Monday, July 13, 2015

More England (Update)


     A couple of small corrections in the earlier post about Mary Cooke Walker. After receiving a copy of her will from a descendant of her daughter Margaret, I realized that her daughter Eliza probably had not died by 1897 as she's mentioned in Mary's will.
Mary Cooke Walker's will - 1898
    This small fact gets my imagination going - nunnery? -mental asylum? I really have no idea.

    Another error,obvious to me after a bit of research, is that Mary Walker had not lived at Russia Hall since sometime in the 1870's. She hadn't moved too far away as she was farming 65 acres near Milton Green. Mary is no longer listed on the census at Russia Hall after 1871. By the 1901 census, two of Mary's grandchildren had moved in with her. Below is a piece of a letter from Daisy Salmon, daughter of Sara Gray Walker Salmon.

Letter from Edward Walker's niece, Daisy Salmon ca 1900
     This is my attempt at transcribing Daisy's letter. Daisy's given name was Mary and from what I can tell Margaret or perhaps Mary is close to the French word for daisy.
The Cheshire Yeomanry have been camping out this . . . . They have had a very hot time of it. They went about the middle of harvest. I have not seen Aston since he has come back. I ask him all particulars about it. Now I think I have told you all the news that other all the other left out. With best love to all from Grandma, Charlie and myself. Your loving niece, Daisy Salmon
     A third error is that by the time of Mary's death, a third daughter, Louisa Goodwin nee Walker, had died in April 1903, about 18 months before her mother's death in 1904.