Dear Judy, What a fascinating family line. I too have a family line which is both fascinating and infuriating. I have traced my main line back to 1766 in Brecknockshire but also have a family tree of 1500 starting just over the border in Herefordshire. I cannot place my family on this tree although I believe because the surname is unusual in both Counties that they are all related. I, like you, have traced back branches and have on some occasions managed to get them back on to the 1500 tree but my elusive ancestor has been foiled by the laziness of a Vicar of Glasbury who did not enter anything other than the fact that my ancestor had died and the number of his grave plot. Without having some idea of his age or where he was born its like looking for a needle in a haystack. I hope you will find the answer to your brick wall and be able to match him us with the French family. Its always nice to see things come together. Best wishes Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Jerkins" <bushnook@optusnet.com.au> To: <middlesex_county_uk@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 2:41 AM Subject: [MDX] I have collated wrong info,muddled info up and only regret a little bit! > morning List > > I have read with interest most of the comments re incorrect information > and > muddled trees but still think my story is worth telling. In my case, the > muddling of information and the wrong paths my projects took makes what I > have today much more interesting. Although most of the information I have > gathered has turned out to be not relevant to my actual family, I am > grateful for the exercise. > > If you have time and are interested this is my tale: It might help others > tracking Alias surnames! > > I began in 1998, without a smidgen of info, to trace my Jerkins ancestry. > 6 > weeks later I had determined the origins were not USA and had found the > brick wall which I stared at for 18 months. Reluctantly, I purchased my > ggrandfather's marriage cert and traced the names of the witnesses (a > fabulous way to go sideways if you have not thought of it.) > > My ggrandfather's middle name was Courtoy, most unusual..... and there was > another Courtoy connection too among the witnesses.... so off I went > tracing > the Courtoy story, trying to identify my family's connection. I found > that > my grandfather's father was named as William Jerkins on records, but that > he > lived as William Courtoy. Why? I went off searching (for the next 20 > years) to discover conspiracies, enormous fortunes, intrigues and the most > amazing tales my fertile imagination could never have imagined. I used > every resource available, online mailing lists, libraries, archives, > purchased documents, found living people etc etc etc. > > Eventually I determined that my William Jerkins was probably a William > Courtoy living in hiding; but was he William b 1777 or William b 1817? > Census documents said he could have been either, but the younger man > supposedly died on Typhus in 1838... so I had to consider what I called > the > empty coffin scenario. No proof, but gee wizz it all fitted perfectly, > especially as I had taken the Courtoy family back to a villiage in France > 1614 and learnt that the original surname was not Courtoy, but Jacquinet - > which was phonetically the same as Jerkins. Oh yes, I was convinced. Not > happy, but ....... I was satisfied I had it right. > > I even wrote the family story up, Invisible Threads was huge; I circulated > it to as many as I could, even organised a mini family reunion in > Adelaide, > and then, just before I packed up the room and returned to the living, a > Courtoy cousin in London found a bombshell. The Tasmanian Archives had > digitised their records, among which he found William Jerkins, a convict > who > is not recorded on my convicts cd. William Jerkins went to Tasmania at > the > right time, he then went to Sth Aus at the right time. Reluctantly I had > to > concede I was intrigued. > > William Jerkins the convict is definately mine; he lived from the death of > his defacto wife 1851 until his death 1887 as the name of her deceased > brother in law - the younger William Courtoy. When he died he was > registered as Courtois (Courtoy) and when he was buried it was as Coulter > but the ages given at all times fit exactly with him being William Jerkins > the convict. Without knowing as much as I did, I may well have missed > him, > or worse, the irony of it all. > > By going down the wrong path I learnt to think way outside the square. I > uncovered the most amazing trails; I traced 9 of the 10 Courtoy children > born 1806-1826 in London, all the way to the living descendants of most > lines and made the most wonderful friendships. I learnt a lot about the > East India Co, the records that still exist and I even researched some of > the wealthiest families in England including the Earl St Vincents, as well > as Jewish and French trading families who were involved in coral, coffee > and > diamonds. I learnt about the plight of the box makers living in poverty > in > London, a Combe family who were members of the coast guard, but who > probably > originated as brewers in Scotland. I traced families in Georgia USA, > which > of course introduced me to the early settlements in and around Sylvester > Worth Co. > > Now that I actually know where my Jerkins man originated (Marylebone, > Middlesex London) I am back staring at the same brickwall I met in 1999. > This time however I am determined to pay for a researcher when I find what > I > want to extract ('if I find it' is more like it at the moment). > > My fingers are crossed that given time and records I may actually link the > Jacquinet family of Jussey France whose descendant lived as John Courtoy > in > Middlesex 1750-1818 to my Jerkins family of the same area of London but I > am > not holding my breath. Part of my research has been the answers but the > majority of it has been the puzzles and the amazing outcomes from what > began > as simple questions. > > I know I will get the truth eventually but I am no longer in a rush. I > need > more information to become available and if I have learnt anything it is > that patience is our greatest tool. The internet and online information > has > improved enormously in 20 years, I envy those who will benefit from these > advances in technology (and thank those who contribute it). > > I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers internationally and > continue to be intrigued by the differences we each have in our heritage. > My > advice is 'if you go down the wrong path, pick up some of the info, > perhaps > it may actually fit in, eventually.' > > cheers Judy > researching Jerkins family - plasterers and painters of Mddx, but who has > also has a lot of info on the Courtoy / Jacquinet family of Jussey, Haute > Saone, England, USA and Australia and is happy to share. > > > -- > I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. > We are a community of 7 million users fighting spam. > SPAMfighter has removed 985 of my spam emails to date. > Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len > > The Professional version does not have this message > > > ************************************** > Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** > superfluous old messages in replies. > > List Admin can be contacted at: Middlesex_County_UK-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MIDDLESEX_COUNTY_UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message