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In our search for any clues about Rafton Canning's life, we looked into the military record of Rafton's widow's second husband, the "exceptionally unremarkable" Eugene Hilary Davidson. One never knows where a revealing piece of information will turn up. Just getting close to those who were close to one's mysterious genealogical subject often leads to unexpected revelations. Several of Our Cannings chipped in some bucks and hired India military genealogy specialist, John Dagger, to look into the career of EHD.
EHD was of Scottish nationality, but was born in Calcutta, India, as were both his father and mother. India, of course, was ruled by England through first the East India Company, and lastly by the English government. India thus had a huge British community for many, many generations. EHD's grandfather was Alexander Davidson, born in Scotland. Alexander was a very successful and colorful merchant in Calcutta, selling British and European goods to the British in India.
EHD was in the English Army in India, which normally comprised a tour of duty of eight years. He was stationed at Bombay. Bombay is the main port on the western shore of India, and serves as the first destination of English and European ships destined for India. Bombay's climate is drier than in the rest of India, and its assignments not quite so arduous.
EHD's father was Charles James Collie Davidson. He was also a military man in India. His life had exposed him to some of the most difficult military actions in India. Collie Davidson had gained the hand of Letitia Crump of Calcutta. Letitia's father, Professor Crump, was a university lecturer in mathematics; he lectured at Eton College at one point. Eugene Hilary's college education was in engineering, and consisted of attendance at Professor Crump's place, whether that was in Britain or not we do not know.
Now, this may sound like a rather shoddy education compared to our ideas of a university today. But in the very most specialized colleges, the course of one's education is very much like that described for Eugene. For example, at the Oxford Colleges, a student typically will be put under one professor, who will guide the student's reading for the whole of the student's attendance there. That reading may consist of sitting in a specialized room of a library where a unique and important collection of books has been assembled, and reading through those books, over the course of several years'time. I am told that sometimes, such a room is quite small, and that perhaps the same tiny handful of people will be reading there for years.
Professor Crump's "school," wherever it was, may have been similar. He may have had quite a collection of specialized books and/or equipment, and possibly took mathematics and engineering students and guided and tested their readings, just as would occur in a larger college that had several professors under its rooves.
Well, back to EHD. His character was described as "Singularly unremarkable." Today in the media-madness we live in, that would denote quite a sorry person; but in those days, it was quite a measure of good manners not to stand out in any regard.
Now, what I propose is purely circumstantial, but so many circumstances combine that we are enticed to look at this as a feasible stream of events... What if EHD had been involved with the CSS Shenandoah project, perhaps in conjunction with Mary Ann and Rafton (who was possibly George P. Canning of record)?
1. The Shenandoah began its mission as the Sea King, built in Glasgow, Scotland. The Sea King had already been purchased by the Confederacy, but it was highly illegal for the British to take part in the Civil War, as that would be a reprehensible breach of neutrality. So the Sea King had to leave Scotland under a legal pretext, which it did by saying it was headed for Bombay, India. Only later could it pass into Confederate hands.
Now, I am totally uninformed about naval procedures, but it would seem to me that some form of paperwork would be necessary for the Sea King to leave British harbor, and this paperwork would require some sort of realistic information about the stated destination, if not actual signatures of officials AT that destination. Thus, it would seem to me that having an official connection in Bombay would greatly assist in preparing the required paperwork needed to exit Scotland and British waters. If so, EHD could believably have been that contact. Furthermore, such a contact would be invaluable in sending information as to the state of affairs in the area of the destination. It is feasible that EHD could have served as such a contact.
2. At the time that the Shenandoah was slated to pass through the Indian Ocean (she didn't actually ever go to Bombay, whether it had been planned for her to do so or not I don't know), late in 1864, EHD had a hiatus in his military assignments, or so it seems to me. What did EHD do between _______ and _______, 1864? Might he have taken care of the Shenandoah somehow, during that time? It is feasible.
3. When the Shenandoah arrived at Melbourne, Australia, she was soon put into dry dock for repairs, then she was impounded by the Australian government, who said they were searching for a man named Charlie Davidson on board ("Charley the Cook").
Get your CAR or TRUCK ...
UNSTUCK !!
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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) Proposed 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): (proposedly 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!
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