Faulder Family Genealogy Faulder Family Genealogy

This post was formerly titled William Blizard Williamson “of Cork” and was significantly editted in 2026.

One of my brick walls has been William Blizard Williamson, his family and their ancestry;

• His wife Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) and,
• His sons William Blizard and George Henry.

The younger son, George Henry was the father of Elizabeth Ann Willett who with her husband Everard William Willett adopted my mother, which makes William Blizard Williamson (senior) my Great Great Grandfather (by adoption).

Another post, Williamson Antecedents in England, now details the above genealogy. This post now deals with ancestry in Ireland.

This posts summarises what is and is not known about this family and what can be done to break down this brick wall. Essentially we know little about their Irish life or of their ancestors in Ireland.

What is not known

The birth details of William Williamson (senior) and Elizabeth are not known. Neither are the birth details of their eldest son, William. Elizabeth’s maiden name is also unknown. Their ancestors are not known.

What is known

From investigating the English ancestry we do know:

• William Blizard Williamson, tin maker, born ~ 1811 in Cork, Ireland
• Elizabeth Williamson, wife of the above, maiden name unknown, born ~1815 in Cork, Ireland
• William Blizard Williamson, son of the above, born ~1840 in Cork, Ireland
• William Blizard Williamson had a nephew, tinplate worker, born ~1845 in New Jersey, USA

Origin of the Williamson name in Ireland

The Williamson name does not seem particularly “Irish”. The name could have arisen from recent immigration from England or Scotland.

At the earliest the Williamson name could be from the time of the Plantation. The Plantation (from about 1550 to 1700) consisted of “the English” planting their own people (mainly Protestant Lowland Scots and English Borderers) into confiscated land in Ireland. Areas colonised were:

• Irish Midlands, Kings County and Queen’s County (now Offaly and Laois)
• Coastal Parts of County Cork
• The ancient province of Ulster

The “son” patronymic surname suffix is typical of English surnames.

Religion

The History of Metal Box, reported that William Blizard Williamson was a “Plymouth Brother of obscure Irish antecedents” (Metal Box, by W J Reader (Heineman 1976)).

When WBW became a “Plymouth Brother” is not clear – presumably either when he signed the pledge or afterwards. The Brethren were founded in the 1820s in Dublin and spread to other centres including Cork and Plymouth (from which the movement acquired the Plymouth Prefix in 1831).¹ A “Plymouth Brother of obscure Irish antecedents” does not preclude WBW becoming a member of the Brethren after his arrival in England; in fact the prefix “Plymouth” may imply that he joined an English Assembly – it is by no means clear that the Brethren in Cork were known as Plymouth Brethren.

If he joined the “Brethren” whilst in Cork tracing family baptismal and marriage records is more difficult. However it should be noted that William Williamson, the elder (b ~1811/12) was probably baptised before the Brethren were founded (in the 1820s). However, his marriage and certainly the baptism of his son, William, could probably have been according to the rites of the Brethren (as well as the Irish civil requirements).

The Brethren originated as a non-conformist break from Anglicanism. It is possible therefore that the elder WBW was baptised as an Anglican, but it is also likely that the Brethren would have also been attractive to some Presbyterians. Given that when he died he was a Congregationalist, I would suspect that he was (slightly) more likely to have been born into a Presbyterian family. If he joined the Brethren after arriving in England, it is probable that his baptism as well as his marriage and the baptism of his eldest son (all in Ireland) would all have been within the same denomination.

Possible Younger Brother

The 1861 Census for Worcester (England) records that WBW had a nephew staying with him. Thomas Williamson was recorded as a 16 year old Tin plate worker, born in New Jersey, America. This would imply that Thomas (and his mother and possibly his father) would have been in New Jersey around 1845.

A separate post looking at Williamson Relatives in the United States, looks at this in more detail, but does not suggest a Grandfather (probable Irish-born) for a Thomas Williamson who is the Irish-born father of William Blizard Williamson, the elder.

