Individual Details
John Henry "Harry" Osborne
(8 Apr 1854 - 9 Dec 1932)
David Turner wrote to Teresa Ann Boland on Tuesday, August 2, 2022:
Both John Henry (Harry) Osborne and his later to be wife Hannah Bushby lived in and near Embsay in what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire, now North Yorkshire. I have attached a modern map with relevant sites circled in red. Lower left is the church where they married. A little to the right is the Mason’s Arms which Harry frequented and where Annie Greenwood (later Dinsdale), the writer of the diaries, lived. On the right is the site of the Huts on Halton Moor where the ‘Navvies' lived who were constructing Upper Barden Reservoir (top) in the late 1870s and early 1880’s. The Lower Reservoir was constructed a decade earlier. This is an area of high uninhabited moorland. A temporary railway linked the navvy huts with the construction site.
Apart from the brief diary extracts, I have also attached the 1881 Census for the navvy huts. Henry Osborne was lodging with George Dinsdale at the Navvy Camp in 1881. I hope you find much of interest, and if you would like me to clarify anything just let me know.
kind regards,
David Turner
Terry replied: Wow! Yes indeed they are my great-grandparents. It would be great to see what you have and incorporate it into our family tree. Can you send it in an email? My email is Terry.Kaz@gmail.com. I wish I could have shared this with my Dad, but he just passed in 2018. His Mother Minnie Mae Osborne was born in the USA in Kansas. From what I found, they had a hard time with drought and ended up going back to England. I can send you what I have if you want. Minnie Mae Osborne's sister is still alive in Michigan, I will send her all this! Thank you for reaching out. I and 67, and have 7 brothers and sisters. We were born in the Detroit Michigan area and have moved around since then. I have been in South Central Texas since 1980. Much warmer here than Michigan. I have been married for 40 years, I have 2 kids married and 2 very young granddaughters!
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REFERENCES TO JOHN HENRY (HARRY) OSBORNE IN THE DIARIES OF ANNIE (GREENWOOD) AND HER HUSBAND GEORGE DINSDALE
transcribed by David G Turner, Skipton, North Yorkshire
BACKGROUND
Annie was the daughter of Thomas & Elizabeth Greenwood who ran the Mason’s Arms, a village Inn at Eastby in Yorkshire from 1857 to 1888. Both Annie & her mother kept diaries which I have transcribed. Annie married George Dinsdale in 1881 and they emigrated to his Uncle’s cattle ranch near Elkhorn, Nebraska in August 1882.
John Henry Osborne worked for George Dinsdale on the construction of Upper Barden Reservoir, above the villages of Embsay, Eastby and Halton East.
The construction of the reservoir began in 1876 but the first mention of John Henry Osborne (always referred to as Henry or Harry) at the Mason’s Arms was in December 1880 so presumably he had come from another ‘navvy' site or from Northamptonshire not long before. It was on visits to the Mason’s Arms that George Dinsdale met Annie Greenwood. Harry is recorded in Annie’s diary from 1880 as a visitor to the Mason’s Arms along with other ‘navvies'.
19th December Sunday
Snow covers the ground & a very hard frost [at the end of the entry for that day she lists the navvies in that night] Archer, Calvert, Cutter, Clark, Tom Mann, Spiddox, Henry Osborne, Jimmy, Berwick, W & Joe Harragan & a few more in evening. Dinsdale came down.
Harry Osborne is listed on a few other occasions during 1881.
Annie married George Dinsdale on 28th July 1881 at Embsay Church, where John Henry & Hannah married the following July.
In the 1881 Census Hannah is recorded as a domestic servant at Bolton, Lancashire, so she must have come to Embsay between April and July 1881. Perhaps Harry and Hannah had met in Bolton and she followed him to Embsay?
In Annie’s diary for 28th November 1881 she wrote:
Very wild morning & showers all day. George left early for the Moor but had to come back before noon & then he commenced levelling & relaying the flags in front of the House. He did work hard & made a good job of them. Harry Osborne helped him a bit. Mamma was pleased to see the workmanlike manner he went at his work & I felt quite pleased to see my Husband, (for idleness, I thoroughly detest & abhor & a man who will work & be honest, will always with “God's help" succeed.
Both John Henry (Harry) Osborne and his later to be wife Hannah Bushby lived in and near Embsay in what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire, now North Yorkshire. I have attached a modern map with relevant sites circled in red. Lower left is the church where they married. A little to the right is the Mason’s Arms which Harry frequented and where Annie Greenwood (later Dinsdale), the writer of the diaries, lived. On the right is the site of the Huts on Halton Moor where the ‘Navvies' lived who were constructing Upper Barden Reservoir (top) in the late 1870s and early 1880’s. The Lower Reservoir was constructed a decade earlier. This is an area of high uninhabited moorland. A temporary railway linked the navvy huts with the construction site.
