Ruth, What a fantastic story. Poor Ellen, I always thought Genealogy was a logic puzzle, and you sure seem to have covered all the possibilities. I have learned we always give clues when we try to deceive. and the naming of her son was a big clue. The people of long ago followed such a tradition in naming children it was hard to break from. Our ancestors were strong people and what it must have taken for this young girl to do what she did, I wonder also if she maybe didn't really run away but with the parents knowledge did leave her home land for better things. Good luck to you, I wish I could suggest another avenue but you have done well. I also have a Miller line I can not trace to far back. Margrett ----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth Miller <tigereye@nwt.net.au> To: <GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 04:00 AM Subject: New identity? Ellen DAVEY/Emily EDELSTEIN > Because Margrett's mystery includes a change of name/identity, it has > reminded me of one of my family mysteries. I've shared it with you before, > but it's been awhile so I might give it another whirl in case someone has a > good idea I can pursue. > > My 2g grandparents Richard PEET and Ellen DAVEY met on the ship to > Australia in 1849 when they were both running away from home in England. > Richard (18) and his younger brother Frederick (16) abandoned their > well-off silk manufacturing/banking family based in Derby, Manchester and > London. The rest of the PEET family actually uprooted to go looking for > them, but figured they had gone to America (NY state) where two sons had > already settled ... and did not find them! There are quite a few intriguing > mysteries associated with the PEET family, but the mystery which concerns > me here is regarding Ellen DAVEY. (Also spelt DAVY.) > > My grandmother (whose information has always proved very reliable) told me > decades ago that Ellen had forged her parents' signatures to migrate under > the Bounty Immigrants' scheme, and was only 14 when she and Richard married > in January 1850. They had settled in the area where the gold rush took > place only two years later, and were thus perfectly placed to "cash in", > which they did by making and selling gold cradles (for panning). Their > first two children (who died as infants) were named after two of Richard > PEET's siblings, Jane Virginia and Frederick. The next child was the first > of their 10 children who survived childhood. He was named John Edleston > PEET. Most of the later children were named after other PEET family > members, but the origins of this "John Edleston" name is a mystery ... we > know quite a bit about the PEET history going back a couple more > generations and there is no sign of any John in our line or any family name > EDLESTON, so I assume this name must have come from Ellen DAVEY's side of > the family. > > All we know about Ellen DAVEY is what she herself said. As far as we know, > she never had any contact with her family again. She said she came from > Exeter, Devon, her date of birth was 8 April 1835, and that her parents' > names were George and Sarah. If she was trying to change her identity > because she did not want to be found, she may have used a false name, and > DAVEY is one of the most common Devon names. It might be hard to hide where > she came from, because she would have had the local accent and been > familiar with Exeter, and may have been caught out if she said she came > from elsewhere. The birth date is suspicious because it is her husband's > birthday, but four years later. If she used a false birth date, a > convenient way to remember it would be to use her husband's. > > I have a cousin from another part of my tree living in Devon, and he kindly > offered to look up DAVEY families in the 1841 and 1851 Devon census. He > found families with parents George and Sarah, but none in Exeter and no > Ellen of the right age. There was a family who had a daughter called > Lavinia who could have been Ellen, but then he found her in the 1851 census > working as a laundress in a nearby town. There were some Ellen DAVEYs but > none exactly the right age, and their parents were not George and Sarah. > The closest one had parents William and Agnes and did not live in Exeter, > and I think she turned up in the 1851 census anyway, so she could not have > run away to Australia. So a total blank on finding any Ellen DAVEY of the > right age who disappeared between those two censuses. > > I had been looking for months for links with any EDLESTON families with > PEET or DAVEY. The EDLESTON name seemed mainly to occur in the mid to > northern parts of England, more