When Sarah Wilson was christened on 20 November 1754, in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, her father, William Wilson, was 27 and her mother, Mary Memmott Wilson, was 23.
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Thousands of British troops were sent to Boston to enforce Britain's tax laws. Taxes were repealed on all imports to the American Colonies except tea. Americans, disguised as Native Americans, dumped chests of tea imported by the East India Company into the Boston Harbor in protest. This escalated tensions between the American Colonies and the British government.
"On April 18, 1775, a shot known as the ""shot heard around the world"" was fired between American colonists and British troops in Lexington, Massachusetts. This began the American War for Independence. Fifteen months later, Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence. The Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783 which ended the war. The colonies were no longer under British rule. Many who fought for the British fled to Canada, the West Indies, and some to England."
The first fleet of convicts sailed from England to Australia on May 13, 1787. By 1868, over 150,000 felons had been exiled to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and Western Australia.
English: from the Middle English personal name Will + patronymic -son ‘son of Will’. Will was a very common medieval short form of William . This surname is also very common among African Americans.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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