posted by Sandy on Ancestors of Thomas Watrous, Stories Within Stories

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Maria Susannah Merrick was born in England to James Merrick and Mary Vaux.  Her life story has been somewhat difficult to tell.  That is because for many years, from the time she came to America until just two years ago, the written history of her life contained incorrect information.  We have corrected the record in our own files but have found others reluctant to do so.  This is why:

Maria was born at Windsor Castle.  That is not disputed.  But, rather than her father James working as the Head Steward of the Castle and her mother acting as a Lady-in-Waiting as had been written, her father was a servant and her mother did not have the distinction of any connection to royalty as a servant or otherwise.  Maria was the fifth child of ten born to her parents.   The history written about her suggests that she grew up with all of the luxuries afforded “those in high standing” at the castle.  This means we don’t know the manner in which she grew up.  We know that by the time of is death, James Merrick was caring for his crippled wife and a daughter in much the same condition.

Maria became the governess for John Maddison.  John was married to Georgiana Curtis and together they were the parents of two daughters.  The existing history states that Maria became a governess and met John Maddison after the death of his wife.  Actually, John’s wife was very much alive and remained so for many, many years.  John Maddison also remained married to his first wife, Georgiana until her death . . . and that is very important to know.

Sometime before 1833, when Maria’s first child was born, John Maddison set up residence with Maria Susannah Merrick.  They became the parents of four children;  two sons and two daughters.  The sons and one daughter grew to maturity.  One daughter died as a child.  Census records in Marylebone, England tell us that Maria went by the name of Fanny.  By the time her last child was born, her relationship with John Maddison was over.  He had taken up residence with Christina Stewart with whom he would have several children.  On his deathbed, after the death of long time wife Georgiana Curtis Maddison, John married Christina Stewart.  When John Maddison died, he left a Will.  In it he called the children of Maria Merrick his “so-called children” and left them only a token of his money.

Maria and her children heard the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and were baptized by Orson Pratt.  The written family story tells us that her “husband John objected but gave her money for her travel to America with her children.”   The written family story further states that Maria and her children had to keep their associations with the Church secret because John did not approve.  The truth is that Maria and John had not been together for several years when she heard the Gospel and sought baptism.  Neither were they therefore together when she and her children left for America.  These and other points of error created a story which was interesting but was not representative of the facts.  While one can understand why the stories were created, it is frustrating to try to unravel them.  A complete research document including a timeline for her life and the lives of John Maddison and her children is in our personal file.  Rather than re-state the information here, we refer you to it.

When Maria and her three children, John, Flora and Hubert arrived in America they made their way to Utah.  There, in 1852 she married William Thorne who was also from England and had emigrated to Utah as a convert to the same church. They became the mother of two sons named Joseph and William.  When she died, she was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery with her husband.  Her second child and oldest daughter Flora Louisa Maddison is our direct ancestor.  Flora married Henry Maiben as his second wife and shared him with first wife Caroline Penn. Their daughter, also named Flora, married Nephi James Bates and their daughter Mildred married Everest Raymond Watrous.

The migration of Maria Susannah Merrick (Maddison) Thorn

England to Utah

Tags: Bates, Curtis, england, Maddison, Maiben, Merrick, Penn, Stewart, the mormon church, Thorne, Vaux, Watrous