Harriet Catherine WILLIAMS - (abt. 1819 - 1863)

Harriet Catherine WILLIAMS was the fifth wife of Joseph DANDO the younger of Bristol, and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in about 1819. Having married Joseph in Pennsylvania, at some point the family came to live in England, Harriet making a trip across the Atlantic in 1844...

The North American and Daily Advertiser, (Philadelphia, PA) Monday, August 26 1844 issue mentioned the following passengers...

LIST OF PASSENGERS in the Packet Ship MONONGAHELA, Turley, cleared for Liverpool, on Saturday. - Harriet Dando, wife of Joseph Dando; Joseph, Charles and Stephano Dando, and servant; Miss Richards; John Brocklehurst, all of Philadelphia; Mrs. A. Doule, England; and 66 in the steerage.

...What is not clear is where Joseph and Catherine's eldest son, William Elbert DANDO born in Philadelphia, was at this stage or who the other DANDO passengers were.

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Harriet was living in Bristol in 1851 with her husband. Their son William was at a school nearby but the whereabouts of their second child, George Washington DANDO, is unknown...

Name: Maria C Dando [should be Harriet C Dando, perhaps the enumerator transcribed his own records incorrectly] 
Age: 29 
Estimated birth year: abt 1822 
Relation: Wife 
Spouse's name: Joseph 
Gender: Female 
Where born: Philadelphia, United States 

Civil parish: Bristol Castle Precincts 
County/Island: Gloucestershire 
Country: England 

Street Address: 10a Castle Green
Registration district: Bristol 
Sub-registration district: Castle Precincts 
ED, institution, or vessel: 11b 
Household schedule number: 19 

Household Members: Name Age 
Joseph Dando 46 
Maria C Dando 29 [should be Harriet]
Susan Porter 37 (Servant)
Mary Porter 13 
Charles Porter 6

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Harriet and Joseph lost two of their children in 1854, George Washington DANDO, after a 'long and painful illness aged 6', and Catherine Emma DANDO who was less than 6 months old.

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Harriet's father-in-law, Joseph DANDO, the elder, made a will on 6th April 1857 which seemed to indicate that relations with his son and wife had become strained...

"...And as to one other seventh part of the net monies to arise from my said Real and residuary personal estate upon trust that during the life of my Son Joseph Dando my Trustees do and shall either pay such income to my said son or at the absolute discretion of my trustees or Trustee do and shall pay only part of it to him or entirely withhold or withdraw it from him for the whole of his life or for any shorter time or for any separate periods and as to such income or such part or parts thereof which shall not be paid to my said Son upon trust that my Trustees do and shall pay or apply the same to or for the benefit of all and every or such one or more to the exclusion of the other or others of the wife and present or future children of my said Son Joseph Dando at such time or times in such proportions and in such manner as my Trustees shall think proper and my trustees shall have power at any time or times after paying or applying the income or any part thereof to or for the benefit of the wife and children or any of them of my said Son again to pay the income or any part of it to him if the Trustees shall think proper And I declare that the Trustees shall not be responsible to my said Son or his Wife or Children for the exercise of the discretion hereinbefore given to the said Trustees but shall have absolute power and discretion in the premises And from and immediately after the decease of my said Son as to the said one seventh part or the investments thereof upon trust to pay the income thereof unto Harriet Catherine Dando the wife of the said Joseph Dando or permit her to receive the annual income thereof for her life if and so long as she shall continue his widow she maintaining educating and bringing up to the satisfaction of my said trustees the children of my said Son by her for the Time being under the age of Twenty one years not being or not having been married And from and after her decease or marriage again and the decease of my said Son Joseph Dando (which of those events shall latest happen) Then as to the said one seventh part or the investments thereof with the future income thereof upon trust for the Child if only one wholly or for all the Children if more than one in equal shares of my said Son by his present wife Harriet Catherine Dando But if any of such Children shall die under the age of Twenty one years without leaving issue living at his or her decease Then In trust as to the original share and any accruing share or shares of any and every such child so dying for the other or others of such children of my said Son Joseph Dando by his present Wife And if more than one in equal shares but if there shall be no child of my said Son by his present Wife who shall attain the age of twenty one years or dying under that age shall have issue living at his or her decease Then as to the said one seventh share In trust for the executors and administrators of my said Son Joseph Dando as part of his Estate...

"...And I also empower my said trustees at their discretion to advance and apply any part not exceeding one half of the capital to which under any of the said bequests or dispositions each or any legatee shall be entitled or contingently or presumptively entitled in or towards his or her advancement or preferment in the world but no such application of a reversionary share shall be made without the previous consent in writing of the person on whose death the prior interest shall be determinable save that in the case of the children of my Son Joseph Dando the advances may be made by my trustees at their own discretion without any consent of my said Son..."

