Genemeet

Rootstech 2012

2012-02-09T18:49:00.001Z

This time last week I was catching up with the Live streaming of Rootstech 2012.
I watched what I could last year and found the 2011 Rootstech to be an eyeopener even though only a small part of it is shown online.
The opening speaker set the scene of the coference well and there are some great plans in the pipeline.
The advances being made to upgrade from GEDCOM to something more useful is probably the most significant point made by Jay Verkler this will impact on anyone who uploads a tree to the internet or shares information.
I look forward to seeing this come to fruition as it will impact on how we use genealogy websites.
I felt that the theme was where are we going with collaboration and it appears that we are heading towards the models of Geni and WikiTree but with more links between the various website providers.
To see the sessions that were streamed go to http://rootstech.org/live#

What goes around comes around : Civil disturbance

2012-01-17T23:28:00.000Z

I have been looking at the recent releases on the National Archives website. One thing struck me as events in our lifetime become history what little we learn from events of the past.
I was a student at London University in the early 1980's and in my second year I lived in a student house in Park Hill Clapham Common. In April that year the Brixton Riots took place. I was at home in Southampton as it was the Easter vacation but housemates said it could be heard from where we were living.
These riots took place in the early years of prime miniter Margaret Thatcher's conservative government and here we are some 30 years later with a new conservative government and further riots.

That same year the IRA bombed Chesea Barracks and some years later the centre of Manchester was also an IRA target both were places which I had frequented many times. I recall thinking at the time that how would I have felt being caught up in either disaster, but life is full of coincidences and near misses.

Do not forget that your experience will be your descendants history and the more we record what we think then the greater chance they will have of knowing more about you and your beliefs.

Plans for 2012

2012-01-14T11:43:00.000Z

This is the time of year when we make those resolutions we hope to keep but oten don't so what plans do you have for 2012?
With lots going on at home and work I have decide not to make any big plans for my research this year,
In February I am hoping to attend WDYTYA Live but am still undecided as to whether to stay overnight or not and whether to just go on an early train and make a full day of it.
Last year I saw some of the webinars from Rootstech and I have also joined some of the Legacy Family Tree webinars and would recommend these to anyone who has the time.
I am not sure if they will be showing any of the presentations from Rootstech live this year but if they do it is a great way to see what is happening if you cannot make the conference.
I hope to post again soon with more about my own research.
Meanwhile don't forget to checkout Wikitree. If you contact me I will be happy to allow you access to edit your part of the tree.

WikiTree

2011-08-07T09:34:00.000+01:00

I recently uploaded a GEDCOM file to WikiTree.
If you are a relation who is in my tree you may receive an invite.
This site has a high level of privacy and will only allow trusted individuals see details of living people.
Please add any memories you may have of others in the tree.

Some Family Connections to the Sea

2011-07-16T08:00:00.000+01:00

Having been born and living in a major port you would expect to find some connection with the sea in the occupations of your family.

My grandfather and my father's younger brother however both made a career in the maritime industry as did one of his son in law's.
I have been fortunate to have all of my uncle's discharge books and a book of my grandfather's used when he entered Argentina in the 1920's as a merchant seaman on the Royal Mail Steam Packet service.
My Uncle worked on the great Cunard liners and I have found him on a number of passenger lists travelling between New York and Southampton. I also have a number of photographs of him taken with other members of the crew and some of the passengers he served as a steward.

My maternal grandfather had a more shortlived connection with the sea as he served on HMS Amphirite (see photo) during WW1.
His step grandfather and fathers half brother also had connections to the sea. His grandmother's husband was a fisherman and his son has been found in Cornwall, Sussex and the Isle of Wight on census night with occupation of mercantile mariner.
I have found the following website useful for researching my family in Southampton. There are also sites for some of the other major UK ports which may be useful for others wanting background information on the lives of this maritime ports.
http://www.portcities.org.uk/

Documenting Sources in online trees

2011-02-27T12:36:00.007Z

The genealogy community can be very critical of those who do not cite their sources.
A regular topic that comes up on genealogy forums is the lack of documentation of sources especially on large trees.

I believe there are a number of reasons why the larger online trees do not have sources.

