Dorothy Young of the Greenses, Berwick; Who Emigrated to Canada

From Margaret Dougherty, a descendant of the Youngs of the Greenses:

My grandmother, Dorothy Young (1889-1967), set out from Berwick-upon-Tweed on her own for Canada as an 18-year old girl looking for adventure in September 1908. Perhaps you see something familiar in her features in this photo of her when she was about 30.

Dorothy Young (1889-1967)

Dorothy was the second eldest daughter of Robert Alexander Young (1854-1915) and Isabella Knox (1862-1937) of the Greenses. She originally went to Canada for a nanny position in small-town Ontario, but quickly grew bored with that, and for a time worked as a cook in a Northern Ontario lumber camp where she was the only woman, before settling in Montreal by 1911, where she worked as a servant. There, she was part of a circle of other Berwick immigrants, as I’ve found in news items in old issues of the Berwick Advertiser.

I have documented my grandmother’s lineage, which in addition to Young and Knox, includes Patterson/Pattison, Wedderburn/Weatherburn, Cowe, Clark, Melvin/Milvin, Edminson, Brack, Johnson, How and Spiers ancestors.

Dorothy returned to England in August 1915 to marry my grandfather, John Matheson, in London, while he was on a short leave from the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

They had met in Montreal, where John had emigrated in 1909 from Aviemore, Scotland. She remained in Berwick throughout the First World War, seeing my grandfather when he had leave. My mother, Isobel Young Matheson, was born in Berwick in May 1919. In August of that year, my grandmother and mother sailed for Montreal. Dorothy never returned to Berwick, but exchanged many letters with her mother and sisters.

I am still looking for any descendants of Dorothy’s siblings who stayed in England: Margaret Knox Young who married a distant cousin, George Young; Henry, Robert, William and Peter. Dorothy’s sisters Lizzie, Aggie and Izzie came to Canada as well, but Aggie and Izzie ultimately returned to Berwick, I believe.

After my mother died in 1979, we lost touch with her Berwick roots.
If you have any information about these, please add a comment below.

A Turnbull Emigrant Family in USA

From Alan Turnbull, USA:

My great grandfather, William Turnbull, (born around 1813) emigrated in 1834, sailing from Berwick to Canada, accompanied by his wife, Ann Davy, of Wooler, and his slightly older brother, Thomas.

William is said to have been born in Yetholm, Roxburghshire, and in US census records he reports his birthplace as “Scotland”, while Thomas claimed Chillingham, England.

Both boys attended school together, perhaps in Chillingham, or somewhere nearby.  Some of their school exercise books have survived, and doodles on the inside cover show several place names, Chillingham being the most prominent.  I am trying to establish who the brothers’ parents were.  The trio did not stay in Canada, but moved on, ending up in Illinois. William died in 1859.

I’m aware of one ship that sailed from Berwick to Quebec in 1834 -The Good Czar, but I have not found a passenger list.

About the Davy family of Wooler, I know quite a lot, but the Turnbulls have been elusive.


Are you related to this family ?

Do you know which ship, William sailed on ?

If you do, please tell us in the comments below.

A Salmon Fishing Card from Spittal to John Kyle of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Going out for a sail with the Salmon Fishers, Spittal

I discovered the Tuck Postcards database yesterday and thought this was a nice example.

It was sent to John Kyle, 167a Beach Avenue, Vancouver, Canada on 28 June 1912.

The first line reads:
We are spending our holidays here & enjoying it a1.

I doubt that the scene is a typical salmon boat, the boats didn't normally have ladies sitting in their finery in the boat !

A1 was early 20th century slang for something splendid, derived from the A1 road being the first numbered main road in Britain.

Who was GAK ?

If you're related to either GAK or John Kyle of Vancouver, Canada, please let us know in the comments, below or send a tweet to @Berwick900.


Images courtesy of Tuck DB and reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence.

More about the Hattle Family

I separated this from the earlier post, Thousands of Miles by Taxi, a Trip by Thomas Hattle, who emigrated from Berwick to South Africa in 1901 so as to have one post about Thomas Hattle and his family.

From Alan Hattle:
The 1829 will of Thomas Hettle/Hattle (my great-great-great grandfather, of Windmill Hole in the Borough of Berwick), mentions a son, Jess, "who is at present in America". I have not established whether this Jess(e) stayed in America and/or had any children. I did have some data on another distant Hattle cousin who moved to Massachusetts in the 1800s, but my files were lost in a fire and I need to explore that line again. There were at least two other Hattles (one a female married to a Robertson) who made it to South Africa at some stage, but those are also lines I wish to explore more.

