Ralston History
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This part of the Ralston family is from Liverpool, UK |
Ralston Tree |
Ralston Family |
Ralston History |
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St Vincent De Paul, Liverpool
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My usual disclaimer - all this information is "to the best of my knowledge" My great grandfather, John Alexander Ralston, was thought to have been Scottish; he spoke with a Scottish accent and pronounced sixpence as "saxpence". Mum says that he had a very bad temper, would deliberately frighten his wife and the children, that the mothers of his apprentices were so angry with him that they called him a "street angel, house devil". But he seemed to like my mother and would give her (as a little girl) 'saxpence' for sweets, possibly because he approved of her father who 'had a trade' as a marine engineer. When we typed "Ralston" into Google's search engine, we didn't expect to find a Ralston living in Liverpool as far back as 1832, but there, in the Liverpool Poll Book, was Alexander Ralston, a block maker, of Upper Frederick Street, Liverpool. A block maker could have been involved in the making of blocks and tackle for the ships; Upper Frederick Street is close to the riverside, in a line with Salthouse Dock, amongst others, and many of the inhabitants of Upper Frederick Street and nearby streets were engaged in marine related industries and businesses. Alternatively, a block maker could have been involved with the making of blocks for printing presses - the family history makes either possible at the moment. With all the Scottish connections we were again surprised to find that great grandfather John Alexander Ralston was born in Liverpool, as was his father, David Ralston, who was born in Liverpool in 1830. David Ralston was also a blockmaker, just like his father, Alexander Ralston, in 1832. It may well have been Alexander Ralston who came to Liverpool from Scotland, and more research is required. Starting with Alexander Ralston
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