around the area the PEETs originated. There > is an EDDLESTONE village in Derbyshire, and an EDDLESTON in the Scottish > borderland area. But I could still find no mention in connection with the > PEETs. There were no EDLESTONs at all in Devon ... BUT then I came across > an EDELSTEIN family living in Exeter! Solomon John William EDELSTEIN was a > (probably > Latvian or German) Jew living in Exeter, married to a Sarah BAKER, who > converted to Christianity in an adult baptism on 23 Mar 1837 (C052571), > probably adopting the names John and William at that time. According to an > 1850 trade directory he was a tobacconist and a tea and grocery dealer. His > family is mentioned on the Exeter Synagogue website where they have Jewish > Exeter families from the > 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses listed. They are only listed for 1841, and > seem to have disappeared by 1851. > > [HO 107/267/4/p.17] 6 June 1841 Census > Preston Street, Exeter > E4/19 Edelstein, Solomon 25 Devon > E4/20 Edelstein, Sarah 25 Devon > E4/21 Edelstein, Emely 5 Devon ****** Ellen Davey? > E4/22 Edelstein, Jane 3 Devon > E4/23 Edelstein, John 2 Devon > E4/24 Edelstein, William 6 months Devon > (plus Cornet, Ann, female servant) > > In the IGI I have also found the marriage, and baptisms for Emily (June > 1836) and Jane Catherine Mary, as well as baptisms for two children Rebecca > and Charlotte born after the 1841 census. One of these children had "G W J > EDELSTEIN" listed as her father (G is possibly George, or possibly a > mistake for "S"). Many European Jews apparently settled in Exeter for a > time in that period, sometimes starting a family, before migrating to the > new world. > > And it's in the new world they turn up ... probably in 1851. The whole > family seems to have migrated to Jersey City, Hudson NJ USA. I found > marriages in Jersey City Hudson New Jersey for > Charlotte Edelston (1861 - age 19) > Rebecca Edelstein (1863 - 19. Named one child John Edelstein Fairbanks) > John Edelstein (1862 - 24). Also found out he served in the Civil War ... > and a child Emily Sarah born 1862 to William Edelstein/Fredeline (also NJ - > William age 21). > They are definitely the same family. Certification on John say he was born > in Exeter Devon England, and gives his parents' names. There is no sign of > Emily or Jane EDELSTEIN marrying or having children in NJ or elsewhere in > USA however. > > I could be having complete fantasies, but here is a family from Exeter > Devon with a daughter Emily just on the young side of the right age to be > my 2g grandmother, who doesn't seem to have gone to NJ with her family. The > mother's name is Sarah, and the father has a distinctive name you wouldn't > mention if you were trying to hide your identity ... but George could have > been one of the "English" names he adopted. Emily has a brother called > "John EDELSTEIN", and her father may have gone by that name after his > "conversion" too ... the source of the name for John Edleston PEET? If she > had named a child after her father or brother she would have been unlikely > to use the Jewish/European spelling which could also have attracted > attention in her new family context. If Ellen DAVEY was Emily EDELSTEIN, > she was probably only 13 when she ran away, and may have been barely 14, > but probably still 13, when she married my 2g grandfather. I'd say being so > young in this situation she may have adopted a false birth date to appear a > few months older as well as to help keep her real identity hidden. This > family seems to fit Ellen DAVEY's profile very well, whereas no DAVEY > family seems anywhere near it, and it would also explain the EDLESTON > name's mysterious appearance in her child's name. > > What do you think of this hypothesis? Too outrageous? > > I have been putting out alerts for any descendants of those NJ EDELSTEINs, > as I thought someone may have the family legend of a young girl going > missing .. but none have contacted me. The only other thing I can think of > is to pay a researcher to look up Exeter newspapers of around the time of > Ellen's disppearance (between about June and Sept 1849), in case there is a > "missing person" report which mentions her name. > > That's unless any of you have any other suggestions ... > > Thanks for reading if you got this far ... !! > > Ruth > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES Mailing List ==== > Please consider becoming a Rootsweb contributor. > > ============================== > Free Web space. ANY amount. ANY subject. > RootsWeb's Freepages put you in touch with millions. > http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi >