MAIN MENU
CANNING FAMILY BIOGRAPHIES
Achilles Botriune / Botrine Canning born 1862 Paris
Alfred Canning born c. 1785
Anne Canning nee Powell
born 1800-1810?
Arthur / Arturo Canning
born 1826-28
Arthur Rafton- Canning
born 1865, Paris
Baltriune (George P.) Canning
born 1837 Rotherhithe, London
Eugene Hilary Davidson, Lt. Col.,
born Calcutta, India
George "Grandy" Canning
born c. 1863, Paris?
John O'Connor
born c. 1836 Rathkeale Co. Limerick Ireland
Louise Perrot / Pierrot nee Canning
born 1824, France
Marinus Francis "Alfred" Canning
born c.1829, Paris?
MaryAnne Davidson nee O'Connor
born 1833, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, Ireland
Rafton (George) Canning
born c. 1832
MAIN MENU
Introduction
The Rafton Mystery
Biographical Sketches
Family Tree Chart
CSS Shenandoah
French Second Empire
Historical Canynges
George's Photo Album
Family Photo in 1911
Sons of George of Cleveland
Angel-Butlers of Guernsey
Doing Research
Links
Doing French Genealogy
Request FR Records
Model French Letter& FRGenealogy Terms
FamilySearch
FreeBMD
Ancestry.com
Rootsweb
Cyndi's List
French Phones and Maps
England Phones & Maps
Old London Map
Submit a Link
Send a Comment
Join "CanningName" Email Club at
Contact us!
Your Email Address:
|
|
Refer to the Family Tree Chart
while perusing these biographies.
See three recently-discovered documents that give us tremendous clues in where to search. Typed family memoirs from George of Cleveland and his first cousin Gustave Perrot, plus a letter dated 1831, written to our Alfred Canning. The memoirs name "George Richard Canning" as the grandfather of Rafton, Baltriune, Gustave, and the rest. Other information says that "Alfred Canning" born circa 1797 was actually this grandfather's name. One of the newly-found documents, a letter from April, 1831 to Alfred Canning, from the Shipwreck Institution (later to become the National Lifeboat Institution), also proves that our Alfred Canning was the same Alfred Canning who presented a lifesaving device for use at sea to the Royal Sailing Society, London, in October of 1831.
The Patriarch Generation: Born roughly 1800
Alfred Canning
Born about 1800, supposedly in Surrey (which then included Southwark, Bermondsey, and basically everything on the south side of the Thames for several miles); died 1851, Rotherhithe, Southwark, age "about 54". May have married Anne Powell in 1817 in Worcester, Worcestershire, in which case his name was Alfred D. Canning. The father of Marinus (b. c. 1830, in "Foreign Parts"), Rafton (b. c. 1832, Surrey) and Baltriune Canning (b. 1837, Rotherhithe). Was a Civil Engineer (as it says on Baltriune's birth record, and Rafton's marriage record). He was, moreover, the same Alfred Canning who, in October, 1831, presented a model for a life-saving device to use at sea, to the Royal Sailing Society, London, , together with a Lieut.-Colonel Leslie Walker (Army). A letter (pg 1), (pg 2) written to Alfred Canning in 1831 from the Secretary of the Shipwreck Institution, shows that the Alfred who presented at the Royal Sailing Society was our Alfred.
See where Alfred was living or working in April, 1831 - CLICK HERE (400 Kb!) Alfred was living/working in the heart of London, at No. 16, Bride Lane, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, the address to which the letter (see link above) was addressed. A mile away, at No. 18 Austin Friars, was the office of the newly-formed Shipwreck Institution, later to become the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Alfred's location is the red dot on the map. This map, from Horwood's 1797 maps, sent to us by the Guildhall Library, prints out as a single page, so add it to your files!
At present, Alfred is the focus of our search for our Canning origins and relationships. However, Gustave's memoirs have thrown in a puzzling second name for presumedly the same person: George Richard Canning. Gustave wrote his memoirs, as many do, late in life. Clearly many of the dates are quite wrong ~~~ in one case, by over 10 years. But one thing is quite clear: Gustave repeats the name George Richard Canning and several times calls him grandfather.
