I am trying to trace my great uncle, William John Guerin. He was born on 6th January 1888 in Walworth, South London UK. (His place of birth is, however, sometimes listed as Gosport, Hampshire, UK, as that's where he spent his early years.) His father was William John Guerin, b c1857 in Ireland, d 1896 Southampton UK, and his mother was Emily Jane Tippett. I know that in 1905 he was sent, as a Barnado's boy, to Canada on the SS Kensington, docking first at Portland Maine. I do not know his final destination in Canada, but would love to find out what happened to him. I think it is also possible that his brother, Walter b1890 and sister Elizabeth Cordelia Rand (nee Guerin) b1889, may have emigrated to Canada some time after 1915. Does anyone know anything about them? I look forward to hearing from anyone who does. Thanks!

Hi Christine

I am a direct decendant of Walter Alfred Tippett & Elizabeth James. They are my g-g-grandparents. I just wondered if you had any more information on them as I noticed you have them listed in your tree. We know that they had 2 children in USA and then came back to England.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks

Hello - I`m sorry, you didn`t leave your name.

How exciting to hear from you anyway. You will have seen that Walter and Elizabeth are also my g g grandparents. You`re right - they had Elizabeth and Maggie in the US. Are you descended from one of them?

They had at least 7 more children from my memory. I`m not at home at the moment but will be back at the end of next week, when I`ll write again.

I do have information about them from most of the censuses, up to 1911 and their deaths within a few days of each other the following year. It would be great if we had complementary information and you could fill in some of my gaps...

I`ll be in touch soon. All the best, Christine

I see from your tree that you say Walter and Elizabeth were married in 1853. I wasn't able to find any record of that - was it in the UK or the USA? Do you know why they went to America?

Elizabeth, their daughter was born in Detroit (according to the 1911 Census) but Maggie just put America. Elizabeth married Edward Colvin in Nov 1876, having had a daughter, Elizabeth Alice, with him in February 1876 (I have the certificates!) Edward died in June 1878 and Elizabeth subsequently married William Billingham, who brought her daughter up as his own and she took his name.

In 1911 Walter and Elizabeth were living as 'old age pensioners' in 2 rooms at 15 Gee Street, (near Old Street in the City of London)with their son Frederick and daughter in law, Mary Ann. They had been married for 58 years, and had had 10 children born alive, of whom 6 were still living.

Walter died on January 21st 1912 at 25 Radnor Street, Holborn with his son Frederick in attendance and Elizabeth on February 4th at 50 Bastwick Street, Holborn. (All these streets are very close together around St Luke's Church in Old Street.) They both died of bronchitis and heart failure. Elizabeth's death was notified by Walter Joseph Emms, who was married to their grand daughter, Elizabeth Alice nee Colvin, late Billingham.

Hope that gives you a bit more information. I'd love to hear anything you may know - particularly about their time in the US. The only thing I discovered by noodling around on the Internet was that in the 1850s Detroit's major industry was timber and Walter was a wood turner. Whether or not there's any connection, we can only speculate.

Which of their children are you descended from? My Great grandmother was Emily Jane, b1864 in Stoke Damerel, Devon.

I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best, Christine