The WikiTree Challenge 2023 Challenge 13

Date: 17 Aug 2023 to 24 Aug 2023
Surnames/tags: challenges wikitree_challenge England

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Contents 1 WikiTree Challenge 13 1.1 Score Sheet 1.2 Starting Profiles 1.3 Needs Work 1.4 Photographs 1.5 FamilySearch Image Look-ups 2 Tell Us What You Found!! 2.1 Locations 2.2 Interesting Finds 2.3 Military Profiles 2.4 Free Space Pages 3 Media Outreach 3.1 WikiTree Posts: 3.2 Participant Posts: 4 Ancestors 4.1 Brick Walls 4.1.1 Brick Wall Ancestors 5 Resources 5.1 General WT Resources 5.2 Specific Country Resources

WikiTree Challenge 13

Organization: London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society (LWMFHS)

Score Sheet

Score sheet

Scores update once an hour.

Connections refresh twice an hour, though the score sheet won't reflect that.

Starting Profiles

1. Thomas Ankrett
2. Thomas Chambers
3. Sydney Dyer
4. John Hughes
5. Mary (Jenkins) Bickers
6. William White
7. Solomon Lee

Needs Work

1. If anyone is familiar with Russian records, David Bernstein (1831-) was born in Russia. His mother (also b in Russia) was with his son Joseph Bernstein (1859-) in 1891 (on his profile). 5 degrees from Solomon Lazarus Lee (1859-1926)
2. Needs cleanup. I've gone as far as I know how. Please help. Mabel Bare (Jenns) Harper (1882-)

Photographs

Note: Please check with your captain, Jo Fitz-Henry, if there are any questions about the images being protected by copyright.

• add image link here

FamilySearch Image Look-ups

• "England, Cambridge Parish Registers, 1538-1983 ", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:74QS-H3T2 : Wed Aug 16 18:31:58 UTC 2023), Entry for Elizabeth Sckings and Joseph Sckings, 17 Sep 1789.

This baptism in Witcham, Cambridgeshire has parents transcribed as Joseph Sekings and Mary. In Witcham both earlier and later baptisms with father listed as Joseph Sekings mother was transcribed as Martha. Thinking it may have been mistranscribed and hoping someone can verify. Seekins-184

Tell Us What You Found!!

Locations

List any countries you find here

1. England
   1. Middlesex
   2. Shropshire
   3. Warwickshire
   4. Herefordshire
   5. Somerset
   6. Surrey
   7. Lincolnshire
   8. Devon
   9. Essex
   10. Kent
   11. Nottinghamshire
   12. Staffordshire
   13. Hertfordshire
   14. Cornwall
   15. Gloucestershire
   16. Bristol
   17. Wiltshire
   18. Hampshire
   19. Durham
2. Germany/Prussia
   1. Hanover
3. Holland
4. France
5. Australia
6. Ireland
7. India
8. Wales
   1. Monmouthshire
9. New Zealand
10. Canada
11. Russian Empire
12. United States
    1. New York

Interesting Finds

Please be sure to include which of the seven starting individuals your interesting find connects to and don't forget to sign with 4 tildes (~) so we know who submitted the find.