What do Gustave's memoirs say about George Richard Canning his grandfather? Gustave is of course French-born and raised, and may not actually have met his grandfather. He may have learned of George Richard Canning only through his mother, Louise Canning Perrot, who was wont to substitute different given names for certain family members. He says his grandfather was born around 1780 to -85, and died in 1873, a year after having been decorated by the Prince Consort Queen Victoria's husband, for his nautical inventions. Since the Prince Consort died in 1861, this cannot have been true. Also, George Richard would've been 93 when decorated by the Prince Consort, if Gustave is correct ~~ not impossible, but it sounds a bit ominous. Nevertheless, was George Richard decorated at all? We need to find out.
Gustave relates that George Richard was related to the Cannings of Westcoat (clearly he means Foxcote), that he was the "youngest son of a most honorable family," and was a distant cousin to George Canning the Prime Minister. All of this needs to be ascertained through documents. Every Canning family in existence feels themselves to be related to George Canning the Prime Minister.
Ann Powell Canning
Born before about 1800, location unknown. Gustave's memoirs say she was of "good Welsh extraction" and was born in 1787. Ann's mother in London took care of young Marinus Francis Alfred Canning for awhile, if indeed MFA Canning was the son of the same Anne Powell Canning as we are descended from. Our family also includes (by marriage) Lucy Powell Franklein, one of the greatest contraltos in Europe her modern-day fans say. Lucy married John O'Connor, later in both of their lives ~~~ perhaps there will prove to be a family connection between Lucy and Ann Powell (who would have been 1 generation senior to Lucy). If so, I would be delighted to learn that we have some of Lucy Powell's singing ability (maybe 1/52nd of millions of genetic slices of information ~~ that would still be encouraging).
The European Mystery Generation: Born roughly 1820-40
Fingal Canning first child of Alfred D. and Anne Powell Canning b. <1814 (died young);
Alfred Canning presumedly the second child of Alfred D. and Anne Powell Canning, b. 1814 (died young);
Arthur Canning (Arturo Canning) third child; our family tree says, "Lived with mother in France, went to Spain"; we have no birthdate, mention, or concrete information on him. However, there is online information from the annual Ateneo de Madrid, in 1852 and 1853, of an Arturo Canning, senior professor-lecturer on Greek and Greek Literature. Additionally, there is record of a Clara Canning who was born in Denia, Spain in the 1860's --- she would be the right age to be his child, but we cannot assume anything without documentation.
Louise Canning Pierrot/ Perrot, the only daughter of Alfred D. and Anne Powell Canning, b. circa 1824, d. circa 1877; adopted into the Court of the Second Empire by Mme. Lannes, according to Achille's memoirs; married M. Louis Pierrot (Perrot) who was Postmaster in Luzarches, about 30 miles north of Paris; she raised her own children (Louis and Gustave) along with Baltriune's two sons (Alfred b. 1858 and Rafton Boutrenne b. 1860) and Rafton's three sons (Achilles, b. 1862, George b. 1863?, and Arthur b. 1865); Rafton's boys spoke only French when they arrived in England in 1868 or so.
Marinus Francis Alfred Canning,
Rafton's presumed brother, known all his life as Alfred Canning, born 1828 in either Paris or England, d. Nov. 13, 1911, Perth, Western Australia; Member of Parliament for Western Australia and married to Elizabeth Ann Morgan, sister of the Morgan brothers who developed Australia's "Gold Mountain" --- her greatest gold mine; "Alfred" and Elizabeth were parents of eleven in Australia, many of whom distinguished themselves, and including daughter Leonfille Clestille Jean de Pyriethoe who visited Lady Fingall in Ireland, before returning to Ipoh, Malaysia where she died. MFA Canning, like his presumed brother George P. Baltriune Canning, never mentioned his family, adding greatly to our curiosity about his generation and that of his parents. Another mystery: he was an ardent member of the Church of England.
