Sheila McDermott's Brick Wall
has been broken down
Please contact us if you can help
My brick wall revolves around the details I have for a James Myerscough, born 5th April 1874 in Salthouse Road Barrow, the son of Thomas & Selina (nee Walker) Myerscough.
His grandfather was James Myerscough,
a master mariner and his grandmother was Elizabeth Howarth.
He was in the Army in the Royal Irish Rifles, 83rd Regiment, stationed in Ireland, Africa
(Boar War he was captured for a day ) and India , met and married Esther Weaver in India.
I found the marriage certificate on line
On his demobilization papers from the Army in 1914, he states that his wife is Esther Myerscough, living at Glasgow Street, Barrow in Furness.
They had a number of children born in Ireland and India and one in Barrow.Their first child, Esther M was born in India in 1898, Thomas J was born in Belfast in 1900, Cecil was born in Dublin in 1903, Harold H was born in India in 1905, George Haworth was born in India in 1906, and Kathleen was born in Belfast in 1909 .
(Haworth in some of the children's name comes from their Grandmother Elizabeth Haworth).
James came out of the army in 1914 at the age of 38, we have the demob papers which refer to his wife Esther living in Barrow.
He re joined 4th Battalion " Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment on the 1 July 1912
giving his occupation as a clerk and stated he had served in the
1st & 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles for 16 years.
He was discharged on the 28 Sept 1914 having been " Illegally absent"
We hear nothing more of James until Esther's death 29 Nov 1946, - on the death certificate under occupation, Esther is shown as 'Wife of James Myerscough a labourer in the shipyard' - the informant was the eldest daughter Esther M Delaney.
I have had contact with one of Jame's Granddaughter who confirms that
Esther and James did not continue to live together
Another James Myerscough now comes into the picture!!
We hear nothing of this James(2) until he marries Helen Anderson Hogg in Longsight, Manchester on the 27 July 1915, he is aged 36, his father is given as James Myerscough (deceased) a master mariner and he is living in Manchester working as a clerk.
The question arises - is this the same James, marrying bigamously?
His date of birth would be around 1879, his father has the same name and occupation as the first James' grandfather.
James (2) had a son Robert William Anderson Myerscough born in Scotland in 1917.
James (2) emigrated to America on May 9th 1922 aboard the SS Caronia from Southampton.
His address is given as Rosyth, Scotland, his destination Philadelphia USA.
He travelled with his wife Helen and his son Robert aged 5
His application for naturalization abt 1928 mentions his son Robert aged 13 does not tally ~ Robert was born 18 April 1917. Helen applied for Naturalization in 1929
In the US census for 1930 under the surname "Cough Myers" James(2), Helen and Robert
were living on 2115 Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
James (2) later married a Lottie Leeper.In the 1940 US census James
is with Lottie and daughter Esther, he states that he is living in the same address as in 1935
In the 1940 census I found Helen and Robert under the surname of Anderson
and she claims to be a widow, Robert was a roomer.( Lodger) When Robert died he was still Robert Anderson.
Did Helen find James out and realize she had never been married legally and left him free to marry Lottie, still whilst he was married to Esther If the two James are the same man then he was a double bigamist
The death details of James (2) show that he died 17th September 1965 in Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio, aged 92. (Date of Birth 1873) The certificate shows him as married.
Two similarities :
On James (1) Army paper two tattoos are mentioned on both forearms and
for James (2) the same comment on the passenger list of the SS Caronia
My problem is that all the details above appear in our Myerscough records as one person!!!
Do we have two James' or did James (1) commit bigamy?. The dates fit for it being one person.
It would all have made sense if the death certificate of Esther in 1946 had not stated
'Wife of James Myerscough a labourer in the shipyard' in the occupation column.
This implies that James was still in Barrow and had never left or was it an act of defiance by the eldest daughter to record the fact that her father was still married to her mother -
albeit he was now living in America with his new family!
Was it coincidence that James (2) gave his father as James Myerscough (deceased) Master Mariner, the description of James (1)'s grandfather!!!
Does anybody have any further details of either of these James' - can anybody provide details of James (2) early life that would prove we are looking at two people, or has anyone any details of James (1) after 1912 proving that this James did not emigrate.?
March 2017
I knew if I waited long enough~ 20 years!!
I would get my brickwall broken down ~James Myerscough 1874-1965
I had an email from James Anderson, his Grandson, James
the son of Robert Anderson (Myerscough)
Robert took his mother's maiden name when James & Helen were divorced in the 1930's
James recalls visiting James Myerscough and Lottie Leeper when he was a child.
