Hello,
This is my first post and I'm hoping someone will be able to offer advice on what seems to be an impenetrable brick wall:
Ada Harrison, nee Godwin was born in Berkshire in 1870. She seems to have gone into service, like her sisters, in London. In 1888 she somehow got herself across the Atlantic to marry a Maynard Harrison in Pennsylvania. She was just 17 but a copy of the marriage documents show she lied about her age and pretended to be 21.
She and Maynard had two sons, Richard and William. In 1897 the family returned to the UK, but the marriage already seemed to be in trouble. Then in 1907 Maynard returned to the US with William and from then on Ada referred to herself as a widow.
1928 found Ada again crossing the Atlantic, this time on her way to Mexico. Her son Richard was working for an oil company out there and his wife had just died, leaving him with two daughters. The 1930 US Census shows her still with Richard and his daughters in Mexico.
Shortly after this I picked them up crossing the border between Mexico and Texas, en route to visit a relative in Los Angeles. This is this last sighting I have of Ada. The !940 Census shows Richard and his younger daughter, also called Ada, resident in Texas. It shows they were also there in 1935. There is no trace of Ada senior anywhere on that census.
Neither is there any trace of her on the UK Incoming Passenger Lists. A relative, who has since died, believed she'd met Ada sometime in the 1930s in the UK. She also believed she'd been told of Ada's death in the early 1940s.
I would very much like to find out where and when she died but there are too many Ada Harrisons around the right age on the UK Death Index. I have no idea where she would have been living if she was in the UK. There's no permanent address for her after she returned with her family in 1897. On the 1901 and 1911 Censuses she was visiting other people on census night. She had family members in Berkshire and London, but that doesn't help. I feel she may have died in the US but have only limited access to their records. She had a relation in Los Angeles and her son in Texas, but I have no idea where else to look.
I really can't see the wood for the trees. Can anyone suggest any way round, or over, this brick wall.
This is my first post and I'm hoping someone will be able to offer advice on what seems to be an impenetrable brick wall:
Ada Harrison, nee Godwin was born in Berkshire in 1870. She seems to have gone into service, like her sisters, in London. In 1888 she somehow got herself across the Atlantic to marry a Maynard Harrison in Pennsylvania. She was just 17 but a copy of the marriage documents show she lied about her age and pretended to be 21.
She and Maynard had two sons, Richard and William. In 1897 the family returned to the UK, but the marriage already seemed to be in trouble. Then in 1907 Maynard returned to the US with William and from then on Ada referred to herself as a widow.
1928 found Ada again crossing the Atlantic, this time on her way to Mexico. Her son Richard was working for an oil company out there and his wife had just died, leaving him with two daughters. The 1930 US Census shows her still with Richard and his daughters in Mexico.
Shortly after this I picked them up crossing the border between Mexico and Texas, en route to visit a relative in Los Angeles. This is this last sighting I have of Ada. The !940 Census shows Richard and his younger daughter, also called Ada, resident in Texas. It shows they were also there in 1935. There is no trace of Ada senior anywhere on that census.
Neither is there any trace of her on the UK Incoming Passenger Lists. A relative, who has since died, believed she'd met Ada sometime in the 1930s in the UK. She also believed she'd been told of Ada's death in the early 1940s.
I would very much like to find out where and when she died but there are too many Ada Harrisons around the right age on the UK Death Index. I have no idea where she would have been living if she was in the UK. There's no permanent address for her after she returned with her family in 1897. On the 1901 and 1911 Censuses she was visiting other people on census night. She had family members in Berkshire and London, but that doesn't help. I feel she may have died in the US but have only limited access to their records. She had a relation in Los Angeles and her son in Texas, but I have no idea where else to look.
I really can't see the wood for the trees. Can anyone suggest any way round, or over, this brick wall.
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