In Deep with the Book of Me - February Prompt 2015 - Explore. Dream. Discover

I am going to respond to this prompt from the position of my husband's paternal Great Grandmother, Annie HINDLE, Nee RHODES and formerly WORSHIP (1869 - 1953). If you missed the Prompt you can see it HERE.

Annie RHODES was born in Bradford Yorkshire in 1869 she married Charles WORSHIP in Bradford in August of 1899 and they had three daughters:

• Emily born Bradford 1890 who married June Q 1915 to Sydney NEWBOULD in Bradford
• Lillian born Bradford 1893 (my husband’s paternal grandmother)
• Florence, born Bradford 1901.

At some point between 1901 and 1904 Annie met and had a relationship with Harry Hindle. They had a son together in 1904 who was registered under the surname of Worship and at this point Annie was still married to Charles Worship.

In 1905 Annie and the 10 month old baby boarded a ship bound for the United States. The passenger list states that Annie had been to the United States before and that she had £50 with her. She met up with Harry Hindle, took his surname and together they raised their son in Philadelphia.  Annie eventually divorced Charles Worship in 1921 and Annie and Harry marry in New York in 1922. Charles moved from Yorkshire to Scotland and married a widow there in 1922.

Harry and Annie Hindle with their son Henry Rhodes
Picture from the collection of Julie Goucher

The divorce papers cite that the petition for divorce was granted on the grounds of adultery and was typically written indicating that Annie was the instigator of the disintegration of the marriage. At this point in English Law divorce was granted usually in favour of the male.

We are researching in the period of the turn of the Century, a time that was very much focused on the values of the Victorian era and when women were still considered the property of the husband's. It would have been especially harrowing to have registered the baby with the name of the father rather than that of her husband and slurs on the character of Annie were surely inevitable.

What Annie did was incredibly brave for the time. Her leaving her children in England would have been the only real thing she could  have done, as they were also viewed as the property of their father. It is known from family records that Annie, Harry and their son made frequent visits to England, and two of Annie's children did visit them in the United States.

I am sure that Annie would have felt aggrieved at leaving her girls behind, and did she reflect back to 1905 when she left England for good? I am sure she did, I don't get a sense that she regretted at all going to the United States with Harry and their son, but I do get a sense that she regretted not having the strength to fight for her girls and stand up against the established way of life in 1904.

I have over the years researched this family quite a bit and you can read about the family HERE

Information on The Book of Me and In Deep with the Book of Me can be accessed via this link

Carnival Of Genealogy 112 - An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Here in the UK we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. We do, or we did when I was at school take part in Harvest Festivals.  For this Carnival of Genealogy are am going to do some imaging, based up the facts surrounding the amazing life of my husband's Great Grandmother.

Annie Rhodes was born in Bradford Yorkshire in 1869. In 1889 in Bradford she married Charles Worship and together they had three daughters, Emily, Florence and Lilian, my husband's Grandmother. Over the course of the last 5 years or so I have researched the Rhodes and Worship family and you can read about it in an earlier post HERE. In 1905, Annie Worship, although recorded as Wurship, boarded a ship to the United States; with her was a new baby, a son, that had been born in Bradford.

Passenger List from Ancestry.com 1905

When Annie got off the boat, in Philadelphia she became known as Annie Hindle as did the baby. Her divorce from Charles Worship did not take place until 1921 and her eventual marriage to Harry Hindle in New York in 1922. From what I can understand, Annie had a relationship with Harry in England and then became pregnant. She left her husband and migrated to America following her new love. Upon arrival she took Harry's name, but it would be 16 years before they could marry. 

As the ship from England had arrived a year earlier just after Thanksgiving, it would not be until 1906 when Annie & Harry with their son Henry would celebrate Thanksgiving.  It appears that Annie and Harry embraced their new life in a new Country. I am imagining that they sat down to dinner together, perhaps with new friends and celebrated the weekend. While the turkey or duck was in the oven did Annie quickly whisk up some batter and make Yorkshire Puddings to accompany their dinner? And as she did so, did her thoughts turn to her children left behind in Yorkshire? 

After dinner, was there some board games, or perhaps laughing and jokes?  Did Annie, in the midst of those celebrations turn her thoughts to England to her three daughters that she had left behind? Did she feel a little bit of regret? Would any of us make a different decision? Remembering that this is the early 20th Century. Views of living as a married couple when married to another would have been severely frowned upon. Abandoning her children likewise. It is so easy for us to view things through modern eyes. Annie made a huge and very difficult decision. 

These are questions that we will never know the answer too. My late father in law had a series of photos and we videoed them in the mid 1990s. I have since transferred those images to DVD, but very little of their life in America has passed to us. What has happened is that I made contact with someone who was the step son Annie and Harry's son. He very kindly provided me with some details and the very special image below, the only photograph that we have of Annie & Harry Hindle and their son Henry Rhodes Hindle.

Taking part in the Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Jasia.

Goucher Video / DVD

Back in 1993 we had the opportunity to video a selection of material that my father in law had of his family.

We recorded the material initially on a camcorder tape then transfered it to Video and more recently to DVD. I have now managed to photograph the photographic images using my iPhone. Now the images are OK, not brilliant, but OK and at least I can work with them. It was a nice couple of hours having a look at the material. There was information that I had forgotten we had. Which just shows it is good to go back to basics once in a while.