INTRODUCTION

For those redirected from my old site, welcome to
www.aganderson.me.uk
Please bookmark this new URL.

I can be contacted at
ws (at) aganderson (dot) me (dot) uk

(Sorry about the anti-spam precautions.)
(Hope you understand.)

In Memory of Two Clarion Soldiers
A poem written to mark the deaths of my grandfather,
and another, possibly his elder brother,
during World War I

Two friends I had whom I had never seen
And now shall never see
Full of high thoughts their written words have been
and gentle courtesy
Their hearts were stilled for Britain's sake
Mine does but ache.

The homes they loved, at dangers foremost call
Not lightly did they leave,
But resolutely faced what might befall
Nor stayed to dream nor grieve
And answered to their country's need
With manly deed.

Sweet sympathy with suffering they knew
Who made no selfish plaint
It seemed their natures only nobler grew
In spite of War's foul taint
Who died in hope the world to free
From tyranny.

Those whom they loved do honour them and mourn
And I while life shall last
In gratitude will hold the friendships born
Of conflagration vast
Oh! Comrades who have left life's spell
Hail, and farewell!
------------------
Written by May Westoby, editor of The Young Socialist
December 1917
(Hand-written, in my mother's papers)
The Clarion was a Socialist Newspaper

21 June 2010
Well, a few days (and two months) later, and there is now something to show on the site!  Click on Family Trees on the left, and you then have a choice of my pedigree tree, or a surname list, or a name list , or sources.

The pedigree starts off from me, with links to my parents and grandparents.  Clicking one one of these takes you to the page for that person, with their family details, etc.  The surname list gives links from each surname to a list of everyone with that surname, which in turn links to their pedigree tree.  It's fairly straight-forward when you try it.

13 April 2010
Many apologies to all, but because of problems with my hosting service, my web-site has been off the air for a while. I'm in the process of rebuilding it elsewhere, but I'm afraid this will take a few days. Please come back then, and hopefully, things will be getting back to normal.

2 August 2009
A new Anderson family tree has been uploaded as the previous one was found to be incomplete. Apologies to anyone inconvenienced or upset.

14 July 2009
I've added updated family tree files for both my tree and for my wife's.  Click Family Trees on the left.
The update is a bit later than anticipated, as I had to wait for the Welsh 1911 census data to be released. However, it was worth the wait as I did find, as I hoped, my Anderson family in Bangor. Yet again, their movements were not as I originally expected. My grandfather, Lewis Martin Anderson, was born in Scotland, but settled in Bangor, before eventually moving to Liverpool. Now, that's pretty straight-forward, but the first complication was that he married in Liverpool before moving to Bangor, his wife being Welsh. The other puzzle about the marriage was that his father was described as being a porter, when I knew that he was a police sergeant in Scotland. Then, I found that his wife had died in 1904, when I had many times visited my 'gran'. So, it transpired that she was not my 'gran', but my step-gran. Next, I found that he had remarried, again in Liverpool, in 1910. So, when the 1911 census appeared he was expected to now be living in Liverpool. But no, the family had returned to Bangor!

Now, on my wife's tree, her grandfather William Henry Torr is still a bit of a puzzle.  Despite extensive searching, I have been unable to trace a marriage to Mable Pryor and there is some suspicion that they may not have married.  However, I have found that in 1901 he had married a Margaret Foster, so I was interested to see what the 1911 census showed for them.  The first interesting point was that there appeared to be two of him!  Firstly, he appears with wife Margaret and children, but also with his parents and all his siblings.  Both show him as a glycerine refiner or manufacturer, so it seems pretty certain they are the same person.  On looking more closely at the entry for his parents, I see strange things.  Firstly, there are twelve people living in a four-room house!  Assuming a living room and kitchen, that leaves two bedrooms between the twelve, five of whom were of working age.  Then I notice they have recorded as having had ten children, one of whom had died, but their census entry shows all ten still present!  The last on the list looks slightly suspicious - a bit like an afterthought, being aged 24 but following a 9 year old.  Poor Horace - he had died aged two, 22 years earlier, but still given a mention.  Oh, and two other children were named Holly and Ivy, so a nice sense of humour.  So, it looks like the parents included all their children, which would explain our William Henry's double appearance.  No remarriage or death has been found for Margaret, William's first wife, so the suspicion grows that William may have deserted his first family when moving from Nottingham to Liverpool.