While most of my ancestors and their families remained in the Berwick/Berwickshire/Borders area, a few ventured further afield in Scotland.

A first cousin, 4 times removed (Thomas Hattle, born 1832, son of Young Hattle and Isabella Lyal(l)) emigrated to Canada, and there is a growing branch of the Hattle family in Ontario.

I would be thrilled to hear from locals in Berwick who have links to my family.

If you would like to contact Alan, please comment below with your email address (the email address won't be published).

More on the Brigham Family of Tweedmouth

There's more information on The Brigham Family of Tweedmouth.

Gail Petrov writes:
I thought we would share our Tweedmouth family photos. 

William Brigham and Mary Hudson Brigham about mid 1890s, who died in 1904 and 1911, respectively.  

It was shortly after his mother (Mary Hudson Brigham)’s death that James emigrated.

James and Mary Brigham with children, James and Mary

The Brigham brothers, Charles and William standing, Hudson and Ernest sitting

Prior to leaving England for a new life in Canada, James and wife Mary, with children James and Mary sat for one portrait, the other four sons Charles, William, Hudson and Ernest sat for another.   These photos were to help them adjust to not being together for a year.

The Brigham Family of Tweedmouth

Gail Petrov and Beverly Brigham from Canada write:
Our Brigham roots stem from East Yorkshire, to Holy Island, on to Fenwick
(Kyloe Parish) then to Tweedmouth.
In 1911, our great grandfather, James Brigham, emigrated to Canada.

William Brigham, born 1833 in Fenwick (Kyloe Parish), married to Mary
Hudson, was part of a family joinery business.  The joinery was started in
1782 by his grandfather, John Brigham, in Fenwick.
William eventually took over the Joinery with his sons, John and James.
By 1889, they were in Tweedmouth residing and operating the joinery workshop
on Main Road, Tweedmouth. 

William Brigham & sons, Joiners and Contractors

After William's death in 1904,

the sons took over the business but in April 1911, dissolved the partnership.   John continued to reside in Tweedmouth and operate the business until it closed in the mid-1940s.  James emigrated with his family in May 1911 to Canada.

On 11 May 1911, James with wife, Mary Lightly Brigham, daughter Mary and youngest son James left Glasgow, Scotland, on the ship Saturnia.  They arrived in Quebec, Canada on 14 May 1911.

James is listed 19 May 1911 in the Britain, Trade Union membership registers, union branch Winnipeg, which shows he continued his joinery trade.

Their other 4 sons remained in Tweedmouth with their grandmother, Agnes
Rutherford.   On 27 April 1912, the boys and their grandmother left Glasgow, Scotland on the ship Hesperian, arriving in Quebec, Canada, on 6 May 1912.

It was a short family reunion as James died on 2 December 1912 in Winnipeg.

During World War I, James' eldest son, William, enlisted 11 January 1916 and was sent overseas.  He was seriously wounded on 16 September 1916 at the Battle of The Somme, at Courcelette, losing his right eye and later having his right foot
amputated.

Berwickshire News, 17 Oct 1916

Another son, Charles, enlisted 17 April 1918 and also served overseas in
World War I.

Two more sons, Hudson and James, enlisted to do their service for Canada in
World War II.  Both were sent overseas and had contact with family members in
England.The Canadian Brighams still have contact with family members in the UK.

Ancestry Canada Offers Free Access until 2 September

To celebrate Canadian Labour Day, Ancestry Canada appears to be offering free access to worldwide family history records and images for a limited period.

Their advert page says the offer ends at midnight on 1 September and assuming that's in the westernmost part of Camada, that's 8am British time.

As with other Ancestry offers, you'll presumably need to log in, so if you haven't already done so, register free and log in.

Search Ancestry Canada.

Which Berwick ?

Berwick-upon-Tweed town centre from the Elizabethan Ramparts

I was talking to Linda Bankier of Berwick Record Office about other places named Berwick and she told me some interesting stories about the confusion with the other Berwick in England, the place in East Sussex as well as some of the people who think that Berwick is still in Berwickshire (in Scotland).

We see Berwick-upon-Tweed called Berwick-on-Tweed, and most often Berwick but there are other places named Berwick in the world.

There's:
Berwick, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Berwick, Louisiana, USA
Berwick, Maine, USA
Berwick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Berwick, New Brunswick, Canada
Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada
Berwick, Ontario, Canada
Berwick, Otago, New Zealand
Berwick, Pennsylvania, USA
Berwick, South Africa
Berwick, Sussex, England
North Berwick, Scotland




Find A Grave says that Berwick, Louisiana, USA was named after Thomas Berwick (1740-1792), a surveyor from Pennsylvania and Wikipedia states that he was the first white settler to trek through the wilderness in that part of America.