Many people start trees online then give up once they get to grandparents or beyond the people they remember and these trees are often unsourced as they have been produced as a passing whim. There are a large number of these on websites such as Genes Reunited which are free or minimal cost. When they go back to these later they do not think that they have not added information as to where they found out how these people fit in their family.

Very few of us can say we documented all our sources from the start and we can be reluctant to go back and add them later, even though it may save us time overall.

Few of us trust everything we read and given the rate information is added to the internet we do not always want others to use the information we have obtained at our own expense.

Basically the reasons for not including sources in online trees as I see it are :

Laziness
Lack of trust of others
Cost associated with obtaining the information

Genealogy is not a cheap hobby and those who would call it their hobby are well aware of this.
Don't criticise others who seem to be unwilling to share but do as you would like to be done by.
If you choose not to put your sources on your tree mention this in the opening page.
If you are willing to share with others invite them to contact you.
Some of my best leads have come from others but by confirming things for myself I have found information beyond what others have given me which has made this hobby so much more enjoyable.

Those who just include other peoples research do not know the joy of discovering something new for themselves.

Roots Television - A look back at how we used to live

2010-09-12T12:11:00.005+01:00

Today I watched a short film on Roots Television.
It was made in 1948 and was aimed at showing what life was like for a young boy growing up in York at this time.
This year I spent a week on holiday in York (not for the first time). It was interesting to contrast the picture I have today with that of 50 years ago.
The view from the city walls has changed remarkably little, possibly due to much of the area having protected status.
The railway station has changed and we no longer travel in trains with compartments (usually) as we did even in the sixties when I was a child. For longer journeys we even have air conditioning in the trains. Beeching cuts in the sixties mean we cannot get a train to Whitby from York so our journey this year will have taken a lot longer.
Whitby itself has changed in the number and type of boats in the harbour. The fishermen, if there are any left, do not sit there mending their nets.
I cannot comment on the schools.
However homelife has certainly changed as many families no longer sit down together for their evening meal and few that do would be listening to the radio.
Television would be more likely today and many will eat a meal with a tray on their lap whilst watching the television. The traditional tea will have been replaced by the ready made meal and the stove by the microwave. In our family for one we have not yet done away with the traditional cup of tea, still a firm favorite with many of the english.
Some houses still have the open coal fires so common in post war britain but with the creation of smoke free zones the majority of us now live in centrally heated homes.
How many of us or our descendants will look back in another 50 years and reflect on how life has changed?

What songs evoke memories for you?

2010-03-29T22:15:00.003+01:00

I have just read a bit of one of Michael Hait's blogs after Thomas MacEntee posted a link on facebook.
In this he was asking what is your favorite song.
Rather than try and answer this question I will explain the title of my blog.
Last week as I got into my car to drive to work the Radio was playing a song I had not heard for a long time.
The song was "Love is like oxygen" by Sweet if you don't remember it here is a link to a YouTube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BigTKLLV-8U
This was in the charts during my late teens when I was studying for my A levels.
It was one of the few singles I remember buying and hearing it again took me back to my college days.

The First Captain of the Titanic - Herbert James Haddock

2010-01-27T15:59:00.007Z

The wife and children of Herbert James Haddock

Lieut Geoffrey Haddock
24th Batln Victoria Rifles

2nd Canadian Division

Killed in action at Courcelette France Spt 17th 1916

Mabel Eliza Bouchette

Herbert James Haddock and Mabel Eliza nee Bouchette

My gt grandmother lived in Bitterne Southampton and these are photographs passed down to me.

She worked for the family probably helping with the upkeep of the family home.

To find out more about this family see my public tree at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/11622147/person/-430145873

Ronald Ross

2009-05-17T14:10:00.003+01:00

The following article was sent to me by a relation of mine who is related to this person. I decided to post this as this person was the answer to a question in the Radio Times and the name struck a chord with me. I should have known the answer but I didn't twig that this was the same person.

