Happy Birthday Granny - Annie Prudence Butcher (1879 - 1972)

Today would have been my Great Grandmother's, Annie Prudence Butcher (nee Harris) 116th birthday. I knew her as Granny, and later as I began my research I affectionately called her APH. My cousins knew her as Big Gran, because their Grandma looked after APH in her elderly years and I guess to a child having two Grandma's in the same house was confusing!

This picture is taken from the Christmas card Granny sent to family and friends in 1955. I have inherited the one she sent to my Grandfather, Grandmother and Mum.

The first official document I saw when I began researching my family history in earnest was the 1881 Census, which in 1988 was the last official Census available to those of us in the United Kingdom.

Image courtesy of Ancestry - RG11/780/6 Puttenham Surrey
Crown Copyright

The Census shows, Annie aged one year old.  I recall the moment I spotted that entry line as I muttered the words wow! complete with that tingly feeling of excitement.

That very same Great Grandmother who cuddled up to me as an elderly lady. Smelling of talcum powder and lavender. Who had the firmest, yet gentlest cuddle of all. She would wrap me in her arms and tickle me and I would wriggle with excitement. I can almost feel that cuddle as I write this and all of a sudden I miss this elderly lady, who loved her family passionately and yet despite her frailness, always gave me one of those lovely safe and reassuring cuddles.

Here is a picture of how I remember her, surrounded by flowers and the love of her family.

Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris
1879 - 1972

Happy Birthday Granny!

Sepia Saturday - 203

For this week's visionary prompt of standing in doorways, I thought I would share this image

The picture is of my Great, Great Grandparents Henry Harris (1843-1929) and Caroline Harris nee Ellis (1844 -1935). This photograph was taken on the occasion of their 60th Wedding Anniversary in 1924 and was taken at Wanborough Surrey. 

The photographer was my late Great Aunt, Rose Marshall nee Butcher (1900 - 1994). Caroline was apparently a bit of a stickler and though nothing of smacking her Grandchildren if they misbehaved, whilst Henry was a "sweet old thing" according to my Aunt. I asked if she could recall an example. This is from my journal what she told me back in 1990 -

 "Old Sam Marshall came across to tell Mum (Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris) that the Boys (Dick, George (my Grandfather), Arthur & Harry) had been scrumping again from the apple tree."

When I asked what happened to the boys - 

"The boys came home, all sweetness and light and Mum asked where they had been? They were vague and said the fields. When Mum asked if they had been over to Sam Marshall's they said they might have been. Mum, was not deterred. I wish you boys wouldn't. Do it again and you will get what for. What did you do with the apples? Oh we ate them was the reply, then one of the boys said, why do you want us to get you some? I don't recall which of them said that, but they were all sent outside. Later they came in for tea and Harry said he was sore, when Mum asked why he said Granny. Old Grandpa was listening in, he shook his head and said but those apples are nice, aren't they?"

The background is the Sam Marshall was a local farmer, and was in fact related to Caroline through marriage. Her sister Maryanne married Jim Marshall, the added complication was that the Marshall family were already connected to the family prior to that marriage and things were further complicated when in 1931 Rose married Maryanne's Grandson Ernest.  Something that Caroline disapproved of and my Aunt always vehemently denied.

Taking part in Sepia Saturday

Remembrance Day Photo Collage - Day Three

William Arthur West was born in 1863 in Guildford. I became aware of him through the his marriage to my Grandfather's Aunt - Emma Jane Ellis (Harris). They married in 1897 and raised two children. A son called William James born 1898 in Aldershot Hampshire and a daughter, Clara Edith born 1901 in Aldershot. I commemorated William James in yesterday's post.

I knew from my Grandfather's cousin that William Arthur had been a military man and made an earlier assumption, at this point I had not researched his military life, that he had been in the Boer War. I was then presented with some photos:

William Arthur is the second from the right in the back row.

This photo was taken during the Boer War. William was already in the Army, serving in the Medical Corp by the time of the Boer War. He joined in 1878 and spent time abroad during the Zulu Wars and the Afghan Wars. His wife accompanied him and died in Zululand in 1894 and her death certificate is below. He remarried to his Cousin in 1897 and they subsequently had two children, as I mentioned above.

