DNA and Missing Fathers

I grew up believing that Jacqui was my aunt, she was a very young trendy aunt who lived on Portobello road in London, she collected antiques and was very artistic.
Jacqui planted in me a love for herbs and old things and she has taught me how to make quilts and rag rugs and even took me to a Victorian rubbish dump to dig for old bottles and pots, great fun.
When I was 17 and visiting my elder sister Denise in California, she suddenly out of the blue asked me whether I knew that Jacqui was our half sister and not our aunt. I was flabbergasted as I couldn't imagine my Mum ever having made a mistake in her teenage years. A year later my Mum told me herself, when I told her that I already knew she asked me whether I was disappointed in her, I said "no, Mum, it made me love you more".
Mum was a young teenager during the 2nd World War and lived in the  city of Kingston upon Hull, because It was an important port on the eastern seaboard the city was often bombed but it also had a lot of Merchant Navy men coming in and out of the port.
During this time Mum met and fell in love with a young handsome American Merchant Seaman called Wayne Frederick Webber.
Times of war are fraught with worry and the uncertainty of whether you will survive, Wayne departed from Hull on the S.S. Victor Herbert and my Mum discovered shortly afterwards that she was pregnant, she was 17 years old.
After telling her mother, I believe that my Grandfather was serving in the army in India at the time, my Nana went with her to the U.S. Naval headquarters in Hull. Unfortunately they were not received very kindly there and my Mum was asked whether she was sure that the baby was from Wayne Frederick Webber, they also refused to give her any contact details.
Thankfully my Grandparents decided to officially adopt the baby themselves, my Mum was sent off to my Nana's step sister in Bridlington to avoid any gossip in the neighbourhood and when her time of delivery arrived she traveled to a nursing home in Grantham for unwed mothers. Jacqueline Wayne Orwin was born on the 16th September 1944, she was given her Father's name as a middle name.
Jacqui discovered that she was adopted when she was a young teenager, she was very upset with this discovery but when she learnt that her favourite sister whom she called Dodo was her Mum then she was a lot happier though obviously she always wondered about her biological father and who he was.
Mum was able to tell her his name and that he sailed on the SS Victor Herbert, she thought that he was from Wisconsin and he had also mentioned to her once that he was an orphan and that he lived with a foster family, Mum also had a small photo of him which she was able to give to Jacqui.
About 10 years ago I started searching on Ancestry.com to see whether I could maybe find Jacqui 's father for her. I found several possibilities and two who fitted the match the closest, they were both born in 1923, one was from Wisconsin and the other was from Indiana and on the 1931 census it showed him as being a foster child.
At the time my younger sister Kim who lives in the U.S.A. decided to try and get in touch with both of these possibilities, but unfortunately without success.
Several months ago I decided to have another search and discovered that the Wayne Frederick Webber who lived in Wisconsin had died last year and that there was a photo of him. I immediately started comparing the photo with the small photo in our possession but Kim thought that his hairline was different, she decided to search on Facebook for a Wayne Frederick Webber and discovered that the Wayne who lived in Indiana was still alive and had recently joined Facebook. By looking through his photos she was able to find a photo of him from when he attended a Veterans Day Event, he was holding a photo of himself as a young man and even though our photo is very unclear he had the same wavy dark hair and the same hairline. Kim was so sure, and always the impulsive one, she decided to try and phone him straight away.

After a friendly introduction she asked him whether he had been in the Merchant Navy and had sailed on the SS Victor Herbert and whether he had ever been in Hull, he said that he had. She then asked him the golden question, whether he remembered a young girl called Doreen Orwin, he was quiet for a few seconds and then he said that yes he did remember a Doreen Orwin. As you can imagine it was a very emotional telephone conversation and even though I live at the other side of the world I was able to listen in on the conversation. Wayne told us several things about his romance with my Mum and that he remembered her running along the harbour to wave goodbye to him, he was also able to speak with my Mum on the telephone.
The next morning we rang Jacqui to tell her that we had found her father, and since then she has also been able to talk with him via Facetime and has also gained a brother and a sister by.
To make sure that we definitely had the right father for Jacqui, Wayne is 96 and my Mum is 92 and has dementia, we decided that it would be a good idea if both Jacqui and Wayne's son do a DNA test. Several weeks ago the results came back and they are half siblings from each other, after 74 years Jacqui has found her missing father and now has a connection with all her family on that side of her family tree.
A little extra bonus of Jacqui doing her DNA test was that I was able to find another missing father! My great, great Grandmother Emma Young was also born out of wedlock and there is no mention of her father on her birth certificate, she was born in Thorne Union Workhouse in 1839 and she was also brought up by her grandparents. After doing a DNA test Ancestry shows you your Thru Lines and potential ancestors, I have already found most of my direct ancestors going back 5 generations but obviously had no way of finding out who Emma's father was until Thru Lines showed me the name of Samuel Lister as being a potential ancestor. I did some research on Samuel Lister and discovered that he and his wife were the Master and Matron of Thorne Union Workhouse!  Another missing father revealed through DNA testing.

