Cari Lyn Petersen Tribute 2020

Missing this Child - 25 March 2020
Mom 

Sweet second great grandmother, Matilda, was a bigamist.

   

     One year ago, today, I started to blog about the WHERRETT line.  I am finally back after a difficult year.  My life has changed considerably in the last many months.  I am now a widow, a step-daughter has been added to the Family Tree on the Petersen side and a labradoodle puppy occupies my home.  Thank goodness for Chester.  He gets me up in the morning and keep me on my toes throughout the day.

     I have much support and love from my family, daughter’s Nicole and Lori, grandchild Audrey and grandchildren, Cassidy, Maddison, and Christopher and their spouses.  And of course, my great-grandchildren, four of them, two boys and two girls and another girl will join us in May. 

     Now back to Matilda, my sweet second great grandmother that came to Utah in 1864 and married George Tomlinson in 1865.  But, wait, Matilda left a husband in England in 1864 and never divorced  him.  What happened to him?  This is where the 'Soap Opera' begins. 

      I can assuredly describe Matilda as a very sweet lady because I have researched her life for a long time and I know in my heart she was of great character.  

     In forthcoming blog posts I will write about her life time as I have explored her paper trail.  

     Now the question is:  Being a bigamist did that put her in trouble with the law in England?

How about in the Utah territory?  How did the Latter-day-Saint Church view this?

This is Walcot Vineyard “The Countess of Huntingdons Chapel,”

near Bath, Somerset, England.

You can see the inscription on the arch between the two cement pillars. 

My Great-great grandmother ‘Matilda Jane Amelia Gay’

was Christened here on 1 October 1826.

Her birth date was 29 May 1826,

her father, William, was 24 and her mother, Eliza, was 30.  She was

the oldest of five children, all girls.

She married Edward Aaron Wherrett and they had two children together. 

She then married George Tomlinson in 1865 in Utah.

She died 20 April 1901, in Bountiful, at the age of 74, and was buried there.  

It's been ten years.

    

            FamilySearch.org just gets better and better.    In February  a new tool was added   titled "Calendar of Ancestral Moments."   This new tool  lets me see what important event happened in my family history on a particular calendar date.       I am loving this feature.    I am notified through  'Facebook Messenger'  on a day that  I have  an  ancestor  that is  born or married.    In    August  seven  events occurred   that I was notified of   reminding me of  a loved ancestor or  ancestor's to keep him/her in my mind that day.  A small way to keep connected and remembered.  
     To get  started, visit familysearch.org/campaign/calendar.  Log into your FamilySearch Account and your ancestor calendar should appear.   Give it a try-Here is the link;
  CALENDAR OF ANCESTRAL MOMENTS
For more  information   I click 'View Relationship' and I can see my direct  line  from me to my ancestor.  When I click the name I see a summary of  the ancestors vital information.  
Below is information  about one of my very favorite great-great grandfather.  

Charles Kidgell Jr. 
b21 August 1833

 Charles's parents were Charles Sr. and Caroline Loftus.  His mother died in 1845 when Charles was twelve years old.  He was their first child and only boy.  Five sisters followed Charles the youngest Helen, was one year old at his mother's    passing, she died the next year in 1846.
     Charles joined the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints on the 22nd of April  1850.  He first heard the gospel preached by Mormon Elders on the street and became intensely interested.   After a thorough investigation he joined and it was at this time he met and courted Sarah Ann Cashmore.  

     It's been many months since I have posted on my Genealogy Blog  and that makes me sad. 
I have great hopes I can get going again in doing Family History asap; something I enjoy doing.  What a person enjoys most should be put higher on the priority list.  Right?

     I appreciate everyone and anyone who drops by to read this blog. 

                                

          

Matilda's family address in Bath,England 15 Claverton Blg. Still exists today.

Upper left: St Thomas  at Widcombe
Lover left  Bath Parks and Gardens.  (I did visit
this place and have pictures.)
Main Picture:  Combe, Bath, England 

                 Pictures to the left are of North East Somerset, Bath England.    This area is where Matilda's    parents were born and lived all their lives.  When they married on 23 November 1823 their address was 15 Claverton Buildings, Bath, Somerset, England.    In my research I found a member of this family living at that same address until 1917.  Just  think about it, for  ninety-four years a family member resided at  that address.  