8 May 2009
An apology to anyone who has been unable to connect over the last day or so.  I've had to transfer my hosting to a new host, and it takes a while for the web to catch up with the new address.  I hope to be able to update the site database within the next few weeks, although there haven't been any major changes recently.  Oh, I will have added some details from the 1911 UK census for the Liverpool Kayll families.  For some reason, my father and his father are missing.  I was expecting them to be in Liverpool, as my grandfather Lewis Anderson had married in Liverpool the year before, and did settle in Liverpool.  I'm wondering if he was back in Bangor, but the census coverage for Wales has not yet appeared.

Previous Updates

My Grandfather George Kayll in Canada c.1913 (sitting)

My name is Allan George Anderson, and I was born in Liverpool. Robert Edmund Anderson was my father, and Lilly Kayll was my mother's name. This site covers mainly the genealogy of the Kayll and Anderson families, plus related names, in particular Martin. (Two of my great-grandmothers were unrelated Martins, one Welsh, the other Scottish.) My Andersons came from Kirkcudbrightshire (properly called the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright) and Dumfriesshire, Scotland. My Kaylls came to Liverpool from the Isle of Man in the mid-19th. century. Around the same time, some IOM Kayll family members settled in Sunderland, while others travelled afar, to different parts of the then expanding empire.

What triggered my interest in my ancestry? I've been actively researching for four years, but I suppose the seeds were planted about 25 years ago. I was talking to my mother about my planned car journey across the Continent, travelling through France, when she mentioned that her father was buried in a War Grave in Northern France. She didn't know exactly where, unfortunately, and there matters rested, although years later, I did ask who were her aunts and uncles. On my mother's death, while sorting her papers, I came across a letter written to her by her father's sergeant, describing very graphically how her father had been killed. When only fourteen, she had written to enquire about his death. There were more letters, several to her from her father which painted a very clear picture of his strong socialist views, and others which must have been in her father's possession when he was killed. For some while, then, at the back of my mind I wondered how to proceed. Then, I thought, the internet?.....And then, I remembered hearing of Commonwealth Wargraves, and found their site. I know my mother would have loved to see what I found there. With this, and the family information from my mother, I had the outline, but with many gaps. Many visits to the Liverpool Record Office, Family History Centres and libraries followed. Much information also has been provided through email contact with many distant relatives.

Anderson Family | Kayll Family

Previous Updates

28 May 2008
It's been a while since I've done any updates. Even now, new information has been hard to come by, but I've uploaded a new gedcom file to 'My New Site' (in the left-hand pane), containing all I've gathered. It might be worth your while to check, if you haven't been there recently. Once on that site, click the Welcome tab and select Anderson 2008-05 to load the data, then select either Lists or Charts.

13 October 2007
I've added some further details on the Kaylls in New Zealand. In the process, I've summarized the emigrations to New Zealand, as follows:-
James Kayll (1838-1867) - son of Arthur Cowle Kayll (Isle of Man)
on board the "LADY AGNES DOVE" from Liverpool to Melbourne, arriving on 30 Aug 1854 aged 16 years. John travelled as an un-assisted passenger, the ship was 370 tons, the master was Mr. A. Blacklock. There were four passengers, George Miles (24), J. Kayll (16), J. Bruce (14) and John Hancock. The documents show "4 passengers rate payable to Immigration Agent Melbourne before entry 20/- (20 shillings)".
Unclaimed letter in Auckland 30 Sept quarter 1859, and 31st Dec 1859. Still in NZ in 1865.
Died in Cuba 1867.