Raftan (Rafton) Canning
of London, born c. 1832, died Apr. 3, 1866 at 48 Spencer Street, Clerkenwell, of "Phithisis [sic], Certified"; "Beer and Spirit Merchant" listed on death registry; presumably the same Rafton Canning, owner of "an ale and stout depot in London" who responded to a news article, Nov. 1865, seeking the unknown relatives of George P. Canning of the CSS Shenandoah. His name was a mystery to family members, as it was hushed up, never mentioned, in North America. He is listed on the Family Tree Chart as being the progenitor of the American group of us, being father of three boys --- Achille Botrine, George and Arthur Rafton --- all born in Paris in the mid-1860's. Rafton married Mary Ann O'Connor in Paris, in early 1862. They lived at 4 rue de Villejust at that time, and until the birth of Achilles or later. This street was the home of
Baltriune "Georges Boutrenne" Canning
brother of Rafton, if not actually Rafton himself, of London, b. in 1837, in Rotherhithe, in "a cottage on the Rector's Island"; died of long-festering gunshot wound to right lung ("Phthisis") on the very windy Oct. 30, 1865 at sea, just one week before the CSS Shenandoah, on which he had mysteriously served, arrived at Liverpool and surrendered to the English. This incident was followed by an international tribunal to determine England's and France's reparations for the damages caused by the Shenandoah and other activities; very reticent to ever mention his family; the crew only knew that he had a wife in Paris, and a brother in Australia --- newly-arrived document from France attests to his first name being George, thus indicating almost positively that he was the George Canning of the CSS Shenandoah who has eluded historians since the end of the Civil War;
Spouses, In-laws, Friends
Mary Ann O'Connor Canning Davidson
Davidson, Rafton's wife and widow, born 1832 in Rathkeale, Ireland, adopted at age 16 by a French duchess, and raised in and presented to the Court of the Second Empire; died in 1923 in Cleveland, Ohio; married Lieut. E.H. Davidson, (1839-1918) retired, of the British Army in Bombay, India, in London after Rafton's death; known in Cleveland to her sons as "Mother Davidson" -- was mother of Achilles Botriune Canning and Arthur Rafton-Canning, was presumed mother of George Canning (c. 1863-1938), all born in Paris, and was mother of
John Gordon Davidson and Amy Davidson, born in Toronto, Canada;
Margaret Phillips Hook (or Hucks, Hux) (born around 1830? North Carolina? Louisiana? Carolinas? Florida? - died France? America?); married naval officer?/ship builder?/wine merchant?/horse dealer?/French advisor to Confederate Army? Algernon H. D. C. George Baltriune Canning of England, France, and the Confederate Navy; had two sons, Alfred and Rafton, but these boys were raised by George B.'s sister, not by Margaret. Did she return to America? Perish in France?
Louis Pierrot/ Perrot (c.1802-1875; maitre de poste de Luzarches, Postmaster of Luzarches, 19eme siecle 19th century 1800's) --- the office of Postmaster involved providing horses for a very large number of occasions, including not only the post, but also for anyone requesting a horse (for which their passport must be provided, and for which the Postmaster received a good fee)
Eugene Hilary Davidson, b. 1840, at Rampore Beaulin, Calcutta, India; Second husband of Mary Ann O'Connor Canning Davidson whom she married in Kensington, London July 9, 1869; coincidental timing and names in the CSS Shenandoah story leave room for the feasibility that EHD possibly assisted in the Shenandoah's mission when she passed through the Indian Ocean; we have a report and documents on EHD, his father Col. Charles James Collie Davidson (b. Calcutta), and grandfather Alexander Davidson (b. Scotland), an East India Company merchant, prepared by India military specialist John Dagger
John O'Connor, b. Rathkeale, Co Limerick, Ireland;
brother of Mary Ann; was in attendance at Rafton's death in 1866 in London, and who produced and directed the annual Arcadia extravaganza in Islington at the Royal Agricultural Hall; occupation was "Theatrical Equestrian Agent" in one census; address in 1866 was 14 Queen Street, Brompton Road, a very wealthy area; earlier his address had been at Denmark Terrace, virtually on top of the site of the White Conduit House (where Cricket supposedly began);
Charles O'Connor (April 18, 1843 Rathkeale, Ireland - d. England?); brother of Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, John O'Connor, and Denis O'Connor; "Decorator" (stated on his passport) which in Ireland could include many large-scale projects; possibly worked with Mary Ann and John in Paris or London enterprises
Edward Weeks, also spelled Wickes or Wicks, the Negro servant of George P. Boatrine Canning (=Baltriune Canning) Weeks came on board the CSS Shenandoah with Canning, and Canning was very close to him , and insisted on full pay for him. Canning died virtually in Weeks' arms. Weeks was much older than Canning, was called "the old Negro" by the men on board. Strangely, there was an Edward Weeks Balders Canning in Massachusetts, a poet affiliated with academic circles.
