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Thompson Smith
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: Thompson Smith
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 7 Nov 1905
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 4 1/2
Residence Place: Bedlingtonshire, Northumberland, England
Occupation: Unpaid Domestic Duties
Schedule Number: 218
Sub Schedule Number: 2
Enumeration District: GCEP
Registration district: 564- 2
Inferred Spouse: Arthur Smith
Inferred Children: Margret Smith
Household Members:
Name
Arthur Smith
Thompson Smith (Thomassion on image)
Margret Smith



Thomassion Crackett
in the 1911 England Census
Name: Thomassion Crackett
Age in 1911: 5
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1906
Relation to Head: Daughter
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Redrow, Northumberland, England
Civil Parish: Bedlington
County/Island: Northumberland
Country: England
Street address: School Row Barrington Bedlington
Registration district: Morpeth
Registration District Number: 564
Sub-registration district: Bedlington
ED, institution, or vessel: 9
Piece: 31023
Household Members:
Name Age
Henry Crackett 30
Margaret Crackett 28
George Crackett 7
Thomassion Crackett 5

Births Dec 1905 (>99%)
Crackett Thomasson Morpeth 10b 117


So yes, after all - the 1912 birth record of Thomasina would be worth getting!

I think I'd spend the £6 on a pdf as I posted before, if only to rule her out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Campbell would add a whole new ball game if she is Bridget's daur.

Strange that Thomasina was born in Morpeth.
I wonder if she (and Thomas if he's her father) are related to Thomassion?

In case it becomes relevant, this is the family along the road from Thomassion in 1939 :


George Crackett
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: George Crackett
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 26 May 1890
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 53
Residence Place: Amble, Northumberland, England
Occupation: Unpaid Domestic Duti??
Schedule Number: 182
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: GCBD
Registration district: 565/1
Inferred Spouse: Eleanor Crackett
Inferred Children: George W Crackett
Evelyn Crackett
Household Members:
Name
George Crackett
Eleanor Crackett - 20/11/1892, married, book-keeper
George W Crackett - 12/03/1916, single, builder's cost clerk & Book-keeper
This record is officially closed.
Evelyn Crackett - 19/11/1922, single, domestic duties.

Evelyn later married an Ormston.


Evelyn Crackett
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
Name: Evelyn Crackett
Registration Date: 1922
Registration district: Alnwick
Inferred County: Northumberland
Re-registration Year: 1922
Mother's Maiden Name: Tuner
Volume Number: 10b
Page Number: 782

It looks like relations by marriage in South Africa were John Crickeitt and wife Dorothy Isabel Crickett. At the baptism of their children Thomas on Sept 17 1912, and Robert on May 27th 1914, witnesses are Bridgett V Crackett and William S Walker (who also witnessed Nellie's baptism in 1910)

Transcribed Crickett but image looks like Crackett.

Just trying to find family connections.....

Name: Thomas Crickett
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 12 Jul 1914
Event Place: Transvaal, South Africa
Parent Name: John Crickett
Parent 2 Name: Dorothy Isabel Crickett
Page: 79
Entry Number: 319

Name: Robert Crickett
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 12 Jul 1914
Event Place: Transvaal, South Africa
Parent Name: John Crickett
Parent 2 Name: Dorothy Isabel Crickett
Page: 79
Entry Number: 318

Earlier children :

John was a miner, no witnesses recorded:

Name: Georgina Crackett
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 06 Dec 1908
Event Place: Transvaal, South Africa
Parent Name: John Crackett
Parent 2 Name: Dorothy Isabel Crackett
Page: 34
Entry Number: 304

Name: John
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 21 Aug 1910
Event Place: St Mary the Less, Jeppestown, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Parent Name: John Crokett
Parent 2 Name: Dorothy Isabella Crokett
Page: 92
Entry Number: 455

Crackett on image. Miner. Witnesses John Winter, James Govans, Molly Tolmie

Baptisms and links to images of baptism register on familysearch.org

Hi Bridget,

If they register on the GRO site (free to do do) they can order an online PDF of the cert for £6 to download, which might be easier, to send to you online, and is certainly cheaper than the certificate, which would cost £9.25 to buy.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

Thanks a lot I will tell them

Going back to any links between the Cracketts of South Africa and those of Morpeth, I can't find anything concrete as yet.

Thomas Crackett is a MINER on the baptism image of daur Nellie, and Sarah Jane. John Crackett whose sons Robert and THOMAS had their baptisms sponsered/witnesses by William S Walker and Bridgett V Crackett, was also a MINER..