I love the sign "Den of Terror"!

By chance I did a Google search on William Arthur. I have never come across anyone researching this family outside of my immediate family so what happened to William and Clara. I also wanted to know more of William Senior. I did know that after leaving the military he owned a sweet shop in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire.

The Google search revealed an interesting website article, although a recent search does not show the article, which is a great shame. Anyway, the article looked at my William Arthur West from the perspective of the community in which he lived, Stony Stratford. The article provided a few clues which I had not been aware of, and I used this as a springboard for further research and to fill in a few gaps into William's earlier life.

I had already been in contact with the author of the article. I had a reply and was delighted to hear that they had quite an archive of material relating to my ancestor. I was invited to come and look at the article. I replied that given the distance it would not be until our next trip north of here and I was really surprised when I was offered the opportunity to receive the archive in the post for my perusal and copying. In due course the file arrived and I managed to copy the entire archive and return with some extra material by tracked post. That is one of the things that I love about genealogy, it is the genuineness of fellow researchers.

Where it all started....

This morning, whilst working on something else, I had cause to pull out this Census image. It was this very image that made me really pursue my interest in my maternal family history. 

Image courtesy of Ancestry - RG11/780/6 Puttenham Surrey

When I started researching in the late 1980's the latest Census for the United Kingdom was the one from 1881. 

This particular record shows the family of my Great Grandmother as a little girl, aged just one. That very same Great Grandmother who cuddled up to me as an elderly lady. Smelling of talcum powder and lavender. Who had the firmest, yet gentlest cuddle of all. She would wrap me in her arms and tickle me and I would wriggle with excitement. I can almost feel that cuddle as I write this and all of a sudden I miss this elderly lady, who loved her family passionately and yet despite her frailness, always gave me one of those lovely safe and reassuring cuddles.

Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris
1879 - 1972

Mystery Monday - Harris in Headley Hampshire

Background 

Caroline Ellis, shown here on the left, was born in Puttenham Surrey in 1844 the daughter of George Ellis, a former military man and Prudence Budd. The Budd family had been established in the parish of Puttenham since 1723, and lack of surviving records has prevented a firm conclusion of the Budd's originally living in nearby Shackleford. Together, Caroline and Henry raised a family of ten children, all born in Puttenham. Caroline and Henry spent 65 years together, with Henry passing away in 1929 and Caroline in 1935.

Henry Harris was born in Headley Hampshire in 1844 to George Harris and Harriet EARLE. Henry was one of not only 10 children born to George and Harriet, but also one of set of triplets. George and Harriet had previously had twin boys, George and John in 1837, John though, died aged 1 year. In 1844 when Henry was born, his mother also gave birth to Emma and Thomas. Henry and Emma both lived into adulthood, although Emma died in her late 30s and sadly, Thomas died aged just one year. Henry lived until 1929 when he passed away aged 86 years. Were multiple, multiple births common in the 19th Century? Henry worked as a labourer and around 1864 married Caroline Ellis in Puttenham Surrey.

This photograph, taken by their Grand daughter, my Great Aunt on the occasion of their 60th Wedding Anniversary.

It was the tale relayed to me by the same Great Aunt who took this photograph that has provided the minuscule details of my Monday Mystery.

Monday Mystery

My Aunt said that her "Granddad Henry had been "swizzled" out of some land on the Common (Puttenham or Headley) by his niece Jane Harris. He even went to London to try and get it back, but he didn't manage it"

I have always been curious over this matter and not long after I started researching my ancestry I met a family member, connected to the Harris & Burrows line. There had certainly been a feud, although if this was the cause of it I can not say.

In the meantime, the local archives for Headley have transcribed the records and notebooks left by the vicar of the parish. Within those notebooks is the following -

"p.281 Letter:4 Field Court, Gray’s Inn, W.C.,
Telephone 2525
Telegraphic Address: “HUNTSMOOR, LONDON”
20 April 1888
Dear Sir
You may have heard from Mr WRIGHT that we have been obliged after all to abandon the claim by Daniel HARRIS to the fund in the Court of Chancery.
We find that Letters of Administration were taken out to the missing Legatee’s Estate many years ago by Henry HARRIS who described himself as the cousin of the missing legatee. If this were correct that is to say, if the missing legatee’s father was legitimate, David HARRIS’ share would be a few pounds only and to prove that it is incorrect requires an action in the Probate Court which would exhaust the whole of the fund.
We beg to thank you for the assistance you have so kindly given us in the matter.
We are, Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
R S Sayle & Son & Humphreys
To: The Rev W H Laverty
Headley Rectory
Liphook
Hants."

This does not appear to be the same story as the one my late Aunt said, so is this somthing different?

The names of David and Daniel Harris do appear within my family, both brothers of Henry's father. There was also a Daniel Harris who married a Charlotte Bridger who connects with my late Grandmother's family.

Such a lot of mystery to unravel and that is before I even start on the Harris families!

This map does given and idea of the complexities of the geography of this area, which explains the various families marrying into other families that already sit within my genealogy. Really, it is no wonder I have a genealogical headache hangover!

Photograph of a map presented in A Souvenir  of Headley By
Charles H Beck 1896

Genealogical Hangover!

I have a genealogical headache hangover.

Earlier this week I was writing a post, which will appear next week about a mystery I have. In order to complete the post I zipped off an email to the host of the One Place Study for Headley Hampshire with a question or two.

He very kindly directed me to a post within the archives and commented that the manuscripts that had been kept by the vicar of the parish had been completely transcribed and were online. This was great news. I had been aware of the transcription project, but had not been aware of it being completed.

So I nipped over to the site and started reading.

Taking a step back or two. I had been aware of a connection of my Grandfather's family - BUDD & BRIDGER  from Puttenham marrying into my Grandmother's BRIDGER family of Bramshott and Headley. This union in fact made my Grandparents Cousins, not that they had been aware of the fact.

My Grandfather's Grandfather, Henry HARRIS was born in 1843 in Headley Hampshire. There the Harris family happily intermarry with other Harris', Holts and Earl (e) families.

So, having been informed that the transcriptions were completed and the Surrey records online at Ancestry which does include Headley Hampshire because it is just over the border I sat down this morning to have a look into the mystery and which you can read about next week.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Oh my, my heart did a little somersault as I tried to untangle the various Harris families that link between my Grandparents individual lines, which makes my genealogical quest more complex than ever.

After 3 hours I gave up. I took my mug, which bears the message "I'd give up chocolate, but I'm no quitter" and almost empty save a small drop of cold tea, downstairs. Got alfie nice and ready and went off for a walk. It's warm here today 23C, all the time thinking how on earth am I going to unravel those Harris lines.

I think that somewhere, high above the clouds are my ancestors having a lovely chuckle at my joy and frustration as I untangle their lives and try and make sense of it all.

Beyond the Internet Week 13: Lest we Forget: War Memorials

Continuing the weekly theme, inspired by Family History Across the Seas.

I always feel a sense of sadness when I come across a War Memorial. As I stand and reflect upon the names that appear on the Memorial, I have an acute sense of awareness that the names reflect not just a sacrifice made by the named individual, but beyond that there is a deep sense of loss to the families left behind. In some cases families suffered more than one loss. How do you recover from that?

Following the First World War there was an obvious increase in the amount of War Memorials. Each Memorial reflecting a generation lost.  The photograph below is from the Parish of Enstone in Oxfordshire.

As you can see there are two families that have multiple entries, these are the Hawtin & Sheffield families. 

I have a slight interest in the Sheffield family. My Great Grandmother's sister, Mabel Harris married into the Sheffield family. They resided in London in the docks areas as that is where they worked. They raised a family of three daughters and one son. One of the daughters married a cousin so she was a Sheffield all of her life, which was a long one. She, like many of the girls from this part of the family lived well into their 90s.

Carnival Of Genealogy 116 - Picture/Story for Women's History Month.

This pretty young woman is my Great Great Aunt, Emma Jane Harris, although she was born to her parents just before they married!

Emma Jane was born on the 1st November 1864 in Puttenham Surrey the daughter of Henry Harris and Caroline Ellis who were to marry on 3rd December 1864 and raise together a family of 10 children.

Emma married her cousin, William Arthur West in 1897. William was a soldier who had seen service in the Zulu Wars in which he had lost his first wife and young babe.
So I can imagine the emotions felt by both Emma and William as they married.

They were blessed with two children, a son, William James born in the military town of Aldershot in 1898 and Clara in 1901.

By the time of the First World War, William Arthur had left the services and had set up a newsagents business in Stony Stratford on the Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Borders. His son William James though, followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Army. I am sure that both his parents were proud of their son and the contribution he was to make. We know that prior to his departure to France he had his portrait taken and his mother treasured it. As it appears as a pendent in the following photograph.

Sad to say that amongst that proud parental feeling was deep sadness, as their only son paid the ultimate sacrifice. This is such a sad photograph, and Emma has such a haunted look. I simply wish I could move into the photograph and give her such a hug, but alas that is not to be.

It seems completely correct that I end this post with a photograph of Emma's only son, who died, aged just 20 years, only two months before the end of the First World War.

Carnival of Genealogy is hosted by Jasia at CreativeGene

Weekend Cooking - Wheat Wine anyone?

This recipe is one of my treasured possessions. It is a recipe for Wheat Wine written circa 1965 by my Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris.

Fearless Females - Day 7

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

Here are a few recipes that I can, with my Mum's help remember my Grandmother cooking.

Rasher Pudding

• Mix plain flour and suet together, using water or milk to bind it together.
• Roll out on a floured board.
• Lay the rashers of bacon across and add some chopped fresh parsley.
• Roll it up and put in a pudding cloth and place in a pan of boiling water and cook.
  

Mum has said the cloth would be horrid when taken out of the pan, and remembers being given the job of washing the cloth! and suggests using a more modern steamer would better and safer!

Lambs Hearts

• Buy Lambs Hearts and stuff them with sage and onion stuffing.
• wrap in tin foil and place in a baking dish
• Serve with potatoes and vegetables

Cheese and Tomato
A very simple dish and one that I often make during the summer and serve with new potatoes and salad. I sometimes make some amendments and add bacon and mushrooms!

• Quite simply cut cheese into slices and layer with layers of tomato into a dish
• Place in the oven and cook for about 15 mins until the cheese has melted slightly

A recipe that has been passed down from my Great Grandmother is the recipe for Wheat Wine, which was sent to my Grandparents.

Recipe - Wheat Wine
Originally uploaded by AnglersRest

Ancestor of the week - Willliam James West

This is the belated post from 26 February.

William James West was born in Aldershot Hampshire in 1898, the son of William Arthur West, a military man and, Emma Jane Ellis (Harris).

I had always known that my Grandfather's first cousin had died in the First World War, and then I was presented with a photograph of William, such a handsome young man! The moment I saw that photograph I wanted to know all I could about William.

Private William James West served with the 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment. He is Commemorated at: Ligny-Sur-Canche British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He died of wounds on 5th September 1918, aged just 20 years.

He is commemorated on the War Memorial at Stony Stratford Buckinghamshire, where his parents, William Arthur and Emma Jane West lived & ran their newsagents business at 63 High Street.

I submitted the details for William James to the First World War Digital Archive whilst material could be submitted. As I wanted to further preserve the details of William.

William James had two army numbers and was Private T4/212898 William James West, Army Service Corps, and later was 51275, 1st Bn. Cheshire Regiment. His T4 Army Service Corps prefix indicates he once served in transport.

As I said I submitted his details to the Digital Archive and they further spotted a detail I had not known about the photograph, as he is rather oddly, pictured above wearing a 'lamb and flag' cap badge, relevant to neither unit he was known to have served in, (unless he served for a time in the small Army Service Corps Armoured Car Companies, recruited from transport personnel. Their 'Light Armoured Motor Batteries', operative in Palestine, wore a similar badge unofficially).

Bombing during the Second World War destroyed some of the records from the First World War.

I was lucky, in that William James's record survived and is a total of 24 pages detailing when he enlisted, his service and which regiment he was attached to and then, finally his gun shot wound to the chest leading to his death in 1918, just months before the war ended.

I have downloaded a copy of his Service Record and have just noticed a mention of the Devonshire Regiment that I had been unaware of.

His medal card, confirms what medals his family were entitled to claim after his death and this corresponds with the Service Record.

Carnival Of Genealogy 103: Female Genealogy

As modern women I believe we truly under estimate the hardship, suffering and resilience of our female ancestors. Let us consider what we have that they often did not.

• Electricity and Gas, forms of heating and light
• A benefit system that could be used if the need arose, without fear of stigma
• Running water that was safe to drink
• Accessibility to medicines that worked
• Security from unscrupulous employers, landlords and retailers
• A World where child mortality is low
• Being able to wash ourselves,clothes and dishes without have to visit the well first.
• Women's rights - we are able to vote, to own property and to be our own person
• ......the list is endless.

How would we cope if we had to work 15 hours a day for a meagre wage? Yet our ancestors did and they, in some form or other survived otherwise we would not be here today. Women are often the backbone of the family, not from necessarily a financial aspect, although, in rural 18th and 19th Century England women would have worked in the fields too, and the children. Women tended to the men folk, looked after elderly relatives in a domestic sense, looked after the children and tended to the homes and organised the food requirements, making the money goes as far as it could. I believe that we underestimate the female ancestors we each have and perhaps judge them in comparison to modern standards.

What though, if you had been born into the middle and upper classes? You grew up being unable to provide for yourself in a domestic and financial manner. If we want a cup of tea we switch the kettle on and make it. In the 18th Century, depending on your financial standing you either rang a bell and someone made you the drink of your choice or you went to the well and obtained the water, perhaps carrying it and any young babes several miles, poured water into a pan of some kind and boiled it over a fire. Could you even afford tea?

As I have researched my own ancestry, I have developed an attachment to some of my ancestors, their contribution to my ancestry is, in some cases overwhelming. The first is Esther Bellasis, who has been the resent subject of an earlier post, and I will not reiterate that here in its entirety, except to say that Esther made a contribution to history that she herself probably never even considered.

Esther was born Ester King in 1770, the daughter of John King and Mary nee Budd. The whole story resembles that of Pride and Prejudice as John and Mary had a family of 10 children, 9 of whom were girls,and nearly all of them involved with the Honourable East India Company in some way. Esther married George Bridges Bellasis in 1796 in Calcutta India. George was known as the most "Handsome man in India" a fact gleaned from the book written about the Bellasis family called "An Honourable Company" by Margaret Bellasis published in 1952.

What has been established is that the girls went out to India in installments, as they became of age and they were dispatched to parts of the "Empire" in the care of the elder sisters. The story is that one of Esther's sisters was proposed to. The proposal was later retracted and a dual between the proposer and George Bridges Bellasis ensued. As a result George Bridges Bellasis was sent to Botany Bay for life for killing the proposer, having been transported on board the ship called "The Fly" in 1802. When he arrived in Sydney, George was immediately given a conditional pardon by Governor King and on 24 June 1803 received a Royal pardon as an "act of commiseration towards a gallant, but unfortunate officer and an afflicted dying wife".

I wondered about Ester. Just what had her life been like? Married to a well to do member of the HEIC, was she shamed because of the dual and subsequent outcome of that?, then transported like a common criminal? I wish I knew just what she thought and felt. I wondered just what research material had been left behind of the Bellasis time in Australia. George it is well documented as a military man in Australia and India, there is evidence that he was involved in the Freemason movement in the early days of the colony.

I did a search online for "Mrs Bellasis"+Australia and for variations of - Botany Bay, Ester Bellasis and was very surprised to find this painting.

I sent off to the archive, The Mitchell Library, State Library for New South Wales, for a electronic copy and it is one of my genealogical treasures. What is especially wonderful is that the painting by Ester Bellasis is the earliest known piece of artwork by a woman in Australia, so it looks like Ester made her mark after all, which I find delightful, and this is what I meant when I said her contribution to history.

George and Ester returned to England in the early 1800s and Ester is commemorated at Puttenham Church having died in 1805 in Berkshire, at the Bellasis home. George returned to India and later remarried, to his deceased wife's sister, Elizabeth Kent nee King, herself a widow. George died in India in 1825 and the sister Elizabeth in Kent in 1837.

There is just something about that picture that I find soothing. Perhaps it is the fact that Esther was in some small way a women in her own right, in a small way an artist, a contribution to history that she would probably have never realised at the time. Did she get on the boat back to England and realise that the painting had been left behind, or did she intend to leave it far from home? We shall never know.

Do though, some of the characteristics and skills of our ancestors live on in us, two, three or even ten generations later?

This is a photograph of one of my Maternal Great Grandmothers, Caroline Ellis nee Harris 1844 - 1935 with four of her daughters. My Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris is the lady on the far left. Caroline was in her early 90s when she died, as was my Great Grandmother, and that tradition was followed by three of Annie's five daughters. Yes, people are living longer, but is that the only reason for longevity? Isn't there a chance that genetics, passed from one generation to another simply continue, as do expressions, gestures and a hosts of other things that we inherit from our relatives.

When I look at this photograph, which I was given, from the daughter of the lady second on the left, who also died in her mid 90s, I am struck by the time line of history. When Caroline was born Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 7 years, and when she died we were just 4 years away from the Second World War. For me that is a perspective. The changes that Caroline had experienced are remarkable and I can't help but wonder just what she would make of the 21st Century, with our lives of internet shopping and communication via the internet and telephone, What would she make of an iphone or an ipad for example. So much development in what is historically speaking a short space of time.

I hope, that my ancestors would be as proud of me, as I am of them and the contribution they made to my ancestry.

Fearless Females - Day 3

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I don't share any names with my female ancestors.

There are no particular naming links in my family. My Great Great Great Grandmother was called Prudence Budd. Prudence was born in Puttenham in 1817, she married George Ellis in 1834 and died in 1855. The name Prudence was passed down to the Grand Daughter of Caroline, my Great Grandmother Annie Prudence Harris and was then passed down again to the Great Grand Daughter of Caroline and used as a middle name in 1939. As far as I know that was the last time the name of Prudence was used in the family.

The most unusual name appears on my Grandmother's Warwickshire ancestry with a Bethsheba Drakeley born in Nuneaton in 1797, She married William Matthews in 1818 in Nuneaton and died aged 80 years in Newbold on Avon, near Rugby in 1878.

Fearless Females - Day 2

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This has to one of my favourite photographs. Given to me by a first cousin of my Grandfather, another women who lived a really full and meaningful life.

The photograph is of my Great Great Grandmother, sitting down, Caroline Harris nee Ellis (1844 - 1935) and four of her daughters. My Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris, Mabel Sheffield, nee Harris, Kate Cox nee Harris and Rose Cresswell nee Harris.

Caroline died in 1935 aged 91 years. This photo was taken cica 1930.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 23

Genealogy is like travelling along a country road, following the twists and turns of the road, with those taking the journey unsure of just where they will end up. There can be some real surprises, some curiosities and as always more questions. Genealogy is also like doing a jigsaw puzzle, with some of the pieces in the box and the rest rolling around on the floor, so that you must seek to find the bits or they will be lost for ever.

We all have a catalyst that prompts us to research our ancestry. I am not too sure what mine was. I was always curious of the life lead by my Grandfather and his siblings. I have mentioned before the visits to my Great Aunts and listening to them talk about the past, the people and places of their earlier lives. I also knew that my Grandfather was born in the parish of Wanborough, in the small hamlet of a wonderful place called Christmas Pie. Great name isn't it? I had this burning desire to bring the family back to life and really flesh out the bones of my ancestry. So that I could really understand who I was and from where I came.

