In my genealogy research I have discovered that many many family members have immigrated, I imagine trying to make a Fresh Start.
One of the most interesting migration stories involves my great great grandparents, Joseph Pinchbeck and Mary Alice Sellers and 6 of their 7 children, they all migrated to the USA around 1887, yet I was born and raised in England, descended from a very long line of English people, so this seems quite odd!
Growing up I knew my father had distant cousins in America but did not understand why and how, I just imagined they migrated. I discovered my great grandfather Frederick Ormerod PINCHBECK, was the 1 child to stay in England.
I have written about Joseph and his building of skyscrapers in New York in a previous post ( The Pinchbeck family (Pynchbecke) of Lincolnshire) , and how Fred went to university and studied to become a school teacher in England.
He married Elizabeth Charlotte Smith (also school teacher) on 29 Jul 1893 at the Baptist Chapel, High Road, Tottenham. Fred became the first Headmaster of a The Downhills Central School in Tottenham. They had 3 children (young Elsie died aged 2 of scarlet fever), May Pinchbeck my Granny and Uncle Harry.
The year before Fred married Elizabeth, he sailed to New York on the “Gallia”, it took him 9 days. I imagine he wanted to see for himself what life was like in USA, also to see his family and whether he wanted to make a Fresh Start.
I had my DNA tested through Ancestry and have several matches with Joseph & Mary’s descendants. I have made contact with some of them, which is really lovely as the families have lost contact over the years.
not just any family 