Argyllgran has shown the 1911 census for Thommason Crackett, as shown here her father is also a MINER:

1911 Census For England & Wales

22 School Row Barrington Colliery Bedlington S O, Bedlington, Northumberland, England

>>>>Henry Crackett Head Married Male 30 1881 Coal Miner Hewer Barrington Northld
Margaret Crackett Wife Married Female 28 1883 - Shields North
George Crackett Son - Male 7 1904 - Sleekburn Bedlington Norfolk
>>>Thomassion Crackett Daughter - Female 5 1906 - Redraw Northumberland

So it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the mining South Africa Cracketts came from an extended family of Cracketts from Northumberland, England, who were also miners. This might be a reason, if Thomasina who's birth is registered in 1912, was born in the Morpeth area.

It is still circumstantial though, as no direct link has so far been established.

EDIT: I now believe this Thomas and John may be the two that later appear in South Africa, as they disappear from the English census after 1881.
Does Bridget have a copy of the marriage of Bridgett Veronica to Thomas Crackett for age or father's name?

Again, purely speculative, but two Crackett brothers named John and Thomas in census 1881 in a coal mining family. Could the two brothers have emigrated to South Africa? I haven't had time to look into it any further, and John might be a bit old to be the one in S Africa?

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census

(Cambois Colliery), 9, Sinkers Row, Bedlington, Morpeth, Durham & Northumberland, England

Location: Durham, England

Joseph Crackett Head Married Male 47 1834 Coal Miner Northumberland, England
Jane Crackett Wife Married Female 47 1834 - Scotland
Peter Crackett Son Single Male 18 1863 Coal Miner Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
>>>>John Crackett Son Single Male 16 1865 Coal Miner Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
Mary Crackett Daughter Single Female 14 1867 - Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
Joseph Crackett Son Single Male 12 1869 Coal Miner Cambois, Northumberland, England
>>>Thomas Crackett Son Single Male 8 1873 Scholar Cambois, Northumberland, England

EDIT: This Thomas and John, though closely linked to Thommason's father henry, are not the two in South Africa, as they turn up in English censuses from 1881 onwards.

The family have two sons,called Thomas and John, did they emigrate? Also a nephew HENRY B, an infant, who looks like the father of Thomasson in the census 1911 already shown ( both Henry's are said to be born Barrington in census 1881 and 1911).


??:

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census


George Cracket Head Married Male 45 1836 Coal Miner Cornhill, Northumberland, England
Jane Cracket Wife Married Female 48 1833 - Northumberland, England
Elizabeth Cracket Daughter Single Female 23 1858 - Lowick, Northumberland, England
>>>>John Cracket Son Single Male 21 1860 Coal Miner Lowick, Northumberland, England
Isabella Cracket Daughter Single Female 18 1863 - Scotland Gate, Northumberland, England
>>>Thomas Cracket Son Single Male 15 1866 Coal Miner Scotland Gate, Northumberland, England
Margery Cracket Daughter Single Female 12 1869 Scholar Scotland Gate, Northumberland, England
Jane Cracket Daughter Single Female 9 1872 Scholar Barrington, Northumberland, England
William Cracket Son Single Male 6 1875 Scholar Barrington, Northumberland, England
Margaret Cracket Daughter Single Female 4 1877 - Barrington, Northumberland, England
>>>Henry B Cracket Nephew Single Male 0 1881 - Barrington, Northumberland, England


Births Sep 1880 CRACKETT Henry Bruce Morpeth 10b 359

Marriages Mar 1903
Cracket Henry Bruce Morpeth 10b 579
Yarrow Margaret Watson Morpeth 10b 579


Birth of Thomasson again for MMN

CRACKETT, THOMASSON YARROW
GRO Reference: 1905 D Quarter in MORPETH Volume 10B Page 447

It's getting late and I'm tired, so I won't take this speculation further.

EDIT: Just to say that there was no mmn on the GRO site for Henry Bruce's birth, sohe's likely to have been illegtimate.

Re Dorothy Isabel Crackett, mother of the Crackett/Crackitt children whose baptisms Kucinta posted earlier, and wife of John the possible brother-in-law of Bridget -

She travelled back and forth between South Africa and the UK several times:

In 1916 she's travelling with sons Robert 1.5, Thomas 3, and John 5.

Mrs Dorothy Isabel Crackett
in the UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
Name: Mrs Dorothy Isabel Crackett
Arrival Age: 24
Birth Date: abt 1892
Port of Departure: Durban, South Africa
Arrival date: 16 Feb 1916
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: East London; Port Elizabeth [Algoa Bay]; Cape Town; Madeira; Plymouth, Devon, England
Ship Name: Saxon
Shipping line: Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd
Official Number: 112713



In 1953 she's travelling alone, heading for 8 Atkinson Street, Stockton-On-Tees.

In 1957 she's going back to SA - travelling alone. DOB 2107/1891. Address in UK: 24 Seventh Row, Ashington. Country of last (and future intended) permanent residence: England.