Apart from the brief diary extracts, I have also attached the 1881 Census for the navvy huts. Henry Osborne was lodging with George Dinsdale at the Navvy Camp in 1881. I hope you find much of interest, and if you would like me to clarify anything just let me know.
kind regards,
David Turner
Terry replied: Wow! Yes indeed they are my great-grandparents. It would be great to see what you have and incorporate it into our family tree. Can you send it in an email? My email is Terry.Kaz@gmail.com. I wish I could have shared this with my Dad, but he just passed in 2018. His Mother Minnie Mae Osborne was born in the USA in Kansas. From what I found, they had a hard time with drought and ended up going back to England. I can send you what I have if you want. Minnie Mae Osborne's sister is still alive in Michigan, I will send her all this! Thank you for reaching out. I and 67, and have 7 brothers and sisters. We were born in the Detroit Michigan area and have moved around since then. I have been in South Central Texas since 1980. Much warmer here than Michigan. I have been married for 40 years, I have 2 kids married and 2 very young granddaughters!
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REFERENCES TO JOHN HENRY (HARRY) OSBORNE IN THE DIARIES OF ANNIE (GREENWOOD) AND HER HUSBAND GEORGE DINSDALE
transcribed by David G Turner, Skipton, North Yorkshire
BACKGROUND
Annie was the daughter of Thomas & Elizabeth Greenwood who ran the Mason’s Arms, a village Inn at Eastby in Yorkshire from 1857 to 1888. Both Annie & her mother kept diaries which I have transcribed. Annie married George Dinsdale in 1881 and they emigrated to his Uncle’s cattle ranch near Elkhorn, Nebraska in August 1882.
John Henry Osborne worked for George Dinsdale on the construction of Upper Barden Reservoir, above the villages of Embsay, Eastby and Halton East.
The construction of the reservoir began in 1876 but the first mention of John Henry Osborne (always referred to as Henry or Harry) at the Mason’s Arms was in December 1880 so presumably he had come from another ‘navvy' site or from Northamptonshire not long before. It was on visits to the Mason’s Arms that George Dinsdale met Annie Greenwood. Harry is recorded in Annie’s diary from 1880 as a visitor to the Mason’s Arms along with other ‘navvies'.
19th December Sunday
Snow covers the ground & a very hard frost [at the end of the entry for that day she lists the navvies in that night] Archer, Calvert, Cutter, Clark, Tom Mann, Spiddox, Henry Osborne, Jimmy, Berwick, W & Joe Harragan & a few more in evening. Dinsdale came down.
Harry Osborne is listed on a few other occasions during 1881.
Annie married George Dinsdale on 28th July 1881 at Embsay Church, where John Henry & Hannah married the following July.
In the 1881 Census Hannah is recorded as a domestic servant at Bolton, Lancashire, so she must have come to Embsay between April and July 1881. Perhaps Harry and Hannah had met in Bolton and she followed him to Embsay?
In Annie’s diary for 28th November 1881 she wrote:
Very wild morning & showers all day. George left early for the Moor but had to come back before noon & then he commenced levelling & relaying the flags in front of the House. He did work hard & made a good job of them. Harry Osborne helped him a bit. Mamma was pleased to see the workmanlike manner he went at his work & I felt quite pleased to see my Husband, (for idleness, I thoroughly detest & abhor & a man who will work & be honest, will always with “God's help" succeed.