The North American Generation and their French Cousins: Born roughly 1860
Achilles Botriune Canning, Rafton's first son, b. August 9, 1862 in Paris, France, d. July 30, 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio; in his adult life he spelled his name Achille Botrine; spelling variants among other family members are Boatrine, Beautrine, Beautrin, Boutrenne, Boutrinne, Botrinne, and more; --- was a legal consultant and notary --- married Annie Cockfield and had many children in Cleveland;
George Canning
Rafton's supposed son, b. Oct. 26, 1863, in or near Paris, France, no birth certificate found; d. Mar. 31, 1938 in Ft. Worth, Texas; buried in Cleveland, Ohio; married in Montreal, Canada to Annie (Ena) Angel Butler of Guernsey Isle and Cork, Ireland, b. July 5, 1871, d. June 7, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio; Steel broker; Secretary of Cleveland Iron and Forge; fond of wood work on the lathe; kept a faithful diary in a unique amalgam of four versions of shorthand which took an official court reporter of the U.S. Court House in New York to decipher; one entry of October 29, 1934, says, "George is home, and after the meal I show them my grandfather's letters of 100 years ago, and chat until 9 o'clock..."; parent of nine children in Cleveland, Ohio; "staunch" Roman Catholic, with diary faithfully recording the outings to Church weekly;
Arthur Rafton-Canning,
Raftan and Mary Anne's youngest son, red-headed Arthur was born May 7, 1865, in Paris. When Rafton died and Mary Anne had to send the boys to London, her brother John O'Connor took young Arthur. [We don't know if John was in France until then, and literally "took" Arthur with him to England, or was already living in England.] John was a "theatrical equestrian agent" among many other occupations, so it is no wonder that Arthur should become a Canadian Mounted Policeman after the family moved to Canada. In 1885, Arthur married Annie Elizabeth Parsons of Islington, London. His uncle was also very much involved with show business, so it is also no surprise that Arthur should become an excellent photographer. In the 1901 census in England, we find Arthur and Annie, no children, living in Rugby, manager of a photo journalism shop.
Arthur's excellent photographs of the wildernesses of Canada are in the Canadian National Archives. Arthur took the first name of his father, Rafton (spelled with an O by the time of Arthur's birth registration), and used it as a hyphenated last name, Rafton-Canning. On Arthur's death certificate in British Columbia, filled out by his Step-Son (signature illegible), his father's name is given as Rafton-Canning, born England, and his mother's as Davidson (Mary Anne had remarried, Lieut. Col. E.H. Davidson), born England. We know she was born in Ireland, so this information is not too important in trying to determine Rafton's birth place. Arthur had been living at 1004 Donald Avenue, in White Rock, British Columbia, when he died on December 15, 1952. His wife had died before him, in 1949. They had been living on Oxford Street, White Rock at that time. Arthur was 87 when he died, of gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
Alfred Canning (1858 Paris - d.?): had an office job and was a careful worker, had epilepsy; lived with his aunt Louise Canning Pierrot/Perrot in Luzarches, Champagne, France; Georges Boutrennes' son by his wife Margrette Phillipsis [sic] Hucks (Hook, Hux)
Rafton Boutrenne ("Paul") Canning born Sept. 18, 1860 in Arcis-sur-Aube ("Arrusn Aube" in the English Census of 1881), France; Georges Boutrennes' sons by his wife Margrette Phillipsis [sic] Hucks (Hook, Hux) b. 1833, a Southern-born American woman who may or may not have left France after the birth of their sons, in the early 1860's --- birth document from France for Rafton Boutrenne is source of information; Rafton Boutrenne loved horses, and in 1877, his Aunt Louise kicked him out of the house because he was always staying out with his friends at Chantilly stables; in the 1881 census in England, we find him living in a hotel in East Grinstead, Sussex, with a menial job. The picture comes together when we learn that this was just three miles or so from Crabbet Park, where the greatest horses in the world were being imported and bred, the progenitors of the most superlative race horses in the world today. One of these progenitors of the world's Arabians, a very mysterious one of which there was not even a photograph, was named Rafton!