Ronald Ross

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902

Ronald Ross was born on May 13, 1857, as the son of Sir C.C.G. Ross, a General in the English army. He commenced the study of medicine at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London in 1875; entered the Indian Medical Service in 1881. He commenced the study of malaria in 1892. In 1894 he determined to make an experimental investigation in India of the hypothesis of Laveran and Manson that mosquitoes are connected with the propagation of the disease. After two and a half years' failure, Ross succeeded in demonstrating the life-cycle of the parasites of malaria in mosquitoes, thus establishing the hypothesis of Laveran and Manson. In 1899 he joined the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine under the direction of Sir Alfred Jones. He was immediately sent to West Africa to continue his investigations, and there he found the species of mosquitoes which convey the deadly African fever. Since then the School has been unremitting in its efforts to improve health, and especially to reduce the malaria in West Africa. Ross' researches have been confirmed and assisted by many distinguished authorities, especially by Koch, Daniels, Bignami, Celli, Christophers, Stephens, Annett, Austen, Ruge, Ziemann, and many others.

In 1901 Ross was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and also a Fellow of the Royal Society, of which he became Vice-President from 1911 to 1913. In 1902 he was appointed a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of Bath by His Majesty the King of Great Britain. In 1911 he was elevated to the rank of Knight Commander of the same Order. In Belgium, he was made an Officer in the Order of Leopold II.

In 1902 a movement was set on foot to commemorate the valuable services rendered to the School of Tropical Medicine by its originator and Chairman, Sir Alfred Jones, by founding a Chair of Tropical Medicine in University College to be connected with the School. The movement was met with enthusiastic support, and an amount of money was quickly collected sufficient to found «Sir Alfred Jones' Chair of Tropical Medicine». Ross was appointed to the Professorship in 1902 and retained the Chair until 1912, when he left Liverpool, and was appointed Physician for Tropical Diseases at Kings College Hospital, London, a post which he held together with the Chair of Tropical Sanitation in Liverpool. He remained in these posts until 1917, when he was appointed Consultant in Malariology to the War Office, his service in this capacity, and in special connection with epidemic malaria then occurring on combatant troops, being recognized by his elevation to the rank of Knight Commander, St. Michael and St. George, in 1918. He was later appointed Consultant in Malaria to the Ministry of Pensions. In 1926 he assumed the post of Director in Chief of the Ross Institute and Hospital of Tropical Diseases and Hygiene, which had been created by admirers of his work, and he remained in this position until his death. He was also a President of the Society of Tropical Medicine. His Memoirs (London, 1923) were «inscribed to the people of Sweden and the memory of Alfred Nobel».

During this active career, Ross' interest lay mainly in the initiation of measures for the prevention of malaria in different countries of the world. He carried out surveys and initiated schemes in many places, including West Africa, the Suez Canal zone, Greece, Mauritius, Cyprus, and in the areas affected by the 1914-1918 war. He also initiated organizations, which have proved to be well established, for the prevention of malaria within the planting industries of India and Ceylon. He made many contributions to the epidemiology of malaria and to methods of its survey and assessment, but perhaps his greatest was the development of mathematical models for the study of its epidemiology, initiated in his report on Mauritius in 1908, elaborated in his Prevention of Malaria in 1911 and further elaborated in a more generalized form in scientific papers published by the Royal Society in 1915 and 1916. These papers represented a profound mathematical interest which was not confined to epidemiology, but led him to make material contributions to both pure and applied mathematics. Those related to «pathometry» are best known and, 40 years later, constitute the basis of much of the epidemiological understanding of insect-borne diseases.

Through these works Ross continued his great contribution in the form of the discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito, but he also found time and mental energy for many other pursuits, being poet, playwright, writer and painter. Particularly, his poetic works gained him wide acclamation which was independent of his medical and mathematical standing.

He received many honours in addition to the Nobel Prize, and was given Honorary Membership of learned societies of most countries of Europe, and of many other continents. He got an honorary M.D. degree in Stockholm in 1910 at the centenary celebration of the Caroline Institute. Whilst his vivacity and single-minded search for truth caused friction with some people, he enjoyed a vast circle of friends in Europe, Asia and America who respected him for his personality as well as for his genius.

Ross married Rosa Bessie Bloxam in 1889. They had two sons, Ronald and Charles, and two daughters, Dorothy and Sylvia. His wife died in 1931, Ross survived her until a year later, when he died after a long illness, at the Ross Institute, London, on September 16, 1932.

