During the week we popped into the Customs House, Goods Yard, West Bay for a little wander. They sell mostly shabby chic & vintage stuff, but occasionally you can find something a bit more Antique & also there is a unit that sells old postcards, always interesting. One unit had several boxes with old framed photos/paintings/prints often worth searching through & I found a little gem right at the bottom! This beautiful old framed photograph taken about 1860 of a lady in her gorgeous crinoline dress, but better than that, the family history is written on the back! It’s about 6 x 5 inches so was a bit hidden beneath all the larger ones.

 

 

Top part of writing says “Frances White married Joseph Hunt 6 Sept 1855” Yes they did in St Swithun’s Church, East Retford, Nottinghamshire. “Margaret’s Grandfather Francis Clifford Brooke Hunt’s Mother and Father”

Then obviously a later bit of writing, which was helpful to me “This belongs to Margaret Fee Smith not the Konai**wski or Taylor family. She is Joy Fee Smith’s nee Brooke Hunt’s daughter” So she was & Margaret never married or had any children. But surely there must be some descendants of Frances White somewhere?

Frances White & Joseph Hunt Family History.

 

 

On the above Family Tree that I have compiled on Ancestry for the family..Link here Frances White Family Lynns Waffles

You can see I have traced as far as Margaret R Fee Smith as a descendant from Frances White & Joseph Hunt. Loads more information on the family is on the tree for those interested. There was a likeness for the names Francis, Frances, Fanny and even at the top of the tree you can see a John Smith married Sarah Smith, yes Smith was her maiden surname too! It’s not been an easy one to get right..But I hope I have! For those that don’t know all my research for my old photos is done online through lots of various sources Ancestry, Find My Past, Family Search, Online Parish Clerks, Find A Grave, Newspaper Archives on Find My Past & various other wonderful websites, lots that are local to areas I am researching & all that are free to search. It would be impossible for me to afford to confirm all the facts with certificates but I do my best with what I have.

It’s interesting the different occupations I come across doing research into different families, this tree has Merchants, Wholesale Stationers & then Paper Merchants (Hunt & White family) I suspect this is probably how Frances & Joseph (a Wholesale Stationer) became to know each other as their Fathers were in the same business. Also a new one on me Wharfinger, an owner or keeper of a Wharf, today known as a Harbourmaster. There are also Ministers in the family (Smith & Stewart family) & one John Stewart was actually Mayor of Liverpool 1855-1856. I’ve had a really interesting few days research.

Below are a couple of super photos I found on Public Family trees on Ancestry, on the left is George Hunt, one of Frances & Josephs sons, he was a Paper Merchant also & on the right his wife Kathleen Warner & one of their children.

From the same source I also found a photo of George & Kathleens marriage in August 1886, sadly Frances had died just a couple months before, but we can see Joseph Hunt seated third from the right. Nice to see a lovely family Wedding group like this.

This below is St Swithun’s Church in East Retford, Nottinghamshire where Frances & Joseph married.

Are you a descendant of Frances White & Joseph Hunt? Do you know of one? Please let me know if you have any more information, I would love this to go back to it’s family.

Till next time then………………