Sometimes family photos can be difficult to sort and identify. Assuming anything can lead us down the wrong path, as is the case with Caroline Hill. Old family photos and letters led me to believe she was a sister of John Dickinson, but recently I realized she was a niece of John's wife, Elizabeth (Reynolds) Dickinson, instead.
Caroline was a daughter of William and Sarah Ann (Richardson) Reynolds. She was baptized on September 20, 1863, at Dewsbury. (England & Wales Births, Vol 9B, p. 527).
Caroline married George Henry Hill, a tobacconist, and together they had one daughter, Annie Hill, who married Billy Croft. We have photos of these cousins from the old family albums. Harry's family remained in contact with the Hills and Crofts, visiting them in England, and them visiting Harry in America.
In trying to identify her parents, a search of U.K. newspapers produced this surprising and nearly tragic news about Caroline:
Caroline survived what appears to have been some sort of mid-life crisis and endured the course of her life for 42 years afterwards. She died on the 16th of January, 1947, at the age of 82. Her husband, George, followed her to the grave six months later, on the 23rd of July, 1947. He was 85 years old. Their daughter, Annie, died on the 23rd of November, 1997, at the age of 100 years. They are all buried in Dewsbury Cemetery in Dewsbury, England.
Moorlands Avenue is shown here in this interactive map:
When George H. Hill died , news was printed in the Yorkshire Evening Post, July 24, 1947 as follows:
See also "Cards from cousins in England".
For more, see the Dickinson page.
