Lesley DICKINSON née QUINN Mrs L. Dickinson, The Nutpastures, Jenkins Lane, Leverton, BOSTON, Lincs PE22 0BH. UK Tel: 0333 7000 737 (International: 44 333 7000 737) |
I have compiled these pages as part of the search for my own ancestral link to the SHARMAN-CRAWFORDs.
According to family talk, either my gGrandfather, Bernard QUINN born circa 1831-37 or my ggGrandfather , also Bernard QUINN, (dates unknown) was married to one of the SHARMAN-CRAWFORD women.
My father's cousin Molly is 'sure that it was Bernard the coachman' (my ggGrandfather) and the only clues we have so far are these:
1) The younger Bernard was born in Dublin. We are still trying to establish the exact location, in an effort to tie down his exact birth date. Several documents have his date of birth different, in a range from 1831 to 1837.
2) He is known to have had three children, Catherine, Bernard and Mary-Ann by his first unknown wife in Ireland who came with him to Liverpool. Further investigations have uncovered further family in Ireland. He came to Liverpool in the 1860s and married again in Liverpool, England in November 1886, during time which he and his second wife had pre-empted their marriage vows and had a large part of his second family over a period of fourteen years. We do not know why they left it so late, since at the time the two of his children from the first marriage left Liverpool to go to Nova Scotia, in 1875, he told the Liverpool Sheltering Home which took them in that he was a widower.
3) At some time his fortunes seem to have taken a turn for the worst. It is said he was receiving funds from Ireland, via the services of a Colonel Jump, solicitor, who also attended to the transfer back and forth to Ireland of his laundry. The family knew Great Grandfather as 'the Remittance Man' . He was said to be a proud and upright fellow who strutted around Liverpool in frock coat and top-hat, and a devout Roman Catholic, who was paid the honour of being buried in friar's habit.
4) He is believed to have had a brother who was a 'Bank Manager' in Dublin and possibly another brother.
5) The senior Bernard 'the coachman' was said to have been shot during the course of his duties, although whether this was fatal, we do not know.
If, as Dad's cousin Molly would have us believe, it was he who married a SHARMAN-CRAWFORD, one can hardly expect the liaison with a coachman to have been a welcome event in the family, so perhaps it was 'swept under the carpet'. Whatever the reason, I have not been able to find this link so far. Any suggestions gratefully excepted!