Mother's Uncles

2009-04-05T10:58:00.005+01:00

Both of my mother's parents had several siblings and even though Mum was 30 when I was born I would have expected to have known most of them.
My grandmother was the youngest of 5, the only girl, she was orphaned at a young age and was then brought up in an orphanage. She did not lose touch with her brothers, but my mother and I only ever knew one of them.

In researching my family this is what I found.

Her eldest brother who she lived with for a while married and had children he joined the army when WW1 broke out but was discharged as not being considered suitable to be an efficient soldier. However he never saw his youngest child as he died in the influenza epidemic in 1918.
Her brother Sidney was killed in WW1 and is mentioned on the CWGC site.
Her brother Ernest Roy was also lost during WW1 but I have been unable to confirm this as the only possible a Roy COMPTON born Warminster has no age recorded and no parents names.

My grandfather's side of the family was much larger.
He was one of eight. Four girls and four boys. Two of his brothers were too young to serve in WW1 and both his older brother and he survived the conflict. I never met my grandfather as he died 2 years before I was born.
His older brother died the year I married but I have little recollection of him.
Of his 2 younger brothers the youngest was killed in a road traffic accident before my mother was born and she would not have known him and the other remaining brother was a guest at my wedding being the only remaining member of his generation in that part of the family.

Even in my generation I have not known all of my uncles as one of my mother's brother's died the day before her twelth birthday having been involved in a road traffic accident the previous month.

This only goes to show how much world events and tragic accidents can impact on our own families.

ROSLING Update

2009-03-30T16:58:00.003+01:00

I have been looking at the 1911 census and have found out more about what happened to the family of Edward Rosling and Rebecca Ellis.

Further to my previous post about Annie Rosling I have now found both her sons on the 1911 census.
George was living with his grandparents in Swinstead, Lincolnshire.
Walter I found in Horley, Surrey. He is listed as visitor but he is actually nephew.
The head of the household Charles Edward Duvall a signalman was married to Eliza born in Swinstead. Eliza is the sister of Annie. The family has 2 sons cousins to Walter.

Peregrine Rosling was in Great Grimsby in 1901 but has now moved to London. He is to be found in Cavendish Square and is Butler to opthalmic surgeon Henry Edward Juler.

Meanwhile his brother William has married and is still living in Swinstead employed as a traction engine driver. He has 2 sons and a daughter and his second son has continued the family tradition having been given the name Peregrine.

Tribal Pages

2009-03-06T13:10:00.003Z

Some of you may have had access to my tree on Ancestry.
My subscription has expired and I am not sure how much longer the tree will be available for you to view on this site.
I have a website at Tribal pages which I am hoping to update.
If you want to be able to access this can you contact me and I will send you an invite.
If you are yourself a member you will be able to edit your own family members.

Annie Rosling

2009-02-24T14:10:00.008Z

Annie Rosling was the sister of my husband's gt grandfather.
I have just been able to confirm the identity of her husband.
I found a possible marriage for her some time ago, but as it was prior to the date when they gave the surname of the spouse in the index I was not sure if it was the correct marriage.
I found out from one of her descendants that she had several children born out of wedlock.
Annie had 3 children by the time of the 1901 census and the 2 eldest, both boys, were living with their grandparents.
By the time of the 1911 census she had married and her youngest, Mabel, appears to have taken her stepfather's surname. She had also given birth to at least 2 more children a daughter Elder aged 5 (this could be Hilda Fanny from the GRO Indexes) and Gladys aged 4. The census also states that she had 7 children from this marriage, 6 of whom were still alive and they had been married 6 years.
The figures don't add up as she had 3 children prior to the marriage that we know about and he had 3 from his first marriage. Her husband had been widowed in 1903 and left with 3 children to bring up, the eldest being only 11 years old. The following year he married Annie Rosling. They had 2 children from their marriage still with them and there was a possible child who was born and died in Mar 1911 quarter Edward H Crowson.

The really interesting thing is that Alfred Crowson, the groom, was Annie's sister in law's brother.
Robert Rosling married Emma Crowson (they are my husband's gt grandparents).
Alfred Crowson married Annie Rosling these 2 being siblings of my husband's gt grandparents.
The children and descendants of both couples will share this same line of ancestors.

