Bower & Collier Family Tree
Research by CM Bower
Find the Lady!
Progress Report
Progress Made in 2004
In the web site, I have included a summary of the research that I have undertaken into the Victorian Calling Book.
I hoped that publishing this article on the web would: Find the Lady!Progress Made in 2005
1891 Census for Hampshire
I purchased the Hampshire index to the 1891 Census published by the Hampshire Genealogical Society. With the 1881 Census I was able to print off the entries for the whole of Lymington and print off full details from the CD-ROM. The 1891 index gives areas by code. By using the codes, I was able to print off names of interest and I consulted the Census itself to find out where they lived.
Nonetheless I was able to identify some more names in the Calling Book, i.e. Archer Burton and Hockings.
West Galway Family History Society
The Victorian lady visited Galway in Jan-June 1985 and met approx 50 people. I e-mailed the West Galway Historical Society to ask if they can identify some of the people and places mentioned, some of which are difficult to read.
New Milton Advertiser
I asked that a letter about the Calling Book appear in the local paper.
Photographs
The opportunity was taken to take a photograph of Newlands Manor where the West (later Cornwallis West) family lived.
A note on the family was to be added at some time in the future.
The Rookes of Lymington
I received an e-mail from Canada, with some very interesting information, from a descendant of Elizabeth Home (1810-1894). She married Leonard Charles Rooke (1797-1852), youngest son of Sir Giles Rooke and Harriet Sophia Burrard (two very important surnames in Lymington history).
Elizabeth and Leonard Rooke lived at Formosa House in Lymington and we know that our Victorian lady met the Rookes of Formosa and other members of the family including Mrs W Rooke and Mrs Rook (Woodside).
I added some photographs of Woodside Gardens:
Photographs of the Lymington area including Newlands Manor and Woodside Gardens
For the 10 Rooke entries, see Name Index:Progress Made in 2006
Identification of More Names in the Calling Book
The last six months of 2005 were devoted to furthering the research into the Calling Book. As a result, there was a sharp increase in the number of potential matches between:
- names identified from local research and
- names in the Calling Book (as shown in the Names Index
1991 Census
I searched the 1991 Census records held on microfiche by the libraries in New Milton and Lymington, and found 24 more matches with names in the Calling Book.
Society of Genealogists
I visited the Society of Genealogists and cleared up 4 queries in the Galway list of names.
Interim Report
I published an Interim Report in paper format and sought the help of local historians. When I had their feedback, I published an initial report which I lodged with Lymington and New Milton Libraries.
The Extraordinary (Cornwallis) West Family
I added a brief summary of some of the events regarding Milford's most famous family, the Extraordinary (Cornwallis) West Family.
Donation of Calling Book
At long last I was able to donate the Calling Book and Interim Report to the St Barbe Museum in Lymington:
I also lodged a copy of the Interim Report with the Christopher Tower New Forest Reference Library, which is situated on the First Floor of the New Forest Museum in Lyndhurst.
Publicising Interim Report
My letter to the Editor of our local paper the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times (the A & T) was duly published.
Sion Place, Sion Hill, Leeds
The Victorian lady recorded a visit to 8 (?) Sion Place, Sion Hill, Leeds in her Calling Book.
I found an entry in a local Yorkshire directory (Whites Directory of Leeds 1872), for Sion Hill, Thirsk:
List of West Riding Magistrates
Hon George Edwin Lascelles Sion Hill, Thirsk
I am taking it that Sion Place, Sion Hill, Leeds was named after Sion Hill, Thirsk.
Progress Made in 2007
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Progress Made in 2008
The Shrubb Family of Boldre
A descendant of Ida Marcia Augusta Shrubb (Marcia), searching the web about the influential Shrubb Family of Boldre, came across my web-site.
He set out some detailed and very interesting information about the Shrubb Family. This included the extraordinary 1899 wedding of Marcia Shrubb, to which the cream of local society was invited plus Daisy, Princess of Pless formerly Mary Cornwallis West:
The Shrubb Family in BoldreAnnie Fluder
He also gave me more information on Annie Fluder who is a good candidate to be the Lady who kept the Calling Book.
Annie Fluder1873 Diary of Sybilla (Fluder) Shrubb
My correspondent usefully transcribed the 1873 diary kept by Sybella Shrubb and it presented a fascinating picture of life of a Victorian lady including the birth of her daughter Marcia on 11 March 1873 (Sundays were entered separately in the Diary):
Page from Diary - March 1873
Page from Diary - Sundays 1873
Introduction to Diary
Transcript of Diary
Names Index
Arthur Edward Fluder
The husband of a descendant of Arthur Fluder advised me that Arthur was the sister of Sybilla Fluder who married John Shrubb.
Mary (Fitzpatrick) Cornwallis West
I was very pleased that a Fitzpatrick descendant had found my web site and pointed out a typing error!
Important Marriages and Name Changes
Correspondents advised me of other important marriages in the Symonds and Shrubb families so I have updated the "people" section of my research:
Important Marriages and Name Changes
The Castle/Sheepshanks Family
A correspondent made contact having seen the diary mentioned above in which Miss Castle and Mrs Sheepshanks are mentioned.
He was descended from the Castles and Sheepshanks. The Victorian lady who kept the Calling Book met a Mrs Castle and the lady herself could have been a Sheepshanks.
Found the Lady!?
On a visit to the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester, I obtained some additional information which has revealed the stongest candidate yet to be the Victorian lady who kept the Calling Book:
Mary (Fawcett) MurrayI will concentrate my future research on Mary and her husband Henry Stuart Murray.
Things We Wish We Knew
- where Henry & Mary (Fawcett) Murray lived after they got married
- where Henry Murray served in 4th Yorkshire Regiment 1883-1893
To prove that Mary (Fawcett) Murray is extrenely likely to be the Lady!
Colin Bower
15 December 2008
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