Gustave (Augustus) (1858-1932) and Louis Pierrot
sons of Louise and Louis Pierrot; Gustave married Camille (1870-1936) and often visited his cousins in America and stayed for long periods of time; founded a short-lived school of shorthand; Camille wrote George of Cleveland extremely frequently
More People
Elizabeth Anne "Annie" Morgan: whose brothers subsequently developed Mount Morgan ("Mountain of Gold"), Australia's greatest gold mine --- Married MFA Canning; had many children, as many descendants now attest, including the Hassell family;
George Rafton Canning; first son of George Canning of Paris;
Achille Botrine Canning ; second son of George Canning of Paris;
Anthony Basil Canning;
Fingall Canning: b. around 1813, died in infancy;
Arthur Barnsley II (b. June 21, 1878, Sheffield, England - d. 1945), married Annette Canning, first child of George of Cleveland;
Jack Traill;
Charles Cole of Cleveland (d. c. 1932); married Amy Davidson
Florence McGann (1877-1938) married John Gordon Davidson
John Gordon Davidson (1876 Toronto -1963); son of Eugene Hilary Davidson and Mary Ann O'Connor Cannind Davidson
Descendants of Marinus Francis "Alfred" Canning in Australia include the following people:
Ada Louisa A. Canning (b. 1857, married Charles Edward Hern);
Jolande de Redcliffe Hern (b. 1881);
Edward Duplessis Hern (b. 1879, married Gladys E. Andrews);
Gladys Octavia Canning (married Frank Hanney, an Irishman);
Eleanor Anne Canning (1865-1949, married Arthur Wollaston Hassell);
Charles Felix Algernon Stratford Canning, (b. 1871, educated at Oxford in Law);
George Cunningham Canning (b. 1873);
Leonfille Clestille Jean de Pyriethoe "Pairii" Canning Latham who visited Lady Fingall in Ireland and perhaps died in Malaysia.
Alternate spellings for Marinus Francis Alfred Canning in various documentary and written sources include the following:
Mariones F. Alfred Canning (from ships' registers); Maximus F A Canning; Marcus F A Canning; Marcus Francis A Canning; Mannus Francis Alfred Canning; Manners A Canning; Manners F Canning (all from official governmental records, all with wife Elizabeth Ann (or A) Morgan).
Places
Saint Germaine: the mysterious George P. Canning of the CSS Shenandoah let out that he was from there, or that his family were there --- we're guessing this was the Saint Germaine Military Academy (academie militaire) at the Field of Mars (Champ de Mars), Paris, under Napoleon I--- there is also the Faubourg Saint Germaine nearby to consider;
Garvagh, Ireland: home of the ancestors of the Canning statesmen --- maybe, or maybe not, our concern;
Rathkeale, Ireland: home of the O'Connors, John, Mary Anne, Charles, Dennis, in Limerick County, southwestern Ireland;
Foxcote, England: Cannings of influence, thought to be the birthplace of Francis, the father of Marinus Francis Alfred Canning according to biographical information at the Battye Library in Perth, Australia;
Luzarches, France: north-northeast of Paris, between Paris and Compiegne, and in proximity to Chantilly --- where Louise Canning Pierrot and Louis Pierrot raised Raftan's sons Achille, George and Arthur, plus their own children and the children of Boatrine, and where Louis was Postmaster;
Chalons-sur-Marne, France: close to Arcis-sur-Aube (30 miles), death place of Colonel George Canning, First Baron Garvagh in 1840 --- maybe, or maybe not, our concern;
Arcis-sur-Aube, France: town on Aube River east of Paris, in close proximity to Allied headquarters in 1813; was the birthplace of Rafton Boutrenne Canning in 1860, son of Georges Boutrenne Canning (i.e., our Baltriune Canning 1837 Rotherhithe) and Margrette Philipsis Hook, who disappears from record after this;
Champagne, France: old designation for the large, superlative wine-growing region east of Paris, that includes Aube, Marne, and other areas;
Get your CAR or TRUCK ...