Best Genealogy Find

2009-01-31T10:21:00.002Z

Over the years I have been researching my family tree like most people I have made several great finds and every time you find that elusive piece of information you get that urge to shout out Yes!!
If I were to pick out one find which I found really interesting and have still not managed to follow up completely it would be the one I found after trying to find out whether any record existed regarding the parentage of my gt gt grandfather whose parents were not married according to his baptism.
I emailed the archive in Southampton, Hampshire, England to ask if any bastardy records existed for his baptism year of 1827.
They sent me a very helpful reply stating that whilst they had no records relating to bastardy for that period they did have in their card index a reference to a settlement examination for a Louisa Richards (this was his mother's name) in that same parish in that year.
My next visit to Southampton I determined to follow this up as I thought it might hold some clue to where she was from and then possibly her parentage.
The document was ordered and I looked up the page given on the card. All this told me was that she did not know where she was born. Was my luck running out?
I then noticed at the bottom of the page there was a reference to another page. I turned to this page and read the examination for her mother regarding Louisa's place of birth.
Now we get to the really interesting bit.

"

The Examination of Mary Eley

Southampton now Residing in the Parish of Saint Michael

of the said Parish of Saint Michael

Wife of Edward Eley ˆin the said Town and County, Labourer

taken on Oath, this 10^th Day of July

1827 before us two of his Majesty’s Justices of

the Peace in and for the said Town and County,

touching the place of the legal Settlement of her

Daughter Louisa Richards of the said Parish of Saint Michael, Singlewoman

The said Examinant saith, That she was born at the Parish of Millbrook

In the county of Southampton as she hath heard and believes where her Parents

Then resided but whose place of Settlement was the Parish of Titchfield in

The said County of Southampton as she hath also been informed and believes

That her father died in the Poor House at the said Parish of Titchfield and

That her mother is now living at and receiving two shillings weekly from the

Said Parish of Titchfield That this examinant was never apprenticed nor ever

Served as a yearly servant for one whole year That upwards of nineteen years ago she

Went to Jersey and was married to Thomas Richards a private in his majesty’s 76^th Regt of foot then on duty in the said island and remained there some months after her

Marriage when the Regiment was removed to Colchester in the County of Essex and

From thence to Black Heath camp that her said daughter Louisa was born at

Colchester in the said county of Essex but in what parish this examinant

Does not know and this Examinant further saith, that the said Thomas

Richards to whom she was so married as aforesaid was a married man at the

Time he married this Examinant and that while the Regiment lay at Black

Heath camp his wife and three children came there to him which when this

Examinant knew as she saw them there and was informed by a man in the

Same Regiment that it was his the said Thomas Richard’s wife and that he

Knew her to be such the said Examinant left the said Thomas

Richards and came with her said daughter to her parents who then resided in

Hamble in the said county of Southampton that this Examinant then

Worked at various places and about 13 years ago she was married to her

Present husband at Titchfield church that some time after her second

Marriage the said Thomas Richards came to see this Examinant but she

Refused to see him and since that time she has never seen or heard of

Him".

I have found what I believe to be the marriage of Mary to Edward Eley, she appears to have given her maiden name when she married by licence.

I then found a baptism in Milbrook, Southampton for about the right date for this to be her, and also found baptisms for her siblings, and her parents marriage.

I believe her father came from Titchfield and there are family of this name in the area.

But what must be the biggest coincidence, and one which I must follow through, is that her mother's maiden name was WAITE and my sister married a man whose family were from this same area with the surname WAIGHT.

I still need to confirm the marriage in Jersey.

But I never thought that I would find so much out from 1 piece of paper.

Face to Face

2009-01-20T19:24:00.002Z

Having read Dick Eastman's blog regarding a talk given by someone on the other side of the globe
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/01/affho-congress-continued-with-a-remote-lecturer.html
it set me to thinking about what we get if we attend Family History conferences/fairs.

The big show inthe UK is Who Do You Think You Are which includes talks if you can get a ticket.
I have not attended this but have been to the Hampshire Genealogical Society Annual Meeting and listened to someone speaking about how to get organised and what happens to your research after you have gone.

These talks can be very informative but do we get more out of these events than just someone giving us information.

My uncle has been tracing his part of the tree for many years. He also has at least one Victorian Magic Lantern and a large number of slides and has done a number of shows in various places.
Some of these places are in areas where our ancestors lived and he has been known to use these opportunities to talk to some of the locals who know the area.