Possible Elder Brother: Samuel

I have speculated previously that when William Williamson (the elder) visited Cork in 1869 to speak about the benefits of temperance, he may not have been just grandstanding but also visiting relatives who remained in Cork.

Looking at trade directories for residents of the City of Cork around 1869 we find:

• 26, Lavitts Quay: Samuel Williamson, Tinsmith
  [Henry & Coughlan's General Directory of Cork and Munster for 1867]
[Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland 1870]
  The latter source also lists him in the Category section as a japanner

A Williamson who is a tinsmith in Cork is naturally of interest as is one called Samuel – given speculation about the family in the USA.

The Calendar of Wills: Samuel Williamson (of Cork)

The Irish Calendar of Wills and Administrations reveals:

485 WILLIAMSON Samuel
18 June
Letters of Administration (with the Will and one Codicil annexed) of the personal estate of Samuel Williamson late of Lavitt’s-quay Cork Tinplate Worker and Japanner deceased who died 13 January 1872 at same place were granted at Cork to Elizabeth Williamson of Lavitt’s-quay aforesaid the Widow and a Legatee

Indicates that this Samuel (tinplate worker of Lavitt’s Quay) was married and looking further we find the probable marriage record (Ireland Marriages 1619-1898 Transcription on Family Search):

Marriage of Samuel Williamson

First name(s): Samuel
Last name: Williamson
Marriage year: 1851
Marriage date: 05 Jul 1851
Marriage place: Cork, Cork, Ire
Father’s first name(s): Thomas
Father’s last name: Williamson
Spouse’s first name(s): Elizabeth
Spouse’s last name: Hogan
Spouse’s father’s first name(s): William R
Spouse’s father’s last name: Hogan
Residence: Cork, Cork, Ireland
Place: Cork
County: Cork
Country: Ireland

We now have a father’s name, but the marriage date would tend to indicate that this Samuel is possibly quite a bit younger than WBW (the elder) and quite a bit older than WBW (the younger).

However the Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958 on Family Search gives an age at death:

Name: Samuel Williamson
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 1872
Event Place: Cork, Ireland
Registration Quarter and Year: 1872
Registration District: Cork
Age: 64
Birth Year (Estimated): 1808
Volume Number: 5
Page Number: 117

A birth year of 1808 would make him a potential older brother of WBW (the elder). If we are dealing with the same Samuel, he would have been about 43 when he married. Possibly he married more than once.

Sarah Williamson daughter of Samuel

There is also a marriage of a Sarah Williamson (father Samuel) to a James Perdue [Family Search "Ireland Marriages, 1619-1898"]:

Name: James Perdue
Spouse’s Name: Sarah Williamson
Event Date: 01 Oct 1857
Event Place: Cork, Cork, Ireland
Father’s Name: Henry Perdue
Spouse’s Father’s Name: Samuel Williamson
Marital Status: Single
Spouse’s Marital Status: Single

The Will of Samuel, brother of William B Williamson of Worcester

Exhaustive searching of all records for Samuel Williamson with an appropriate date and place turns up a will (on Find My Past – Ireland, Original Will Registers 1858-1920) The National Archives of Ireland Will Registers, 1858-1900 also contains references to this will.

The will extends over two whole register pages and two half pages and has a lot of genealogical detail:

• Samuel Williamson, 31 & 32 Lavitts Quay in the City of Cork, Tin Plate Worker & Japanner
• Wife: Elizabeth Williamson [married 1851]
• Business Partner: Son in Law, Jacob Wolfe – Partnership Agreement 23 November 1870
• Children
  • my daughter Margaret Wolfe [married 1870, therefore possibly daughter of a previous wife]
  • “I leave nothing” to my son William Henry Williamson
  • £5 to my daughter Christina Williamson – “to be appropriated to her use in the purchase of a suit of mourning clothes, as my son in law Jacob Wolfe, and my daughter Margaret Wolfe shall deem fit.”
  • “I leave nothing” to my daughter Sarah Perdue, or her heirs [Sarah married 1857, therefore probably daughter of a previous wife]
  • my son Samuel Williamson & my daughter Rebecca Ann Williamson, now inmates of the Cork Lunatic Asylum, “be provided with a decent burial, at the joint expense of my son in law Jacob Wolfe & my Wife Elizabeth Williamson”
• Executors
  • “my brother, William R Williamson, of Worcester, England” – later referred to as William B Williamson
  • “my friend, Joseph D Reddin”
• Will dated 19 January 1872
• Codicil dated 19 January 1872
• Witnesses to both will and codicil
  • Abraham Wolfe
  • Henry Farman
• Letters of Administration granted to Elizabeth Williamson, widow, after Executors renounced Probate and Executorship
• Value: Under £450

Finally we have the link; Samuel was the brother of William Blizard Williamson (the elder), and through Samuel’s marriage record we find the name of their father; Thomas Williamson. Sarah’s status is also confirmed.

We also find references to the children of Samuel:

• daughter, Sarah, married to James Perdue in 1857, a few years after her father’s marriage to Elizabeth.
• daughter, Margaret, married to Jacob Wolfe
• daughter, Christina, unmarried when the will was made (19 January 1872)
• son, Samuel, inmate of the Cork Lunatic Asylum when the will was made
• daughter, Rebecca Ann, inmate of the Cork Lunatic Asylum when the will was made

At this stage we do not know who their mothers were. Sarah married just six years after Samuel married Elizabeth, so is likely to be a child of a former relationship.

Thomas father of Samuel and William B Williamson

The Irish Diocesan & Prerogative Marriage Licences Bonds (on Family Search) has two possible marriages (Cork and Ross Diocese) for Thomas:

• to Catherine O’Brien in 1802, or
• to Elizabeth Wise in 1807

Whether either of these is correct cannot yet be determined.

George was the name of the father of George Thomas Williamson in the USA. It is strong suspected that George Thomas (“George T” in the 1850 census, but “Thomas” in the 1855 census) is the Thomas found as WBW’s nephew in the 1861 England Census – Thomas is possibly a shared family name.

Summary regarding common parentage

We are looking for a common ancestor for:

• William Blizard Williamson (who lived most of his life in England),
• Samuel Williamson (who lived in Cork City),
• George Williamson (who emigrated to America from Ireland and was the father of Thomas).

There is a crack in this brick wall! William Blizard Williamson’s father was Thomas Williamson – deduced from Thomas being the father of Samuel, who named his brother, William B Williamson of Worcester, as an executor to his will. Thomas possibly had a further brother who probably went to the United States. The brothers , sons of Thomas, therefore, were:

• William Blizard Williamson (b ~1810 Cork, Ireland, d 1878 Worcester, England). He married an Elizabeth of unknown surname in Ireland. They has at least three children:
  • William Blizard Williamson (~1840, Cork, Ireland – 1895, Russell Square, Middlesex). He married Sarah Jane Mayfield Turner in 1863, but appears to have had no children
  • Christinia Williamson (bap 1843, St Pancras) – no further records possitively identified
  • George Henry Williamson (1845, St Pancras – 1918 Bournmouth), He married twice: first to Sarah Teresa Williamson in 1877 (Droitwich) and secondly to Elizabeth Ann Clark in 1886, by whom he had three children.
• The father of William Blizard Williamson’s nephew Thomas on the 1861 Worcester Census (born about 1845 in New Jersey).
  • This father may possibly have been named George Williamson
  • George’s son, the “Worcester Thomas” above, may have been George T(homas) Williamson, a tinsmith born in 1844 in New Jersey.
• Samuel (b ~1808, d 1872) who lived in Cork. Samuel probably married twice:
  • First, to an as yet unknown first wife, by whom he probably had two children (identified in his Will):
    • Sarah who married James Perdue in 1857
    • (possibly) Margaret who married Jacob Wolfe in 1870. They appear to have at least two children [Family Search, Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881; Criteria: father: Parents Jacob Wolfe; mother: Margaret Williamson; birth: Cork, Ireland 1868-;]
      • Samuel Williamson Wolfe, b 9 Jan 1872 to Parents Jacob Wolfe and Margaret Williamson
      • Elizabeth Jane Walfe, b 1 Feb 1873 to Parents Jacob Walfe and Margaritta Williamson
  • Secondly, to Elizabeth Hogan who he married in July 1851
    • It would be very surprising if Sarah (above) was a daughter of this relationship – born at least 9-10 years before they married.
    • It is possible that Margaret (above) was a daughter of this relationship – if born after Elizabeth’s marriage to her father she would have been 18 or 19 when she married.
    • In the Quaker records there is a record of a death and burial in July 1883 of an Elizabeth Williamson. On the burial Certificate she is described as the Widow of Samuel Williamson of 79 Douglas St Cork. In the Irish death registers there is a corresponding entry for a 76 yo Elizabeth Williamson (Registration district: Cork; Volume: 5; Page 87)
      Whether this is Elizabeth, widow of Samuel (1808-1872) (née Hogan) is not totally clear.
  • Samuel’s Will names four further children. At the moment is not clear whether the unknown first wife or Elizabeth Hogan is their mother.
    • Samuel
    • Christina
    • William Henry (who may have married in 1875)
    • Rebecca Ann

Cork, Ireland	Worcester, England	New Jersey/New York
Thomas Williamson, father of:	Thomas Williamson (derived)	Thomas Williamson (tentative)
Samuel Williamson 1808-1872 married twice: 1. Unknown 2. Elizabeth Hogan m 1851	William B Williamson 1810-1878 (brother of Samuel 1808-1872) married: 1. Elizabeth Unknown b Ireland	George Williamson 1817-? married: 1. Eliza A Unknown b Green Co NY
Children of Samuel – Sarah Williamson m 1857 – Margaret Williamson m 18?? – Christina Williamson – Samuel Williamson – Rebecca Ann Williamson – William Henry Williamson	Children of William & Elizabeth 1. William B Williamson b~1840 2. Christina Williamson b 1843 3. George H Williamson b 1845	Children of George & Eliza 1. George T Williamson b 1845 (nephew of William 1810-1878?) 2. Samuel H Williamson b 1847 3. Christina Williamson b 1851

A “naming convention” analysis is tempting – but we do not know of any additional children, particularly those who died in early childhood (which could cause a later child to be named as a “replacement” for the deceased child).

Future work:

• A separate future post will detail any ancestors of the “Common Thomas”.
• It would be useful if the Cork Samuel’s living descendants could be identified – they may know more.
• A separate [long term, on & off] exercise is under way to detail all 19th Century Williamsons in County Cork (as much as available documents allow), partly for purposes of elimination, but also in case they prove to be related.

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Footnote:

1. The Plymouth Brethren suffered a number of schisms. As far as I can ascertain the movement was founded in Dublin and did not acquire the “Plymouth” prefix until it had spread to England in 1831. In 1848 there was a split between “Open” and “Exclusive” Brethren. Each branch was subject to further schisms and re-unions. The “Plymouth Brethren Christian Church” emerged from further schisms in the “Exclusive Brethren” in 2012. The term “Gospel Hall” is often used for groups of Brethren. Sources from which I have tried to derive a composite view include:
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Brethren#History
   • http://www.gospelhall.org/index.php/faqs/96-faqs/17-gospel-hall-faq
   • http://www.mybrethren.org/history/hy01earl.htm
   • http://www.corkgospelhall.org/history_43.html
   • http://www.plymouthbrethrenchristianchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Our_beliefs_UK_v7.2_PR1.pdf