Confirming the Skivington Link
Having found a potential name for my Grandmother Kitty, I carried out a search of the 1911 census and found Catherine and her family living at 80 Arthur Street, Barrow-in Furness. Having found Catherine Skivington and her family on the UK 1911 Census I researched their names and found a birth registered for Catherine Skivington in Barrow-in-Furness in 1905. Her parents were James Skivington and Catherine Skivington, formerly Mooney. The family address at the time of Catherine's birth was 4 Arthur Street, Barrow. I also found births for all her siblings, and their marriages.
James and (Margaret) Catherine Skivington
I then searched for a marriage for James and Catherine Skivington and found a marriage solemnized at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Barrow-in-Furness on 1/12/1900. The marriage certificate shows that James was living at 11 Arthur Street and Catherine was living at 42 Arthur Street, Barrow-in-Furness, the same street that the family were living in when their daughter Catherine was born, and when the 1911 census was taken.
James’ father was named as Francis Skivington, occupation Cabinet maker, and Catherine’s father was named as Joseph Mooney (deceased) Steelworks labourer. The witnesses were a James Mooney and Mary Ellen Coulter. Francis Skivington was the name of Paula’s Great, Great Grandfather on the Ancestry DNA match so it seemed I was getting close! (Paula was the lady who first suggested the name Catherine Skivington for my grandmother Kitty). I now had the two previous generations of the Skivington family:
Francis Skivington (b1858, Ireland, Skivingtons) & Joseph Mooney (b1845, Ireland, Mooneys)
James Skivington (b 1879, Glasgow) m Margaret Catherine Mooney (b 1883, Barrow)
Catherine Skivington (b 1905, Barrow) m Henry Stephen Jowett (b 1901, Islington)
Francis Skivington
I found a marriage for Francis Skivingtoin and Elizabeth Thomson in the district of Dennistoun in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1875. Francis and Elizabeth were the parents of James Skivington (born 1879) and Grandparents of Catherine Skivington born 1905. Francis’ father was named as Terence Skivington and Elizabeth’s father named as James Thomson. This now gave me the previous three generations:
Terence Skivington (1831, Ireland, Skivingtons) & James Thomson (1822, Scotland, Thomsons)
Francis Skivington (b 1858, Ireland) m Elizabeth Thomson (b 1861, Glasgow)
James Skivington (b1879, Glasgow) m Margaret Catherine Mooney (b 1883, Barrow)
Catherine Skivington (b1905, Barrow) m Henry Stephen Jowett (b 1901, Islington)
Now that I had some names for Catherine Skivington's family I decided to make a new family tree - the Skivington Smith Family Tree. I looked at the Birth, Marriage and Death records, and at other researcher's family trees, and added the names I had found to the tree. I also looked up names for the Thomson family and made another tree - the Thomson Family Tree.
The Mooney Family
I am trying to find out more about the Mooney family but not having much luck further back than 1851. Most of the information I need is in the Irish Catholic parish records and this is difficult to access. I have drafted a partially constructed family tree for the Mooneys which I will be adding to as I get more information.
Tying up the Loose Ends
The DNA evidence appeared to confrim that my grandmother, Kitty Smith, was born Catherine Skivington in Barrow-in-Furness, in 1905. Although I was confident that I had discovered the identity of my grandmother, and a birth for my father, Frank Smith, I still needed to fill in the gaps in the story. To do this I needed to speak to living relatives who may have information about Kitty’s life, particularly the period when she went into a convent and the reason why she (allegedly) ran away.
I wanted to know why she was estranged from her family and never mentioned them. I also wanted to know which sister she met up with in 1928 and why. Ideally, I would like to contact a living relative, closely related to Catherine Skivington, such as a niece or nephew, who would be prepared to take a DNA test to see if the genetic link really does exist! At the very least, I would love to have some photos of the family.