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Matters must have deteriorated further because six months later, Joseph, the elder, felt the need to add the following codicil to his will...

"This is a Codicil to the last Will and Testament of me Joseph Dando of the City of Bristol Gentleman which Will bears date the Sixth day of April One thousand eight hundred and fifty seven whereas by my said Will I have directed that the trustees thereof shall stand possessed of the net moneys to arise from my real and personal estate thereby devised and bequeathed Upon trust for sale and conversion into money in manner therein appearing And as to one seventh part of such net moneys Upon the trusts and for the purposes for the benefit or in relation to my Son Joseph Dando (hereinafter called Joseph Dando the younger) and Harriet Catherine Dando his present Wife and their children (and in the first of which trusts I mean by the words “such income” the income of the said one seventh part) And whereas for divers reasons I am desirous of making the alterations hereinafter contained in relation to the same trusts and purposes Now therefore I hereby revoke all the trusts powers and provisions in my said will contained as far as they relate to future children of the said Joseph Dando the younger And declare that all the trusts powers and provisions in my said Will or this Codicil contained which in anywise relate to the children of the said Joseph Dando the younger shall be read and construed as if the present children hereinafter named of the said Joseph Dando the younger were alone mentioned or referred to therein and by such present children I mean the following persons that is to say William Elbert Dando Augustus Dando and Louisa Kate Dando all children of the said Harriet Catherine Dando And I hereby also declare that if my Son the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando shall at any time after the expiration of twenty one days from my decease and whilst the Brother or any of the Sisters of the said Joseph Dando the younger shall be resident at Bristol or within ten miles thereof reside or stay continuously for the space of fourteen days within fifty miles of the City of Bristol or come to or be present in that City except as hereinafter mentioned or if they or any of them shall at any time after my death in any manner whatever molest or annoy the Brother or any of the Sisters of the said Joseph Dando the younger whether resident at Bristol or elsewhere (by any of which acts or things I declare that the said Joseph Dando the younger and the said Harriet Catherine Dando) shall be respectively guilty of an offence within the meaning of this Codicil) Then and in any such case and immediately upon any such offence (whether committed by the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando or any of them) the trusts powers and provisions in my said will contained shall so far as they relate to the said Joseph Dando the younger and Harriet Catherine Dando or either of them absolutely cease and determine as if both of them were dead and the trusts powers and provisions in my said Will contained in favor of the children of the said Joseph Dando the younger and to take effect after his death and the death or marriage again of the said Harriet Catherine Dando shall (as varied and explained by this Codicil) be accelerated accordingly And if any such offence as aforesaid shall be committed (whether by the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando and whether in his lifetime or after his decease) and none of them the said William Elbert Dando Augustus Dando and Louisa Kate Dando shall attain the age of twenty one years or dying under that age shall leave issue living at his or her decease then and in such case the trust premises so provided by my said will for the said Joseph Dando the younger and his said present Wife and children as aforesaid shall be held In trust for the Brother and Sisters of the said Joseph Dando the younger named in my said Will in equal shares but so nevertheless that the share of each Brother and Sister therein shall be held upon and for the same trusts intents and purposes as are by my said Will declared concerning the original one seventh share of such Brother or Sister (as the case may be) of and in the net monies to arise from my real and personal estate Provided always and I hereby declare that the trustees or trustee for the time being of my said Will shall in every case have full and absolute power to determine whether or not an offence has been committed in relation to the premises by the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando upon any evidence which the said trustees or trustee may deem satisfactory or upon their or his own personal information without any obligation on the said trustees or trustee to communicate to any person whomsoever the grounds or reason of such determination or upon what evidence or information the same shall have been made And the determination of the said trustee or trustees shall be final and conclusive upon all parties Provided always that the said trustees or trustee shall not be responsible for any monies which they or he shall pay or apply under my said will to or for the benefit of the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando or either of them after any such offence as aforesaid shall have been committed unless previously to such payment or application satisfactory evidence of such offence shall have been given to the said trustees or trustee provided also and I hereby declare that if my said son the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando shall at any time or times after the expiration of twenty one days from my death come to Bristol and stay therein only twenty four hours and shall not during that period visit his brother or any of his sisters then and in any such case the person or persons so coming to Bristol and observing all the conditions of this proviso shall not be deemed to have committed an offence within the meaning of this codicil And I hereby declare that the distance of any place or places from Bristol shall for the purposes of this codicil be measured from the exchange in that city and by Road or Railway (whichever shall be the shortest) and not as the crow flies provided always and I hereby also declare that all sums which I shall at any time or times hereafter during my life pay or advance to or for the benefit of the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando whether by way of annuity or otherwise shall be considered as part of the net monies to arise from my real and personal estate devised and bequeathed by my said will in trust for sale and conversion as aforesaid And shall be deducted from and allowed out of the one seventh share of such net moneys by my said will provided for the said Joseph Dando the younger and Harriet Catherine Dando and their children as aforesaid But so nevertheless that the said Joseph Dando the younger or the said Harriet Catherine Dando shall not be called upon to refund any monies so paid or applied as aforesaid but shall be considered as absolutely entitled thereto And the residue only (after deducting such sums as aforesaid) of the said one seventh share so provided for the said Joseph Dando the younger and Harriet Catherine Dando and their children by my said Will as aforesaid shall be considered as settled by my said Will and this codicil And in all other respects I ratify and confirm my said will In witness whereof I have here unto set my hand the twenty ninth day of October in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty seven – Joseph Dando – Signed by the said Joseph Dando as and for a Codicil to his last Will and Testament in the presence of us present at the same time who in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other have here unto subscribed our names as Witnesses – James Livett Solr Bristol – Henry Livett Solr Bristol"

