In June 1863 a ship called Amazon left London, England bound for America. Aboard were almost 900 members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also known as Mormons. Author Charles Dickens watched its departure, and wrote an account of the ship and its passengers in an essay in All the Year Round.

Amongst the passengers were two women whose descendants in America include a significant number of DNA matches with me and my close family. Tracing them has led me to a theory about how we’re connected, which is that I think they’re my first cousins, five and six times removed.

James Ritchie

My 5x great-grandfather James Ritchie (1769-1855) who lived in Drumgley, a settlement in the parish of Glamis, Scotland. James was a blacksmith, and he had two spouses, which I know from his death registration and the records of his children’s births. However, I’ve unable to locate any record of marriage for either relationship. The first, Anne Rodger, is my 5x great-grandmother, and I’m connected through the seventh of their nine children, David Ritchie who was born in 1808. James then had a relationship with Mary Wishart, with whom he doesn’t appear to have had any children.

According to his death certificate James’ parents were James Ritchie, also a blacksmith, and Catherine Ormond. The only record of marriage I could find for James Ritchie senior was to Margaret Ormand, so I think it probable the informant at the death didn’t remember his mother’s name correctly.

I believe that James Ritchie junior probably had a sister, or perhaps a cousin, named Helen born around 1760, although I’ve not yet found a record confirming that.

Helen Ritchie, her daughter and granddaughter

Helen Ritchie married David Anderson and their daughter Ann Anderson (1806-1879) married three times. She was first married to Joseph Alexander, with whom she had two children, then to widower Samuel Ritchie who she had another two children with, and finally to William McKay. It’s through Ann Anderson, and the daughter of her second marriage, that I found the connection to my DNA matches in America.

After her third marriage, which may have taken place in Ireland, and being widowed, Ann McKay formerly Ritchie nee Anderson and her daughter Betsy or Betty Ritchie (1841-1904), who also went by her step-father’s surname McKay, joined the group travelling on the Amazon in 1863. Information shared by their descendants is that Ann and Betsy were in Belfast in the late 1850s which is around when Thomas Crawley (1837-1899) is also known to have be there on a Mormon mission. Both Ann and Betsy became Mormon converts, and Betsy eventually married Thomas Crawley aboard the ship, just before or during their journey.

After the Amazon arrived in New York in July, while the country was in the midst of the civil war, its passengers made their way west to Utah. They are reported as having done so by rail and river steamer and the trip overland took about two months.

Betsy and Thomas Crawley went on to have nine children. They lived the rest of their lives in Nephi, a city in Utah’s Juab County. As did Betsy’s mother Ann.

Samuel Ritchie

Ann’s second husband, Samuel Ritchie, was born in Forfar in about 1776 to George Ritchie and Catherine Hair. When they married in 1837, Ann was 30 and Samuel was 61. It’s possible Samuel was related to Ann’s maternal Ritchie family, but I’m still working on trying to identify any link that far back.

Samuel was a watch and clockmaker in Forfar where one of the landmarks at the time was reputedly known as ‘Samuel Ritchie’s Corner’. Samuel’s first marriage was in 1798 to Susan Murray, with whom he had ten children, two boys and eight girls. His eldest son George Ritchie, who lived and worked in Arbroath, was also a watch and clockmaker. Clocks made by both father and son can be found online.

If you can help with further information about these Ritchie families and working out their connections to each other please get in touch.

Selected references

‘The Voyage of the Amazon’, Ensign, March 1980, pp. 16-19, https://latterdaysaintmag.com/tag/amazon-ship-1863/, accessed 23 January 2026.

An Honest Witness: The Day Charles Dickens Watched My Ancestor Sail to America, Christa Cowan: The Barefoot Genealogist, https://www.cristacowan.com/blog/an-honest-witness-the-day-charles-dickens-watched-my-ancestor-sail-to-america, accessed 24 January 2026.

Dickens and the Mormons, Brigham Young University, https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dickens-and-the-mormons, accessed 23 January 2026.

Death register entry of James Ritchie, died 29 August 1855, registered 29 August 1855, Glamis, Forfar registration district, General Register House, Scotland, 289/29/28.

Marriage of James Ritchie and Margaret Ormand, 1762, Glammis [Glamis], National Records of Scotland, OPR 288/50/146 Forfar.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/271394699/james-ritchie: accessed January 24, 2026), memorial page for James Ritchie (1768–29 Aug 1855), Find a Grave Memorial ID 271394699, citing Old Barony Churchyard, Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland; Maintained by SarahS (contributor 51516225).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/282632677/ann-anderson: accessed January 24, 2026), memorial page for Ann Anderson (7 Mar 1806–3 Aug 1879), Find a Grave Memorial ID 282632677, citing Nephi City Cemetery, Nephi, Juab County, Utah, USA; Maintained by M Christiansen (contributor 49451761).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49055794/betsey_ritchie-crawley: accessed January 24, 2026), memorial page for Betsey Ritchie McKay Crawley (27 Jul 1841–16 Mar 1904), Find a Grave Memorial ID 49055794, citing Nephi City Cemetery, Nephi, Juab County, Utah, USA; Maintained by Marlin J Haws (contributor 46909332).