Family Origins: The Lockwoods

In a previous post I traced the Taylor family from Whitby, North Yorkshire to Deaborn County, Indiana. Now I want to focus on the family of Ellis Lockwood who wed John Taylor in England before going to America in 1830. The Lockwood branch of the family has a particularly interesting and notable history.

My 3rd great-grandmother Ellis Lockwood was born to William Lockwood and Ruth Merry in 1799 in Skelton-in-Cleveland near the North York Moors. I believe William Lockwood worked as a house carpenter and Ruth Merry was the daughter of Peter Merry of Glaisdale, North Yorkshire, who served as a rent collector or steward at Mulgrave Castle. The Mulgrave Estate was located just inland from the coastal town of Whitby. A famous painting was made by Sir David Wilkie of The Rent Day at Mulgrave Castle, which included my 5th great-grandfather Peter Merry. This is the oldest image I have of a family member, probably made around 1800. I was able to purchase an engraving of this work to hang at home:

Peter Merry is seated at the desk on the left.

Peter's daughter Ruth Lockwood had 12 children including my 3rd great-grandmother Ellis. Eleven of these children lived to maturity, including a younger sister for Ellis named Frances Lockwood. Frances would go on to marry a Methodist minister named Joseph Kipling. Their son John Lockwood Kipling married Alice MacDonald and became an artist and teacher in India. Their son Joseph "Rudyard" Kipling, born in India, went on to become one of England's most famous authors and poets. He is my 2nd cousin 3 times removed. While Kipling grew up in India, he knew little or nothing of his great aunt Ellis Lockwood or his cousins that had gone to America. The family tree below illustrates the parallel generations of the Lockwood family carried on in India/England and the United States. They bare resemblance in name and even perhaps likeness:

I'm a very visual person and always on the hunt for images to help piece together a better understanding of my family history. I have no image of my 3rd great-grandmother Ellis Lockwood who journeyed to America. But I am able to learn much of her sister Frances and the Kipling family. Frances Lockwood Kipling's portrait is in the collection of the National Trust in England and it gives me some idea of what Ellis might have looked like.  I'll take it.