Just a note – you can message me on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/ArchiveCookie
or find me on twitter!
I’m also now on Counter Social! And Mastodon! And Post! And Spoutible!
https://counter.social/@archivecookie
https://mstdn.social/@ArchiveCookie
I actually started writing this as a book, but as I progressed I kept finding more information! So, I decided to write it as a blog instead, where I could add onto what I had over time, and it would still be current.
Just a word about what you’ll find here – I’ve tried not to include identifying information that is not publicly available, that is, more recent than the most currently available census or BMD (birth/marriage/death) indexes, unless the individual is deceased. If I’m aware of descendants more recent than those I’ve named, I’ll state that a marriage took place or children were born without naming those individuals.
You should also know that newer posts appear at the top, and older posts are after them, in order. If you wish to read the posts in the order I wrote them, you’ll need to start at the last post on the last page and work your way forward.
I hope you all enjoy! 😉 And remember to subscribe to get updates!
~Cookie
© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2010.
I’ve been doing some research on my Ray line. For those who don’t know, my Dad was named after his Uncle Robert. Uncle Robert was larger-than-life, he had an adventurous life full of challenges, and always lived on his own terms, often to his detriment. I had his birth info (14 May 1870), but couldn’t find any marriage or death records. I knew he’d been in the military, and served in India at one point, and knew he’d come to Canada and served in their Expeditionary Force prior to WWI. But then I lost him. Yesterday, I found more info on him, this Uncle Robert Ray of my Dad’s, who was his father’s brother – and my gr-uncle.
Robert was the 4th of 6 children. His oldest brother Arthur Albert Ray had joined the Royal Navy as a boy 2nd class in 1878, worked his way, and ended up living in Australia and making his life there. His sister Ellen Annie married in 1886 to Alfred Chapman and they remained in London for many years, where they had 6 children before Alfred died in 1906. Ellen and her children then moved to Northumberland, where they remained until her death in 1945. She and her brother Robert remained close for his entire life. Tom was the next oldest sibling of Robert. He married in 1894 and had one child in 1908. They lived in Edmonton, Middlesex and in Hertfordshire. Robert’s younger siblings were John Laxon and my grandfather Alexander. Robert’s father died in Dec 1881, leaving his mother with 5 children to raise (Arthur Albert had already joined the Royal Navy).
After Ellen married, Robert decided to join the British Army, and enlisted on 10 Nov 1887 by lying about his age, just as his older brother had to get into the Royal Navy 9 nine years before. He was directed to the Royal Artillery Corps and trained as a Gunner. In Feb 1888, he went AWOL for 11 days, but returned to his training… until late May that same year, when once again he went AWOL, this time for 20 days. That time he was brought up on charges and served 7 days in prison, before returning to his duties. Then in August he went AWOL yet once again, this time for 28 days. In September almost immediately upon his return, he was shipped off to Malta and then on to India to fulfil his duties as a Gunner in the Artillery Corps. He remained in India until 9 Nov 1895, as his 8 years service was up, and at that point transferred into the Reserves.
His time in India was not without incident – he did on several occasions need to report for medical treatment. In Jan 1889, he fell off a horse while on duty and was in hospital for 12 days. That March, he recieved a mild concussion on duty and was admitted for 13 days. Then in July he came down with a fever and was hospitalized for 19 days. It appears this fever may have been malarial, as he was treated with quinine. The next year and a half appear to have passed more or less uneventfully, then in Jan 1891 he was once again admitted – for 10 days. The record states it was a mild contagion that was locally treated, but the primary cause is given as an ulcer on his penis. One can only assume this to have been the result of an untreated STD. That June he was diagnosed with syphillis and spent another 17 days in hospital. Beginning in late August of 1891, he spent 48 days in hospital, due to a problem with his right kidney, stated as a result of his syphillis. He seems to have had 2 more bouts in 1892, requiring him to be hospitalized for 40 and 42 days, respectively, then in November of 1892 was once more in hospital for malaria, this time for 7 days. Then in May 1893 he was back for 10 days being treated for gonorrhea, then again in July for the same thing (for 13 days). In September he was back with the Ague for 6 days.