In 1958 she's travelling with Miss D Crackett 24, going to 27 Freehold Terrace, Stakeford (?) Lane, Choppington.

>>>> In 1939 she's widowed, and living in Bedlingtonshire, at 27 Freehold Terrace:

Dorothy I Crackett
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: Dorothy I Crackett
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Widowed
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 27
Residence Place: Bedlingtonshire, Northumberland, England
Occupation: Unpaid Domestic Duties
Schedule Number: 62
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: GCEF
Registration district: 564- 2
Household Members:
Name
Dorothy I Crackett
(Also three closed records)


Ancestry suggests her maiden name was Winter - and John Winter witnessed the baptism of one of her sons.

Births Sep 1891 (>99%)
Winter Dorothy Isabel Durham 10a 411



Don't know if connected or not, but in 1911 there's a Mrs Crackett and 3 Misses Crackett (no names given - one infant and two aged between 1 and 12) going to Cape Town from Southampton.

There are also other various Cracketts going to/from SA at various times - may or may not be related.

I checked the two sets of John and Thomas Cracketts in the later censuses this morning, and The two who seem to be uncles to Thomasson's father Henry can't be the John and Thomas Cracketts who end up in South Africa.

The first pair I found, John c1865 and Thomas c1873, with parents Joseph and Jane in census 1881 that I posted are hard to find in later censuses; I can't find Thomas at all after the 1881, there is a possibility for John in the 1911 census, but that John is born either 1863 or 1868 (aged either 43 or 48, the census is hard to read. I think he is born c1868 to Joseph and Ann, see census 1871 below:

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census

Richardson Stead, Ancroft, Berwick, Durham & Northumberland, England

Joseph Crackett Head - Male 44 1827 - Northumberland, England
Ann Crackett Wife - Female 47 1824 - Northumberland, England
Joseph Crackett Son - Male 10 1861 - Northumberland, England
George Crackett Son - Male 7 1864 - Northumberland, England
>>>>John Crackett Son - Male 3 1868 - Northumberland, England


so I believe there is a chance that as they vaniish from the census after 1881, that this John and Thomas Crackett below may be the two who turn up in South Africa, and would provide those families with links to Morpeth and Northumberland, where Thomasina Crackett had her birth register in the first qtr of 1912.

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census

(Cambois Colliery), 9, Sinkers Row, Bedlington, Morpeth, Durham & Northumberland, England

Location: Durham, England

Joseph Crackett Head Married Male 47 1834 Coal Miner Northumberland, England
Jane Crackett Wife Married Female 47 1834 - Scotland
Peter Crackett Son Single Male 18 1863 Coal Miner Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
>>>>John Crackett Son Single Male 16 1865 Coal Miner Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
Mary Crackett Daughter Single Female 14 1867 - Woodhorn, Northumberland, England
Joseph Crackett Son Single Male 12 1869 Coal Miner Cambois, Northumberland, England
>>>Thomas Crackett Son Single Male 8 1873 Scholar Cambois, Northumberland, England

From Ancestry:

" In 1881, the most common Crackett occupation in the UK was Coal Miner. 100% of Crackett's were Coal Miners."

"The Crackett family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Crackett families were found in the UK in 1891. In 1891 there were 24 Crackett families living in Northumberland. This was about 75% of all the recorded Crackett's in the UK. Northumberland had the highest population of Crackett families in 1891."

Reading that, it seems highly likely that the Cracketts in South Africa are linked to the Cracketts of Northumberland, so it's possible the child Thomasina reg Morpeth Jan-Mar 1812 is indeed Bridgetts'.

I have found the baptism of Harry Thomas Bush in 1922 on familysearch.

Name: Bridget Bush
Sex: Unknown
Spouse: Jesse Bush
Child: Harry Thomas
Other information in the record of Harry Thomas

from South Africa, Church of the Province of South Africa, Parish Registers
Name: Harry Thomas
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 04 Jun 1922
Event Place: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
Parent Name: Jesse Bush
Parent 2 Name: Bridget Bush
Page: 354
Entry Number: 5367

Baptised June 4th, born May 3rd.

Address is 66 Castle St C. T.. Father a pensioner.

The witnesses/sponsors are L. Bush, Harry Jackson and Ellen Jackson

Bridget said in her opening post that the mmn on Harry Thomas's birth cert was Cosgrove, and on Alfred Bush 1920 it was Jackson.

Perhaps the Jackson sponsors at Harry Thomas's baptism supports the Jackson connection?

I can't find the baptism on Alfred Bush on familysearch.

Interestingly Bridget said Jesse Louis Bush was born " born on 23 November 1883, in Birling, Maidstone, Kent", but his marriage register entry to widowed Kathleen Ann Lunn nee Delport said he was born IRELAND.

