Family history

My great-great-grandparents were English, but decided to emmigrate to Canada. Their daughter, my great-grandmother, Sarah Jane wrote an account of her life in Canada in 1874 and her brother Alfred also wrote an account describing that time, starting with the voyage from England to Canada. Later, in 1885, when Sarah Jane Osborne was married, she travelled from Texas to South Dakota by train and wagon.

This diagram shows the relationship of Sarah Jane Osborne and Alfred Oddy Turton to me, Vanessa Blake. The family tree is incomplete and misses out many brother and sisters. Sarah Jane had four brothers and six children.

family tree

1967? Sarah Jane Osborne's son, Thomas, was born in the USA. During the First World War he joined the Canadian Army and fought in France. While he was in England he met Edith Lilian Clarke. They later married and settled in Worcester, England. I only knew my Grandfather as an old man who sat in a chair. He died when I was 12, so unfortunately he never told me stories of his childhood in South Dakota.

All three accounts were originally hand written and have been copied. Some words, especially place names, I may have got wrong. If you know the area and can correct a name, please e-mail me at vsb1001@cam.ac.uk

Some links connected with places mentioned:

A Short Pictorial History On Upper Ft. Garry

The Legend of the White Horse Plains