UNSTUCK !!
with
|
|
|
|
Existing Records
Achilles Botriune Canning (1862 Paris-1937 Cleveland): (Raftan's 1st son)
(1) Consular birth registration.
Document Number: 102
When & where born: 09 August 1862 at Paris
Name: Achilles Botriune
Sex: Boy
Name of father: Raftan CANNING
Maiden name of mother: Mary Ann O'Connor
Father's profession: Commercial Agent
Informant & his residence: Raftan Canning, father [of] 4 Rue de Villejust, Paris
When registered: 26 December 1862
Consular Officer performing registration: T Pickford HBM Consul, Paris;
Consular district of birth: Paris
(2) Certificate of Death from the State of Ohio, Div. of Vital Statistics, obtained from the Cleveland Historical Society. In this, his name is spelled Achille Botrium Canning, but this is explained by the fact that the convalescent hospital filled out that part of the certificate, and "botrium" is a microbial term, thus the confusion. The family always spelled it Botrine, and Achille himself was a Notary, so we take Botrine to be the correct spelling as he intended it. Date of birth: blank. Age, "About 75 years." Birthplace: "Paris, France". Father: "Unknown". Mother: "Unknown". Wife: Anna. Trade or Profession: Collector. Date of death, July 30, 1937. Place of death, Cleveland, Ohio. Address at time of death: 925 Roanoke Rd., Cleveland Hgts. Informant: Henry Canning, Son (same address). Cemetery: Calvary Cemetery. Funeral Director: R. S. Mcllurch (McColloch?), The Millard (Milland?) Co. lic. # 1237. Body was embalmed.
Alfred (D.?) Canning (c. 1797 where? -1851 Rotherhithe, London) Presumed father of the Mystery Generation (Rafton, Marinus, Baltriune, Louise, Arthur who "went to Spain"), husband of Anne Powell Canning;
(1) death registration Rotherhithe 1851, "Found dead in bed" written right on it, and coroner's inquest held, age "about 54," Occupation "Engineer," died of "Natural Decay", living at 5 Surrey Place, Lower Queen Street, Rotherhithe, London;
(2) marriage of his son Raftan Canning to Mary Anne O'Connor in Paris, January 1862, lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(3) birth of his son Baltriune in 1837 lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(4) Marriage Alfred D. Canning and Anne Powell on June 2, 1817, Saint Martin, Worcester, Worcs. (not conclusively ours; no parents' names, places of birth; but date of marriage corresponds well to our records)
Alfred Canning (1858 Paris - France?): Eldest son of Baltriune Canning. Consular Birth Registration, Paris; Info reads Alfred, boy, born Nov. 16, 1858, Father Botrinne Canning, Gentleman, Mother Margaret Hook, Informant's signature "B. Canning", residence L. Boulevart de l'Etoile Fernes [=Ternes], registered Dec. 23, 1858
Arthur Rafton-Canning (1865 Paris -1952 Vancouver, BC): (Rafton's third son) --
(1) Birth Registration from British Consulate at Paris; Name, Arthur Canning; Date of birth, May 7, 1865; Father, Rafton Canning; Mother, Mary O'Connor; Profession of mother's father, Clerk; Informant, Louisa Butler, Dressmaker [Note: possibly related to our Angel-Butlers of Guernsey], 117 Faubourg St. Honore, Paris; When registered, Nov. 7, 1866 [Note: months after Rafton's death].
