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Find My Past Blog - Ask the Expert - family legends

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  • Find My Past Blog - Ask the Expert - family legends

    Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured right, answers your questions.

    From Dick Myhre in Blaine, Washington, USA:

    ‘My wife has hired at least 3 different researchers to try to find information on her family in England and Scotland - all without success. The facts:

    Her great-grandfather was George Slater, born 23 February 1826 in White Lea (Whitley?), Northumberland Co., England, ‘on the border between England and Scotland’, per family lore. His parents’ names are unknown by us. The family story is that the father died, and his wife invested the family money with ‘friends’ and that the money was ‘lost’. George was the youngest (?) of the sons in the family; the other sons were college-educated - for the ministry, we’ve heard - but the father died before George could complete his college education. We believe that there was at least one sister, whose married name was ‘Mrs Potts’.

    George Slater married Elizabeth (Margaret Elizabeth?) Metcalf in 1851 at an unknown location. From a death record, we know that Elizabeth’s father’s name was William, and that he was born in England. Elizabeth herself was born 8 August 1831 in Durham Co., England. The family lore there is that Elizabeth’s parents died and Elizabeth and a younger brother were raised by a ‘wealthy aunt and uncle’, the aunt being known as ‘Lady Metcalf’. Elizabeth is said to have attended Bishop Auckland School.

    From a family Bible we have record that George and Elizabeth’s first child, daughter Ann or Annie, was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on 31 December 1851. This baby died at sea on 10 October 1853 on the trip from the British Isles - departure point unknown - to North America. Where the family intended to land is a matter of speculation, but they ended up in Chile, where 2 more children were born to them. One family history states that George and Elizabeth were headed for Eastern Canada, where George had brothers in the ministry. The story continues that the ship’s captain was steering a northerly course and began running into icebergs. After trying to convince the captain to turn south, which he refused to do, the crew mutinied, thus their arrival in Chile.

    Two family histories exist, written by granddaughters of George and Elizabeth Slater. One states that the family was Church of England; the other states that they were non-conformist. If they were non-conformist, might that explain why no records of them have been found to date? We have enough information that it seems really strange not to have been able to find anything on this family - Slaters or Metcalfs - in Great Britain! We would very much appreciate your help in solving any of these mysteries.’

    Steve says:

    ‘Thank you for submitting your very interesting question.

    It is quite common to hear family legends and lore which have been passed down through the generations like heirlooms. However, the difference between a normal heirloom, such as a valued piece of jewellery or furniture, and a family legend is that the latter tends to be changed over time: to become more colourful, more elusive, less plausible. In many, if not most, family legends there will be a kernel of truth and it is the job of the family historian to work through the accumulated layers of elaboration and embroidery to uncover that truth.

    This is of course easier said than done, especially when, as in this case, the family appears to have been transcontinental, travelling from the British Isles to South America to North America. This makes it all the more important, however, to follow the cardinal rule of genealogy, which is to work back as systematically as you can from proven and known facts towards the unproven and unknown. I cannot tell from your email whether you have exhausted all enquiries in North America and been working back methodically but, if not, and not least given the negative outcome of the investigations made upon your behalf by hired researchers, I would advise you to take stock and review all available information to ascertain what might be missing and what your next steps might be. You really need to ensure that you have accurate and reliable information before continuing.

    As to the components of the family legend in your email, some of these are likely to have foundation in reality and some less so. The full combination of lost fortunes, a wealthy aunt, icebergs and mutiny aboard ship is unlikely to be wholly factual. Regarding the individual details in the story, I have taken a quick look at some of these but, not unexpectedly given the outcome of previous research, did not find obvious candidates for the Slater or Metcalf families in the 1841 or 1851 censuses, nor a birth or baptism for Annie in Kilmarnock in 1851/52.

    There will probably be multiple places named ‘White Lea’: certainly, there is one in Northumberland near Alston (which is on the Cumberland side of the county boundary) and another near Billy Row, just north of Crook in Co Durham, and quite possibly others. Education of young women other than at home was not standard in 1840s and I would be surprised if there was a ‘Bishop Auckland School’ admitting girls that Elizabeth Metcalf attended, although of course there may be local researchers among findmypast customers who can correct me on this point.

    As for Chile, there were many purposeful British settlers in South America, all around the Chilean coast from Pisagua and Iquique down to Punta Arenas (Sandy Point) and Tierra del Fuego, and a mutiny on a Canada-bound ship in the North Atlantic would be unlikely to lead to a subsequent rogue docking so very far away. If you search the 1890-1960 passenger lists on findmypast.co.uk, or search the same records on www.ancestorsonboard.com, using the combination of surname Slater and destination Chile, you will find a surprising number of records. Of course this is not the right period for your family history but it does show that Chile was not an unusual emigrant destination.

    Perhaps some findmypast customers might want to comment on Dick’s question?’

    If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.



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