List interesting finds to share with the guest at the end of the week

1. Thomas Chambers's sister, Annie Chambers (39) was admitted into Harrow Road Workhouse, Paddington, London on 1 May 1895 and she transferred to Hanwell Asylum on 7 May. She died on 9 May 1895 there. O'Connell-2829 17:57, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
2. George Dommett very liukely didn't marry Mary Jenkins and is likely to have co-habited with her as his father James Dommett and Wilhelmina Ray did Browning-5288 18:37, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
3. George Dommett (1783-1843) was the common law husband of Mary (Jenkins) Bickers (abt.1820-). He was a soap maker living in a poor district of London. He was made bankrupt in 1820. Following his bankruptsy he had several convictions that seem be for concealing soap and not paying excise duty. George never married but was the father of at least 9 children with 3 different partners. Williams-47589 10:32, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
4. Sydney Dyer's son of the same name was admitted to the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum for paupers in 1875. He died in the asylum in 1903.Schweger-2 04:51, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
5. The younger Sydney Dyer also served prison time twice: 6 months for stealing his master's rings in 1858 and 6 years for forgery and fraud in 1860.Schweger-2 05:20, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
6. Valentine Bickers had 9 children 3 of them died young 2 under a year and the other aged 1.Buckle-52 10:01, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
7. Amelia Mence (daughter in law of William White) was allegedly a serial adulterer. Her husband divorced her after they had 3 children together, alleging that she had committed adultery over 'a very considerable period' at locations across Kent and Middlesex with a number of men including a grenadier guardsman. Parker-41651 11:24, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
8. John Chrysostom Ankrett (1823-1893) was likely named for the early Christian Saint John Chrysostom known for his public speaking. Chrysostom is from the Greek “golden-mouthed”^[1]Hardman-1532 13:09, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
9. Solomon Lee’s great aunt Phoebe Levy’s husband became First (Chief) Rabbi to the Great London Synagogue and was a writer and regular correspondent to Jewish Newspapers and Publications together with being a notable Rabbi Aaron Levy Green Rowlands-690 06:54, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
10. George Francis White (son of William White) was a surgeon who appears multiple times in the press for both personal and professional reasons e.g. he attended a dying baronet and a dead infant found concealed in a chimney by it's mother, a domestic servant. He was also accused of collusion in his divorce proceedings and of fathering a child with a workhouse inmate (dismissed as a false allegation and attempt to extort money). Parker-41651 07:26, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
11. Frederick Joseph Nicholas Boardman O'Donoghue (1872-bef.1940) and some of his sons were Electricians and Wiremen at a time when many streets and homes were being converted to this for lighting. Buckle-52 08:34, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
12. Sarah Wells (abt.1802-1838) died soon after giving birth to twin girls in 1838. Their father was George Dommett (1783-1843). Sarah and George Dommet had several childen together. One was Ada Dommett (1829-), who was the subject of a bastardy order in 1829. George Dommet was also the father of some of Mary (Jenkins) Bickers (abt.1820-) children. Williams-47589 10:45, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
13. Both Thomas Ankrett (abt.1760-bef.1803)‘s son Thomas Ankrett (1790-bef.1856) and grandson Thomas Ankrett (bef.1819-1882) were made bankrupt.Hardman-1532 14:44, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
14. Thomas Ankrett (1790-bef.1856) was elected a Deputy Constable in 1820, and then became Constable of Walsall Foreign in November 1831. This must have been a difficult time predating the modern police force and “In December 1831, with the district in a disturbed state owing to a miners' strike, 600 special constables were enrolled.”^[2] This would have been in addition to his usual job, the following year saw the introduction of the first official police force in Walsall but he does not seem to have been a part of it.Hardman-1532 15:07, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
15. James Ankrett (1826-1873) emigrated to Australia with wife and children in the 1860s, but unusually, after having at least three children there, he brought his family back to England. They were all then recorded back in England in the 1871 census.Hardman-1532 15:25, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
16. Samuel Ankrett (1824-1881) signed the “William Smith O'Brien Petition” in 1848 seeking the release of an Irish political prisoner.Hardman-1532 18:04, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
17. Samuel Ankrett (1824-1881) emigrated to Australia where he farmed. He died intestate with an estate worth over £61, but because he had no relatives in Victoria, the money did not reach his siblings in England (although 2 of his sisters’ addresses in England were known and mentioned in the court records). Hardman-1532 18:19, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
18. Joseph Ankrett (1792-bef.1845) was a victim of shoplifting. Sophia Hartop was convicted of stealing a piece of bacon from his shop worth three pence on 3 Nov 1840, and sentenced in Jan 1841 to one week’s imprisonment in the Borough gaol.Hardman-1532 21:06, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
19. A rare surviving ointment pot from William White's chemist business "Hastings & White" at Haymarket is in the collection of the British Museum. Parker-41651 09:46, 20 August 2023 (UTC)
20. Mabel Bare (Jenns) Harper (1882-) had a rough life. She was 16 when she married a military man who was twice her age and two of her children died before reaching one year old. At Dartford Police Court on 16 October 1903, Walter William Harper, a cement labourer, of Swanscombe, was summoned for assaulting his wife. She stated that during the whole five years of their married life she had suffered ill-treatment by her husband. A separation order was granted, the husband formally convicted of aggravated assault, and ordered to pay 10s towards his wife's maintenance. In July 1904 Mabel was indicted for neglecting her two children and in October at her trial, her defense was cruelty from her husband and he providing her with insufficient money. The children were taken to the Medway workhouse and Mabel was given a sentence of 1 month's hard labour for neglecting her children. On 17 April 1905 Mabel B Harper (22), Sydney Francis (3 yrs 7 mos), Lilian Helen (2 yrs 6 mos) and Walter William (3 months) were admitted to the Medway Union. "Wife and children deserted by Walter Harper" Arundel-166 02:12, 23 August 2023 (UTC)
21. In 1881 Samuel Vandyke (1849-1903) was living next door to Philip Wren (1828-) the father of Henry Wren (1857-) who was now living with Samuel's wife Ellen (Belsham) Wren (1849-) who was the mother of Samuel's children. Samuel Vandyke (1849-1903) appears to be the child of Henry Wren (1857-) as he adopts the surname Wren.Buckle-52 07:44, 23 August 2023 (UTC)
22. John Dyer (bef.1790-) father of Sydney Dyer (abt.1812-1901)is noted as an organ builder in some of his childrens' baptismal records, he also is listed as a carpenter. His address is in the Register of St Giloe as 2 Brooke Street and Fitzroy Square. . He may have been associated or related to a Henry Dyer who was also an organ builder or worked for some firms in the area building organs. There is a Dyer mentioned here [1] He could have also worked for Bryceson's Organ Factory who were in Brook Street and established 1796. Browning-5288 12:05, 23 August 2023 (UTC)
23. Two of our starting profiles (William White and Sydney Dyer) are only 7 degrees from each other, connected through the Goodban family. John Thomas Goodban was an insurance broker who had 10 children. One of John's daughters (Elizabeth Rose) was the sister-in-law of Sydney Dyer's daughter Louisa and another of his daughters (Mary Ann) was the daughter-in-law of William White (married to his son William Edward White who was a Colonel in the Madras Staff Corps). Parker-41651 09:37, 23 August 2023 (UTC)
24. Sydney Dyer had a brother George, who in 1870 walked into a London police station and confessed to killing another man 12 years earlier in Victoria, Australia. He was sent back to Australia and sentenced to 8 years hard labour for manslaughter. George was also a criminal in the eyes of British law as he had married his dead wife's sister after he was widowed, this was illegal in Britain until 1907. Fitz-Henry-9 11:02, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

