This is an invitation to enjoy the result of many weeks of intense research, editing, and writing - my article "What happened to the Metherall's?" which is located here!
In the mid 1700s, newlyweds John and Elizabeth were living in an obscure Cornish village. Within a century, their descendants would populate the entire region, as well as the new colony of Prince Edward Island, and ensure the Metherall name a place in history. As their farm and family grew, they were unknowingly setting the stage for a religious and cultural revolution which spread across Canada and the United States. Until now, this story has gone completely untold. Come with me on a genealogical study of a seemingly unimportant farming family, using newly-uncovered documents to unlock a mystery that has stumped historians for generations.
We will peer back through time, with the help of the church registers in the seaside English farming villages of Morwenstow and Kilkhampton.
Techniques from historical research and genealogy are employed to tell the story behind the documents. John and Elizabeth's firstborn son had a family of his own:
Now the early 1800s, it was the youngest Metherall boy, Francis, who originally led the way to become pioneers in a distant land. And it was he who eventually became known by many as "one of Earth's great men".
In 1831, following the requests of Bible Christians who had emigrated from Devon and Cornwall to North America, Francis Metherall was offered a mission to Prince Edward Island. He would never return to England, instead toiling for decades to advance his cause in the new land.
In researching my own origins recently, I learned I am his grandson's grandson's grandson.
"What happened to the Metheralls?" is much the same question as "where did Rev Francis Metherall come from?", and the correct answer has eluded historians until now.
Thanks to my research, we now know his specific family of origin, in the Cornish villages Moorwinstow and Kilkhampton. Genealogists have been stumped by this for decades, and I'm pleased to have been able to gather, analyze, narrate, and permanently record this information on the public blockchain. I invite you to view the full presentation by clicking on the following image link:
Interesting to learn that children out of wedlock weren't taboo until the Victorian era. I think some of the worst of my personality comes from the traumatic ancestral memories from that era lol, stuck up bastards...or base children should I say? ;)
That's a lot of work to put all that together 👍
Thank you for noticing!
Researching, writing, creating images, and editing this post took me a few weeks of daily effort. During that time I skipped creating at least 20 easy posts, which could have brought me in about $5 each. So I'm out at least $100, but I consider that money well spent... because instead of contributing 20 photos of plants growing in my garden, or 20 rants about Covid, I've contributed 1 massive research project, in which I uncovered an important detail about a historical figure. It's a bit like a thesis/dissertation. I think this post contains more actual "content" than 100 of my regular posts (and I'm definitely not saying my regular posts are useless fluff). Large projects (like this) were easier to pop off back when I didn't have 2 little children in the home, but I still hope to be able to do them from time to time.
I should mention here that @MediKatie was instrumental in getting this accomplished. She picked up extra feedings and diaper changes while I was pouring my life into this article, and provided emotional support. Without her I couldn't have got it done.
I'm going to love reading this. Thanks for putting it together.
Fascinating stuff. I love anything historical. Found this very interesting. Been trying to find out about my Irish relatives but hit a brick wall during 'the troubles' era.
Nice research mate. You could have been a historican... Is that reverend well known in that region?
Thanks man. I wonder if it's too late to get a degree in history?
Rev Metherall is well-known in Methodist circles, and within the history of Cornwall, Devon, and Prince Edward Island, but otherwise his name is fading into the past.
My mother is a Powell and I was told we came from the same line as Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement. But when I got interested in researching genealogy at the start of Covid, it didn't take long to find there was no real connection between our family and his. Just the same last name, which is a pretty common one.
So that was a bit of a letdown, at first.
Then, I explored the rest of my family tree, not just the narrow line of Powells. We all have 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, and so on. But only a single relative at each level had the same last name as us. They each contributed an equal portion of our genes, which make us who we are! When I understood that better, I started researching the whole tree.
me
my mother Powell
her father Francis G Powell
his father Francis Metherall Powell
his mother Margaret D Kinley
her mother Jemima Metherall
her father Rev Francis Metherall
So he's my great x4 grandpa.
Have you researched much of your own family? Have they passed down information to you, like a family tree, old letters, photo albums?
My mother's side has a family Bible, going back into the 1600s... My father is a bit more difficult... His parents were driven out of Schlesien after the 2.WW.. Everything was lost, so only a few stories..
Oh, that's similar to what happened to one side of Katie's family. Definitely makes things hard! If you have any leads to go on, maybe there are records that survived? More are being catalogued and indexed all the time, so perhaps there's something out there you haven't found yet. If you ever want help looking, just let me know, and I'll see what I can do : )
Congratulations, your post has been curated by @dsc-r2cornell. You can use the tag #R2cornell. Also, find us on Discord
Felicitaciones, su publicación ha sido votada por @ dsc-r2cornell. Puedes usar el tag #R2cornell. También, nos puedes encontrar en Discord