I would therefore surmise that we may get more from these get togethers than we might think and that it is well worth attending local events to get a taste of the area.

Who knows you might even meet up with a distant cousin!

1911 Census

2009-01-12T21:34:00.002Z

My first blog for this new year has to be about the long awaited release of the 1911 census.
I was able to take advantage of the beta release over the Christmas period and managed to find some of the family.
Not all of the counties I wanted were available but I found some of the family.
Tonight I was able to find the WARD family from Norfolk as Lincolnshire was available.
They had moved to Stamford which I had suspected when I was unable to find them in Norfolk.
Now I will send for the death certificate I had found in Stamford in 1917 as it is likely to be for Charles Henry WARD who I know died before 1920 when his wife Eliza remarried.
I have found 3 more sons for this couple and they also had 2 children that had died who had not made it to any census.
If you have not had chance to view the 1911 census then I suggest you do the images are not cheap but they are your relative's own handwriting and they tell us more than any of the earlier censuses have done.

Those things we find by accident!

2008-10-05T10:27:00.002+01:00

After reading Vicky's Blog at http://vickyscrazyfamily.blogspot.com/
I decided to add my own comment.
As some of you will know one of my best discoveries was when I checked out a settlement examination at Southampton Archives.
The first page told me very little. When it refered me to another page that was where I struck gold.
I had initially contacted the archives as I was after more information about the parents of Stephen Richard Buckle. They couldn't find any bastardy records but they mentioned the settlement examination.
To cut a long story short the second page revealed that Louisa's parents had married in Jersey but on returning to England and after Louisa was born her father's wife and children turned up.
Her mother later married in Titchfield and the marriage showed her maiden name and lead to my BUCKETT and WAITE research. (see my second post of 2007)

Newspaper Article Coroners Inquest

2008-10-01T20:43:00.002+01:00

I knew that my grandmother was orphaned and when I was given a copy of her records from the orphanage this set me on a quest to find out more.
The letter written to the orphanage showed that her mother had taken her own life.
I knew when this had happened so I tracked down a copy of the local newspaper at the local studies library.
I found two items in the newspaper.
The first was a simple report of the death.
The second report detailed what had been said at the coroner's inquest.
The worst of it was that her sons had found her when they went down in the morning to get a light before going to work.
The one who found her was later killed whilst fighting in WW1 and his brother died during the flu epidemic.
I will never know what effect this had on them and until I was an adult I was unaware that my grandmother had more than 1 brother (she had 4).
Even though I did not know these people personally it was an emotional experience finding out what happened to my gt grandmother.

The Dash

2008-07-01T15:54:00.002+01:00

I just found this after seeing a posting on the Hampshire genealogy rootsweb list.
I hope you find it as thought provoking and enjoyable as I did.
http://www.thedashpoemmovie.com/

Photograph of Tim and Ruth Green

2008-06-28T16:32:00.002+01:00

This photograph was taken on their 40th Wedding Anniversary outside the church where they married.

See my earlier blog

WARD, FLOWERS, LAWSON

2008-06-19T17:58:00.003+01:00

Further to my post on the 17th I received this message from one of my contacts Yvonne Parker a relation of my husband from his FLOWERS line.

"I have just been looking at your blog, having just returned from holiday and saw your 17th June entry regarding the Flowers/Lawson connections to the Gadsby line.

Joseph Flowers (b1855) married Elizabeth Lawson (b 1857) in 1875, the marriage was registered in Newark. They had four children as far as I am aware - Edith Ann 1875 - 1881, Sarah Ellen b 1877, Eliza 1879 - 1882 and Louisa b 1880. The family were in Freeby, Leicestershire on the 1881 census but little Eliza's death was registered in 1882 in Sleaford.

The connection with your Gadsby line comes from the fact that Joseph Flowers was the eldest son of John Flowers 1828 - 1913 whose parents were William Flowers and Rebecca Lawson."

Edward Ward the son of Richard Ward and Mary Gray married Ann Ellen Lawson in the Newark district in the Dec quarter of 1875 according to the GRO indexes.
Anne's sister is Elizabeth Lawson who married Joseph Flowers.

