Atkinson Query

[vita]

3x Great Aunt Amelia Julia Headland b 1827 emigrated to New Zealand in

1853 along with married sister Matilda Jane Baker, husband Andrew & children.

Five months later Amelia married Edward Bland Atkinson who had arrived on

then first immigrant ship in 1848. Edward married fellow passenger Margaret

Westland & had a daughter,Elizabeth Bland Atkinson b 1850,before Margaret's

death in 1852.

Amelia's mother was Christiana Headland, nee Atkinson, & other researchers

have tried & failed to establish if there was a connection between the two

families.

Christiana's father was Thomas Atkinson (Take one 4xGreat - Grandparent

refers) who appears in Holborn, London, in the 1780s. His parentage is

unknown.

Edward Bland Atkinson was b 1824, Bongate, Westmoreland, father

Michael Atkinson, mother Elizabeth Bland.

I've no idea how quickly marriages may have taken place under the

circumstances, but Edward & Amelia's seems to have been very swift,

leading to speculation that they may have known each other before emigrating.

Could anyone please see if there is anything others may have missed - or help

establish that the shared Atkinson name really is a coincidence?

[Merry]

If Michael Atkinson is this one (approx. date taken from various trees on ancestry)


Name: Michael Atkinson
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 7 May 1781
Baptism Date: 22 May 1781
Baptism Place: Underbarrow, Westmoreland, England
Father: Edward Atkinson
Mother: Emma
FHL Film Number: 1471683
Reference ID: 2:3982011


(and I'm not saying he is!) then Kendal and Underbarrow (next door parishes) are thick with Atkinsons, including around ten baptisms for children called Thomas between 1750 and 1770 (saw you said your Thomas was probably born in the 1760s). Needless to say, Edward and Emma don't seem to have a son, Thomas, as that would be too easy.

I don't know if the families can be unravelled - maybe you should investigate what wills are available?

[vita]

Thanks Merry - yes, I saw that there were a lot of Atkinsons in that area.

Would you tend to agree that Amelia & Edward's marriage was a bit swift for the day?

I have this really strong feeling that she went out to marry him, but I'm probably reading

too much into it.

[Olde Crone]

Five months seems positively leisurely to me for the time, considering that they were immigrants to a country which might not at that time have developed social niceties such as long engagements and bottom drawers, lol.

OC

[vita]

Five months seems positively leisurely to me for the time, considering that they were immigrants to a country which might not at that time have developed social niceties such as long engagements and bottom drawers, lol.

OC

So it was all systems go was it OC? I do realise Edward would have been

anxious for the support of a wife & stepmother for his young daughter, but I

thought it seemed a bit speedy for a decorous young Clerkenwell milliner like

Amelia.

Anyway, she seems to have thrived on it, going on to produce 11 children &

living to the age of 98!!!!

[Olde Crone]

Vita

I don't think they looked at marriage in the same way we do. Back then most people didn't have the luxury of "falling in love" - it was an economic contract and unless either party had some glaring fault, then marriage it was.

I have quite a few widowers in my tree and they all remarried with what might seem indecent haste but I am sure was just necessity - several children, a household to run and no spare money to pay a stranger for these services. It also (in my family at least!) mopped up the more physically unattractive spinsters who hadn't stood a chance the first time round.

OC

[vita]

Points taken OC. If Edward's name hadn't been Atkinson I'd have probably thought "Oooh,

love at first sight" or something like that. Anyway, whatever it was it seems to have

worked.The three siblings had 24 children between them, meaning I'm related to most of

New Zealand - apart from the odd sheep.