Military Profiles

Please be sure to include which of the seven starting individuals your military person is connected to and don't forget to sign with 4 tildes (~) so we know who submitted it.

• Dyer-16272 - grandson Charles Low-4426 served with the Army Veterinary Corps from 7 11 1914 to 4 Feb 1919. - submitted by Warren-21178
• Walter John Bickers (1883-1955) served as a Driver for the Royal Field Artillery in WW1. Buckle-52 08:02, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
• Charles William Bleasby (1921-1942) is a descendent of Thomas Ankrett who died after being taken prisoner of war in WW2. He served with the Australian Army. Parker-41651 11:30, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
• William Edward White (son of William White) was a Colonel in the Madras Staff Corps and his son (also called William Edward) was also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. Parker-41651 19:01, 19 August 2023 (UTC)
• Thomas Fesmer was Killed in Action in Flanders, he served with the Lancashire Fuselliers. He was one the four children who lived to become adults of the 11 born to his parents, Thomas is a CC7 to Sydney Dyer McIntosh-5576
• Cyril Howard Abbott (1909-1943) was a bomb aimer with 78 Squadron RAF. Cyril only completed 2 operations with 78 Squadron before he was lost on the night of 22/23 October 1943 on ops to Kassel. His two completed operations were on the 27th August to Nurnberg and the 22 September 1943 to Hanover. He and the other members of his crew were buried at Hanover War Cemetery. Aircraft was probably shot down by a night fighter after being 'coned' by searchlights. Browning-5288 08:36, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