Once again being a Family historian it is a wonderful feeling to know my instinct on researching
James were right I dont have all the details of James gallivanting but enough to know where he
fits into our Family
My brick wall revolves around the details I have for a James Myerscough, born 5th April 1874 in Salthouse Road Barrow, the son of Thomas & Selina (nee Walker) Myerscough.
His grandfather was James Myerscough,
a master mariner and his grandmother was Elizabeth Howarth.
He was in the Army in the Royal Irish Rifles, 83rd Regiment, stationed in Ireland, Africa
(Boar War he was captured for a day ) and India , met and married Esther Weaver in India.
I found the marriage certificate on line
On his demobilization papers from the Army in 1914, he states that his wife is Esther Myerscough, living at Glasgow Street, Barrow in Furness.
They had a number of children born in Ireland and India and one in Barrow.Their first child, Esther M was born in India in 1898, Thomas J was born in Belfast in 1900, Cecil was born in Dublin in 1903, Harold H was born in India in 1905, George Haworth was born in India in 1906, and Kathleen was born in Belfast in 1909 .
(Haworth in some of the children's name comes from their Grandmother Elizabeth Haworth).
James came out of the army in 1914 at the age of 38, we have the demob papers which refer to his wife Esther living in Barrow.
He re joined 4th Battalion " Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment on the 1 July 1912
giving his occupation as a clerk and stated he had served in the
1st & 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles for 16 years.
He was discharged on the 28 Sept 1914 having been " Illegally absent"
We hear nothing more of James until Esther's death 29 Nov 1946, - on the death certificate under occupation, Esther is shown as 'Wife of James Myerscough a labourer in the shipyard' - the informant was the eldest daughter Esther M Delaney.
I have had contact with one of Jame's Granddaughter who confirms that
Esther and James did not continue to live together
Another James Myerscough now comes into the picture!!
We hear nothing of this James(2) until he marries Helen Anderson Hogg in Longsight, Manchester on the 27 July 1915, he is aged 36, his father is given as James Myerscough (deceased) a master mariner and he is living in Manchester working as a clerk.
The question arises - is this the same James, marrying bigamously?
His date of birth would be around 1879, his father has the same name and occupation as the first James' grandfather.
James (2) had a son Robert William Anderson Myerscough born in Scotland in 1917.
James (2) emigrated to America on May 9th 1922 aboard the SS Caronia from Southampton.
His address is given as Rosyth, Scotland, his destination Philadelphia USA.
He travelled with his wife Helen and his son Robert aged 5
His application for naturalization abt 1928 mentions his son Robert aged 13 does not tally ~ Robert was born 18 April 1917. Helen applied for Naturalization in 1929
In the US census for 1930 under the surname "Cough Myers" James(2), Helen and Robert
were living on 2115 Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
James (2) later married a Lottie Leeper.In the 1940 US census James
is with Lottie and daughter Esther, he states that he is living in the same address as in 1935
In the 1940 census I found Helen and Robert under the surname of Anderson
and she claims to be a widow, Robert was a roomer.( Lodger) When Robert died he was still Robert Anderson.
Did Helen find James out and realize she had never been married legally and left him free to marry Lottie, still whilst he was married to Esther If the two James are the same man then he was a double bigamist
The death details of James (2) show that he died 17th September 1965 in Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio, aged 92. (Date of Birth 1873) The certificate shows him as married.
Two similarities :
On James (1) Army paper two tattoos are mentioned on both forearms and
for James (2) the same comment on the passenger list of the SS Caronia
My problem is that all the details above appear in our Myerscough records as one person!!!
Do we have two James' or did James (1) commit bigamy?. The dates fit for it being one person.
It would all have made sense if the death certificate of Esther in 1946 had not stated
'Wife of James Myerscough a labourer in the shipyard' in the occupation column.
This implies that James was still in Barrow and had never left or was it an act of defiance by the eldest daughter to record the fact that her father was still married to her mother -
albeit he was now living in America with his new family!
Was it coincidence that James (2) gave his father as James Myerscough (deceased) Master Mariner, the description of James (1)'s grandfather!!!
Does anybody have any further details of either of these James' - can anybody provide details of James (2) early life that would prove we are looking at two people, or has anyone any details of James (1) after 1912 proving that this James did not emigrate.?
March 2017
I knew if I waited long enough~ 20 years!!
I would get my brickwall broken down ~James Myerscough 1874-1965
I had an email from James Anderson, his Grandson, James
the son of Robert Anderson (Myerscough)
Robert took his mother's maiden name when James & Helen were divorced in the 1930's
James recalls visiting James Myerscough and Lottie Leeper when he was a child.
Once again being a Family historian it is a wonderful feeling to know my instinct on researching
James were right I dont have all the details of James gallivanting but enough to know where he
fits into our Family