William Kayll (1842-1922) - son of Arthur Cowle Kayll
In NZ by 1872 (from mother's will)
Died in NZ.

William Swinburne Kayll (1858-1914) - son of John James Kayll (Sunderland)
Letter from brother AJK (in Canada) to father 26 Oct 1879. "...So Swin has gone to New Zealand; I don't know yet to what part..."
Passenger on ship Cuzco from Victoria NSW to NZ. Oct 1879, presumably having been on board from London (25 Oct 1879).
Died in UK.

The three children of Hugh Lynk Kayll emigrate from Liverpool c. 1970.

Sept 2007
The problems referred to below have been resolved.  Unfortunately, in transferring to a different hosting site, I reinstalled the database without transferring the user-list.  Consequently, any previously registered users of the database site are no longer registered, and will need to re-register should they still wish to access the full data.  My apologies for the oversight.

18th August 2007
Just a notification for any frequent users of this site.  The site has now been switched to a different web hosting service.  It should still be available at http://www.aganderson.me.uk.  In fact, all appears to be in order, but in case of teething trouble or delays in the new address propagating,, it should be available also at www.kayll.me.uk .  If, however, you notice any problems, do please let me know (email address above.)  I've just noticed that the two links in this paragraph aren't working correctly.  If you need to, copy/paste them to your address bar.

The Anderson tree information has been updated, mainly with minor additions.

18th February 2007
An update on my wife's ancestors side.  Having discovered that her gt-gt-grandfather, Daniel Torr, had two wives, some errors in that area have been corrected.  The result is that her grandfather, William Henry Torr, was half-brother to the three Torrs who were established as butchers in Liverpool at the time of the 1881 census.  This may explain why he chose to move to Liverpool from Nottingham.  It does not, though, explain why he chose to move in the first place.  The fact that in the 1901 census, he is recorded as, at the age of 20, living with a wife and two daughters, the younger of whom was born out of wedlock, and the elder one was aged 4 years, may be relevant, though.

31st December 2006
Kayll Family intro. expanded (reinstating several paragraphs that had mysteriously disappeared!)  Also, a number of Schmutter family photos added, thanks to Pam McCrae.

11th December 2006
New update to Anderson gedcom added.  Also, several Schmutter family members added (Australia), plus additional details for some Joughin family members added (Isle of Man). These may be accessed through the 'My New Site' link in the left pane, then select Anderson 2006-12.ged on the Welcome tab (see 6th September below.)

6th October 2006
I've now been able to install an updated version of the Gallery photo album software, which may be accessed via the Photos link on the left. I hope you find this interesting, and, if you have any old family photos you would like to share, I'd love to hear from you. Again, you don't NEED to login to view the photos. However, authenticated users may upload their own photos, so let's know if you'd like to try this.

6th September 2006
When you go to my new site, you will be presented with a screen showing the Anderson file, or the Barkley file. This is because I've now added my wife's ancestry to the site (click Barkley/Torr link on the left.) To switch from one to the other, click on the Welcome tab and select the file of interest. Just to remind, you don't NEED to log in to view the charts and lists. However, if you register, you are allowed to add your own information and to communicate with other users.

2nd September 2006
The link on the left to 'Photographs' is now working. My friendly ISP had zapped the previous albums and all the photos, so I'm in the process of rebuilding them again (for the second time.) They are no longer on the ISP site! I'm having to use a different program to display them, but at least there's something to see now. It's still a work in progress, but the Anderson branch and the 'Unknown' are now up, although with some tidying still to do.

