{"id":2734,"date":"2021-11-15T09:30:59","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T09:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2734"},"modified":"2021-11-11T08:58:32","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T08:58:32","slug":"a-research-rabbit-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2021\/11\/15\/a-research-rabbit-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"A Research Rabbit-hole!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whilst recently searching our smaller collections, we found this archive of six postcards showing different location in Dorset. Though catalogued for the images on the front, it was the messages on the back that piqued our interest.<\/p>\n

\"\"
D-1146\/2<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDear Racheal. I expect you will be surprised to hear that I am married<\/em>\u201d starts the 1912 postcard from Edith Wetton in Poole to Racheal Samuel in Liverpool. \u201cJoe came over from America and we came away together for our holidays, and while we were here the deed was done.<\/em>\u201d The research bug has already bitten \u2013 who were Joe and Edith? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n

A seaside wedding<\/h2>\n

Diving into the Poole registers, we can find Joe and Edith\u2019s marriage: Joseph Edward Wetton & Edith McCarthy married on the first of August 1912 at St James Church, Poole. Joe is recorded as a house steward, and the couple were living at 10a Market Street \u2013 mere metres from the church.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Marriage of Joseph Wetton and Edith McCarthy \u2013 PE-PL\/RE\/3\/12<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We can also get some idea of the couple\u2019s families. Both their fathers are shown as deceased, but in life Joe\u2019s father, William Wetton, was a horse keeper, whilst John McCarthy, Edith\u2019s father, was part of the Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n

Using this information, we can search the national records available on Ancestry to discover more about Joe\u2019s family. He was born in Kensington in 1877 to William and Elizabeth Wetton and was baptised at St Peter\u2019s in Notting Hill. At the time, we can see that William was working as a coachman, and the family lived at 14 Portobello Road. We next catch up with four-year-old Joe in the 1881 census, when he is living in Sturminster Newton with his mother and step-father \u2013 hairdresser Frederick George Baker Holmes.<\/p>\n

Travelling to America<\/h2>\n

From the postcard, we know that Joe must travel to the US at some point before 1912, so we can use the passenger lists to see when he arrived. A quick search and we find Joe landing in New York in December 1910, just two weeks after leaving the Royal Navy vessel the Bulwark.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Joseph\u2019s arrival in New York (entry 9, recorded as Edward Wetton) \u2013 New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The passenger list shows that Joe was on his way to visit a friend, M.J. Bayliss at Hempstead, Long Island. We can\u2019t be sure who M. Bayliss is, but looking at the US Federal Census for 1910, it could be May Baylis \u2013 a maid from England working in Hempstead with her husband John.<\/p>\n

What about Edith?<\/h2>\n

Using the censuses, we can see that Edith A McCarthy was born in 1889 in St Andrews, Holborn, to John and Agnes McCarthy. In the 1911 census, 20-year-old Edith was living with her family in Streatham Hill, working as a shorthand typist. Her father is listed as the Chief Inspector of the Crime Investigation Department of the Metropolitan police.<\/p>\n

\"\"
McCarthy family \u2013 1911 Census<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What next?<\/h2>\n

After the wedding, Joe returned to America with Edith \u2013 again we can find Edith on the passenger list for 1913. The couple settled in Washington, and had a son, William. Looking at the US censuses, we can see that Joseph worked as a waiter, a butler and a gardener for private families.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Wow, one small postcard of Poole sent us on a research journey across the Atlantic! Who said archives are dusty and boring?!<\/p>\n

Do you have any stories like this in your family’s history? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whilst recently searching our smaller collections, we found this archive of six postcards showing different location in Dorset. Though catalogued for the images on the front, it was the messages on the back that piqued our interest. \u201cDear Racheal. I expect you will be surprised to hear that I am married\u201d starts the 1912 postcard… Read more A Research Rabbit-hole!<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,13,166,109,388],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2734"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2742,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions\/2742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}