Interestingly Mary Gray was born in Marston which is where Eliza the daughter of William Flowers and Rebecca Lawson was born.
I will let you know if I find out more about any Lawson connection.

Coincidence!!

2008-06-17T16:08:00.002+01:00

I was looking to confirm the parents of a child found on the census with the grandparents, Richard and Mary WARD, who are my husband's 3xgt grandparents.
The mother was also with the grandparents so I was looking to find her with her husband on an earlier census and then to confirm their marriage and her maiden name.
I discovered her maiden name was LAWSON and although this is not a particularly common name I already have this name in another part of the tree for the other line of my husband's ancestry.
Given that there is already a link to this surname I wanted to see if they were related.
I went on to do more searches in the censuses and found that the wife's father had been born in Foston Lincolnshire.
Having found the wife's mother on a later census with her grandaughter Ellen FLOWERS I was even more intrigued.

In my husband's GADSBY line his gt gt grandmother was Eliza FLOWERS daughter of William FLOWERS and Rebecca LAWSON she was born in Marston Lincolnshire and the youngest of her children was born in Foston Lincolnshire.

It turns out that the parents of Ellen FLOWERS were Joseph FLOWERS and Elizabeth LAWSON. I have not managed to find out how or if they are related to his GADSBY ancestors but given the geography I feel certain that they will be related.

This is not the first time I have found relations on one line who could be related to others on another line as my husband's Norfolk ancestors are possibly relations to others found on his Lincolnshire/Leicestershire line.

I will post again if I find anything more.

40th Wedding Anniversary

2008-06-03T12:42:00.002+01:00

On the 1st June my 3rd cousin Tim Green and his wife Ruth celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary by renewing their vows at Bitterne Parish Church.
I was fortunate to be able to attend the service and finally meet up with Tim who I have been corresponding with by email for several years.
I took a few photographs and later this year I will write a short piece for the Bitterne Local History Society magazine.
I will also post a copy of this on my blog.

igoogle and protopage

2008-05-11T09:45:00.002+01:00

Moving to my new computer is taking longer than I hoped but I hope to get started on my first project soon.
This year I learnt about igoogle and protopage from listening to genealogy podcasts.
Both can be accessed on other computers and they are great for quickly accessing things that you use everyday.
I have links to podcasts,blogs and news items especially genealogy related items and either page can be set as your homepage with lots of widgets or gadgets available.
If you want to see what protopage looks like go to http://www.protopage.com/pharmer
and the password is the title of this blog.
I would love feedback on what others put on their igoogle or protopage.

Updating how you store your information

2008-04-05T17:27:00.002+01:00

I have recently treated myself to a new computer.
I decided from the outset that I had a lot of information on my old desktop which I no longer needed.
I also have become increasingly aware as to how poorly some of my sources have been documented.
I decide to start from scratch entering everyone from the beginning. This proved to be a slow task and I wanted to speed it up a little.
Family Historian has a great facility to compare gedcom files and then merge them after checking.
I decided to start with a group of people with links to certain sources. Unfortunately even this small group took longer than I thought and I have been left with a larger file which I am gradually trying to ensure contains the correct source citations.
I know I will get ther eventually and the final result will be much better organised.
I just think I will need a great deal of patience.
When I have finished I will let you know how I organised everything.
Bye for now

DVD

2008-03-27T17:41:00.002Z

I hope to produce at least one dvd this year for family members.
It will include photographs and documents and hopefully some video and an audio commentary.
It will take some time to complete and I intend to start with one part of the family first and if that goes well I will start on another line.

SMITH line

2008-01-14T16:04:00.000Z

The SMITH line has grown this year and thanks to Paul SMITH making contact with another descendant of James SMITH I also have scanned copies of photographs of Fanny SMITH aged about 19 in about 1891 and a group photograph of other members of her family.
The group consists of James, his mother Mary Ann, his son James, Emily CARRINGTON wife of the younger James, their daughters Lilian and Florence and Edith Fanny's sister. This photo was taken about 1901 and Mary was born about 1817.
The IGI has possible ancestors for Mary which will need confirming but assuming the family stayed in Bulkington and the transcriptions are correct we may have them back to late 17th century.
Hannah's father proves somewhat elusive. Her mother was widowed in 1838 and Hannah was born 1846 some 6 months before her mother's marriage to William ELLIS.
Maria, Hannah's mother, also had 3 more children before Hannah and after the death of her first husband none of whom were her first husband's offspring. She had 4 children with her first husband John CHAMBERLAIN and had at least 1 more George ELLIS. On the 1881 census they are using the surname Messenger and this has been added as a middle name on the 1871 census.
There were several grandchildren on the census who appear to be children of an unmarried daughter so at least one of them followed in mother's footsteps.

