David Watson Family Part 1

David Watson and Ellen Williams are Frederick Alexander Watson's parents according to the Maltese birth certificate.  My next step was to find the family on a census record.  I began looking for David Watson, born around 1837 in Ireland, married to Emma Watson.  It didn't take me long to discover a family that meet that criteria in the 1871 England, Wales, and Scotland Census.  I was excited to see that the family was living in Milford, Wales, the same place Frederick listed as his mother birth location in the 1930 census.  This record can be found on both ancestry.com

(http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=frederick+a&gsln=Watson&msbdy=1867&msbpn__ftp=Wales&msrpn__ftp=wales&msfng0=david&msfns0=watson&cpxt=0&uidh=tmd&msbdp=1&cp=0&pcat=CEN_1870&h=7254317&recoff=6+7+8+45+46&db=uki1871wales&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1) 

and on findmypast.com 

(http://search.findmypast.com/record?id=gbc%2f1871%2f5522%2f0063&parentid=gbc%2f1871%2f0021964945&highlights=%221838%20watson%20david%20pembrokeshire%22)

The image is copyrighted so I only included a little section of it.  You can go to the the above addresses to view the image, or contact me and I will email a copy.

1871 Wales Census Steynton, Milford, Pimbrokeshire, Wales 

We have David and Ellen with correct ages and birth locations when compared to Frederick Alexander Watson's birth certificate.  David's occupation is Sergeant Major in the Royal Engineers.  Again, this is a match to the birth certificate.

We knew that Frederick A. Watson's parents were David and Ellen, now we know some of his siblings names.  They are:

• Edith E Watson, born about 1865 in Milford, Wales
• Emma Watson, born about 1866 in Milford, Wales
• Frederick A Watson, born about 1867 in Milford, Wales
• Ernest J Watson, born about 1869 in Milford, Wales
• Florence M Watson, born about 1871 in Milford, Wales

When I first saw that the family had a son named Frederick A Watson that would have been only 7 years older than our Frederick A Watson, I was a bit confused.  I later discovered that the older Frederick A Watson died in 1871.  

I went back to findmypast.com and started looking for birth, baptism, and death records for the children.  

Edith E Watson was found in England and Wales Births 1837-2006 on findmypast.com

http://search.findmypast.com/search/united-kingdom-records/vital-records-birth-marriage-death?country=wales&county=pembrokeshire&firstname=edith&firstname_variants=true&lastname=watson&yearofbirth=1865&yearofbirth_offset=2

 England and Wales Births 1837-2006

This gives us her full name, Edith Eliza Watson, and we know she was born in July, August, or September 1864.  

Emma Watson can be found on findmypast.com under England and Wales Births 1837-2006 and Pembroke baptism. http://search.findmypast.com/search/united-kingdom-records/vital-records-birth-marriage-death?country=wales&county=pembrokeshire&firstname=emma&firstname_variants=true&lastname=watson&yearofbirth=1866&yearofbirth_offset=2

England and Wales Births 1837-2006

July, August, September 1865

Baptism Record August 27th 1865

Emma was born in July or August 1865 and was baptized on 27th August 1865 in Hubberston Parish, Pembroke, Wales.  Her parents are David and Ellen and her fathers profession is Royal Engineers.

Frederick Watson's Birth Certificate

I now had copies of Frederick Alexander Watson's death record, naturalization records, and census records starting in 1910.  I checked the 1901 Canadian census knowing that he immigrated from Vancouver just three years latter, but I couldn't find him.  I knew that if I was going to discover any more information about him, I needed to find his birth record.

I did a basic search on findmypast.com which has a large collection of British records.  I found two records for Frederick Alexander Watson's birth.  

http://search.findmypast.com/search/world-records?firstname=frederick%20alexander&firstname_variants=true&lastname=watson&keywordsplace=malta&yearofbirth=1874&yearofbirth_offset=2

Army Returned Births 1796-1880

Government Army Chaplains Birth Indices (1796 to 1880)

(note R.E. stands for Royal Engineers)

In order to find the information I really needed, I had to order a copy of the certificate from Malta.  I did a google search and found that I could order a birth certificate from the Malta Public Registry office.  

 https://secure2.gov.mt/certifikati/

I ordered a copy of the certificate using information I had found from a public tree on ancestry.com.  The tree listed his parents as David Watson and Helen Williams.  Attached to the tree, I found a copy of Frederick Alexander Watson's Maltese birth certificate.  Latter I contacted the tree owner (skgrabler) and asked about the certificate.  She told me that she had hired a researcher from ancestry.com to locate the birth certificate.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/17157783/person/1887581609

Original Birth Certificate 

 The birth certificate needed to be translated into English.  

