Find Family Tree

Buckman Family History

Posted 2008-09-10 09:45:32 by Mark Holmes

Hello,

For the last few years I have been investigating my father's maternal line and, to my dismay, the information I've received has been quite unsatisfactory, even with the few certificates I have been able to obtain... I fear that due to the fact that I am Canadian and never owned a British passport, I have not been able to peruse the same information afforded to British citizens. This is why I've decided to reach out here, in the hope someone from the area will be able to help me find the answers I'm looking for. This is the story as I understand it...

Johnson Buckman (1867) was born in what is now referred to as the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, the son of Douglas Buckman, a fruit merchant. From the documents I was able to obtain, I construed that The Buckman family resided in the Ribble valley for at least 50 years, beginning in 1832 and continuing on into at least the mid 1880's. From the information I found, there was no way of proving if they were there before that timeframe.

Johnson married Mary Butler Monroe (Born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Lancashire) on 2 November 1889 in All Saints Church, Manchester. The home address is given as 24, Sackville St.

They had four children, Mary Elizabeth (1891, Manchester), Lionel, Paul (My Grandfather) and Harriet.

I have perused the various UK census and ancestry registries chased down various leads on birth, death and marriage records, but to no avail… I remain unconvinced by any likely matches... So I would be very grateful if anyone has any suggestions, or (even better) any possible matches in your own research for any of the above details with leads into the Buckman family.

The family is first recorded in the England 1901 Census in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Lancanshire. Mary Elizabeth is shown as born in Manchester, England (1891) and the next child Lionel was born in September 1892 in Chorlton-on-Medlock... So for at least two-and-a-half years the family is in Manchester, but then the trail goes cold. Lionel died of pneumonia in the early 20's (according to my family) and my grandfather came over to America with Harriet in the late 40's. For some reason Mary Elisabeth got lost in the shuffle or was not accounted for in passenger lists. My grandfather has been dead for many years and he was the only link to the old world that I had… My last gasp now is actually making the long haul from Canada to Manchester, and digging around over there. Maybe people would be more forthcoming in person than over the phone, I don't know, but I feel like my family tree is missing integral ingredients that need to be unearthed.

That said, I would be grateful if some kind-hearted individual out there might be able to gain access to the 1891 Census and could take a peek for Douglas Buckman (circa 1840?), or Johnson Buckman (1864) and his wife Mary Butler Monroe (1867), and possibly daughter Mary Elizabeth (1891)...