Mystery Solved - William
Oliver

James Oliver (1805 -
1886) |
Samuel Oliver (1819 - 1873) |
William Oliver (1810 -
1904) |
There has
long been a question over what happened to William Oliver (born
1810). William was the brother of our James
Oliver (1805-1886) and Samuel Oliver
(1819-1873) who emigrated to New Zealand in
1841.
In the Will of
their father, John Oliver, we knew One Pound was
to go to our James and our Samuel. However, One
Pound was also to go to William. With William
being treated the same, did he emigrate
somewhere?
By contrast,
siblings John, Thomas, Mary, and Ann were each
to receive Ten Pounds. The youngest brother,
Francis, was to inherit Boyton Mill after John’s
wife (Grace) dies.
So, because James,
Samuel, and William received a lesser amount,
did their father assist with their passage
fares?
Interestingly, the
father and Uncle of Brian of nzolivers, Maurice
Oliver and Bruce Oliver respectively, understood
that some of the family went to the United
States of America.
The mystery is now
solved! Contributors, Katia and Tim Oliver, in
September 2022, located a passenger list for the
Ship 'Druid' that departed Bristol, England and
arrived in the Port of New York on 29 Jun 1840.
Subsequent documents found have validated this.
On this ship was
William and his wife, Sophia (nee Harris).
Accompanying them were Sophia's parents and her
siblings. They settled in Ohio, USA. William and
Sophia did not have any children but Sophia's
great-niece and nephew did live them in the
1870s and 1880s, to help in the household and on
the farm, after William went into the grocery
business.
A biography
found online reads (may take
time to load):
OLIVER, WILLIAM,
Gambier, a native of England, was born the third
day of August, 1810. At the age of fourteen
years he engaged in the mercantile business as
clerk, remained two years. In 1826 he commenced
working in a flouring mill with his father.
In 1837 he was united in marriage with Miss
Sophia Harris, of England, born February 11,
1811.
He continued in the mill with his father until
1840. They migrated to America and located in
Gambier, this county. In the spring of 1841 he
took charge of the Gambier mills, which he
operated successfully until the fall of 1846,
when he moved on the farm in Monroe township,
this county, which he purchased in 1843. He then
turned his attention to farming and butchering,
remaining on the farm until 1861, when they
moved to Gambier, where they are now living.
He continued the butchering business until 1866.
In 1865 he engaged in the grocery trade, and
carried on the two branches of business in
connection with overseeing his farm, until 1866
and then he gave his attention wholly to
butchering, his grocery trade and farming, and
continued to do so to the present time.
Another Find - Mary
Oliver
Interestingly,
William was not the only one to emigrate to the
USA. His sister Mary Oliver (born
circa 1811) and her husband, Henry Goodman, went
to Ohio also!
Contributors,
Katia and Tim Oliver in December 2022 noticed
that William in his Will looked after the
daughters of his two sisters. The daughters of
Ann Walters (nee Oliver) were "in England".
However, no mention of this for the child of
Mary Goodman (nee Oliver). Further research
established that Mary and her husband, Henry
Goodman, and son John, emigrated circa 1845.
Mary and Henry had four further children born
there.
So, the hunt is on
for descendants - for whom us New Zealand
Olivers will be related!
The Tree
Pages:
'The Tree' sits
alongside this website and is generated from a
genealogy program called "Reunion".
Here
you may navigate up and down through family
relationships. To get more information on a
particular person - click on their name when
they appear in the middle section of the
tree webpage. Here, a new 'Person Sheet'
will open often giving sources of
information and notes. An
example here of a Person Sheet.
Information on living people has been
filtered out for privacy reasons.
We maintain the
latest version of the software (Reunion 13.0
build 221018) used to generate 'The Tree'.
Functionality includes a responsive design' for
optimising the web pages for whatever device
being used, ability to search by name, ability
to generate pedigree charts for
easy-to-view relationships.
A big
thank you to those that have contributed with
additions since the last update.
Website
Dedication
This website is dedicated
to Brian and Carol Oliver's children: Nigel
Churton, Sarah Ferguson (nee Churton), Emma
Oliver and Marie Oliver; our seven
grandchildren, and to all the family members
that appear in our genealogy pages!
Contents
last updated: 19 July 2023
Previous 5 updates:
13 May 2023, 8
February 2023,
3 September
2021, 25 March
2021, 3
September
2020.
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