In 2001, my middle daughter, Eleanor, flew off to America for a gap year in Minnesota. There she met Mike, and after returning home a year later, they pursued a transatlantic relationship for a few years, before marrying in London in 2006. The my immediate family to strike out for a life in the New World, and looking forward to adding some American grandchildren to my ever-expanding family tree (duly provided – thanks Eleanor and Mike!).
Little did I know about a much earlier member of our family who had gone out there to try his luck.
At that time, internet genealogy was still in its infancy, so resources were somewhat limited unless there was time to travel around the country and heft endless tomes of BMD registers, squeaky rolls of census data, or the British Newspaper Archive in Colindale. However, the advent of the online version of the BNA a few years ago opened up the door to a verysad tale of poverty, but also of recovery and a determination to improve the lot of the poor. An article in the from 25 November 1842 piqued my interest about a transatlantic crossing by one of my ancestors born more than 200 years ago.