(2) Death registration from the Archives at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Died Dec. 15, 1952 at Age 86, at Vancouver
Baltriune Canning (1837 Rotherhithe, London -1865 died at sea): Rafton's brother (see "George P. Canning" following).
(1) Birth certificate in Rotherhithe, London, born July 15, 1837, in a "Cottage on the Rector's Island" (=Seven Islands, now Southwark Park), father Alfred Canning, Civil Engineer, mother Anne Canning formerly Powell, residence of informant (father) "Cottage on the Island", registered August 25, 1837;
(2) birth certif of his first son, Alfred Canning 1858 Paris (qv), listing him as "Gentleman";
(3) birth certif of his second son, Rafton Boutrenne, 1860 Arcis-sur-Aube, Champagne, France, "no profession"; both boys' mother is Margaret Hook (Hucks).
Eugene Hilary Davidson (1839 Calcutta - 1918 Toronto?) Marriage certificate to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, July 9, 1869, Kensington, married in the Register Office, both then living at 48 Ledbury Road, Bayswater, London, his father Charles James Collie Davidson, Colonel in the Indian Army; her father Dennis O'Connor, Clerk.
George Canning (c. 1864 where? -1938 Ft. Worth, buried Cleveland): (no birth record; supposedly Rafton's 2nd son) ~~~ death certificate from Ft. Worth, Texas, (certified copy) d.o.d. March 31, 1938, d.o.b. August 27, 1863, saying his father's name was George Canning, mother's name Mary Ann O'Conner, and that he, (George) was born in France. We have found no birth registration for George, in the British Consul's records.
George P. Canning (1837-1865): (Rafton's brother Baltriune Canning, which fact is established by an officer's journal from the CSS Shenandoah, wherein it is described how Rafton Canning, owner of an "ale and stout depot in London," responds to newspaper ad seeking George's relatives in Nov., 1865) ~~~ evidence consists of historical military documentation from the journals of the officers of the CSS Shenandoah (photocopy of stamped official photocopy), the warship which destroyed the US whaling fleet in the Bering Sea, 1865, with George P. in charge of the Marine group and the guns ~~~ the crew learned he had a wife in Paris (but he would tell no one of her name or whereabouts), a brother in Australia, and that his friends were in "St. Germain"; he was accompanied on board by an older Negro servant named Edward Weeks/ Wickes to whom he was very close and for whom he insisted on equal pay; he said he was wounded at Shiloh, as an Aide de Camp for General Polk (but no record exists of him there); he died on board ship Oct. 30, 1865, of phthisis, and was buried at sea with a Roman Catholic ceremony.
Marinus Francis Alfred Canning (c. 1828 where? -1911 Perth): (presumedly was Rafton's brother) -- (1) Death certificate from Perth, Western Australia (certified copy): Date of Death, Nov. 13, 1911, at 83 years of age; Father's name, Francis Canning (deceased); Mother, Ann Powell; Born in Paris, France; Buried, Anglican Cemetery at Kerakatta (?) on Nov. 15, 1911; followed by a listing of his issue [children] in order of birth w/ ages: Ada 5(4?), Letitia 52, Arthur 50, Edmond 45, Eleanor 44, Blanche 42, Algernon 40, George 38, 1 male 4 females (deceased).
(2) Much biographical information from the Battye Library in Perth, Western Australia, where he was Member of Parliament, including records of voyages, stating (possibly from a passport) that he was born in England, and
(3) Obituary [the West Australian, Nov 14, 1911] stating "Mr. Canning was a son of Mr. Francis Canning, a member of an old English county family, the Cannings of Foxcote, Warwickshire, famous in English history. He himself was educated at l'Ecole Charlemagne, Paris, and privately in England. He had always been a politcal student, was a classical scholar..." and
(4) Biographical Register of MP's of WA: "Canning, Marinus Frederick [sic] Alfred: Educ. priv. in Engl. and at Ecole Charlemagne, Paris. arr. Q 1855; storekeeper in 1856; bank mngr early 1870s to Tahiti; 1875 joined Bank of NSW; 1877 to Noumea office and later possibly to Tas.; 21 Feb 1883 arr. in WA to found Perth br. of bank; 1884 left bank and founded WA Mortgage & Agency Co., 1888-95 mngr; sec. AMP 1886, Comm. agent 1887-89. founded WA Stannaries; 1893 JP: 1891-1911 member Perth Public Library Cttee."
