Family History - Williamson

I know in past  Post's I have written about my Williamson ancestry.    I do so again because I want to leave a record  of information for my descendents.  My Mother's Mother was the first Williamson on my Family tree.  A Grandmother I never met because she passed away when my Mother was 5 years old.

   This picture of Eliza Mary is from an early Postcard of Harrington. It was sent to me from a cousin in Australia.  Eliza Mary is the little girl standing with her Father John Williamson.  She has her back to the camera.  Looks about 3 or 4 years old. Probably taken around 1900.

I can remember when I was a child sitting with my Mother while she related the story to me about her Mother's death. Maybe it was this story that got me so interested in Family History.

Eliza Mary Williamson was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England in 1885. (Her Father was born in Harrington)  From Eliza back another nine generations to 1592  (292 years)  the Williamson's lived in Cumberland before that I have not been able to trace them.  With a name such as Williamson they could have come over the border from Scotland or even across the Irish Sea from Ireland.

What made it so easy to trace them back that far through Church and Census Records and Wills  is they  lived in two places for a long time  Ennerdale and Harrington.  Many of their descendents along the way did go to other places.  Australia and other towns in England.  My direct line goes right back from Whitehaven to Harrington to Ennerdale.

Eliza Mary married my Grandfather George Longrigg in Harrington in 1906. 

Together they had six children. Eliza passed away after giving birth to their sixth child a girl named after her in 1923.  My mother remembered being awakened in the middle of the night along with her other siblings where they were taken in to their Mother's room to see her and the new baby.  Her Mother was holding the baby and was lying in bed and looked as white as the sheets she lay on.   When the children awoke the next morning Eliza had passed.

My Grandfather was out of work at the time and left with six children one a new born he made a decision that I learned he came to regret the rest of his life.  He gave up the baby to a childless couple that could have been relatives.

Twelve years ago I was in England and had the opportunity to talk with this Aunt of mine.  She did not know until she became an adult that she had been adopted.  As a child she said she had a really nice Uncle that would visit her often.   She had no idea that this Uncle was really her Father.   She had a happy childhood her only regret was that she had sisters and a brother she did not get to know about until she was an adult.

Wedding picture with her husband Wyndham Cook taken in 1944.

 

Personally I have never visited either Harrington or Ennerdale.   I love the pictures, information and history I am able to find on the Internet about these places.  In some way it helps me feel connected to the Williamson's.  I know they were hardworking and industrious people.  Mariners, Shipbuilders, Iron Workers, Carpenters, Blacksmiths, Shoemakers, Farmers and  Coal Miners.

Modern Day Picture of Ennerdale with the Lake in the Background.

Harrington in it's Hey Day, a busy Harbor. from 1760 on  Ship Building and  exporting of Limestone and Coal to different parts of the country and Ireland.

Today- Much cleaner and greener. Very little evidence of the activity of this small town's past.

Cumbria's coat of Arms and Motto granted in 1974 translated means "I shall lift up mine eyes unto the hills" which was felt appropriate as the Lake District Fells can be seen from all part of this new County.