Contacting the Relatives
I decided to write to any living relatives that I could trace in the hope that they would respond and I could speak with them. I wrote to several Skivington family members at addresses I found on the UK electoral registers:
1. Wendy Skivington (b 1948 Thanet) daughter of Joseph James Skivington born Barrow-in-Furness 1902
2. Jean Skivington (b 1941 Thanet) daughter of Joseph James Skivington born Barrow-in-Furness 1902
3. Norman Hall (b 1938 Shropshire) son of Margaret Catherine Skivington born Barrow-in- Furness 1907
4. Michael J Hall (b 1962 Whitchurch, Shropshire) son of Norman Hall born Shropshire 1938 and grandson of Margaret Catherine Skivington born Barrow 1907
5. James A Hall (b 1964 Whitchurch, Shropshire) son of Norman Hall born Shropshire 1938 and grandson of Margaret Catherine Skivington born Barrow 1907
I also made contact via Facebook (Private Message) with a young man named Alex (b 1990 Thanet), the son of Pauline Joyce Skivington (1960-1996 Thanet) and the great grandson of Joseph James Skivington born Barrow in Furness 1902, Catherine Skivington’s brother. I received a Private Message in return from Alex confirming he was Pauline Skivington’s son and that he would speak to his grandmother to see if he could obtain his Aunt Jean’s and Aunt Wendy’s contact details. Nothing further was heard from Alex as at 20/3/2020. I wasn’t sure if any of the other people I wrote to were the correct people so I was prepared for disappointment!
Conversation with Norman Hall, born 1938, Whitchurch, Shropshire
On the 7th December 2019 I received a telephone call from Norman Hall (born 1938), who had received my letter about Catherine Skivington. Norman confirmed he was the son of Margaret Catherine Skivington born 1907 and we had a lovely chat about his mother’s family. Norman told me his mother believed she had a sister Catherine somewhere but didn’t know anything about her. His mother had told him that the family were forbidden from making contact with Catherine and that she was never spoken of. They didn’t know why she was estranged from her family.
Norman said his mother had spent some time in a convent when she was a child and that she had hated it as the nuns were cruel. He thought the convent was in Barrow, or possibly Glasgow, and, when I asked him, he wasn’t aware of any of his mother’s sisters being nuns. He described his mother as only 4’ 10” tall (same height as Kitty!) with dark hair. Apparently, she had a bad temper and, when she lost her temper, he made a quick exit! He also said that his mother’s father, James Skivington, had a ‘wanderlust’ and went to America and Canada at one point. It didn’t sound as though the children had a very good life with their father.
Their mother died young in 1916 when Norman’s mother, Margaret Catherine, was about 9 years old and Catherine (Kitty?) was about 11 years old. That may explain why they went into a convent to be cared for by the church.
Norman remembered visiting his uncle, Joseph James Skivington (born 1902), and his family, in Margate. He believed his uncle Joseph was in contact with Catherine Skivington born 1905 (Joseph’s sister). Norman’s sister Catherine Hall, born West Derby 1931, married name Chadwick, was still in contact with his cousins, Jean and Wendy Skivington (Joseph’s daughters) who had posted on the Ancestry message boards in 2000-2002. Norman gave me his sister’s phone number so I could speak to her as she would have their contact details, and he also gave me the telephone number for his sister’s son Nigel.
Conversation with Catherine Chadwick (formerly Hall) born West Derby
On Saturday the 28th December 2019 I telephoned Catherine Chadwick, Norman Hall’s sister. During my conversation with Catherine she confirmed she was the daughter of Margaret Catherine Skivington born Glasgow 1907. She also confirmed that her mother Margaret had a sister Catherine born Barrow-in-Furness in 1905. Catherine was known to her family as Kitty. Catherine told me her mother and her mother's sister, Kitty, went into a Catholic convent in Newcastle when Margaret was about 9 years old, and Kitty about 11 years old, when their mother died in 1916. She said that Kitty left when she was about 20/21 years old (about 1925/1926) but her mother Margaret didn’t leave until she was 24 years old (about 1931).
Catherine said her mother was sent by the nuns to work in a local cigarette factory in Newcastle so she was able to leave the convent for work. Her mother also worked in the convent laundry and had an accident with a gas iron, burning her stomach. The nuns called a doctor who was from Liverpool and he mentioned that the name Skivington was unusual. He must have known of Margaret’s sister in Liverpool because her sister Mary, and Mary’s husband Frederick T. Hall, collected her and took her back with them shortly after the doctor's visit.
It was while she was at her sister Mary’s that Margaret met her future husband Charles W. Hall. Charles was the brother of Mary’s husband, Frederick T. Hall, so the two sisters married two brothers!
When Margaret’s grandfather James died in 1950, the family went to the funeral in Blyth, Tynemouth. Catherine's mother Margaret had noticed a man she didn't know at the funeral and her sister Mary told her he was her brother Joseph.That was the first time she had seen her brother since she went into the convent aged 9 years old.
Catherine gave me a mobile number for Jean Nicholls (formerly Skivington) and her husband Frank Nicholls but they didn’t connect so must have been out of date. After speaking to Norman and Catherine I printed off some family information, a family tree, and some photos of Kitty, Frank, Jeanette and the Skivington wedding picture I had downloaded from the newpaper article. I sent these off with covering letters to both Norman and Catherine.
