There are always new challenges in family history research. One of longstanding for me relates to my 4x great-grandmother, Harriet Kennewell, formerly Sleigh nee Sampson.
Convict records list Inverness as Harriet’s native place. However, no record has ever been found of her in Scotland’s Inverness or the surrounding region. Records of her life, including the births of her children, her marriage, and the crimes for which she was transported, all relate to Middlesex.
Trying to resolve why Inverness was recorded, I’ve discovered somewhere in London which I thought could be the answer to this mystery. There is an Inverness Terrace, off Bayswater Road in Kensington.
Curiously, in 1863 this address is listed as the place of residence for Isabella Toulmin. Isabella’s grandmother is Maria Toulmin nee Sampson. It’s possible Maria was Harriet’s sister, or other relative.
Unfortunately, Inverness Terrace doesn’t seem to have existed before 1820 which is when Harriet would have had her connection to it. There are other locations in historic London named Inverness Street or Road or Place which I need to investigate further to learn whether they might be the potential connection.
So the challenge remains. Please get in touch if you can help solve it.
Selected references
Harriet Sleigh, Maria (I), 1818, Conditional Pardon, NSW, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1791-1867, NSW State Archives, 39/144, Ancestry.com, accessed 28 April 2021.
Harriet Sleigh, Maria (I), 1818, New South Wales, Australia, Tickets of Leave, 1824-1867, NSW State Archives, 28/657, Ancestry.com, accessed 28 April 2021.
Marriage banns of Isabella Toulmin and John Charles Bowring, 28 April 1863, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P87/CTC/003, Ancestry.com, accessed 1 February 2025.
London Lives 1690-1800, ‘Middlesex’, https://www.londonlives.org/static/MiddlesexLocalGovernment.jsp, accessed 1 February 2025.
Tr3ce Genealogy, ‘Victorian London Streets ~ I’, http://www.tr4ce.co.uk/victorian-london-streets-i/, accessed 1 February 2025.
Untangled Family History 
Yes, it’s a puzzlement, isn’t it? I thought the street sounded good.
I have a great great grandfather and I ouldn’t find out where he died. There was a Heathcote Estate in Dewsbury but I couldn’t find any records. I gave up for a while then decided to go back and check again. The record turned up! He did die and was buried at Dewsbury. He had got married to someone else and said on the marriage that he was a widow. That was a lie. His first wife, Rebecca, outlived him.
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