The problem started with my Great Grandmother's death certificate, which listed her Father's name as Henry Hignell, and her Mother as Elizabeth Dimond. I did many searches through genealogy databases and could not locate the correct Henry Hignell. At that point, the Irish side of the family was easier to track, and that is without a national birth marrriage index, or any 19th century censuses. ( The English said the Irish burned them to make more space for records, and the Irish retort that the Brits destroyed the records from spite).
Anyhow, it turned out that Henry Hignell was not Grandma Riley's father--but her Grandfather. Her parents were John Dimond and Mary Elizabeth Hignell. They were married in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. Neither spouse was Welsh, but English who had emigrated to Wales looking for a better life. The Hignell family came from Gloucester, and the Dimonds were from Devon.
Since our Dimond dna came from England, and not Ireland, I guess the family legend that Legs Diamond was a cousin is a nice story, and nothing more. My Grandma was such a lady--she had the gracious lady act down to perfection, and I don't think it was much of an act--Grandma did not have royal or noble blood in her veins, but she was gentle, dignified, and kind--unless you crossed her, and then she became 'Snippy'
I promise to write an entry every day, and to then organize the writings into an article or book. One question is why was Henry Hignell committed to the Joint Counties Lunatic Asylum? Was it a penalty for being drunk and disorderly, or did he have some form of mental illness? Why didn't he go to America with his daughter and her family in 1881? How did his Sister, Mary Hignell, become the Sexton of a local church?
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