This was the life of a typical member of the military, outside the officer corps, and in those days. He made what kind of life he could for himself, and suffered for his decisions. He did the best he could within the confines of his life, but I have no doubt he also enjoyed the comraderie of being in the British Army during Britain’s Colonial reign over India. It’s important to see the difference between the life of the men and that of British officers in those years, as well as the certainty of both in the right to British rule of that nation – even the pain of the men was nothing compared to the pain of the Indian people…
And so, Robert continued to fight while in the Army Reserves. But not right away…
After 9 Nov 1895, he returned to England, where he remained for a time. In Nov 1897, he was living somewhere near Peterborough, Hampshire, England and for whatever reason decided to re-enlist in the British Army, though under the assumed name of Henry Smith – probably because he was still in the Reserves as Robert Ray and had not been called up for active duty. “Henry Smith” was assigned to the Royal Artillery Corps, just as Robert Ray had been, but this time at his own request. And 2 years of training later, on 3 Nov 1899, “Henry Smith” was transferred to service to Malta with the goal of being sent on to India. Meanwhile, Robert Ray had been called up by his reserve unit and not appeared. In September 1898, Robert was stuck off the rolls for being absent. “Henry Smith”, however, had been recognized and was reported for enlisting under a false name. He was tried for enlisting under a false name and served 21 days hard labor, after which he was returned to duty as Robert Ray. Robert had been medically approved for service in India sometime after 8 Jun 1900. He remained in India for several years suffering several bouts of malaria and finally rheumatism, and was discharged from duty on 3 Nov 1909 in the Channel Islands after 10 more years of active service as both “Henry Smith” and then Robert Ray. Counting his time in the Reserves, he’d been in the British Army for just shy of 22 years.
In August of 1910, Robert headed off to Canada, arriving on the 27th of that month. He appears to have gone to Detroit, Michigan at some point, at least twice, finally returning to Canada in Aug 1914. In October of that year he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Windsor, Ontario using 10 Nov 1870 as his birthdate (10 Nov was the date he first entered the military in England, though in 1887) and listing his sister Nellie Chapman as next-of-kin, and he was sent overseas to France. He was wounded at Dickiebusch, Belgium on 26 Dec 1915, and was eventually sent to a hospital in Folkestone, Kent where he was discharged in April 1916, electing to remain in England instead of being returned to Canada. He had his pension sent to his widowed sister Ellen in Northumberland, and one can only assume he was living there with her. His pension papers list the date 10 Nov 21 as the date he was finally granted a full pension (he had been recieving a partial pension before that).
I looked for him in the 1921 census, but couldn’t be sure which Robert Ray might be he, though I did find his sister and he was not living with her. And I can’t be certain which death record might be his, though I have sent for one I think likely so may yet have that date.
But this was the man my father was named for. He made his own choices, and suffered for them, but he was his own man and knew who he was. If he ever married, it was after 1916, and I can find no record of it. His brother Alexander – my grandfather – was also stationed in India for a time, entered Canada in 1906, and then went on to the US in 1907, where he remained. I can’t help but wonder if this informed Robert’s decision to go to Canada after his discharge, and then on to the US, before returning to Canada and a military life…
© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2023
I finally decided to write another post! This one in order to correct several errors I’ve found in other people’s online trees about an ancestor of mine…
Thomas Ray was my gr-grandfather on my Dad’s paternal line. He was born on 12 May 1840 in Salisbury, Wiltshire. His original birth record states that he was the illegitimate son of Ellen, a single woman. He was baptized on 3 Jun 1840 at St. Edmund’s parish church in Salisbury. In the 1841 census, Ellen and Thomas are living with her uncle William Ray and his wife Maria on Blue Boar Row in Salisbury. William was a barber for many years. Ellen died on 2 Oct 1844 in Salisbury, having never married. Thomas continued to live with William and Maria. Maria died in early 1848. At this point, Thomas, only 7 years old, had lost his mother AND the only other mother-figure he had ever known. In the 1851 census, Thomas is still living with his gr-uncle William Ray in Salisbury.