Conversation with Jacqueline Fitzgerald (formerly Skivington), born Liverpool
On Friday 10/1/2020 I received a letter from a Jacqueline Fitzgerald (Jackie), the granddaughter of Mary Jane Skivington born Barrow-in-Furness in 1901. Mary Jane was the sister of Catherine, Margaret and Joseph Skivington.
Jackie’s letter said she was the daughter of Joseph and Ann Skivington and that Joseph was Mary Jane Skivington’s son. She said she had been contacted by her cousin Denise Skivington-Jones, known as Beth, who was also the granddaughter of Mary Jane Skivington, who had asked her to write to me about my conversation with their Aunt Catherine Chadwick (formerly Hall). Catherine had told Beth that I had found her Great Aunt Catherine Skivington and that I believed she was my grandmother Kitty.
Jackie said that Beth would probably have contact information for Jean and Wendy, the daughters of her Uncle Joe in Margate. Her letter gave me a lot of information about the family including phone numbers, addresses and email addresses for herself and her cousin Beth.
On Saturday 11/1/2020 I rang Jackie and we had a very interesting chat about the family. Jackie told me her grandmother, Mary Jane Skivington, went into service when she was about 14yrs old for a family called Thompson, around the time her mother died in 1916. She also said that Mary had two sons who were born before she married Frederick Hall: James Skivington (Uncle Jimmy) and her father, Joseph Skivington. Jimmy is 97 years old, very frail, and living with his daughter Beth and son-in-law Findlay in France. I assumed that Jackie’s father, Joseph, was deceased as she didn’t mention him.
Telephone call from Catherine Hall, formerly Skivington
While I was talking to Jackie her Aunt Catherine rang me. I ended the call with Jackie to speak with Catherine . Catherine said she had received my letter and the photos. She said that when she looked at the pictures of Kitty it was like looking at her own mother!
During our chat Catherine told me that her niece Beth had sent off her father Jimmy’s DNA sample and was waiting for the results. This will be interesting as Jimmy could be my grandmother Kitty’s nephew and my father’s first cousin! The match should be quite high when it comes back and should prove the relationship between Kitty and the Skivington family beyond any doubt.
I wrote a letter to both Jackie and her cousin Beth explaining what I had found out and enclosed the same photos that I had sent to Norman and Catherine.
Conversation with Denise Skivington-Jones (Beth)
On Saturday the 25th January 2020 I telephoned Denise Skivington-Jones (Beth). Beth lives in France with her husband Findlay and son Guy. She was busy at the time and said she would call me back. Beth called me back on Sunday 26th January and we had a really interesting chat about the family. She confirmed she was the daughter of James Skivington (born 1922) , known as Jimmy, and the granddaughter of Mary Jane Skivington born Barrow-in-Furness 1901.
Beth said her grandmother Mary was very reluctant to talk about her early life but did mention her sister Kitty (Catherine Skivington born Barrow-in-Furness in 1905). Mary told Beth that Kitty ran away from the convent when she was very young – about 14 or 15 years old. No-one knew what happened to Kitty after that, or how she supported herself. They didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
Having seen the photos of Kitty that I had sent to her, Beth said that the photos were like looking at her grandmother as the likeness was striking. Beth felt sure we were on the right track and that my grandmother was, indeed, Catherine Skivington. Beth confirmed that she was waiting for the results of her father Jimmy’s Ancestry DNA test and was excited about seeing the matches on Ancestry. This would confirm once and for all if my father Frank and her father Jimmy were related. If they got a match it would hopefully be first cousins.
James Skivington's DNA Results
On the 13/3/2020 I received a message from Ancestry saying I had a new DNA match. I logged on to my Ancestry account and could see that Beth Skivington-Jones had uploaded her father James's DNA test results. James's ethnicity was 70% Ireland and Scotland and 30% England, Wales and North Western Europe. The predicted relationship results were as follows:
Susan and James: 1st cousin once removed (516cM across 25 segments)
Frank and James: 1st Cousin (697cM across 33 segments)
It is clear from the DNA results that James (Jimmy) Skivington born 1922 and Frank Smith are closely related. The predicted relationship of first cousins means that Kitty Smith is also related to James Skivington and would be his aunt. It therefore follows that Jimmy's mother Mary, and Frank's mother Kitty, were sisters.
After James's DNA result was uploaded I looked at the shared matches for James and Frank. There were serveral other DNA matches common to both.