His death notice (15th Aug 1945) also says he was born IRELAND. Though there is a birth reg that ties in with Malling Kent and a baptism there with parents Thomas and Harriet, sothe Kent birth looks correct.

Wife Kathleen Ann Bush predeaceased him on 23rd Feb 1945 and Bridgett Veronica Bush is recorded as having died 8 Dec 1829 as Bridget said in her opening post.

His children are listed as Alfred Martin Kitchener Bush and Harry Thomas Bush, both adult.

Kathleen Ann Delport Lunn's death notice says there were no children of her second marriage; she had two children Harold Browning Lunn who was adult, and Marjorie Dawn Lunn who was a minor.

Jesse seems to have served both in the British Royal Navy (with the wrong birthdate) and in the British Army, which references his service in the Navy . By the time he joined the East Kent Regiment he was 5ft 6, bown haired, blue eyed, with a fresh complextion. Both forearms were tattoed and he had a scar over the left eye. he was discharged in 1907 as medically unfit for further service. Both sets of records are on FMP.

Re Jesse -

His mother Harriet died and his father remarried in 1888.
Mary Ann Hurst (though Ancestry suggests her name was Hunt) in Aylesbury.

(I'm having to use my tablet this evening and it's not letting me copy records.)

There's a marriage record on FS but not on FreeBMD.

They are together with Jesse and other children in 1891 and (without Jesse) later censuses.
Jesse must have been off to sea by 1901.


No help with Bridget's surnames, though.

All documents issued in South Africa say he was born in Ireland and I grew up believing he was Irish.when I got his birth certificate it shows his birthplace as Malling Kent. My only answer is that before coming to South Africa he spend time in Ireland. My dad told us stories about his father's life in Ireland. This, of course, made my search very confusing. I have traced almost all the ancesters from Jesse back to 1600s. I also have a ship's passenger list from England to South Africa with a J Bush as a passenger. Thereafter the trail goes dead. The only information I've got is the info from my parents. Jesse died before they were married and Bridget died when my father was 7 years old. I need to fill the gap between arriving in South Africa, his marriage to Bridget and of course I have very little info on Bridget. It is a nightmare trying to trace any documents in South Africa.

What date do you have him arriving in South Africa?

His military record on FMP had him leaving the Buffs in 1907 as medically unfit for military service, and his 'forwarding address' as P.O. Box 14. Witbank, Transvaal.

Jesse signed his discharge papers at Middeburg Tvaal, on July 25th 1907.

He had enlisted at Maidstone, Kent 13th Aug 1903. He had been invalided out of the Royal Navy on 10th Dec 1902. He seems to have served on Impregnable, Agincourt and Sans Pareil.

But you probably have all that. he was also on the 1891 census at Belgrave Street, Aylesford, Malling, Kent, England. Lodging with the family is a Thomas B Hunt aged 24, a cement worker like Thomas Bush (Jesse's dad). Is he a relative of Thomas's wife Mary Ann? He is of similar age to her (a couple of years younger).

Freebmd has this marriage to a Mary Ann Hunt in the right reg district of Malling In K ent (which covers Aylsford, where Thomas, Jesse, Mary Ann and family were living on the 1891 census).

Marriages Mar 1889
Bush Thomas Malling 2a 718
HUNT Mary Ann Malling 2a 718

A fuller version:

Name Thomas Bush
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 25 Mar 1889
Event Place Aylesford, Kent, England
Gender Male
Age 39
Marital Status Widowed<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Birth Year (Estimated) 1850<<<<<(same as in census 1891)
Father's Name William Bush<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Spouse's Name Mary Ann Hunt
Spouse's Gender Female
Spouse's Age 25
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1864<<<<(born c1865 in census 1891)
Spouse's Father's Name John Hunt

also his first marriage to Harriet Kelsey:

Marriages Jun 1868
Bush Thomas Maidstone 2a 781
Kemsley Harriett Maidstone 2a 781


1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census

Belgrave Street, Aylesford, Malling, Kent, England

****Thomas Bush Head Married Male 41 1850 Cement Worker Kent, England
****Mary A Bush Wife Married Female 26 1865 - Kent, England
John E Bush Son Single Male 14 1877 General Labourer Kent, England
Thomas A Bush Son - Male 12 1879 Scholar Kent, England
Albert J Bush Son - Male 9 1882 Scholar Birling, Kent, England
****Jesse L Bush Son - Male 7 1884 Scholar Kent, England
Frederick H Bush Son - Male 1 1890 - Kent, England
****Thomas B Hunt Lodger Single Male 24 1867 Cement Worker Kent, England

Still wondering why Jesse said he was a bachelor when he married Kathleen Ann Lunn, instead of stating he was a widower (She stated she was a widow).