G'day Catrini - I have not been in touch with Phyllis for probably 20 years but she was then living in Cornwall.
Looking at my database now and she is more distantly related to John than I thought.
However I am now wondering if it was Phyllis that gave me the information.
Checking my database again and it might actually have been John's niece Barbara who was the source but I would have to search through a lot of old paperwork to be certain.
I do have information recorded that most certainly came from Barbara so it does seem likely that she was indeed the source.
Barbara was the daughter of John's younger brother Matthew and would have been about 12 at the time John is supposed to have died in Canada.
Given the probability that John kept in touch with his brother it follows that Barbara would have had some knowledge of him.
John's whereabouts in 1891 is very much a mystery and I have fairly recently worked my way through the UK Census again without finding him.
Thinking about it just now and there is the possibility that he may even have been in Ireland.
If he had been elsewhere in the World I might have expected to find a record of him in the UK Incoming Passenger Lists somewhere between about 1888 when Caroline was born and 1894 when he left for New York.
But unfortunately I can find no record of him there either.
The other place he might have been, and perhaps even more likely, is South Africa - but even then there should be some record of him returning to England prior to 1894.
The only remaining possibility I can think of at the moment is that his name is indexed in such a way as to elude my searches so far.
Will have another try though.
Whilst on the subject of Census records - it is interesting to note that in 1891 Emily said she was married which means that at that stage she certainly knew that John was still alive.
John left in October 1894 and in the December Qtr of 1896 Emily had borne a son by Jonah Thomas which means that it must have been little more than 12-14 months after John's departure Emily had become involved with Jonah!
The question is - Why?
Doing some searching and I have found reference to a documentary film that was due for release in June 1899 called 'Wreck of the S.S.Paris'
But the synopsis mentions it being wrecked on The Manacles.
Aha! - She was originally launced 23rd October 1888 as 'City of Paris' by the Inman Line.
In 1893 she was bought by the American Line and renamed 'Paris'.
There were a few mishaps but it was not until May21st, 1899 that she was grounded on The Manacles.
She was rebuilt and renamed 'Philadelphia'.
So it could not have been any news of the 'Paris' being wrecked that gave cause for Emily to think John was dead.
Why would John head off to Canada leaving a wife and young daughter at home and simply not return?
What was it that led Emily to believe (or at least to say) that he was dead?
It would be interesting to find the answers to these questions I think.
CT
BTW - another point to keep in mind is that John stated on the Passenger List in 1894 that he was Married.
It was not until 1905 when he married Mabel Brown in Canada that there is any currently known mention of him being 'single' - and at that time he said he was a Bachelor.
? Brown.
