Meet Henry Webster

An avid reader as a child, I aspired to become a great novelist. Now approaching the onset of Medicare, my dreams and aspirations have changed. I still aspire to be a writer:

Rather than a novelist be,

I will write about my family tree.

With much trepidation about going public and energized by yesterday’s inspirational news that prayers and modern medicine have partnered to shrink Joey’s brain tumor, I am writing the first article for my genealogy blog. Joey is the firstborn of our four grandchildren. It was almost five years ago that I sent an email to the World Wide Websters heralding Joey’s arrival.

From: Cathy

To: WorldWideWebsters ;

Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005, 5:33 PM

Subject: New great-great-great-great grandson of Henry Webster

Our grandson was born yesterday at about 7:20 pm ... Baby and parents are fine. Grandparents are ecstatic.

I will send pictures soon.

--Cathy

To commemorate yesterday’s great news, I decided to write about Henry Webster, the progenitor of the World Wide Websters. The World Wide Websters are email buddies who are descended by blood or marriage from Henry Webster. Members live in Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA.

Our second grandchild was born just 3 months after Joey. Not wanting to name their son after a particular family member to the exclusion of others, our daughter and husband searched for a non-family name. Little did they know that Enrique had a 4^th great grandfather by the name of Henry.

Above is a photograph of Henry Webster surrounding by a newborn picture of Enrique on the left and a newborn picture of Joey on the right. Joey and Enrique will start kindergarten next year. They already know how to find their favorite video clips on Youtube. One day, I hope they will find my blog and read this article.

I received a copy of the photograph of Henry Webster from Colin Richard Mills (1931-2007) of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Colin was the driving force that joined so many of the descendants of Henry into the email group called the World Wide Websters. Colin told me that his copy of Henry’s photograph came from Robin Roddie of Belfast, Ireland, and that Robin found the photograph on page 595 of the Christian Advocate, dated December 9, 1908.

Henry Webster was born on March 1817 in Scotland. I am still trying to find Henry’s birthplace and the name of his parents. In 1841, Henry was working on a farm called Inch. The farm was near Edzell, Scotland. On December 15, 1843, Henry married Agnes Low, the daughter of Janet Jolly and John Low, a cotterman. Agnes’ parents lived at Meikletullo in Edzel. Agnes was born on August 14, 1818. Henry and Agnes immigrated to Ireland in about 1850, and Henry became the tenant farmer at Ballykeenan in Myshall, County Carlow. Henry died at Ballykeenan from a malignancy on August 10, 1881. Agnes outlived Henry by 23 years, dying on October 17, 1904.

What I know about Henry and Agnes and their children and grandchildren is largely attributable to the generosity of the World Wide Websters. They have generously shared their personal knowledge of family history, copies of old photographs, and the results of their research.