Percy Samuel Rush was Killed in Action o 5 Apr 1918 and is buried in Martinsart, Somme France. He was married with two young children and served with the London rifles.McIntosh-5576

Free Space Pages

List of Free Space Pages created for or linked to members of this family.

• Thomas Ankrett

• Will of Mary Rock, Widow of Walsall, Staffordshire
• Will of Ann Rock of Walsall, Staffordshire,Spinster 1806

Media Outreach

Share WikiTree on your social media

WikiTree Posts:

Hashtags: #WTChallenge #CollaborativeGenealogy #YearOfCommunityConnections

Day	Subject	@WikiTree @LWMFHS	@WTChallenge @LWMFHS	@WikiTree	@WikiTreers @LWMFHS	@WikiTreers
8/15	About to start!	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/17	Zoom Kick-off AM	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
	Zoom Kick-off PM	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/19	Zoom Weekend Chat	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/20	Halfway	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/22	Winding down	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/24	Zoom Wrap-Up	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
8/30	Challenge Highlights	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link 13 Highlights
8/31	#ConnectionFinder short	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link video
9/1	#ConnectionFinder	Link	Link	Link	Link

Participant Posts:

Member	Date	Subject	Facebook	Twitter	Mastodon	Instagram	YouTube
Azure	8/21		Link	Link	Link	Link

Ancestors

Brick Walls

These links will be added mid-week by Eowyn and the captain. Remember to claim any brick wall bounties in the G2G!

Brick Wall Ancestors

1. Thomas Ankrett
2. Thomas Chambers
3. Sydney Dyer
4. for John Hughes - his parents Edward Hughes and Alice Jones
5. Mary (Jenkins) Bickers
6. William White

Resources

Please list any resources that you have. We all gain knowledge from each other!

General WT Resources

• Editing Tips This page shows basic markup that can be used on WikiTree profiles and Space pages. Please remember not to use tables on Challenge profiles.
• Example Challenge Profiles This is a guideline on how the profiles can look.
• WikiTree Browser Extension This addon is great for a lot of things, but the main help for the Challenge is the "auto-bio" button that it puts on the profiles. This will give you basic narrative you can add to. It is also great for adding stickers and cleaning up GEDCOM clutter. Let your team captain know if you need help learning one of these features!
• The Background Images Category contains pages that you can find a large variety of background images on. Most of them are tiled (repeatable) images.
• WikiTree+ is valuable for so many things! Here are a few of the search features you can use for challenge profiles: (Go to WikiTree+. In the "Search" section, look at the "Text search" box and then "Text:" underneath that. Leave the ProfileList parameter and change the text at the end to search for different things. You can copy the text below and paste it in the text box. Click "Get profiles.") Thank you Aleš!!
  1. Look for Pending merges: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" pendingmerge
  2. Profiles missing the country in a location field: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" UnknownCountry
  3. Not connected to the global tree: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" unconnected
  4. No parents: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" noparents
  5. No spouse: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" nospouses
  6. Notable profiles: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" TemplateFull=Notables_Sticker
  7. Has GEDCOM clutter: ProfileList="WikiTreeChallenge\ActiveChallenge" GEDCOMJunk
• Connection Finder If you're not sure where you are working on the tree, this will show you anyone (connected)'s connection to the starting profiles. Just enter the profile you're working on in the box at the top of the page.

Specific Country Resources

• England Project - English Profile Standards
• England Project Research Resources
• England County Resource Pages
• Reliable sources for pre-1700 profiles in England
• London Research Resources
• Middlesex Research Resources
• Genuki