Comments on George Utting

Question

On 18 Mar 2021 Bev (Turner) Weston wrote on Utting-163:

At the time of George's marriage to Isabella Pope, in London, England, he used the surname of Utting Capes - Capes was his mother's maiden surname. When Isabel died, in Muskoka, Ontario, she was registered as Utting Capes. George used Utting on the 1881 and 1891 censes. Their daughter Ann Maria used Utting Capes at the time of her marriage to James Westall Hutchins 6 Jun 1889 in Brunel Township, Ontario, as well as when registering some of her children. There is an interesting story here.  Does anyone have any further information?

Comments

Tracking George Utting while on another family search. In the 1891 census of Canada, George Utting (aged 49; widower; farmer) was a lodger with my Ecclestone great grandparents in Huntsville, Muskoka, Ontario. John William (Webb) Ecclestone was born in 1820, in Loddon, Norfolk, England; moved to Great Yarmouth, etc. before emigrating to Canada in 1857/58. I have seen the name Utting in Norfolk, and on an Ecclestone family tree. Am wondering if George is related to my family, or if his turning up in Muskoka is mere coincidence. Found what I think is George’s 2nd marriage, etc. in Toronto; a possible death, etc.  Will share all I have. This is the first time I have seen Capes added to Utting. (Toronto marriage reports George’s parents as both dead;not named.)

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Given that the surname is believed to have originated in Norfolk, there are many Uttings in Norfolk - my great-grandfather was born in 1880 in Norwich, and yet my Uttings have absolutely no connection to this particular Utting family so far. I do believe that there are Uttings connected to an Ecclestone family, but it doesn't automatically mean that they're the same ones :D

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply, Martha.  As far as I know, there is no Ecclestone connection to our Uttings.  Thanks for the heads up.  I shall have to track the other census records.  Since the daughter was born in Canada in 1870, they must have come here between 1864 and 1870.

Comments

Yes, connections can be hard to sort out, and may be coincidental. What interested me in this case was that John William (Webb) Ecclestone abandoned his Norfolk, England wife and children, and started over in Canada. It would have been risky—or potentially embarrassing—to have been in touch with someone from his old territory. I was curious to find if his Canadian wife and children ever learned his pre-immigration history. Perhaps I’ll never know. (His wife did develop heart problems and died in her 50s.)  Thank you for your reply.

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Here you have John Ecclestone abandoning his first family and I have George Utting making a minor name change before leaving England.  But by using his mother's maiden name of Capes, he didn't make it too difficult for anyone to track him.  Of course, I still wonder what caused the name change.

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John William Ecclestone (1820-1900j went for many years by his mother’s  name—Webb—until she got together with a James Ecclestone. (John’s two sisters, born while their mother Sarah was on her own, did likewise.) After “acquiring” the name Ecclestone, John sometimes reverted to Webb; even used Webb when registering some of his own children. In Canada, he used only Ecclestone. On my father’s side, an ancestor, Richard Hillman registered as Richard Hillman Banks, son of Richard Hillman Banks. Richard the elder was born out of wedlock. Have wondered if that illegitimacy was sometimes a factor. (In Canada, only Hillman was used.) Also wondered if people sometimes used the surname of a family they lived with, etc. (Noticed this in the small Ontario town where I grew up.) George Utting’s entry in one parish record listed him as the son of James Capes, occupation: shepherd. John Ecclestone was literate; reasonably OK in business in Canada; but declared bankruptcy in England, which may have been a reason for reverting to Webb when he set up business in a different town.

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Not James Capes; James Utting, shepherd.

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My source for this was Family Search Film #007568367; Image 69 of 552. Microfilm of the entry in the parish register of Trinity church, Paddington, October 24, 1864. George is recorded as: George Utting Capes and signs his name: George Utting Capes. His father is entered as: James Capes, Shepherd. This could, of course, be that the clerk misheard/misunderstood, or just chose to shorten the entry. It might be worth checking the 3x banns entries to check for variations or other details. (e.g. The Ecclestone I mentioned above had his wedding postponed several years after the banns because his mother wouldn’t give permission for her minor son to marry.) I may be repeating info you have; if so, apologies, my first use of WikiTree. Isabella signed with an X. Both George and Isabella gave their address as: 46A Westbourne (?) Terrace North. George was 24; Isabella 33. Maybe should  have sent you a screen shot, but haven’t tried that with Wiki!

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Have you checked George's profile? wikitree.com/wiki/Utting-163.  The marriage is also available on ancestry.