24th August 2006
Well, that took a lot longer than I expected. (Technical detail for anyone who is interested. I wanted in future to concentrate on 'MY NEW WEBSITE' and discontinue the original separate trees, but I was unhappy with the response times of that program, which was hosted on a different server on my ISP site. So, I decided to have the whole web-site hosted on a hosting site. Unfortunately, when I did this I found that the latest database I wanted to upload had grown to over 2 Mbytes and the program wasn't accepting it. After spending some time investigating what was wrong with the program, I found out that the problem was with the host site rather than the program, so had to move to another host. I now need to build up all the different files and links, which I'll be doing over the next few days.)

So, now, please use the 'MY NEW SITE' link on the left. I'll add more instruction detail later, but the full file is now there. You don't need to log-in if you just want to browse, but if you go through the simple registration process, you can exchange messages with me or other registered users. It is also possible to allow users to edit certain information, but I'm not sure how I can track that to synchronise with my main database.

Just a reminder, that lower down in the left pane, are links to different graphical charts of two of my trees. Also, having previously decided to obtain a 'permanent' domain, aganderson.me.uk, I had found that some search engines were bypassing that and reporting the ISP address, which, would become incorrect if I moved ISP. This defeated the purpose of the permanent domain, so that was another reason to have the whole site hosted. Then, I found that my ISP had wiped out the photo-album.

13th August 2006
Site undergoing maintenance. I'll get it back as quickly as I can. Apologies for this, but hopefully response times for some of the more sluggish pages should be speeded up as a result.

26th April 2006
All trees have been updated.

3rd Feb 2006
I've just added a new link in the side pane to a new version of my tree. Try it and let me know what you think. It's still very experimental, so...!!! (It also has a more up-to-date database than the original site at the moment.) It is not necessary to log-in just to view, but authorised users will be able to add their own information to the site and exchange messages.

18th December 2005
A success!! One of my Waifs and Strays photos (see below) has been identified. The 'Boy and Baby' photo turns out to be of my two cousins Thomas Trevor (who I knew of as Trevor) and Dilys Martin Anderson, neither of whom I had met. Many thanks to Thomas Trevor's daughter Dilys Anne for the solution. (Dilys, please would you contact me at the address at the foot of this page.)

24 October 2005
In the photo album (left pane), I've added a section of Waifs and Strays, those photos I've not been able to identify. Please, please, if anyone can identify the subject, or suggest dating, I'd be really pleased. Comments can be added below each full picture, and should reach me by email. (I'd better test that! Now OK.)

4 October 2005
Numerous additions, including two Liverpool Glanvill(e) families where detail was missing.

3 Aug 2005
The recent activity has been on my wife's family, where many more Torrs and Pryors have been added.

25 May 2005
Believe I've finally found the only grandparent I actually knew - my paternal grandmother, Jane Roberts. (I'd earlier found out that she was actually my step-grandmother.) She was found in the 1881 census, with her father, Hugh Roberts, and her grandmother, Jane Roberts, but named Jane Jones, Jones being her mother's surname. So, one mystery is replaced by another one - where is her mother?

With access to the 1871 census, the Liverpool Glanvills are confirmed to have come from Abingdon, Berkshire. (Apart from one family, where Edward Glanvill was born in Canada. Whether these are related, I don't yet know.) Also, numerous Kayll descendants in Australia added, from the Dall and Fitzgerald lines, thanks to John Williams. All tree pages updated.

9 Oct 2004
Kayll and All Families pages updated, mainly with further Australian Dall and Perks additions.

3 Sept 2004
The photo pages have been completely replaced with, hopefully, a more logical arrangement. The link is in the pane on the left.

21 July 2004
This home page has been modified and expanded, with details added of the links between the Sunderland Kaylls and the Hartley (glassworks) and Thorneycroft (steelmaking) families. Also, I've added several present-day Australian and UK Kayll family members, plus a number of the New Zealand family members to the tree. The other trees, also, have been updated.

4 March 2004
Henry Edward Kayll (click photos link in left pane) played football for England v. Scotland in March 1878. He also held the world pole-vault record for several years. His brother, Andrew James Kayll, won awards for rowing at Oxford, between 1874 and 1877.

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