January 2009 – Edition 46

Dear Ray,

Good luck with your new arrival!

I am so glad the photo is being well received. Any idea
who the bearded gentleman is yet? It is so
intriguing to see photos of people we are related to
but never knew. Sadly that is the only one we have so
don’t know what our side looked like. They are
probably out there somewhere in the backs of
cupboards and forgotten in attics.

I would love to join your list. I am working my way
through past issues. Would you be interested in any
UK information on the Jerrems that remained in
England. I have some census info up to 1901 on the
children of John, William and Robert though you may
already have this (as i said I havn’t read all your
journals yet). I eventually found the family in 1851
under the name Jnems. Another branch later features
as Jeraimes.

Alexa
=============================

To: Alexa [in the UK]
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 07:10 am
Subject: Family Tree

Hi Alexa

I am fairly certain that the old gent in the photo would
be Alexander Nicoll, who was born in London on June
1, 1821 and died in London in 1895.

The photo was taken in about 1891 or 1892, based on
estimates of the children’s ages. Although there is not
much difference in their heights, Annie was born in
1882 and Donald was born in 1885. Alexander (aka
Nicoll the Tailor) was their maternal grandfather, and
was well known for his large beard. His age (70 or 71)
looks right, and the way he is holding the children
indicates he is a close relative. I have never seen his
wife (nee Elizabeth Powell) mentioned, so she must
have died a lot earlier (this also explains why his wife
is not in the photo). They had about ten children,
including about 7 daughters, most of whom probably
stayed in England.

Alexander retired in 1885 and travelled the world,
including 40 trips across the Atlantic, so he probably
spent a lot of time in UK (he may have had a house in
London also). See attached draft article.

I would have to give some thought as to why he
popped up in Hampstead, visiting your relatives. This
is the weak part in my hypothesis as to his identity.

Have copied this to Donald so that he puts you on the
mailing list. Will write again soon.

Ray

A more detailed examination of the Jerrems family
annals reveals that Alexa and the two children are in
fact distantly related. Alexa’s great great great
grandmother (Elizabeth Sophia Jerrems) was
their
aunt.

But who is the genial old gentleman in the photo? I
am certain that he is Alexander Nicoll, who
was born
in London in 1821 and died in London in 1895.

How do I come to this conclusion? The photo was
taken in about 1891 or 1892, based on estimates of
the children’s ages. Although there is not much
difference in their heights, Annie was born in
1882
and Donald was born in 1885. Alexander (aka “Nicoll
the Tailor”), frequently mentioned in prior issues of the
Jerrems Journal, was their maternal grandfather, and
was well known for his large beard. It is shown in a
sketch in an advertisement and is referred to in
newspaper articles. His age (about 70) looks right,
and the way he is holding the children indicates that
he is a close relative.

I have never seen his wife (nee Elizabeth
Powell)
mentioned anywhere, so she must have died a lot
earlier (this also explains why his wife is not in the
photo). They had about ten children, including about 7
daughters, most of whom probably stayed in England.

Alexander retired in 1885 and travelled the world,
including 40 trips across the Atlantic, so he probably
spent a lot of time in the UK, and could even have
been based there.

The photo was taken by a professional photographer
in Hampstead in London. When I queried with Alexa
whether her relatives ever lived in Hampstead,
thinking that Alexander and the children may have
been visiting her relatives in Hampstead, Alexa
promptly looked up the UK 1891 Censuses and found
that it was in fact Alexander who lived in Hampstead.
He is listed in the Census as being aged 69, a
widower and retired tailor living at number 46
Fitzjohn
Avenue, Hampstead (pictured). Alexa decided to
look this
address up on Google Earth on the off chance. She
discovered that it is in an area of Camden and the
house still exists and can clearly be seen (very large).
It is also one street away from where Sigmund Freud
lived some years later!

It was also illuminating that at the time of the Census
Annie and her oldest sisters Helen
(about 20) were
staying at the house. Helen, in particular,
shows up in
shipping records and in Chicago newspaper social
columns as travelling frequently to the UK and Europe.

As mentioned earlier, Alexa’s great great great
grandmother (Elizabeth Sophia) was the
children’s
aunt. Readers will recall that one of the Gainsborough
Jerrems families migrated to Australia in the 1850s.
Two of the children in the family were Elizabeth Sophia
(born in 1839) and the children’s father William
George (born in 1843). Soon after the family
arrived in
Melbourne Elizabeth and William’s paths soon parted.
She went back to England within little more than a
year, and in due course about 15 years later he
migrated from Australia to the US, returned to the UK
for a while, then returned to the US. It is apparent that
Elizabeth and William, who were fairly close in age,
had kept in touch with each other.

How did Alexa’s side of the family obtain the
photo?
We will of course never know exactly. Although
Elizabeth and her family had lived for some time near
London, they moved to Lancashire on the west coast
in the 1870s so the photo may have been simply
posted to her.

Turning to the photo itself, Alexander is no doubt
wearing his favourite “Nicoll the Tailor” heavy
suit,
which he fills very adequately. The children are very
smartly dressed, with Donald wearing breeches.
Annie’s summer dress shows that it was summer
time. Come to think of it, would you want to visit
London in the middle of winter?

The photo is particularly significant because it is the
only photo of that period held by Alexa’s family. It is
also the only known childhood photo of Donald (our
editor’s grandfather) and Annie.

Editor’s Note: The Jerrems Journal featured
stories about Helen (Helen Jerrems:
Socialite, Traveler, Scofflaw) and Annie (Miss
Jerrems Graduates from the Ogontz School for Young
Ladies) in 2008.

As you will probably remember, Sandra’s ancestors
come from the “Wappenham” family, and she has
been concentrating on the families derived from her
great great grandfather Joseph.

I recently noticed that her registered family tree
showed a total of about 950 people, so I asked her
when it would reach 1000. She said that she still has
a few stray relatives to include in it, and plans to start
work on the descendants of Joseph’s brother James,
who I have written about in the Journal with her help.
(JJ Ed. #40, August 2008)

So she should reach 1000 comfortably this year.