I am ready
for my Close Up now. This is a copy of an engraving of General Sir
Alexander Duff (1777-1851), I wonder how long he had to sit/stand for this
?
General Sir
Alexander Duff formally Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Duff was the second son of
The Third Earl of Fife and Lady Mary Skene.
I know, you are wondering why is she writing about a Scot, there are no
links to Scotland in her tree. Wrong
! Well most probably wrong. Alexander Duff served in the 88th regiment of
Foot, 'the Connaught Rangers' who had returned from service in India and Egypt
in 1802 and were camped close to Icklesham.
Soon after several local girls were having children and were later
claiming parish benefits for their basebourne children. Absolute proof is not available but it looks
as if Elizabeth Butchers (Paternal 4th Great Grandmother) was one of these
girls because at the age of 19 she gave birth to Alexander Duff Butchers (1804-1891)
the father was most probably the commander of the regiment, Alexander Duff.
The parish
records show the birth of Alexander Duff Butchers to a single mother Elizabeth
Butchers but what is unusual is that the father was never pursued for payment
to the parish accounts, which is in contrast to the way a couple of years later
when Elizabeth pregnant again with her second son Joseph, (father being Joseph
Mann), and two of her sisters who were also 'in the family way', as they were
all were taken to court by the parish to swear who the fathers were. One baby died but for the
others the fathers made payment to the parish accounts for many years - even
after Elizabeth married, payment continued for Joseph as she left her son with her parents!
I am hoping
sy some stage to confirm this connection using DNA to match to a Duff
decendant. One of the decendants being
David Cameron., who if correct would be my 5th Cousin Once removed!!
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