Mary Ann O'Connor Canning Davidson (1832 Rathkeale -1925):(Rafton's wife) ~~~ (1) unreferenced newspaper obituary clipping (photocopy) titled "One in the Court of Napoleon III Dies," describing her sons (steel brokers in Cleveland), her adoption at age 16 into the court of Napoleon III by a French duchess, "many years of colorful court life", and her escape from France at the fall of the Court of the Second Empire, "...as a friends drove her to the coast from which location she made it safely to England" (2) death certificate, 92 years old, died March 2, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, was widow, wife of Eugene H. Davidson, born in Rathkeale, Ireland, father Jeremiah O'Connor (b. Ireland), maiden name of mother Unknown (b. Ireland), informant George Canning of 16861 Homer Ave. East, Cleveland, died of broncho pneumonia.
Rafton Canning (c. 1832 where? -1866 Clerkenwell, London): (1) Death registry from London, Apr. 3, 1866 (certified copy) age "about 34"; address at time of death at 48 Spencer Street, Clerkenwell (which is a baker's establishment - home? shop?) on a street containing several jewellers and goldsmiths; Occupation "Beer and spirit merchant"; person in attendance -- his brother-in-law John O'Connor of "14 Denmark Terrace, Islington"; cause of death -- "Phithisis, Certified [sic]". (2) Consular birth registry of his son Achilles Botriune in 1862 (see below), which lists father "Raftan" (not "-ton") Canning, residing at 4, rue de Villejust, Paris, Profession -- "Commercial Agent." (3) Consular birth registry of his third son, Arthur, in Paris, 1865, (4) Marriage record to Mary Ann O'Connor, January 1862, Paris -- spelled Raftan in this record, (5) reference to a letter received from a Rafton Canning, "owner of an ale and stout depot in London," by the officers of the CSS Shenandoah, when they advertised seeking George P. Canning's family; See the
Rafton Mystery
Rafton Boutrenne ("Paul") Canning (1860 Arcis-sur-Aube - France?): Son of Georges Boutrenne Canning and Margaret Hook
mentioned in letter (original, ink on thin paper, 8 pages) dated Aug. 3, 1877, from Louise Canning Pierrot to "sister" Mary Ann (O'Conner Canning). As Louise thinks she is dying ("I cough blood"), and Mary Ann has left for America, mention is made of every male child, of the generation following that of Rafton and Marinus, whom Louise has cared for. No mention of the father of Paul and Alfred is made. However, Paul is described as one who must have been a teenager "feeling his oats" and gets kicked out by Louise, preferring to lodge at the Chantilly stables where his heart lies. And Alfred is mentioned with him, as of good character, but hindered by his epilepsy, which is described as being serious. These two are contrasted by Louise with the "good" boys, sons of Mary Ann; Have 3 documents: (1) French birth record, 1860, Arcis-sur-Aube, parents Georges Boutrenne Canning 26, no profession, and Margrette Phillipis [sic] Hook, 27, no profession, born in the residence of the shire officer; (2) Letter, 1877, from Aunt Louise Canning Pierrot to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, delineating "Paul's" behavior and mentioning all the boys she is raising (see above); and (3) 1881 census in England, Rafton Canning age 20, working in Sussex as a servant ("Boots") at a hotel in East Grinstead, Sussex, born in "Arrusn Aube" (Arcis-sur-Aube), France
For fuller details, see the Biographies
To see scans of the complete set of all documents found to date Click Here. WARNING: Very large file!
|