Dear Listers
Having successfully researched my own familym I am now tackling that of my
husband, and am seeking advice on how best to tackle the search for his
grandmother's parents who lived in Ceylon for a time. I'm having difficulty
finding
them here before they went, as I have know clues as to where in the UK they
were from, and have just some verbal information from my mother in law plus a
Very Useful Birth Certificate for Margaret Murray Onion.
The information I have thus far is that Margaret Murray Onion was born on 1st
December 1901 in Nawalapitiya, Ceylon to Thomas Onion (occupation Head Guard,
CGR) and Alice Isabella Onion nee Turner.
Whilst I have no date of arrival in Ceylon, I have been told that Margaret's
eldest sister was born abt 1895 in the UK (although I can't find her!!), the
next one, Edith Ann was born in Ceylon. That would put the date in the second
half of the 1890s, and the younger two, Amy and Thomas were also born in
Ceylon. I have no dates for these children.
Whilst I know there is no easy way to collect more piece of my jigsaw, can
anyone advise whether they know whether the CGR have any records, and more
importantly how much information about staff those records contain, and also
whether there was a particular shipping line or UK port which emigrants to Ceylon
favoured (or indeed whether emigrant ships went direct to Ceylon or called in
there en route to somewhere else).
I know this is an extremely tall order, but if anyone can point me in the
right direction at this stage, I would be extremely grateful as I don't really
know where to start.
With many thanks for any help you may be able to give me.
Regards
Alison D'Bue, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK