Hi Barbara I'm sure there are people here who could help you, but speaking for myself I'm just a little confused as to the connection with Southampton. It may be that I'm not reading your note right, but the only connection I can see that you mention is that Andrew Jameson married a woman from Woolston, which was almost a suburb of Southampton around 1880. But all the rest seems to indicate that they lived and worked in Sunderland, which is almost as far from Southampton you can get and still be in England! On the other hand, I know that there was a flow of shipbuilding workers from Sunderland to Woolston in the late 1800s, to work at the Thorneycroft works here. Were they actually in Woolston for the 1881 and/or 1901 censuses? There is no Alma Road in Woolston today. If they had children in the Southampton area it should be easy to discover something about them. Cheers, Dave Jacobs =============== At 01:36 11/05/2004, you wrote: >Looking for descendants of Andrew R JAMESON, born 1856 Yell, SHI, SCT. >Andrew's parents moved to Sunderland, ENG about 1860-1862. Andrew's next >younger brother, Thomas, was my husband's grandfather. Thomas, one of >his younger brothers, James, and their mother came to the USA between >1881 and about 1886. Their father had died in the 1870s. As far as I >know the rest of the family remained in England or Scotland. They were >sister Mary, and brothers Andrew, Charles and William. > >Andrew worked as an Iron ship plater in 1901. His son, George looks to >have been an iron ship riveter and son James was an apprentice plater. >Andrew worked in a ship yard in Sunderland,as had his father. The family >lived at 1 Alma Road in 1901. > >The "family story" is that Andrew had 22 children and that this family >was in touch with the JAMESONs in the US until about 1930 or later. >Andrew (real name Robert Andrew, but he called himself Andrew R) married >a woman from Woolston named Fannie C (last name unknown) about 1880. >They had at least ten children by the time of the 1901 census. They >were: Andrew, George, Amelia, James, Alfred, Charles, Fanny, Hilda, >Lillian and Ernest. Mother Fanny was 39 at that time, so she could have >had several more children, but I don't see how she could have been the >mother of 22 by the time she finished having children. Andrew must have >married twice. > >The eldest child, Andrew hasn't been found in the 1901 census yet, but >Amelia was "in training" in a facility in Winchester, St John during >this census. We do hope it wasn't a Magdalene Sisters facility, but >would appreciate knowing if was. > >We really do need some new "Cuzzins" here. I will share all the >information that I have about all the family on this side of the pond. >There is lots ! > >Thanks. > >Barbara Jameson >marksnana@juno.com >in Colorado, USA > > >============================== >Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration >Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237

In reply to Barbara Jameson, Dave Jacobs wrote, "On the other hand, I know that there was a flow of shipbuilding workers from Sunderland to Woolston in the late 1800s, to work at the Thorneycroft works here. ... There is no Alma Road in Woolston today." I can add some general background to the above, in that it was Thomas Ridley Oswald a shipbuilder from Sunderland who was the person who built the first major development on the Woolston Shore in 1876; and I believe he brought quite a few workers south with him. My great-grandfather John Houston, a boilermaker, being one of them. I don't know if John was typical of shipbuilding workers, but over a period of years he travelled from Greenock on the Clyde, via Gateshead on the Tyne, thence to Sunderland, and finally to Woolston to earn his living - his wife bearing him a child or two at each place! Their sixth child, Mary Houston, was born at Woodley Road, Woolston in 1881, just a few yards from Oswald's yard. A blacksmith born in Sunderland was lodging with the Houston's at the time, and the census reveals many artisans living in that vicinity. The Houstons later moved to Johns Road, an area full of boilermakers. The firm became Oswald, Mordaunt and Co. in 1878 and built 104 ships before it closed in 1889. The firm had a reputation for having many accidents, hardly a week went by without a serious injury or fatality, and the yard became known as the "slaughterhouse". In the 1880s the firm ran into financial difficulties and the official Receiver was appointed to oversee their affairs, but in April 1889 the employees received their notices to quit. This produced a serious unemployment problem in Woolston, and efforts were made to establish a consortium to carry on shipbuilding work there. The Receiver finally organised for work to re-commence in February 1890, under the title of the Southampton Naval Iron Works - 18 ships were built before it too went into liquidation, and the yard into the hands of the Receiver in 1893. Woolston Yard remained idle for over three years, until 1897 when it was purchased by Thornycroft's, who built a "Tribal" class destroyer there in 1907 - HMS Tarter - which established a tradition of warship building at Woolston yard which has lasted until the present day. As Dave correctly wrote, there isn't an Alma Road in Woolston today; but there is an Inkerman Road which joins Johns Road (mentioned above), and I wonder whether there might not have been other roads named after Crimea actions in the vicinity. It would seem quite likely, and Alma Road might have been one of them. What a pity Alan Godfrey hasn't yet turned his attention to Southampton and produced a series of historical maps of the area, as he has of many other large cities. Hope this adds something to Barbara's family history, and anyone else whose ancestors worked in the area. Regards Brian Sunny Eastbourne, UK Incoming mail is certified Virus Free Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com) Version 6.0.659 Virus Database 442 - Release Date: 09/05/2004