News 2003

Fairholmes of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England (17.05.2003)

We know from one contact and from public records that family members lived in or near Ilkeston from at least 1912 to at least 1960. Unfortunately, we are not clear how they all fit together, but it seems that they are part of the Gedling 2 branch. Names included John & Barbara Fairholme, Joseph Fairholme who married Ada Knighton, Ada Fairholme who married Samuel Jackson, Joseph & Florence Ann Smedley Fairholme and Joseph & Annie Maude Fairholme. Some of these Josephs may be the same man. Addresses included Station Road (a family home for over 25 years), Green Lane and Devonshire Avenue. If anyone is able to help with information to piece together this part of the tree then we would be pleased to hear from you. You can reach us by emailing to queries@fairholmfamilytrees.info.

Scottish branches (09.03.2003)(017.05.2003)

We are most grateful for a lot of information received from Ailsa Corlett and Bill Ferme in Australia about Fermes in Australia and connections with Fairholms in Scotland. We have also found further details from our own research. As a result, the Scottish branches are in a state of flux, but we shall be updating the site in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, a significant computer problem and a change of computer program has delayed the updating of the Scottish pages. Please bear with us on this.

Spring cleaning of the site (09.03.2003)

We are giving the site a spring clean starting with the general information and English branches. We are also adding more information about the places where family members lived. Under The Family Name and Brief histories of English families you will now find some links to pages with maps and photographs. We hope to add more over time if we can acquire them. These changes have been superceded.

The Anstruther puzzle is solved (09.03.2003)

After all the difficulties we have had with this some family members will be pleased to learn that we have finally managed to sort it all out. Our original data from New Register House had four Anstruther Fairholms and two recorded wives, complicated by missing births and death records and conflicting dates. We managed to reduce this to two Anstruthers. One was married to an Emily Williamson, who had four children from 1841 to 1848. The other was married to Amelia Clark, who had five children from 1845 to 1858. On Jane Fairholm's birth certificate in 1850, it stated that she was the eighth child of Anstruther Fairm and Emily Fairm, maiden name Williamson. It also said that they had another five children living, and two who were deceased. In the 1851 Census, we eventually found, that Anstruther Fairms and Amelia Williamson were the parents of five children. At the weddings of Elizabeth (1867), and David (1873), their mother was recorded as Emily Williamson. However, for the weddings of Joseph (1869), Jane (1873), Catherine (1874), and Thomas Honor (1885), their mother was recorded as Amelia Clark. Finally, on the death Certificate of Amelia Clark, in 1880 (married to Anstruther Fairholm), it was stated that her mother was Amelia Clark, and her reputed father was William Williamson.

Given these factors, it seems reasonable to assume that this Emily and Amelia were the same person, and that there was only one Anstruther Fairholm. The two families have therefore been merged within the Main Scottish Branch.