
I guess that if you feel strongly that Frank b. Mar 1864 is your man then getting a copy of his birth certificate would be warranted and this should determine his parentage - if you do find a link to William (Puffing Billy) Hedley, I would be most interested.
Hope this information helps.
Ken
ps
(1) If you are interested, I have also found a couple of links to SS Wisconsin: (http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/wmh&CISOPTR=41805&CISOSHOW=41729) and (http://www.softcom.net/users/paulandsteph/jspb/emigration.html)
(2) It appears that Frank returned to England at some time - Ellis Island records show a Frank Hedley aged 47 arriving in New York from Liverpool on 08 Sept 1911 on board the vessel 'Cedric'.
Having found Frank, I looked at the 1881 British census and found him living at 31 Bower Place, Maidstone, Kent as a boarder (family headed by Edward W Wenbourne). His age was given as 18 and his occupation as "Railway Engine Cleaner". It is possible that this was at a gas works because Edward Wenbourne's occupation was recorded as 'Engine Driver Gas Factory Works'. There was also another boarder at the same address, George Chapman, whose occupation was recorded as 'Railway Fireman'.
Maidstone is only about 30 miles from where one of William (Puffing Billy) Hedley's sons lived - Oswald Dodd Hedley (lived in Beckenham). Oswald died in 1882 (April, aged 78), the same year as Frank left the UK but so far I have no indication that Frank was related to this Family. Oswald had five children and the only candidate parent would be Oswald's third child (second son), George W Hedley but I have no details about this individual other than his birth (Northumberland, 1848) and any link would make Frank a direct descendant of William rather than a grand nephew. George was shown as unmarried and living with his father in the 1881 census so maybe I should even be considering such an option.
I personally think it is much more likely that Frank was the son of James Hedley who, at the time of the 1881 census also lived about 30 miles from Maidstone but in the diametrically opposite direction - in Ashford. James was also associated with the railways - he was a railway engine driver aged 58 and hailed from Sunderland. He and his wife Emily (aged 49 and from Stoke, Kent) had six children living with them at home on the night of Sunday 3rd April 1881 (census night), all born in Maidstone and the two adult sons (Edward M, aged 23 and George, aged 19) were both identified as railway engine fitters. The next youngest child was girl, Ada E aged 15 so there is every possibility that Frank, aged 18 was also a son who had, for whatever reason chosen to stay/return to the town of his birth.
If we accept the purported link between Frank and William (PB) Hedley, then James, Frank's father, must have been the son of one of William's brothers. As far as is known William was the only son of his father's (also a William) relationship with Ann Atkinson. However William had a number of half brothers (from one of whom I am descended) including Joseph, 2xGeorge, Thomas, John, Jeremiah and Richard. Of these half siblings, I only have information about the descendants of Thomas and Richard so it is quit possible that James was the son of one of the other brothers.
I guess that if you feel strongly that Frank b. Mar 1864 is your man then getting a copy of his birth certificate would be warranted and this should determine his parentage - if you do find a link to William (Puffing Billy) Hedley, I would be most interested.
Hope this information helps.
Ken
ps
(1) If you are interested, I have also found a couple of links to SS Wisconsin: (http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/wmh&CISOPTR=41805&CISOSHOW=41729) and (http://www.softcom.net/users/paulandsteph/jspb/emigration.html)
(2) It appears that Frank returned to England at some time - Ellis Island records show a Frank Hedley aged 47 arriving in New York from Liverpool on 08 Sept 1911 on board the vessel 'Cedric'.
Contributed by:
Piers Connor
on
05 December 2008
Located in:
Loughborough, UK
Comments:
Ken,
Thank you for your reply. I have only one idea about where the Frank Hedley link might be. It could be his name appears in the immigration ship passenger lists, which I think are available on the internet.
Piers
Thank you for your reply. I have only one idea about where the Frank Hedley link might be. It could be his name appears in the immigration ship passenger lists, which I think are available on the internet.
Piers
I am quite interested in this topic myself! I am the great grandson of this very Frank Hedley, of NYC IRT subway fame. My father, Gil Hedley, Sr., told many stories about his famous grandfather, whom he knew well. I am in possession, as his direct heir, of some lovely antiques which belonged to my father's grandfather Frank Hedley, and I have been researching his roots myself. My father always believed his grandfather to be directly descended from William Hedley of Puffing Billy fame, though I have read in articles from period newspapers that William Hedley was Frank's grand uncle. Also, my father said his grandfather lived to be 93, which would accord with the 1862 birth year rather than the 1864 (if I paid proper attention to the above)...I am very curious to learn the exact pathway from this Frank to William as well...this thread is the closest I've come, though I've got lots on Frank himself, his son Frank, then to my dad, Gil Sr., and me, Gil Jr. :-)
I found Frank Hedley born in Maidstone, Kent (and still residing there) in the 1871 census. His father was James (47), a ‘Locomotive Superintendent’ born in Sunderland, County Durham and mother Emily (40), born in Rochester, Kent. James and Emily had quite a large family – Edward (13), Harriet M (11), George (9), Frank (7), Ada E (5), Walter (3) and Alfred (4 months), all born in Maidstone. I then checked for James Hedley marriages to a spouse with forename Emily between 1841 and 1861 and got just one hit – James Hedley married Emily Mirkin in the district of St George Southwark (part of London just south of the River Thames) in the first quarter of 1857. I happened also to check on the birth of their first born, Edward and found that he was born in Maidstone in the last quarter of 1857 and was actually registered as Edward Miskin Hedley (I presume that one or other of the transcripts got Emily’s maiden name wrong although Harriet had the same Miskin spelling for her middle name also). Of the other children, the births were given as: George (Q1 1862), Frank (Q1 1864 but note no middle name registered), Ada E (Q1 1866 but no details of what the ‘E’ stood for), Walter (Q2 1868). There was no record of Alfred born 1870/71 (maybe not yet indexed) but then I located another child born in Maidstone - Albert Hedley born Q4 1874.
I had real trouble locating the family in the 1861 census but finally found them recorded as ‘Medley’. I am convinced that I have the correct family despite the first letter of the surname on the census record looking distinctly like an ‘M’. James (37) is an ‘Engine Smith and Locomotive Inspector’ from Sunderland, Durham and his wife, Emily (30) was born in Stoke (a small village about 10 miles North East of Rochester but Rochester is the nearest main town). In addition to Harriet (1) and Edward M (3) they had three other children! These were Emma A (14), Henry I (12) and John (10). Interestingly, these three other children were all born in Dover, Kent and this set me to looking for James in 1851.
James Hedley (26) was living in Dover at the time of the 1851 census. His occupation was recorded as Engine Driver and although he was listed as ‘Married’ his wife was not at the same address on census night although his son, Henry I (aged 1) was (together with a 16 year old servant girl, Catherine May). Interestingly, James’ place of birth was given as Newcastle upon Tyne, not Sunderland. I did a quick search of James Hedley marriages between 1840 and 1851 and found one in Dover in Q4 1847. Trouble is, from the indexes I cannot say who he married – either: Eliza Bale, Elizabeth Conner or Ann Pettman.
My search of the IGI was not successful for a James Hedley born Sunderland about 1824 as neither was my search of the 1841 census. I am afraid that once again the link back to Puffing Billy Hedley has gone cold. Maybe the information I have posted above will prompt some person who has a copy of James’ marriage certificate (from either 1847 or 1857) to let us know the identity of James’ father.
Hope this helps.
Ken