Translated Birth Certificate

(translation is in parenthesizes)

• Notice how Frederick Alexander Watson's birth date is 22 October 1874, the same date he gave on his naturalization records (see last blog entry).   
• The birth location is Torre San Luciano, Zejtun, Malta.  I think this might be Fort San Luciano, Zejtun, Malta?
• Father is David Watson, he is 36 and is a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers.  David was born in Ireland and his father is James Watson, who is dead.
• Mother is Ellen (Williams) wife of said David Watson, she is 29 and does home care.  Ellen was born in the Province of Wales and her father is John Williams, who is dead.  

Death Certificate and Naturalization Records

I confirmed from the census records that Frederick Alexander Watson was born in Malta in October 1874 and that his father was probably born in Glasgow, Scotland and his mother in Milford Haven, Wales.  I also knew that he immigrated in either 1897 or 1905 and that he was naturalized between 1920 and 1930.

I needed to verify his birth date and hoped that his death certificate would give me the names of his parents so I ordered his death certificate from the Alaska Department of Heath and Social Services website at http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/VitalStats/Pages/death/default.aspx. 

 Page 1

This page gives us his age and again states that he was born in Malta.  It also gives his death date, location, and burial information.  Unfortunately his parents names and birth location is unknown. 

Page 2

The second page gives some family information, the thing that interested me the most is number 27 Name and address of other living relatives.  It states that Frederick A. Watson has a brother and two sisters living in Australia.  The names and addresses are listed as unknown.  

I have been curious about his naturalization and did a search online.  I discovered that the Alaska Archives has an index.  

http://archives.alaska.gov/pdfs/collection_guides/naturalization_records.pdf

After I discovered him on the index, I contacted the Alaska Archives and they were kind enough to send me copies of  Frederick Watson's naturalization records free of charge.  Two of the  pages were very large and my scanner isn't big enough so I had to scan the top and then the bottom.  

 page 1 of 2

Page 2 of 2

 Page 1 of 2

He became a citizen on 19 June 1928.  

Page 2 of 2

These records confirm that his birthday is 22 October 1874 in Malta.  It also gives us his wife's birthday and birth location along with all living children.  The date these documents were filed were in 1925 and 1927.  They tell us that he came to the USA through Vancouver, Canada and into Seattle, Washington on the 15th January 1905.

The Beginning and Census Records

My Adventures with the Watson family history started a couple of months ago.  My cousin is married to a Watson and they just had their 2nd baby.  She is interested in family history and wants her children to know where they came from.

I asked her to find out as much information as possible for me.  She started with David Watson, born 29 July 1920 in Pilot station, Wade Hampton, Alaska. He died in 1978, location unknown.  He married Ina Bourdon Born 8 Oct 1892 in Nome, Nome, Alaska.

I decided to start with David Watson's father, Frederick Alexander Watson.  I was told that his wife was Delia Hamilton and that they lived in Pilot Station, Alaska.  I started went straight to the census records and started with the 1940 Census.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VYWN-7KG

Delia is a widow and the youngest child isn't a year old so Frederick must have died in the past year or two.

In the 1930 Census the family is still living in Pilot Station, Alaska.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHB2-XF5

This census is helpful because it gives the birth place as Valletta, Isle of Malta.  Also, note the birth location for his parents: his father in Glasgow, Scotland and his mother in Melford Haven, Wales It gives the year of immigration as 1905 and he has been naturalized.  

The 1920 Census-Pilot Station, Alaska

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLBF-1GX

Again this census gives birth location as Malta, Scotland and Wales.  It says that he immigrated in 1897 and that he is an alien.  

1910 Census Anvik Villiage (Saint Michael), Alaska

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MPZ2-L4Y

In the 1910 census Frederick Watson is married to a woman named Sophia and her child.  It says his birth in October 1874 and that he was born in Great Briton (Malta was a territory of Great Briton in 1874).  Again it says his parents were born in Scotland and Wales, and he immigrated in 1905 and is an alien.