EMIGRATION TO THE NEW WORLD

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The 19th century was a period in which many thousands of people decided to improve their lives by making a fresh start in a distant new country. My family tree and particularly that of my wife reflect this.

SWISS EMIGRANTS: ORIGINS OF THE WIDRIGS ; ABOUT BAD RAGAZ ; BRITISH WIDRIGS ; WIDRIG FAMILY TREE

STONEHAM: Quite a number of STONEHAM family members left for the New World and Stoneham descendants are living today in Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

RICHARDSON: The family of LOT & MARY ANN RICHARDSON disappears from the records in its entirety in the early 1870's. The family seems to reappear in the US 1880 (having emigrated around 1872/3) and subsequent censuses for Newport, RHODE ISLAND. There are some small discrepancies in some of the dates of birth, but Lot's work as a cabinet-maker is consistent with his family's carpentry skills. The family is joined by an Edward WILSON and his wife, which is also significant as that was Mary's maiden name. The balance of probability would have it that the Richardson family of Newport, Rhode Island is the same family which emigrated from Shillington, Bedfordshire, England. Click here to view the RHODE ISLAND RICHARDSONS.

THOMPSON: There are 20th century Thompson emigrants in both New Zealand and Canada. One 19th Century Thompson - WILLIAM THOMPSON b. 1868 in Lancaster, is known to have emigrated to New York in 1892. He returned home periodically.  On a weekly basis he dispatched illustrated post cards to his family, but these give little away in terms of his life in New York. What is known about his family is given in the chart below.  

He travelled out to New York in 1892 with his brother Edwin who seems to have returned home. Both were (house) painters. Willie married a widow Elizabeth Kirk ( nee Cairns) who had 4 children from her first marriage. William later became a photographer and he and Elizabeth had a daughter Jane. The latter seems not to have married and died in Connecticut in 1984. It looks as though she did not maintain any contact with her English family. Only one of Willie’s stepchildren seems to have married, namely Ida Kirk who married Rudolph Dyckman in 1907. They had only one child Frederick born 1910 who was still unmarried at the time of the 1930 US census which is currently the last available census data.

A Brooklyn scene

steamer

New York restaurant

Hoop Drill

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