Harriet may well have been pregnant with her and her husband's youngest son, Henry Bayard DANDO, when the codicil was written which appears to deliberately disinherit him. Joseph DANDO, the elder, died in 1860. The reason for the dispute, or whether the younger Joseph and Harriet kept to the terms of the will, is unknown.

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By 1861 Catherine and her family were living in Manchester ...

Name: Harriet C Dando 
Age: 42 
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1819 
Relation: Wife 
Spouse's Name: Joseph 
Gender: Female 
Where born: Philadelphia, United States 
Civil Parish: Cheetham 
Ecclesiastical parish: St Luke 
County/Island: Lancashire 
Country: England 
Street address: 158 Rydal Mount
Registration district: Manchester 
Sub-registration district: Cheetham 
ED, institution, or vessel: 10 
Household schedule number: 9 

Household Members: Name Age 
Augustus E Dando 10 [actual name - Edward Augustus Dando]
Harriet C Dando 42 
Henry B Dando 3 
Joseph Dando 58 
Louisa H Dando 5 
William E Dando 19 
Bridget Wilson 46 (Servant)

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Harriet died in Manchester in 1863.

The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Monday, March 23, 1863; Issue 7782 published...

"Deaths. DANDO, - March 18th, aged 43, Harriet Catherine, wife of Mr. Joseph Dando, accountant, Manchester."

...and The Bristol Mercury (Bristol, England), Saturday, March 28, 1863; Issue 3810 printed...

"DEATHS. March 18, at Manchester, Harriet Catherine, wife of Mr. Joseph Dando, late of this city."

The Death Index recorded the following information...

Name: Harriet Catherine Dando 
Year of Registration: 1863 
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 
District: Manchester (1837-1924) 
County: Lancashire 
Volume: 8d 
Page: 269

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The London Gazette published on 22nd December 1871, confirmed that Harriet and Joseph were married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PURSUANT to an Order of the High Court of Chancery, made in the matter of the trusts of the settlement, dated the 24th day of June, 1846, and made between Joseph Dando the elder, of the first part; Joseph Dando the younger and Harriet Dando, his wife, of the second part; and the said Joseph Dando and Charles Tidmarsh Dando, of the third part; and in the matter of the Act 10th and 11th Victoria, c. 96, intituled "An Act for the better securing of Trustees." All persons claiming to be the children, or issue of children who have died, of Joseph Dando the younger, formerly of Bristol, in the county of Gloucester, afterwards of Dublin, in Ireland, afterwards of New York, and then of Philadelphia, in the United States of America, and afterwards of Belfast, in Ireland, are by their Solicitors, on or before the 7th day of March, 1872, to come in and prove their claims, at the chambers of the 'Vice-Chancellor Sir John Wickens, No. 12, Old-square, Lincoln's-inn, London, or in default thereof they will be peremptorily excluded from the benefit of the said Order. Thursday, the 21st day of March, 1872, at one of the clock in the afternoon, at the said chambers, is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon tbe said claims - Dated this 8th day of December, 1871.
NOTE - The said Joseph Dando the younger is believed to have contracted marriages as follows :- In the year 1830 or 1831, to one Ellen Stirling or Sheriff, and to have been divorced from her in New York. In Philadelphia to one Jane Clark, and, after her death, to one Sarah Clark. In Philadelphia to one Harriet Catherine Williams. Any information respecting these marriages, and the issue of them, may be sent to Messrs. Meynell and Pemberton, of No. 20, Whitehall place, London, England.

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