        In 2001, I visited this beautiful city of Bath, England.  If  I had only known then what I know now;  15 Claverton Bldg. is the only building  of many numbered Claverton Bldg's that is the "least altered" bldg. today.  It was built in 1755 of Limestone ashlar: two story’s high, with an attic, and a basement.   In 2001, I actually could have visited  this very dwelling.    To see more click on this link:
Claverton Buildings     

     
Much Much more to come.
Sorry  for so much time in between
posts .  Things happen that are just out of my control   that keeps me from doing what I love most.     

   

Renée

  .

Matilda Jane Amelia GAY 1824-1901

Remember me in the family Tree

My name, My days, My strife;

Then I'll ride upon the wings of time

And live an endless life.   Goetsch 

      Matilda Jane Amelia Gay Wherrett Tomlinson; it's time to put  Matilda  in the right place with the right  name.   Below is Matilda's Certificate of Marriage to Edward Aaron Wherrett Sr.    They were married at the Registrar's Office in Bath, Somerset, England, on   Monday,   16 February 1846, one hundred seventy two years ago   today (16 February 2018).
Edward was twenty one years old; Matilda was nineteen,  three months shy of her twentieth  birthday.  

      Their marriage certificate, below, has an enlarged view of Edward's and Matilda's signatures in their own handwriting.  This is  the only personal thing I have of theirs.   I am presuming  that because they can sign their name and not an x  representing a signature (that is so commonly seen   on  old documents) they  can read and write.   How grateful I am to have  original signatures. It has helped me in Identifying Edward in other important documents  in comparing his handwriting.  The next best thing would be a picture to surface of Edward and/or Matilda.  That would be a miracle but, I believe in miracles. 
        

 

Certificate of  1846 Marriage solemnized at the Register Office in the District of Bath in the County of Somerset.   

          Matilda  is  my  dad's great grandmother.    
Dad (Vern Wherrett Tomlinson)  told me his middle name Wherrett came from his Great-grandmother's maiden name on his father's  side.  Dads know, right?

     Several years after my dad died (1991), I found the Tomlinson family group sheet in one of Dad's drawers .   As a newbie just learning how to research my family history, I took the information from the group sheet and what I was told by my dad as  fact. 
      It took me two years to unscramble the information only to realize Dad 's explanation was  was not a fact and the Tomlinson group sheet was not correct either.   I was so persistent with what I was told to be fact only to finally realize it wasn't true.    
       Dad's  father (George Wherrett Tomlinson) was named after  his grandfather George Tomlinson born in 1822 in England, Matilda's second husband.  Did George W. Tomlinson know it was his step-grandfather and not his biological grandfather?   Maybe not or maybe he did and was told not to talk about  it; a family secret.
     What I learned from this experience   is that all  family stories need to be researched  carefully to either clarify the family lore or to  verify that it is  the real story. 
             My research started in  1997; it has been an interesting journey since uncovering the fact that our family surname of Tomlinson is not our biological name.  We are the Wherretts. 
    
       Fact; we do have the surname  Tomlinson  in our line.  It's on Dad's maternal line going back to his great-great grandmother Maria Tomlinson Cashmore.   Below are pictures of all his "grandmothers" on his mother's   side.  

              This  is  an introduction to the family line of Edward  Aaron Wherrett and Matilda Gay.  Starting the life of Matilda Jane Amelia Gay. 

     

"No matter your background,.....by Veronica"

In this article, Veronica mentions RootsTech2017 and a keynote speaker Lavar Burton. Many classes and most keynote speakers (not all) are available for the public to view.  A wonderful way to learn what happens at Roots Tech and resources to learn how to do Family Search.   Just in case you didn't see the link to RootsTech2017 or the limk to one of the keynote speakers Lavar Burton here they are again.    Rootstech 2017   and
 LeVar Burton shares powerful thoughts on equality, race, history, and self-perception during his 2017 RootsTech keynote address.


Happy New Year!!!