Events
| Birth | 8 Apr 1854 | Weston, Northamptonshire, England |  | ||
| Christen | 11 Jun 1854 | Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England | |  | |
| Census (family)-shared | 1861 | (Edward Osborne and Sarah Ann Lines) Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England | | | |
| Census (family)-shared | 1871 | (Edward Osborne and Sarah Ann Lines) Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England | | | |
| Census | 1881 | Halton East, Yorkshire, England | | | |
| Marriage | 3 Jul 1882 | St Mary’s Church, Skipton, Yorkshire, England - Hannah Bushby | | | |
| Immigration | 8 Feb 1883 | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | | | |
| Census (family) | 22 Jun 1885 | Elkhorn, Douglas County, Nebraska - Hannah Bushby | | | |
| Census (family) | 5 Jun 1900 | Garden City, Finney County, Kansas - Hannah Bushby | | | |
| Emigration | 16 Aug 1905 | Liverpool, Lancashire, England | | | |
| Census (family) | 2 Apr 1911 | Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England - Hannah Bushby | | | |
| Death | 9 Dec 1932 | Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England | | | |
| Burial | Nuneaton Cemetery, Warwickshire, England | |
Families
| Spouse | Hannah Bushby (1852 - 1928) |
| Child | Sarah Ellen "Nellie Baldwin" Osborne (1884 - 1942) |
| Child | William Edward Osborne (1886 - 1896) |
| Child | Lynell Frederick Osborne (1888 - 1955) |
| Child | Emma Thelma Osborne (1890 - 1975) |
| Child | Minnie Mae Osborne (1892 - 1967) |
| Child | Ernest Albert Osborne (1896 - 1980) |
| Father | Edward Osborne ( - 1900) |
| Mother | Sarah Ann Lines (1819 - 1883) |
| Sibling | Leah Osborne ( - 1851) |
| Sibling | Ruth Osborne ( - 1902) |
| Sibling | Hannah Osborne ( - ) |
| Sibling | Sarah Anne Osborne ( - 1919) |
| Sibling | Emma Charlotte Osborne ( - ) |
| Sibling | James Osborne ( - ) |
| Sibling | Benjamin Isaac Osborne ( - ) |
Notes
Birth
In the 1900 census John H. Osborne said he was born in March.Christen
There was a Henry Osborne christened 20 Aug 1854 in Plumpton (near Weeden-Loys), Northampton, England, son of William and Sarah Osborne.Another John Osborne was christened on 11 Jun 1854 in Weeden-Loys, Northampton, England, son of Edward and Sarah Osborne.
Which one was my relative?
It must be the second John Osborne, christened on 11 Jun 1854, because Henry, born in Plumpton, was still living in Plumpton at the 1911 census, whereas my relative was living in Nuneaton in 1911.
John Osborne
Event Type: Christening
Event Date: 11 Jun 1854
Event Place: Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original): Weeden-Loys, Northampton, England
Gender: Male
Father's Name: Edward Osborne
Mother's Name: Sarah
Census (family)-shared
Edward Osborn Head Married Male 43 1818 Agricultural Labourer Weston, Northamptonshire, EnglandSarah A. Osborn Wife Married Female 42 1819 Lace Maker Maidford, Northamptonshire, England
Ruth Osborn Daughter Unmarried Female 20 1841 Lace Maker Weston, Northamptonshire, England
James Osborn Son - Male 11 1850 - Weston, Northamptonshire, England
John Osborn Son - Male 7 1854 - Weston, Northamptonshire, England
Isaac Osborn Son - Male 1 1860 - Weston, Northamptonshire, England
Event Place (Original): Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England
Ecclesiastical Parish: Peterborough
Registration District: Towcester
Census (family)-shared
1871 Census: granddaughter Hannah, born about 1867, is living with her grandparents and Henry and Isaac.Edward Osborne Head M 53 Weston, Northamptonshire
Sarah A Osborne Wife F 52 Maidford, Northamptonshire
Henry Osborne Son M 16 Welton, Northamptonshire
Isaac Osborne Son M 11 Welton, Northamptonshire
Hannah Osborne Granddaughter F 4 Welton, Northamptonshire
Event Place: Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
Sub-District: Abthorpe
Census
George Dinsdale - Head - 29 - Navvy - b. Hawes, YorkshireJane Dinsdale - Wife - 22 - b. Hawes - George's sister
Sarah Lovell - Serv - 13 - Servant - b. Whiteley Green, Cheshire
William Blades Scott - Boarder - unmarried - 20 - Navvy - b. Westmoreland, N.K.
James Pain - Boarder - unmarried - 27 - Navvy - b. Hereford, N.K.
Robert Herd - Boarder - unmarried - 36 - Navvy - b. Cumberland, N.K.
Henry Osborne - Boarder - unmarried - 26 - Navvy - b. Northamptonshire, N.K.
plus 11 other Navvies in the household
Lower Huts, Halton Moor, Halton East
Marriage
The Parish Church, Parish of Embsay, in the County of YorkVolume: 9A, Page: 47, Line Number: 337.
John Henry Osborne - Laborer. Father: Edward Osborne - Laborer
Hannah Bushby - Domestic servant. Father: William Bushby (Deceased) - Miller
Married in the Parish Church after banns by John H. Kidd in the presence of Henry Nixon and Mary Ann Lloyd
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On 31 July 2022 David Turner wrote the following to Teresa Ann Boland:
Hello Terry,
I saw the photos of John Henry Osborne and his wife Hannah Busby in your family tree and they seem to be your great grandparents.