According to the town history of Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada, it's named after Berwick-upon-Tweed, the bear on the Canadian town's arms being taken from Berwick-upon-Tweed's arms.

Berwick, Pennsylvania is a twin town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and is named after Berwick-upon-Tweed.

According to Wikipedia, the Berwick suburb of Melbourne is named after Berwick-upon-Tweed, as was Berwick, Maine (perhaps due to the transported Scots prisoners of war from the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 ?)



The origins of Berwick, Sussex, England and North Berwick, Scotland suggest that like Berwick-upon-Tweed, the name Berwick is derived from the old English words 'bere' meaning barley and 'wic' meaning farmstead or settlement.

I'm disappointed that I haven't managed to find out about why these places were named Berwick:
Berwick, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Berwick, New Brunswick, Canada
Berwick, Ontario, Canada
Berwick, Otago, New Zealand
Berwick, South Africa
but I hope you'll leave me a comment below or send me a tweet @Berwick900.

I've probably left out several other places named Berwick and if that's the case, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thomas Fraser's Neighbour, Dr Philip Whiteside MacLagan

My previous post (Did Agnes Aitchison's Son Survive ?) mentioned Dr Thomas Fraser who lived at 58 Ravensdowne, Berwick on Tweed.

Dr McLagan and his family lived next door at 54 and 56 Ravensdowne.
In the 1881 Census, 54 Ravensdowne is named Dr McLagan's Sick Entrance and 56 is named Dr Fraser's Sick Door. Both were occupied by Dr Phillip McLagan from Edinbro (Edinburgh), a widower aged 62 and his children: Jane 30; Margaret 28; Georgina Johnson 24, Charles George 21, a student of medicine;.Euphemia 16,  Patrick Johnson 15 (scholar). There's also Jessie Mace McLagan 27 (born Berwick), their cook and domestic servant and Margery Gladstone McLagan 15 (born Newcastle on Lyne), a housemaid.

There's a statue of Hygeia (the ancient Greek goddess of health, daughter of Asklepios, the god of medicine. Her godly charge was cleanliness and how to live a long life) in Infirmary Square, Berwick on Tweed.

On the side of this statue is a weathered bronze plaque with Dr McLagan's head facing right and a memorial below:
PHILIP WHITESIDE MACLAGAN
M.D.
BORN 9TH OCTOBER 1818
DIED 23RD MAY 1892
IN AFFECTIONATE AND GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF A NOBLE LIFE SPENT UNGRUDGINGLY
IN PROMOTING THE HIGHEST INTERESTS
OF HUMANITY
"THE BELOVED PHYSICIAN"

Philip McLagan was the son of David McLagan and Jane Whiteside.
He married Margaret Johnston, second daughter of Dr George Johnston, in quarter 1, 1847 in Berwick. According to the 1861 Census, she was born about 1824 in Berwick. That census also shows other children not on the 1881 Census: Katharine C born about 1848, Susannah R, born about 1855; Philip S, born about 1859.
In the 1871 Census,  the doctor, his wife, Katharine Charlotte, Margaret, Georgina,  Euphemia,  Patrick Johnson are present but Jane, Charles George, Susannah R (appears to have died quarter 4 1861) and Philip S are not.
Margaret Johnston (MacLagan) died quarter 2 1874 in Berwick.
Philip is named as a joint Great Western Railway shareholder with John Renton Dunlop who died 18 April 1869.

I find it interesting that Jane and Margaret were born in Canada, and the remaining children born in Berwick.
When did Philip and his wife go to Canada, and was it while he was an army surgeon ?
Are Jessie Mace and Margery Gladstone Phillip's nieces ?
Did Susannah R McLagan and Philip S McLagan die before the 1871 census ?
It's interesting that in some records the surname is McLagan and in others, MacLagan.

If you're related to this McLagan family or Philip's mother, Jane Whiteside, or you can answer my questions, please leave a comment.

Free access to Irish Newspaper Archives - if you're quick !

According to Irish Genealogy News, there's free access to the Irish Newspaper Archives until 11am on Thursday 17th April.

A lot of people came from Ireland to work in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Northumberland, so if the Irish were in your ancestry (as they were in mine) or appear in your family stories, they might have been in the newspapers.

I've tried it out but haven't yet found anything relevant.
If you get stuck, there's a video tour when you login.

Login information needed:

User: freebie16
Password: freebie16

Thanks also to Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections where I first saw it.

Post a comment below, if you find anything interesting, please.