Some members may recall the lengthy series of posts early in 2021 where I asked for help to find out more about my grandfather John Fleming Denison Johnson, born in Liverpool in 1891 but who ‘disappeared’ in the mid-1920s. He died in Liverpool in 1973. With the help of several forum contributors, we made some remarkable discoveries along the way but failed in answering one important question: who was my grandfather’s father?
Since then, I have made further discoveries but, once again, I am seeking help to delve deeper.
To recap: my grandfather’s mother was born Sarah Ann Dennison in Leeds in 1856. (For some unknown reason she later changed her name to Lilly or Lillian Johnson – which is a good enough reason to explain why my grandfather later added Johnson as his surname.) His birth certificate records his given names as John Fleming but shows no entry for his father’s name – suggesting that he was illegitimate.
In 1891, the year my grandfather was born, census records show Sarah Ann Denison living with her sister at 373 Prescott Road. Next door, at 375, lived a John Fleming. This gave rise to the hypothesis that John Fleming had illegitimately fathered my grandfather with ‘the girl next door’ and that was why his mother had given him the Christian names John Fleming.
The only way to verify this hypothesis seemed to be by DNA matching. John Fleming was one of 8 siblings born to Irish immigrant parents. The search for living descendants of any one of these proved fruitless; there seemed to be none. An elder brother had married but seemed to have had no children and a younger sister had married, had children and two grandchildren both of whom died in infancy. There the Fleming dynasty seemed to have come to an end.
However, a short time ago, by one of those strokes of luck that every genealogist dreams of, I discovered that John Fleming’s sister Margaret (b. 1859, Dublin) had married a Denis C Kenny in 1881 (also Irish). Within a few years they had emigrated to New York and had 4 children. One of these, John Leo Kenny (b. 1886, New York) had married a Grace Elizabeth Davis (b. 1900, Quebec). Between them, this couple had 11 children only one of whom, Lillian Edna Kenny, b. 1928) appears to have married; this was to a Gordon Edwin Beall (b. 1919). Her obituary is at :
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115469694/lillian-edna-beall-obituary-2…
The obituary records her having one daughter, Alice (living in Oakville, Ontario), and four grandsons, David, Scott, Timothy, and Ryan (presumably all with same father).
The Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-Current lists the obituary of an Alice Corbett :
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/234783240:8961?ssrc…
This records her mother as Lillian Edna Beall. It would thus appear that Alice Beall married someone by the name of Corbett. Unfortunately, the obituary itself is not reproduced nor is the date of her death.
Remarkably, I came across the Kenny Family Tree on Ancestry; owner: Alice Beall. She had subscribed to Ancestry in September 2015 but unfortunately her tree comprised of only 4 entries – one of which was her mother. This suggests that she either got fed up or died before adding further to the tree.
This where my luck has run out. I can find no further information about Alice (Beall) Corbett or about any of her 4 sons.
If I have any hope of carrying out a DNA investigation, I clearly need to find out more – best of all contact one of the sons.
Help ! !
Martin, what are those…
Martin, what are those problems?
Sorry Bert, something is…
Sorry Bert, something is playing up. The system doesn't seem to want to upload my content. I'll try again
Some members may recall the…
Some members may recall the lengthy series of posts early in 2021 where I asked for help to find out more about my grandfather John Fleming Denison Johnson, born in Liverpool in 1891 but who ‘disappeared’ in the mid-1920s. He died in Liverpool in 1973. With the help of several forum contributors, we made some remarkable discoveries along the way but failed in answering one important question: who was my grandfather’s father?
Since then, I have made further discoveries but, once again, I am seeking help to delve deeper.
To recap: my grandfather’s mother was born Sarah Ann Dennison in Leeds in 1856. (For some unknown reason she later changed her name to Lilly or Lillian Johnson – which is a good enough reason to explain why my grandfather later added Johnson as his surname.) His birth certificate records his given names as John Fleming but shows no entry for his father’s name – suggesting that he was illegitimate.
In 1891, the year my grandfather was born, census records show Sarah Ann Denison living with her sister at 373 Prescott Road. Next door, at 375, lived a John Fleming. This gave rise to the hypothesis that John Fleming had illegitimately fathered my grandfather with ‘the girl next door’ and that was why his mother had given him the Christian names John Fleming.
The only way to verify this hypothesis seemed to be by DNA matching. John Fleming was one of 8 siblings born to Irish immigrant parents. The search for living descendants of any one of these proved fruitless; there seemed to be none. An elder brother had married but seemed to have had no children and a younger sister had married, had children and two grandchildren both of whom died in infancy. There the Fleming dynasty seemed to have come to an end.