Jean De La Coste and the Mug-house Riots

My last few blogs have been about Leen Arie's Huguenot ancestors,  as I mentioned in my blog of June 2018, his 8th great grandfather Ludovicus De La Coste and his family were forced to flee the safe city of La Rochelle in the Autumn of 1684. They arrived at first in Rotterdam and resided for a time in Dordrecht, Ludovicus remained in Holland and became a vicar in the Protestant church. His parents eventually travelled further to Geneva in Switzerland and his two sisters to London.

His brother Jean studied Medicine at the University of Utrecht and after his graduation also moved to London where he married Maria Suzanne Assaily. 

The father of Jean and Ludovicus died in London in April 1706 and left his son  Ludovicus 500 pounds sterling and Jean 120 pounds sterling and an  annuity of 24 pounds.

Jean's name became  anglicised to John, and he became a practicing physician in London, he and his wife had seven children.

Up until now I hadn't been able to find out anything more about Jean, until today when I was checking out the wonderful website www.londonlives.org . This website contains among many other things accounts of criminal trials at the Old Bailey, and it was at one of these criminal trials on the 6th of September 1716 that Dr. John De La Coste appeared as a witness, and it had to do with the Mug-House Riots.

To be honest I had never heard of the Mug-House Riots before today, but Google is a wonderful searching tool in order to learn new things.

First of all a Mug House was a gathering place of Hanoverian supporters, a sort of Ale house were everyone brought their own mug and met together to discuss politics and sing songs.

Queen Anne had recently passed away without an heir, so in order to ensure a Protestant Monarch, George the Electorate of Hannover, who had a slight claim to the throne, was invited to come over and become King George I. Anne's deposed father James had a son by his second marriage who had a much stronger claim to the throne, but he was Catholic, so his claim was passed over even though he had many supporters, the Jacobites.

During 1716 there were many skirmishes between the Jacobites and the Hanoverian supporters, these were called Mug-house riots. On the 24 July 1716 there was a "mug-house" riot in Salisbury Court, when Hanoverian whig loyalists celebrating an anniversary at Robert Read's alehouse were attacked by a Jacobite mob. With his life and his property at the mercy of the rioters, Robert Read opened fire with a blunderbuss and Daniel Vaughan was killed. Read was tried for murder at the Old Bailey and there was conflicting evidence about the role of Daniel Vaughan in the riot. Some witnesses claimed he did not have a stick in his hand, while others testified that he led the mob, and that they called him Vinegar or Little Daniel. Read was acquitted. 

It was at this trial that Dr John De La Coste gave evidence, having been in the Mug-house at the time of the attack. Here follows is his statement -

"Dr. John De la Caste deposed, that he went with three Gentlemen through the Mob into the Mug-house that Tuesday about eleven a Clock in the Forenoon, and they followed him almost to the Door. When he saw Mr. Read the Prisoner, he asked him what Provision was in the House for a Defence; and finding none, he wrote a Letter to the Lord Townsend, to inform his Lordship of their Danger, and blamed the Prisoner for not doing so before; and by and by he heard a small Gun go off, which he thought was a Warning-gun for the Mob to fall on; for immediately after they did so with great Fury; and he, being above Stairs with some other Gentlemen, they got out at a Window behind the House; and the Sexton of the Church had the Cruelty to turn a Mastiss loose upon them; but they drew their Swords and told him, they were on the Defence of their Lives, and if he did not call him off, they might be under a necessity of killing the Dog and him too; upon which he called him off: and about a quarter or half an Hour after, he heard the Gun go off which he believ'd kill'd the Man.

Then Dr. De le Coste said he had something more that was material to offer, and standing up, depos'd, That he heard too some of the Mob say, the Duke of Ormond, and some the Duke of Berwick, was landed with 20000 Men. That the Friday-Night before he was Chairman at the same Mug-house; and he received Information, that the Mob threatned to pull it down that Night; and fearing he should want Assistance, he sent a Messenger to the Loyal Society in Tavistock-street , desiring their Company and Assistance if Need should be, on that Occasion, who came very readily and disperst the Mob, so that no Mischief was done that Night; but a few of them went by with a Harp and Fiddle, playing The King shall enjoy his own again. Then the Court told him, that since he said he had been Chairman of that Mug-house; he would do well now he was upon his Oath to give an Account of their Orders and Behaviour. Upon which he told him, That about 8 a Clock at Night the President generally enters the Chair, and after profound Silence is made, they always begin a hearty Mug to the Health and Prosperity of His Most Sacred Majesty King GEORGE; some time after that another to their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and their Issue, and all the Royal Family; a third to the Glorious and Immortal Memory of the late King William, and seldom or never miss a fourth to the Prosperity of the Church of England, sometimes with a supplement, as wishing she may never want Power nor Inclination to protect and encourage all Protestants, and sometimes without; for the rest, if any are inclined to stay longer, they fill up the Time with other Loyal Healths of lesser Note, as the Chairman or President shall think proper; but never to the Confusion or Damnation of any Person or Thing, as the Enemies to the Government and theirs have falsly given out."

I can fully understand that after all the persecution that John and his family underwent in France under a Catholic Monarch, that he enthusiastically supported a Protestant Monarch.