Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Here's what I have:

12th May 1904 Charles Richard Chittick was married in Holy Trinity Church, Toxteth to Mary Ellen Menetto (formerly Murphy) widow. Charles was 28, bachelor, mariner, father James Chittick (deceased) factory manager.
Banns show that Charles was 'of this parish' address 1 Ashwell St.

There is a possible entry in the 1901 Wales census : Charles Chittick age 23 Crew on vessels at sea the SS Onslow, enumerated Glamorgan. Born Antigua.
I'd consider this age difference to be acceptable with the 'at sea' census records, they always seem to be inaccurate!

In the 1911 census, Mary Ellen is at her father's house with her children, still married but Charles isn't there.
On their children's baptism records (catholic, Mary Ellen was from an Irish Catholic family) their father's name is given as Ricardus Chittick so he was using his middle name. On a birth certificate in 1910 his occupation was given as 'mill fireman' The address given on the baptisms and burials is 93a Rathbone St, her parents' address.

The family story is that Charles died in an accident on a ship in New York in 1917. Apparently his wife received some of his belongings but never knew what happened to his body.

Can anyone help me find anything about Charles Richard Chittick before 1901 or how he died?

Amanda

On the marriage certificate Charles father is noted as Richard Chittick (deceased), Factory Manager.

A search of Richard Chittick with a keyword of Antigua brings up an index entry for the New York (Kings), State Census 1892 for a Richard Chittick born about 1872 Antigua.

There are a couple of later census entries in Kings, New York, 1920 and 1930, with wife Ethel, unfortunately the index doesn't give the birth location.

If anybody has full access to Ancestry please could you check these as perhaps he could be a sibling of Charles, some of the census years give the nationality of the parents.

PS there is also a possible entry for him in the 1900 census, spelt Richard Cluttick, an amendment to this spelling appears to have been submitted to Chittick - perhaps a message could be send to whoever submitted it to see if they have any information.

I don't have full membership for Ancestry but I did notice that there is a researcher in the US who appears to be active - within the last couple of months. It might be worth getting in touch to see if they have any more information.
Hope this is of some use.
Barbara

1900 federal Census
Name:
Richard Cluttick
[Richard Chittick]
Age:
28
Birth Date:
Aug 1871
Birthplace:
Antagua W.S
[Wisconsin]
Home in 1900:
Brooklyn Ward 8, Kings, New York
[Kings]
Race:White
Gender:
Male
Immigration Year:1888
Relation to Head of House:
Son
Marital Status:
Single
Father's Birthplace:
St Martin W.S
Mother's name:
Jane B Cluttick
Mother's Birthplace:
Scotland

Jane B, mother, Widow 68
Harry, son 33
Richard, 28
John Fred, son 40

Many thanks everyone, that looks like a possibility

It says born Wisconsin 1871 but immigration year 1888, I don't know the US census forms, is that as wrong as it seems or is there an explanation?

If any kind person would look for me, there seems to be Jane B Chittick on the 1892 New York census.

Also, any suggestions on where to look for information on his death?

Amanda

From what I have read so far it would appear that Charles was not a British National so his death would not have been recorded in any of the UK indexes. Would be worth looking for deaths in the US and allow a couple of years either side of 1917 in case the year in the family story has been 'tweaked', as often happens. It is probable he would have been buried in the area where he died.

The 1900 census is faded and whoever changed it to Chittick must have had family knowledge, the only recognisable name is Jane B,

Info for 1892 is the same family,

Jane Chittick, 60, Scotland.
Harry, 24, Antigua,
Ellen, 29, Antigua,
Richard 20, Antigua,
Emily, 18, Antigua

In answer to Mary's request, i.e. 1920, 1930, Richard married to Ethel, its not the same family, Richard was born in England and has English parents.

Many thanks Bertieone

Charles Chittick's name was on a WW1 memorial in the church he was married in, in Liverpool. As he didn't receive a war grave I am assuming he was merchant navy and died accidentally or of sickness rather than due to enemy action. His grandson supplied me with the family story that he died on board ship in New York in 1917.

The family have never known where he was buried or exactly what happened - even his wife only knew he died in an accident. To be honest I was half expecting to find he ran off the USA and had another family!

If anyone has any avenues of inquiry for such deaths please post them

I would ignore the "Wisconsin" bit unless you see it on the image itself, we all know how the transcribers decide for themselves what an abbreviation means, although I might have thought it should be WI for West Indies.

Unfortunately the part of the census for the family is faded and extremely difficult to decipher, Wisconsin does not appear on the actual form, as Mary says, the transcriber has had a punt, its more like WI, but I can understand the difficulty they have had with it.

Good point, and Antigua makes more sense for the 1901 census too, surely if it was a town in Wisconsin they would have put America.

So to recap everything you've found for me, it would seem that Jane was born in Scotland c1832, James in Wisconsin, they married at some point, somewhere, lived in Antigua from around 1860 (birth of Fred) to 1876 (birth of Charles) then moved to America 1888 and lived in New York. James died sometime before 1892.

Charles was a mariner and was in Liverpool long enough around 1904 to get married.

I've found that the address Charles gave on his marriage certificate in 1904 was the residence of the sextant/parish clerk for Holy Trinity, the church he was married in. Banns say he was 'of this parish' so I wonder whether he was a lodger or if, as a sailor, he did't really have an address in the parish.

That gives me plenty of leads to follow up on, maybe I'll have to upgrade to a worldwide subscription for a month!

alcavtay wrote:I wonder whether ....... if, as a sailor, he did't really have an address in the parish.

That does seem to be the most likely scenario.

alcavtay wrote: That gives me plenty of leads to follow up on, maybe I'll have to upgrade to a worldwide subscription for a month!

Any chance you could use a different email address and sign up for the two week free trial.

alcavtay wrote:
So to recap everything you've found for me, it would seem that Jane was born in Scotland c1832, James in Wisconsin,

I just realised St Martin is an island in the West Indies, not a town in Wisconsin, I guess it was W.I. again!

MaryA wrote: Any chance you could use a different email address and sign up for the two week free trial.

sneaky... I like it! I'm not sure whether they track IP addresses, but I'll give it a go

alcavtay wrote:

alcavtay wrote:
So to recap everything you've found for me, it would seem that Jane was born in Scotland c1832, James in Wisconsin,

I just realised St Martin is an island in the West Indies, not a town in Wisconsin, I guess it was W.I. again!

What a great incentive to head off to the Caribbean for a genealogy journey to St Martin and Antigua. Don't forget to pack the pad and pencil!

Don't forget Ancestry World sub access is available free at Liverpool libraries.


Blue

alcavtay wrote: sneaky... I like it! I'm not sure whether they track IP addresses, but I'll give it a go

Did I say that? never did

Don 't think they would track the IP but they probably will your credit card, use a different one.

Take Blue's advice and use the Library, if it works out cheaper of course, Jane B and family do not appear to go anywhere after 1900, I'm having trouble finding any of them, a few Chitticks but not Jane's lot.

I've found a burial for Jane B Chittick in Green Wood Cemetery, Kings, in 1904

Unfortunately our local library closed last year and as I still have at least one toddler with me at all times it's not really practical... husband's laptop and credit card it is then