Now, given that Thomas was at this point 11 years old and an orphan, and that his uncle could not have been a wealthy man, I would expect Thomas to have been apprenticed about the age of 14. In fact, he spent his life in the shoe-making trade, so most likely he was apprenticed to a master shoemaker about 1854. Now, in 1855, there is a record of Thomas and one John Woodlands having stolen some property belonging to a Richard Thatcher. According to the 1851 census, Richard lived about 2 streets away from William and Thomas on Catherine Street in St. Thomas parish, Salisbury and was a master boot maker, employing 3 men. It isn’t a stretch to assume this was the man Thomas was serving his apprenticeship with. In the same census, John Woodlands owned a tannery and was a harness maker who lived in Alderbury, nearby. So, it’s also not a stretch to assume that John may have been Richard’s leather supplier, and met Thomas in his shop. The item stolen was a pair of boots worth 10 shillings. Both John and Thomas were convicted and sentenced – John got 3 months hard labor and Thomas got 6 months hard labor.
William Ray, Thomas’ gr-uncle, died in the last quarter of 1858. In the 1861 census, Thomas is working as a bootmaker’s assistant in the shop of George Sydenham, in St. Thomas parish of Salisbury. On 4 Jan 1863, he married Mary Ann Elizabeth Smith, of Cambridgeshire, the daughter of Simon and his wife Mary A. Burnham. Mary had been working as an assistant milliner in St. Thomas parish, boarding at the home of Adolphus Cockett and his family on Oatmeal Row. They married in St. Thomas parish in Salisbury.
Now, as to the errors I’ve found. There seems to be a persistent desire to claim William as Thomas’ father, and Ellen as having unknown parentage. This is refuted by the documents available. Thomas’ birth clearly states that his mother was unmarried, and her name was Ellen Ray. Also, the 1851 census lists Thomas as William’s nephew – in fact he was his gr-nephew. William and Maria Mitchell were married on 6 May 1811, in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They had 3 children. The first, named William Mitchell Ray, was born in March 1812. Anna Maria was born in May 1813. And William Henry was born in Mar 1815. As the name William was re-used, it can be assumed the first William died young. There is no further record of either of the other 2 children, so they may also have died young. Before marrying Maria, he had an illegitimate child with May Simmons, of St. Martin parish, in 1810. Now, as to Ellen’s parents… For her to have been a Ray, and William to have been her uncle, her father must have been one of his brothers. Records show that William was born to Francis Robert Ray and his wife Susannah Lester on 15 Jul 1782 in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Other records available from Salisbury show that he had 2 older sisters (Susannah and Mary Ann) and one older brother (Francis Robert, Jr.). Francis Jr. was born in May 1774, and married Ellen Ellen (yes, that’s really her name – though she was sometimes called Helen) on 2 Sep 1793. They had at least 7 children: sons Francis Ellen, Joseph Ellen, Robert, Raymond, and Richard and daughters Marie and Ellen (also sometimes called Helen). Ellen’s birth is recorded as 18 Mar 1813. Ellen’s mother Ellen died when she was only 3 years old, on 21 Aug 1816 in Salisbury, and Francis Jr. (William’s elder brother) died on 29 Mar 1820. At the time of his death Francis, Jr. was living on Blue Boar Row – the same street William, Maria, Ellen, and Thomas are living on in the 1841 census. In the 1841 census, her age is given as 25, but in that census ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 year increment. As she was about 28, the census would have shown her age as 25. And finally, there is Ellen’s death record. She died on 2 Oct 1844 in Salisbury, and on that record it states she was a spinster. So, given the amount of documentation available, it is clear that William Ray was Ellen’s father Francis Robert Ray, Jr.’s kid brother, that Ellen lived with him and his wife after her father’s death in 1820, and that after Ellen’s death in 1844 William and his wife Maria continued to raise Ellen’s illegitimate son Thomas, and that William raised him after his wife Maria’s death with the help of a housekeeper (as shown on the 1851 census).
Edit: June 2022. Just to let everyone know, it turns out the Maria in the 1841 census is NOT William’s wife Maria (maiden name Mitchell) – it’s Ellen’s sister Maria Ray, who was born on 9 Oct 1796! Her actual age would have been 44, but with the age rounding on that census age 40 would be correct for her. And this sister Maria is the one who died in early 1848. Which means William’s wife Maria must have died prior to 1841 (census) and after the birth of William Henry Ray (Mar 1815). So William, who had lost his wife and 3 children took on the responsibility of his 2 orphaned nieces and his gr-nephew…
© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2022
archivecookie 