You know the stories; your great great grandmother was from a royal family and when she arrived she didn’t know how to cook or clean because she always had servants. Or, your great grandfather on my dad’s side of the family owned a brewery in Liverpool.
These were some of the stories that I was told when I was growing up and as a child I was sure they had to be true. But after doing genealogy for all these years I’ve come to realize that they were just that, stories that had been passed down. Don’t get me wrong; I always think that every family story has a grain of truth to it, but just like the whisper you use to pass from one person to another in that circle at school the story can changes and can be embellished.
So sometimes you have to search with an open mind and try and figure out where the story comes from. So for instance my great grandfather’s family owning a brewery… well actually, my 3x great grandfather; John Johnson was a Master Brewer and worked at a Brewery on Jasmine Street, Liverpool, England. I think my great grandfather; Francis Johnson Middlebrough went to work with him when he was a child because there were other stories; like the one about the rats at the brewery. But our family story is that Francis’ Middlebrough was asked by his father; John Henry Middlebrough to come back to England to run a brewery? John Henry Middlebrough was a joiner; so what would that have to do with a brewery. Granted John Henry Middlebrough was married to Hannah Johnson and it was her father that was the brewer. But still why would John Henry have a brewery….. so you check all the angles. First of all you check to see if you can find documents of John Johnson owning a brewery. But no he only appears to work at breweries; however on his death record he was called a “Master Brewer”.. but that doesn’t mean he owned a brewery. Then you check for wills to see what did John Johnson leave to who in his will. But he died intestate so there is no will only an Administration. I know that often property is not mentioned in a will because that often goes to the oldest son but I can find no record stating that John owned any property. But even so; if John Johnson Sr had property it would have gone to his oldest son; John Johnson or his other son, Peter not to John Henry Middlebrough’s wife; Anne. But it all makes for a good story. There is a Middlebrough Brewery that was owned by a Middlebrough family, but I’ve have tried to connect the family and I’m just not able to.
So enjoy your stories and search them out and pick them apart if you have to, until you discover if they have some truth or not. Now I just need to check out that royal connection…