Patti Scialfa - Patti Scialfa's Maternal Ancestors

Started by Stephen Daniel Harper on Wednesday, October 27, 2021
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10/27/2021 at 11:02 AM

I am wondering if anyone else has tried to research Patti's maternal ancestors. In interviews, she has referred to her maternal grandfather, William Jerome Morris, as an Irish songwriter who influenced her as a child and who had a bride from Scotland; Patti's mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, the documents I've found seem to indicate that the name of her maternal grandfather was actually John Robert Morris, born 1892 in Southampton, Suffolk County, Long Island. His parents appear to have been from Ireland, however, and John Robert Morris moved to the UK in 1917 with his wife Marguerite Brand to work as a press photographer. He subsequently moved back to the US in 1930 with his new wife, Mary Perrit Frew (born in Dumfries, Scotland), and young children (including Patti's mother). I've saved the relevant documents to the Geni profile I've created here. John Robert Morris

I cannot find any records that match up well with William Jerome Morris as the maternal grandfather. What's also odd is that William Jerome Morris (who also was apparently known as "Jerome Morris") was said to have written the fairly famous song "A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good." But other sources indicate that this song was co-written by Fred W. Leigh (aka William Frederick Bridgen) and George Arthurs, not William Jerome Morris.

Another confusing part of this is that although I did find a 1900 census record for a Morris family living in Southampton, Long Island, with a husband and wife both born in Ireland, there is no son John listed and the son born in 1892 was named William!

Anyway, I'm hoping someone can help straighten this out.

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