The day I saw on the 1881 Census the name of my Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher, nee Harris I was truly overwhelmed. This was the old lady who had let her Great Grand daughter sit on the bed and tickle her toes, and who loved pineapple and we always took one when we went to visit. I recall a really jolly old lady with her white hair tied behind in a bun full of smiles. At the time I was only about 2 or 3 years old, yet the life she had led, the hardships she had suffered and the sights she had seen.

Born in 1879 in Puttenham Surrey, she married Charles Harris in 1898 aged just 19 years. Together they had 12 children with 9 living to adulthood. Charles died in 1943 aged 74 and Annie died in 1972 aged 92 years. I have only just realised that Charles was in fact 10 years older than Annie, something that I had not realised, not in 24 years of researching my ancestry. Which, just confirms that it is always worth re visiting the data held on a given person.

I think that sometimes, we simply focus on the common criteria of our ancestors lives; their dates. I read somewhere recently that everyone has a set of dates (1879 - 1972) and to leave the bracket open is a loose end. Thinking about it, whoever said it was right. Imagine the questions if I didn't know Annie died in 1972. Would I be compelled to find the dates? Probably as I hate loose ends! but, in doing so would I loose focus on the other bits of her life? An obvious one is that Annie lived through the Boer War, The Great War and The Second World War. Was she frightened? Did she feel worried, sad, concerned that her son, my Grandfather had joined the Army? Did she feel proud of him for doing the right thing? or, cross that he had not returned to the farm where he would have been in a reserved occupation with his brothers? That is just a few questions involving one of her 9 children, what about the other 8?

So, when we hear the statement "Going back to our roots" perhaps we really should revisit the data we hold about our ancestors and ask what don't we know rather than what we know, ask what we would like to know and can we find out? There are always more questions than answers, and I rather think there are more questions that even we could comprehend.

Word count 638

Ancestor of the week - William Arthur West - Part One

This is the belated post from 19th February.

William Arthur West was born in 1863 in Guildford. I became aware of him through the his marriage to my Grandfather's Aunt - Emma Jane Ellis (Harris). They married in 1897 and raised two children. A son called William James born 1898 in Aldershot Hampshire and a daughter, Clara Edith born 1901 in Aldershot.

I knew from my Grandfather's cousin that William Arthur had been a military man and made an earlier assumption, at this point I had not researched his military life, that he had been in the Boer War. I was then presented with some photos:

William Arthur is the second from the right in the back row.

Here he is again, this time with an unnamed boy soldier, look how young this lad is?

By chance I did a Google search on William Arthur. I have never come across anyone researching this family outside of my immediate family so what happened to William and Clara. William James is the subject of another Ancestor of the week post. I also wanted to know more of William Senior. I did know that after leaving the military he owned a sweet shop in Stony Stratford Buckinghamshire.

The Google search revealed an interesting website article, although a recent search does not show the article, which is a great shame. Anyway, the article looked at my William Arthur West from the perspective of the community in which he lived, Stony Stratford. The article provided a few clues which I had not been aware of, and I used this as a springboard for further research and to fill in a few gaps into William's earlier life.

I had already been in contact with the author of the article. I had a reply and was delighted to hear that they had quite an archive of material relating to my ancestor. I was invited to come and look at the article. I replied that given the distance it would not be until our next trip north of here and I was really surprised when I was offered the opportunity to receive the archive in the post for my perusal and copying. In due course the file arrived and I managed to copy the entire archive and return with some extra material by tracked post. That is one of the things that I love about genealogy, it is the genuineness of fellow researchers.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 18

There is so much we inherit from our ancestors. One thing I find curious is just what we develop as being part of a family group compared to what is genetically passed down. I recently wrote to someone about age and there is a history of longevity in my family. My Great Great Grandmother, Caroline Ellis died aged 91 in 1935. Her daughter, my Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris died in 1972 aged 92. Then three of my Great Aunts, the daughters of Annie died aged 94,98 and 95 respectively and the daughter of Annie's sister died aged 95 years. Whilst it is not usual to died at a grand old age now, I suspect it was in 1935, and perhaps even in 1972. Is that trend inherited or just luck? The men of the family died fairly young. The sons of my Great Grandmother all died before she did. We can explain men's early deaths - the unknown effects of smoking and the huge toll of manual labour, but women, certainly in the late Victorian period would have had just a hard time, especially if they kept house and worked in the fields....many hands make light work.