News on the GADSBY and WARD branches

2008-01-05T15:01:00.000Z

As promised I shall continue with some of the breakthroughs this year.
On the GADSBY branch I have not managed to progress further forward and am still hunting for proof as to the parentage of Nathaniel GADSBY who was born about 1787 in Lincolnshire.
I have been unable to find a death registration for him and his exact place of birth remains elusive.
I have found out more about the family of Clarissa GADSBY who married Stephen James BLYTHER via a genesreunited contact.
One of my early GADSBY contacts has been back in touch and I have updated her with my finds and other shared information.
A descendant of Mary Ann GADSBY has been in touch and has helped fill another gap.
I have also made some progress with the ELLIS family and had a couple of contacts with ROSLING connections so that some of the side shoots are filling out.

The WARD side of the family has had some shakeup this year.
Having found a possible link to family who emigrated to Australia it was then realised that the Richard WARD who married Mary GRAY was not the son of William and Catherine WARD but the illegitimate son of Catherine WARD.
Catherine's parentage and marriage to Joseph PATCHETT in 1812 is well documented and Richard had a number of siblings from this marriage. This has also lead to the discovery of WARD ancestors as early as 1676 as the WARD family stayed in Croxton Kerrial for centuries.
It is quite likely that there are still descendants from this line in the village today.
From having been stuck with the couple William and Catherine the tree now goes back another century.
Thanks to the hard work of Paul SMITH who transcribed some of the Croxton Kerrial parish records many dates have been filled in on this WARD line.

I will continue with the SMITH and the Norfolk WARD family on the next post.

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T14:54:00.000Z

Hope you all had a great start to the New Year.
I will continue my review of last year on my next post.
We were in Lincolnshire for the New Year festivities staying with my sister in law in Crowland.
I didn't get chance to do any research and as we came back a day earlier than intended we did not have chance to visit my mother in law's cousin as I had hoped.

Some of this years news

2007-12-26T10:24:00.000Z

This year there have been a few developments on the family tree I will list some of those that I can remember if anyone can add anything more please let me know or if I have missed anything important.
I will start with my BUCKLE line.
This last year has seen 2 of this line leave us. My mother in May and my father's eldest sister last month.
I have found a possible marriage for Mary, the maternal grandmother of Stephen Richards BUCKLE, to Edward ELEY in Titchfield. This has lead me to believe that her maiden name was BUCKETT and I have found a possible christening in Millbrook and parents and siblings. This also fits with Mary's father having been born in Titchfield. Her mother was a WAITE whose family may also have connections to the Titchfield area.
On my next research visit I intend to look further into the Titchfield link, especially the WAITE family as my brother in law is a WAIGHT from this general area. My sister might find she was already distantly related to her husband.
Now the ROBERTS line.
I have filled in some gaps in the Warminster COMPTON family after making contact with the daughter of my second cousin. Another cousin has found information on the earlier COMPTONs at Fisherton De La Mere and I now have mother's maiden names for 2 more of the ancestors pre general registration.
It also appears that one of the son's of Richard TOOMER and Sarah LODGE in the Salisbury area was involved in the Swing Riots and subsequently transported to Australia. He returned to England on being released and married however the only child of this union died before reaching adulthood.
I will continue the remaining GADSBY and WARD lines on my next blog.
If you wish to view my tree don't forget Tribal pages user id gadsby visitor password pharmer.

Welcome

2007-12-23T08:39:00.000Z

This is the first of my new blogs.
I have not used my old blog for ages so I decide to change to this in the hope that it will be more easily accessible to those who know me and might be interested in my news.
I will post again before the new year to update you with what as been happening this year.
Most of my posts will be related to genealogy but some may be just general chat.
Please send me feedback and comments.