Family Mystery: Solving the Identity of E. Dorsett

The Mystery of E. Dorsett.

On 8 June 1892, a Mrs. E. Dorsett, between 60 and 70 years of age, drowned in Manitoba's Assiniboine River. She was buried at Methven Cemetery in the Sutton family plot, under the name Eliza Sutton. Curiously, she wasn't listed in any censuses as being part of the Sutton household and all of the known "Eliza Suttons" were already accounted for. So, who was E. Dorsett?

It was a family mystery that I simply had to investigate.

Marriage Witness in London, England

In the 1867 parish register recording the marriage of my Elder family ancestors (refer to blog page, "The British Side"), 3rd great-grandparents Eliza Emma Essex (for more information see my earlier post on this ancestor in the Family Line Founder series) and Henry Charles Sutton, two people signed as witnesses (see Figure 1 below):

1. John Essex (probably the bride's half-brother); and 
2. an unknown individual, E. Dorsett. 

This is the earliest known incidence of the mysterious E. Dorsett's association with the Sutton family.

Figure 1: Witness signatures, John Essex and E. Dorsett

Often witnesses can be identified as a family friend, or some relation of the bride or groom. But in this case, E. Dorsett was completely unknown and their precise relationship was the subject of speculation within later generations of the Sutton family, according to Douglas Grimsley (distant cousin and family historian who compiled the Sutton Family Tree family history).

Drowning Victim in Manitoba, Canada

According to a family story related by Sutton descendant Jean (Elder) Auty to Douglas Grimsley, a woman named Eliza Dorsett drowned in the Assiniboine River while washing her feet. But this woman's relationship to the family was unknown to Jean. 

In the Sutton Family Tree, Douglas Grimsley quoted the following news article about the drowned woman from the 9 June 1892 edition of The Brandon Sun newspaper:

BODY FOUND IN RIVER

METHVEN, June 8 -- The Body of a Woman, Aged between 60 and 70 Years was found floating in TWO RIVERS near WAWANESA by Frank FOWLER and a LAND SURVEYOR.

It is supposed SHE wandered away from home and fell into the STREAM, but whether accidentally or intentionally is a matter of uncertainty.

This individual was buried in the Sutton family plot in Methven Cemetery under the name Eliza Sutton. Because she was buried in the family plot, it makes sense to presume that she was a close family relation. That said, it is strange that none of the family seemed to really know how she was related.

However, it seems safe to infer with some confidence that the Eliza Sutton buried in the family plot, the Eliza Dorsett from Jean Auty's family story, and the E. Dorsett wedding witness could all be the same person, given each one's clear association with this branch of the Sutton family. Also, the headstone for Eliza Sutton was inscribed with nearly the same death date (within a few days) as the report for the drowned woman.

So we have an important clue: the mysterious E. Dorsett's first name likely was Eliza and she was probably closely related to Henry Sutton's household. But her precise relationship to the family was still a mystery.

Will the Real Eliza Dorsett Please Step Forward?

Returning to the marriage register that E. Dorsett signed as a witness in London, England in 1867, we can now take a look at close family and friends of the bride (Eliza Emma Essex) and groom (Henry Charles Sutton). Only two candidates stand out: 

1. the groom's sister, Eliza Jane Sutton (born in 1851); and 
2. the bride's mother, Eliza Westmore (born about 1813). 

The groom's sister could be ruled out immediately because she was too young to have been the age of the drowned woman reported in The Brandon Sun. This leaves the bride's mother, Eliza Westmore, who in 1892 would have been in her late 70s. But if true, how did Eliza Westmore become Eliza Dorsett? 

The answer: by marrying a man named George Dorsett in 1861.

Nice Theory, But Where is the Evidence?

Eliza Westmore first married Eliza Emma Essex's father, William Essex in 1845. We know that William Essex died before the wedding of daughter Eliza Emma and Henry Sutton in 1867 because both bride and groom's fathers were listed in the marriage register as deceased. (An early death would also explain why there were so few known children fathered by William Essex.)

Following the line of reasoning, it would mean that Eliza Westmore Essex became a widow and possibly re-married sometime between 1850 and 1867 (the years between daughter Eliza Emma Essex's birth and marriage). Nice theory, but is there any evidence?

Yes, there is. The London Metropolitan Archives' Church of England parish registers (as reproduced by Ancestry.com) recorded on 17 June 1861 (in Poplar, a district of London) a marriage between George Dorsett and Eliza Essex. 

Both bride and groom were widowed, and the bride's father's name - and therefore the bride's maiden name - was John Westmore (see Figure 2 below). 

Figure 2: Marriage Register - Eliza (Westmore) Essex becomes Mrs. E. Dorsett

The facts of location, time and people cleanly and reasonably align with the theory that E. Dorsett and Eliza Dorsett were the same individual and that she was the mother of Eliza Emma Essex.

Why Wasn't E. Dorsett in the Sutton Household?

Eliza Dorsett was a late arrival to the Sutton family's Manitoba home. The 1891 Census shows no one by that name in daughter Eliza and son-in-law Henry Sutton's Methven, Manitoba household. However, the census does show an Eliza Dorsett, widowed lodger, in Arnprior, Ontario, Canada. 

This location is significant because it was the last known location of Eliza (Westmore) Essex's stepson, John William Essex. Eliza (Westmore Essex) Dorsett, widowed again, was in transit and apparently on her way to join her daughter Eliza's family. (It seems that she and her husband George Dorsett had previously immigrated to Canada, settling in Lanark, Ontario, where he died in 1887) .

This explains why Eliza Dorsett, drowning victim:

• was in Methven, Manitoba, Canada, but was not listed in the 1891 Census as part of the Sutton household;
• was someone known to the family, but not someone familiar to the younger family members; and
• was treated like family when, on her death within about a year after arriving in Manitoba, she died and was buried in the Sutton family plot.

The mystery of E. Dorsett's identity was solved.

Sources:

Brant, Kimberly (n.d.). Brant-LeComte Family Tree. Public tree on Ancestry.ca, last accessed on 1 February 2024.

Find-A-Grave (27 October 2016). Memorial page for Eliza Sutton (Memorial ID 171870988), last accessed on 1 February 2024 <Find-A-Grave: Eliza Sutton, Methven Cemetery>

Grimsley, Douglas (31 December 1999). Sutton Family Tree, v. 7.0. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Self-published family history.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P88/ALL1/035, last accessed at Ancestry.ca on 1 February 2024.

The Brandon Sun (9 June 1892). "Body Found in River," as quoted in Douglas Grimsley's Sutton Family Tree, v. 7.0. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada: Will White, Publisher.