However, a short time ago, by one of those strokes of luck that every genealogist dreams of, I discovered that John Fleming’s sister Margaret (b. 1859, Dublin) had married a Denis C Kenny in 1881 (also Irish). Within a few years they had emigrated to New York and had 4 children. One of these, John Leo Kenny (b. 1886, New York) had married a Grace Elizabeth Davis (b. 1900, Quebec). Between them, this couple had 11 children only one of whom, Lillian Edna Kenny, b. 1928) appears to have married; this was to a Gordon Edwin Beall (b. 1919). Her obituary is at :
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115469694/lillian-edna-beall-obituary-2013/?xid=637
The obituary records her having one daughter, Alice (living in Oakville, Ontario), and four grandsons, David, Scott, Timothy, and Ryan (presumably all with same father).
The Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-Current lists the obituary of an Alice Corbett :
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/234783240:8961?ssrc=pt&tid=174552334&pid=162440125367
This records her mother as Lillian Edna Beall. It would thus appear that Alice Beall married someone by the name of Corbett. Unfortunately, the obituary itself is not reproduced nor is the date of her death.
Remarkably, I came across the Kenny Family Tree on Ancestry; owner: Alice Beall. She had subscribed to Ancestry in September 2015 but unfortunately her tree comprised of only 4 entries – one of which was her mother. This suggests that she either got fed up or died before adding further to the tree.
This where my luck has run out. I can find no further information about Alice (Beall) Corbett or about any of her 4 sons.
If I have any hope of carrying out a DNA investigation, I clearly need to find out more – best of all contact one of the sons.
Help ! !
Martin, Unfortunately I can…
Martin,
Unfortunately I can't seem to progress by traditional methods of research, Ancestry, etc. No doubt you have exhausted those methods yourself.
I took a look at close friend, Aileen Emard. It appears Aileen has mention as a special friend among a number of obituaries and in family members obits. Special friend struck me as a visitor from a charitable or church organisation. A lady of the same name is/was connected to the Gateway Church, 128 Mary St, Arnprior. Her last mention I could find was her brother in laws orbit, January 2022. I think it's worth a punt and try to make contact with Aileen and see if she has knowledge of the Corbett's sons. The church has an Email address and also a Facebook page which I can't help with (not on Facebook)
Many thanks Bert for your…
Many thanks Bert for your efforts. It is a good idea to try to contact Aileen Emard. Also I will try the nursing home where Lillian Beal died and the Salvation army which is also mentioned in the obituary. I find it strange that I can't find an obituary for daughter Alice. I have used Newspapers.com but to no avail. I think that part of the problem might be because Ancestry are not very advanced in digitising records from Canada. Interestingly I contacted someone called Liam Corbett from Dublin who showed up as a partial DNA match to me - I did so because it is the first time I ever had a DNA match from anyone in Ireland. He replied saying that he was trying to trace his brother who was adopted at birth (as was he). It was only yesterday that I realised that I was dealing with another Corbett as well as searching for them in Canada. Surely it can only be a coincidence that the same surname has cropped up. I have contacted him again but not yet had a reply. I will let you know if anything turns up from these very tenuous leads. Thanks again. Martin.
The Canada, Obituary…
I don't think this is Alice's obituary, I think she is mentioned because she is named with others in Lillian Edna's obituary.
Thanks Bert, yes I already…
Thanks Bert, yes I already have that link but it leaves me a bit puzzled: how has Ancestry linked the two names Beall and Corbett. Lillian Beall's obituary simply mentions 'daughter Alice' with no mention of her married surname. Yet when you put in a search for Alice Beall, Ancestry returns with Alice Corbett; so somehow it knows that they are one and the same person. How? Somewhere I think there is an obituary for Alice Corbett but I have searched using Newspapers.com and can find nothing. So maybe she isn't dead. Meanwhile I have messaged the church in Arnprior. I'll keep you posted. Martin.
Name: Lillian Edna Beall…
Sorry Bert, I see am wrong…
Sorry Bert, I see am wrong about there being no use of the name Corbett in Lillian Beall's obituary. Martin.
I had hoped that the…
I had hoped that the Electoral Records might have helped with the Emards but unfortunately there is no mention, sorry.
Thanks for your help Mary…
Thanks for your help Mary. This is proving to be a tough one to crack. Surprising because there are so many names to go at. I have messaged the church that Bert identified and also the nursing home where Lillian Beall died. I will also try the undertakers. Thanks again, Martin.
Once again Bert’s magical…
Once again Bert’s magical skills have turned up trumps. Alice Corbett (Beall) is still living. Taking up Bert’s suggestion, I emailed the Gateway Church in Arnprior and received a positive response; they provided the email address of Aileen Emard and, also forwarded to her my request for information. Her reply came a few days later : "I am a friend of Alice Corbett for many years & she has MS & lives in a nursing home in Oakville, so have forwarded this to her".
There are several nursing homes listed in Oakville so even if Alice is not well enough or not disposed to reply, I may be lucky to make contact with one or more of her four sons through contact with a home.
It’s still a long road to try to obtain DNA results but things are looking positive. Thanks everyone for help. Martin.
Great result Martin!
Great result Martin!