From laidlaws at hotkey.net.au Sun Apr 12 17:55:51 2009 From: laidlaws at hotkey.net.au (Doug Laidlaw) Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:55:51 +1000 Subject: [Boykett-announce] Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Message-ID: <200904121755.51995.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> Who? I was browsing the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. My wife Jenny's grandmother Ida Martha STANFORD was there at the time of the 1906 earthquake, and as a result of a contact I made she is now listed on the site at http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist11/list.html She was then employed by a firm of attorneys (still in existence.) According to local records, her home was in a section destroyed by the fires. There are no biographies of those on the list. I went to the "biographies" link and came to the one for His Majesty Norton I, at http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html He unilaterally declared himself Emperor, sacked the State Governor who hanged John Brown, dissolved Congress and summoned delegates to the local Music Hall to form a new Legislature. He also dissolved both political parties. He seems to have been regarded as pretty harmless - look at the reaction when he was arrested! There was apparently a woman in Sydney who was a bit the same, and used to insist on using public transport without paying. Both were probably good for tourism. Doug. From laidlaws at hotkey.net.au Fri Apr 17 12:59:14 2009 From: laidlaws at hotkey.net.au (Doug Laidlaw) Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:59:14 +1000 Subject: [Boykett-announce] Hannah King's baptism Message-ID: <200904171259.14959.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> The IGI has Hannah' christening on 15 May, 1803 at St Mary's Lambeth, the church she chose for her wedding. Her parents are given as William King and Hannah, surname unknown. The listing appears to be taken from Parish registers. The application for a marriage licence merely said that she was of full age. From a "Survey of London" (1951) at British History Online, which has a full description and floor plan, William Bligh and his wife Elizabeth are buried there. His inscription (which I Ctrl-C copied from the page and pasted here) reads: ?SACRED to the memory of WILLIAM BLIGH, esquire, f.r.s. vice admiral of the blue; the celebrated navigator who first transplanted the bread fruit tree from otaheite to the west indies, bravely fought the battles of his country, and died beloved, respected, and lamented, on the 7th day of december, 1817, aged 64.? He is the same one. I didn't know that he was a F.R.S., but it is mentioned in his bio at Wikipedia. I haven't looked up where "Otaheite" is. St Alpheges, London Wall seems to have a family connection as well. I read that St Mary's had become a museum, but that is not mentioned, and must have been very recent. A man who died in 1833 is buried there. The last rector mentioned was appointed in 1942. Only "proximity to Lambeth Palace" is mentioned, not that it was in the grounds. Clearly it had its own churchyard. Doug. From laidlaws at hotkey.net.au Fri Apr 17 13:25:55 2009 From: laidlaws at hotkey.net.au (Doug Laidlaw) Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:25:55 +1000 Subject: [Boykett-announce] Hannah King's baptism In-Reply-To: <200904171259.14959.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> References: <200904171259.14959.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> Message-ID: <200904171325.56032.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> On Friday 17 April 2009 12:59:14 pm Doug Laidlaw wrote: > I haven't looked up where "Otaheite" is. I have now. It was a name for Tahiti. Doug.