I am researching the history of the village of Embsay near Skipton in Yorkshire where they both lived.
They married at St Mary's Church, Embsay on 3 July 1882. This is from the Marriage Register:
John Henry Osborne, 28, Bachelor, Labourer of Embsay, son of Edward Osborne, Labourer
& Hannah Bushby, 30, Spinster, Domestic Servant of Embsay, d of William Bushby, Miller.
Witnesses: Henry Nixon & Mary Anne Lloyd. After Banns.
John Henry (Harry) Osborne was a labourer working of the construction of a reservoir above the village and worked for George Dinsdale, a sub-contractor. George Dinsdale & his wife Annie emigrated to Elkhorn Nebraska in August 1882 and invited John Henry (Harry) Osborne to follow them in 1883 and work on his cattle ranch. I have the diaries of George & Annie Dinsdale which contain references to Harry & his wife.
If you are interested let me know and I'd be happy to send you what I have.
kind regards,
David Turner, Skipton, Yorkshire
Immigration
Henry and Hanna Osborne sailed from Liverpool aboard the ship Nova Scotian, arriving in Halifax on 8 February 1883.In service 1858-1893.
Built by Wm. Denny & Bros., Ltd., Dumbarton, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,190. Dimensions: 280' x 38'. Single-screw, 10 knots. Inverted engines. Compound engines in 1873. Three masts and one funnel. Iron hull. Clipper bow.
Passengers: 80 first, 370 third. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-Quebec-Montreal, June 2, 1858. Lengthened to 366 feet (3,305 tons) in 1873. Scrapped in 1893. Sister ships: Bohemian, Hungarian and North Briton.
Census (family)
Harry Osborn M 30Hannah Osborn Wife F 32
Ellen Osborn Daughter F 1
Living next to Cyrus Baldwin.
There was also a Wm Osborne, 43, from NY, living in Elkhorn at the 1885 census who owned farmland, pasture, cattle, pigs, poultry, corn, oats, rye and wheat. (NO RELATION) See https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3X2-Y95
Census (family)
Head John O* M46 EnglandWife O* F48 England
Son Fred O* M12 Nebraska
Daughter Emma Osborne F11 Nebraska
Daughter Minnie M Osborne F8 Kansas
Son Ernest Osborne M4 Kansas
Emigration
Henry Osborne sailed from Philadelphia to England aboard the ship Oceanic, arriving in Liverpool on 16 August 1905, with his wife Hannah, and children Fred, Emma Thelma, Minnie Mae, & Ernest Albert.Census (family)
Henry Osborne Head Married Male Stone Quarry Labourer 56 1855 Northamptonshire Weston 330Hannah Osborne Wife Married Female -59 1852 Yorkshire Wensley
Fred Osborne Son Single Male Farm Labourer 23 1888 America
Ernest Osborne Son Single Male Brickyard Labourer 14 1897 America
Isaac Tonks Boarder Widower Male Stone Quarry Labourer 62 1849 Warwickshire Ansley
Death
John H OsborneAge 78
Death Date 1932
Death Place Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Death Place (Original) Warwickshire
Birth Year (Estimated) 1854
Event Type Death
Burial
Nuneaton CemeteryOaston Road, Cottage Cl, Nuneaton CV11 6JE, UK
Endnotes
1. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NTRJ-2W5 : accessed 24 Aug 2013), John Osborne, 11 Jun 1854..
2. "England and Wales Census, 1861," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M7GM-59N : accessed 28 Sep 2013), Edward Osborn, 1861..
3. "England and Wales Census, 1871," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VFV8-9JQ : accessed 17 Aug 2013), Edward Osborne, 1871..
4. .
5. "England and Wales, Marriage Registration Index, 1837-1920", index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2DTJ-DPN : accessed 28 Mar 2014), John Henry Osborne, 1882..
6. Ancestry.com. Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: Passenger Lists, 1865??935. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14939, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada, n.d. RG 76-C. Department of Employment and Immigration fonds. Library and Archives Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada..
7. "Nebraska State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3XL-VLL : accessed 23 May 2016), Ellen Osborn in entry for Harry Osborn, 1885; citing NARA microfilm publication M352 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 499,543..
8. "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMTV-M1N : accessed 28 Sep 2013), John O*, 1900..
9. Ancestry.com. UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26, 1,472 pieces..
10. "England and Wales Census, 1911", index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XWZJ-9L3 : accessed 6 February 2015), Henry Osborne, 1911..
11. "England and Wales, Death Registration Index 1837-2007," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVHX-WBWW : accessed 7 February 2015), John H Osborne, 1932; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," index, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England..