Physical similarities are really expected to be passed down. I for example look very like one of my second cousin, not too surprising as we are second cousins through a brother and sister marrying a brother and sister. Other similarities are height, eye colour and alike. I may have mentioned through the course of this blog that I am half Italian. I always feel very Anglo when I am with a group of Italians, yet can feel very Italian when I say or do something when in the company of non Italians. Curious.

So, when I look in the mirror and see my reflection just what else do I see? I see probably the resemblance of a few generations of family history.

Word count 321

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 16

Following on from the Ellis post, was it yesterday? I was inspired because of two things. I dusted the photo of Caroline Ellis in the lounge and thought that I should look at the Ellis family for day 16 and then I picked up my email and there was an email via Genes Reunited from someone who connected with the Ellis family. Not just the Ellis family of Elstead, but my particular branch of the Ellis family. Horray!

I then ploughed my way through oddles and oddles of papers, all on the Ellis family. Reading everything as I went. I emailed back to the enquirer delighted that contact had been made. I then received another message via Genes Reunited from someone who was a known cousin to the first email researcher. Excellent, I zapped off an quick email and thought were there any more? Well, there was one more researcher who recorded their interested ancestor as George Ellis born 1775 in Guildford that I had not been in touch with. I email them and opened my tree for viewing.

I was delighted and exhausted after reading all those Ellis papers, to see that the last correspondent also connects to my particular branch and he is descended from the brother of my Great Great Grandmother Caroline, Frederick Ellis.

Genealogy has the last laugh because Frederick Ellis born 1846 and brother to Caroline only went and married a Harris. I am no longer wondering if there is a connection, I am wondering when I shall find it or will the last laugh be on me?

Word count 263

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 14

When the majority of our ancestors married did they do so for love? Divorce was time consuming and expensive and restricted to those who could afford it. We all like to think that our ancestors married for love.Think all the hardships they endured to raise their families, those families who, if they had not existed, then neither would we.

I was given this picture by one of my Grandfather's first cousin's and I recall showing it to my Great Aunt. Her sight wasn't particularly good, but I wondered if she had ever seen the photo, so I asked her.

I was surprised and delighted with the answer, which was, I don't just recall the photograph she said, I took the photograph she said really proudly. Well that was two of us who were proud.

The photograph is of my Maternal Great Great Grandparents, Henry Harris (1843 - 1929) and Caroline Harris nee Ellis (1844 -1935). The couple had married on 3rd December 1864 at Puttenham Surrey. This photograph was taken on the occasion of their 60th Wedding Anniversary in 1924 and was taken at Manor Farm at Wanborough Surrey.

I am delighted that:

1. I had a relative that recalled taking the photo
2. The photograph had survived
3. My Great Great Grandparents had lived long enough to have celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. At the point of the celebration Henry was aged 81 and Caroline aged 80 years.

Henry and Caroline raised a family of 10 children born between 1864 and 1885, their eldest child, born just a few weeks after their wedding.

Was this true love? I do hope so.

Word count 273

Family Recipe Friday - Wheat Wine

Recipe written by my Great Grandmother- Annie Prudience Butcher nee Harris to my Grandparents George and Lilian. Written circa 1965.

Rec

My Great Grandmother by this time was living with various family members, her husband Charles had passed away in 1943.The address of Vine Cottages is believed to have been the address of My Grandfather's sister Margery and her husband Ernest, who was actually my Grandmother's brother. I have not tried the recipe, but might have a little experiment! I asked my Mum if she recalled what it tasted like, to which the response was lethal!

The photo (right) is of my Great Grandmother walking rather briskly along Bridge Street in Guildford circa 1955.

Copied from an earlier post and submitted to the Geneabloggers blog prompts.