Matrilineal Monday – A Whole New Bunch of Surnames!

Mr BLP’s genealogy has been fairly well researched on his maternal grandfather’s side – but the other parts need work… which makes me excited! Where do I start?

One stumbling block I came across rather early on was Annie Morris – wife of unknown, daughter of unknown, mother of Alice Fanny Morris. Now, Alice only died in 1962, so you would have thought someone might have remembered some details, but alas, that was not the case with the family members I was able to talk to.

Eventually I found what I was looking for!

Annie Morris was actually Amelia Ann Dominy (new surname!), daughter of John Dominy and Rachel Beal (another new surname!). She was baptised in Cerne Abbas, Dorset, on 26 September 1851. Her father, John Dominy, was a tanner and butcher. He was the son of George Dominy and Mary Hurlestone (and another new surname!!!). George Dominy was the son of William Dominy and Susannah Turner (another one!). Mary Hurlestone was the daughter of Robert Hurlestone and Mary (aka Molly) Peaty (and another one, I am hyperventilating just a little bit!).

Amelia Ann Dominy married Charles Morris on 22 April 1872 in Cerne Abbas. He was baptised on 4 September 1845 in Cerne Abbas, the son of John Morris, a pedlar and labourer, and his wife Mary Ann (another matrilineal conundrum to follow up – but I can’t have everything all at once). Charles died at the young age of 35, leaving behind his wife and their young family, and was buried in Cerne Abbas on 30 March 1881. John Morris was the son of Thomas Morris and Jane Stickland (woohoo - another one!), and the grandson of William Morris and … drumroll please... Susannah Elems (or Elms).

Charles Morris and Amelia Ann Dominy’s daughter, Alice Fanny Morris, married Reginald Frank Bates Hodge, who died in Egypt on 10 November 1917 whilst serving with the 2/4th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, leaving her to raise their young family on her own - very similar to the situation that had occurred with her own parents.

So, in conclusion, once I confirmed the details of one relatively recent generation, and identified the maiden surname of Amelia Ann, I was able to add another four generations, taking the family tree back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. And I was also able to add a whopping total of seven new surnames to my research list!

I am also convinced I am about to prove a distant relationship between my Groves line from Dorset and my husband’s Dorset connections - Groves’ keep appearing tantalisingly close to the individuals I am researching in Mr BLP’s tree.

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