Paula Lord: Common ancestor Francis Skivington (1858-1930) and Elizabeth Thomson (1861-1897)
Cheneycnu1: Common ancestor James Thomson (1822-1883) and Mary Hunter
Steven Boyle: Possible Common Ancestor James Thomson (1822-1883) and Mary Hunter
mjhaggerty67: Possible Common Ancestor James Thomson (1822-1883) and Mary Hunter (1823-1889)
Paula Lord, Chenycnu and Steven Boyle had already been noted as a match and the relationship charts can be seen on the previous page - "The DNA Test".
Telephone call to Catherine Chadwick (formerly Hall)
On the 19/3/2020 I telephoned Catherine Chadwick to let her know the result of her cousin James Skivington's DNA test. She had already spoken to James' daughter so knew the result had confirmed the relationship between my grandmother Kitty and James Skivington. Catherine said it was a shame that her mother (Margaret Catherine Skivington born Glasgow 1907) had died without knowing that her sister, Catherine Skivington, had been found.
Catherine had remembered something her mother Margaret had told her about Catherine Skivington. She said that, when her mother Margaret reached her 21st birthday, Catherine Skivington had visited the convent where Margaret was living and left a birthday cake for her. Catherine said her mother didn't actually see her sister Catherine so it appears that Catherine Skivington didn't go into the convent - probably because she had absconded from it when she was about 15 years old. Catherine had simply left the cake with the nuns.
Margaret was 21 years old in 1928 so this may have been the contact that Wendy and Jean Skivington had been referring to in their post on the Ancestry Message Board, between 2000 and 2002, when they said the last contact the family had with Catherine was when she met her sister in 1928. It may also explain why my grandmother Kitty (Catherine Skivington) thought her sister was a nun as Margaret was still living at the convent when she was 21 years old.
Private Message to Alex S
On the 22/3/2020 I decided to send another message to Alex, great grandson of Joseph Skivington born Barrow 1902. Alex replied and gave me his aunt Julie's details and suggested I contact her as she may have contact details for Jean and Wendy, both formerly Skivington.
Private Message to Julie T
After receiving a reply from Alex I Private Messaged his aunt, Julie, the same day. I haven't received a reply as at September 2024.
Conversation with Catherine Chadwick (formerly Hall)
On the 15th April 2020 I received a call from Catherine Chadwick asking me to contact her younger brother David. David was interested in the family tree I had made for the Skivington family. I rang David the same day.
Conversation with David Hall
I rang David Hall on the 15th April 2020 and we talked about his mother Margaret and how she never stopped trying to find her sister, Catherine Skivington. I emailed him the link to this website and attached the same photos and family trees that I had sent to his sister Catherine Chadwick, brother Norman Hall, and cousins Jackie and Beth.
David lived in Dulwich Village, which isn't far from Blackheath, where my daughter Joanne lives, so it may be possible to meet up with David in the future.
Continuing the Search
I still haven’t been able to get in touch with Jean or Wendy (both formerly Skivington), the daughters of Joseph James Skivington born Barrow 1902. Jean and Wendy would be my father’s 1st cousins, as are Norman Hall, Catherine Chadwick (formerly Hall), David Hall, and James (Jimmy)Skivington. I will keep trying. However, the DNA result for James Skivington, born Liverpool in 1922, and uploaded to Ancestry 13/3/2020, showed that James Skivington and Frank Smith were first cousins. This provided conclusive evidence that Catherine Skivington and Kitty Smith were one and the same.
According to a family member, my grandmother told my mother that she had her first child 'very young'. This suggests that Kitty may have had children before 1929 when she had my father. I now feel the need to search for possible siblings of my father, who may have been adopted through the Catholic church. The Catholic church was known to take in young, pregnant, Catholic girls, and then find adoptive families for their babies. As most of these adoptions were carried out privately it is very difficult to find any records, so I will have to rely on the children, or grandchildren, of Frank's possible siblings to upload a DNA test to one of the genealogy websites. It's a long shot but I have nothing to lose!
The only other piece of evidence I was anxiously waiting for was the 1921 UK Census. This would hopefully find Catherine's sister Margaret (born Glasgow 1907) still living at the convent in Newcastle (or, possibly, Barrow-in-Furness). It may also find Catherine Skivington, born Barrow 1905, living in the London area, or still in the Tynemouth area near her father, James Skivington, who was living in Blyth. Catherine would have been about 16 years old in 1921 so I don't think she would have travelled very far from the convent so it is most likely that she remained in the area she knew best. This could take quite a bit of time to solve.......
