Pursuing the Dixons of Ryedale

Pursuing the Dixons of Ryedale - Part 3

Its taken me a while but i have finally found the birth of Thomas Dixon. It wasn't easily available as the records of baptisms are not always actually held in findmypast / ancestry, etc. I had been able to obtain the literal parish records for Lastingham, Kirkbymoorside (and others) and could never find the birth of Thomas Dixon. It was most perplexing. It was quite possible he was from somewhere else though the evidence was compelling that he was from somewhere local (see below). Movements are rarely so striking and distant... and we find they are much more gradual and measured. As Helmsley featured prominently within the family i sought to at least rule it out. Trouble is Helmsley parish records are not available on FMP or ancestry. They are held in a single location - somewhere else. I couldn't even download them. As soon as i went to this site i found him there immediately!

A birth record held somewhere i could never previously find it.

He was born in April 1803 in Helmsley to Francis Dixon. He was shown as being from Kirkbymoorside in the 1820's when he married his wife Mary Cook in Lastingham. They stayed in Lastingham for quite some time and all of their children were born there (including two twins - a boy and a girl). By the time the 1841 census happened they were all in York. I do not know what drew him there but i am strongly assuming that his work had something to do with it. It explains why John Dixon spent the rest of his life in York not far from where he spent his teenage years. Someone had to make that move from Ryedale into York and it was Thomas it seems.

Tragically though Thomas died sometime around the mid to late 1840's - in York. His wife ended up remarrying in 1848 a one William Keech (originally from Bedfordshire). The exact date of Thomas' death eludes me but i have found speculative deaths, in York, around mid to late 1846 (putting him around the 43 years old mark). The dates play out very well. This also explains why we never see him in the census reports ever again.

This (finally) gives me a solid foundation to find his father Francis Dixon and continue on.

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Tracking down Frank Bloxham - Part 1

Frank Bloxham has no direct connection to me as such - however, his likely son, Frank Henry Simms does indeed carries the genes of my 2nd great-aunt Charlotte Simms. I contacted a descendant of the family of Frank Henry Simms and passed the information i had over. I decided to take a closer look at this individual. To uncover the story behind the article and to track his movements after - and also, his origins. He was commonly called "Frank" (as such many were) but was born Francis A Bloxham . Francis Bloxham - 6 years old in the 1881 census. Like many families in Brailes there were common groups of families. The Bloxhams were quite a unique name and not as common compared to others. Brailes being as small as it was - and still is - it remains comparatively easy to track them around. Whilst working for a grocer in the following census he met Charlotte Simms. 1891 census. Francis was working as a grocers apprentice and Charlotte as a general servant (domestic).

Charlotte Simms, her son born out of wedlock, and who the probable father was.

As i go through my family tree i often mark down individuals for further consideration, especially if they are not priority research targets, and especially if initial research yields little. One such person was Charlotte Simms . I came across her when i was filling out the family of my 2nd great-grandfather William Simms. I found her, and marked her down with her year of birth, which was 1876 and in Brailes. I tend not to go into huge detail on indirect descendants of my connections straight away - and, even less so, those that are daughters. These can be, and are, explored at a later date. However i came across a curious article about a young girl called Charlotte Simms who simply had to be the same person. The story, published on the 14th of April 1892, and warranted deeper investigation. Article published 14th of April 1892 She was making a case against a young boy called Frank Bloxham that he was the father of her son born just a couple of months before on the 2nd of Jun

Standard Offering - Sample Output

I wanted to give an example of what can be expected for a standard offering. I was able to turn around the following, with appropriate citations (from BMD / census records) fairly quickly. The standard offering is a "no frills" 5 generation family tree ( your great great grandparents ). All i required was whatever information could be provided to me. To produce this tree the client gave me his name and birthday, his parents names and birthdates and his grandparents names. This may not be possible in every case - or more could be provided - but it is usually enough to do the job. There is also no guarantee that a tree can be filled out entirely. In this case it was. In the interest of confidentiality - the client, and his, parents are not included in the below screenshots. I loaded this .GED file into ancestry.co.uk to demonstrate, if you like, that you are able to continue the research yourself. The standard offering can be a good primer and start point for that. On the

Dixon and Simms Family History Blog

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