NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day 6

All those genealogical loose end drive me potty! How do we keep track of them all? 

I have a note book, which is much out of date. I also have a sort of a mind-map set out my individuals. I also have my regular note books which focus on various snippets of information which are jotted down as I think of them, or perhaps when I am reading. 

One this morning was PIM family to Russia - Paper mill - check file. I wrote this in my journal, but then I have done that before! I was reminded of the details from an article I read. There is nothing new here with the information, but a renewal of the thought process that I need to research this line further. Each time you retrace your genealogical steps, either literally or through a paper trail, another thought occurs and is added to the list.

On looking at the data that I have already - here is the details in bullet point format.

1. Pim, Elstone and Warren links to paper making - Sussex & Hampshire
2. These three family names also have links to Devon & Paper making - are these the same families?
3. Pim line to Russia  - establishing a paper mill
4. Elstone line to Canada 1854 - paper mill business
5. Warren line to Australia - circa 1850
6. Basic details of the specific businesses & paper mills
7. Is there a link to the Pim MP?

All these are  lines of research about relatives, not matter how distant or long ago. All these questions.........but how many answers?

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day 5

I focused earlier on which ancestors I would invite to dinner. Well, this got the little grey cells working and I wondered which ancestors I would visit in true "Back to the Future" style.

I would head back to the 17th Century and wander through the village of Puttenham in Surrey where many of my 3 x Great Grandmother, Prudence Budd's family came from. I would want to see how they lived, the food they ate and how they coped with their hard existence.

I would travel across the border into Hampshire and see my Elstone ancestors working in their paper mill. I would cross the border into Sussex and see how my Pim ancestors made their fortune with their paper mill. Was there really a link to the early Parliamentarian?

I would like to hear about John Hunt Butcher from Hascombe planning his migration to Tasmania, was this because of tales he heard from his brother in law? Also my Elstone ancestors who migrated to Canada and Australia.

Wouldn't it be lovely just to wander into their world and experience it first hand. Would we look like each other? Either facially or with mannerisms?

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day 4

Imagine. A dining table laid for guests. The table set with the best china, sparkling wine glasses and the very best cutlery. Who could be coming for dinner?

What if you could invite a series of your ancestors to dinner? People that had lived and died long before you had been born? Who would you invite?

• I would invite my 6 x Great Grandfather - Henry Budd (born circa 1700). Please confirm that you were born in Shackleford. I can't check as the original records have not survived!
• I would invite both of my Grand parents - Lilian Butcher nee Matthews (1912-1995) & George Butcher (1908 - 1974) Just to have one more conversation with them.
• I would invite my 5 x Great Grandfather John Elstone (1737 - 1799) because I want to understand more of the Paper making business he owned.
• I would invite my Great Great Grandfather John Matthews (1848 - 1927)  - I have a few questions.....
• I would invite my Great x 3 Grandmother Emaline Luff (1797 - 1856) -  Why did you say you were born in Bramshot? I did eventually find you in Lurgershall Sussex

Hopefully, we would have a lovely dinner - probably roast turkey as this would be a celebration and turkey would have been expensive during their lifetimes (exception here would be my Grandparents). We would hopefully chat and I would be able to ask them all the questions that I would like to. I wonder what they would make of me and my home, with running water, electricity and all the modern technology.......

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day 3

I had not looked at the prompts so far, but thought that today I would. The creative juices are just not flowing! Today's prompt is about siblings. I thought that I would focus on those of my Husband. I am always fairly envious that he has a series of siblings. I know that sounds odd, but both his parents had been previously married and both had children from those marriages.

The reality is that my husband has 4 siblings - a sister, a half brother and sister from one parent's first marriage and a half sister from the other parent's first marriage. They all for a time lived together, so you would think that they have some form of emotional attachment to one another. Alas no. Not even a glimpse of emotional attachment or even friendship.

I find it rather sad that none of them value one of the most fundamental things - Family. Of course, sometimes things are said and done that actually you reach a point of no return and that is where we are now. To some, family is disposable and I wonder when they will realise exactly what they have lost....

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day 2

Today, the Anglers Rest Blog is 10 years old - Happy Birthday!

Over the last 10 years the feel of this blog has changed. I still read a lot and post reviews, but there seems to be a change in the depth of those reviews and other posts which I make.

Back in 2002 Blogging, at least to me, did not seem to be as popular as it is now. On a personal note, I wasn't really sure what to do with a blog. I knew the purpose of one, but how much personal data did I want to put "out there"? I had all these considerations. In reality, Anglers Rest has really come into its own in the last couple of years.

The key to hosting a successful blog is to be true to yourself and to write honestly. I rarely divulge personal information - things I would not share with a stranger at a bus stop! It is easy to get carried away when writing, especially forgetting, that when I sit alone in my study writing and eventually hit send that the results are certainly seen by those who read my blog by email or reader, or perhaps follow  my tweets. Google also tracks the posts and they can be read by everyone. 

The catalyst for this was a change a in my professional life. Anglers Rest became somewhere that I could escape into and write whenever, about whatever I chose to, without any constraints apart from legal ones and the ones I placed upon myself.  Anglers Rest remains a place where I can write about all the things Relative to me - my interests and obsessions. The subjects are mainly genealogy or book related, but sometimes there is a post relating to health or social aspects, or perhaps our holidays. Occasionally my living family appear in  - my Husband and our dog Alfie and my Mum. There is rarely a mention of the day job and that is the way I like it!

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 - Relative! - Day One

As I commenced to write my first post I wondered what is relative? A quick look at the definition in the dictionary revealed this:

rel·a·tive 

adj.

1. Having pertinence or relevance; connected or related.

2. Considered in comparison with something else: the relative quiet of the suburbs.

3. Dependent on or interconnected with something else; not absolute. See Synonyms at dependent.

4. Grammar Referring to or qualifying an antecedent, as the pronoun who in the man who was on TV or that in the dictionary that I use.

5. Music Having the same key signature. Used of major and minor scales and keys: A minor is the relative minor of C major.

n.

1. One related by kinship, common origin, or marriage.

2. Something having a relation or connection to something else.

3. Grammar A relative pronoun.

As a genealogist, the word relative is generally used when we can not or do not want to be specific. Nothing sinister, but how can you explain that your 15th Cousin twice removed on your mother's side is standing next to you? So you either say this is my cousin and remove the specifics or this is a relative of mine which case you remove even the cousin link. By using the word relative it may imply that you believe you are related, but how is anyone's guess.

Through the course of research, you meet in person, on line or perhaps by post an individual or perhaps two, who have a family connection in some way. Not necessarily a close connection by blood, but one that you share a link of interest with perhaps someone who lived 200 years ago. I have many of those cousins. Some of whom reside in another part of the world, some have been and visited us and lived with us for a time, others I have never met, yet we share emails filled with the incidentals of our lives coupled with genealogical material.

Many of us grew up with Aunts and Uncles who were not, in the true meaning of the words, Aunts and Uncles, but held some other connection to the family. The term usually used as a mark of respect. I had such an Aunt and Uncle. They held no relation to me at all.

Aunt was simply a former evacuee of my Grandmother's during the Second World War. That sentence implies a simple fact. It does not indicate any form of emotional attachment; and there was emotional attachment. My Mum was given the evacuee's name as a middle forename. We exchanged Christmas gifts. Once their children were adults, my Grandmother would still send a £1 coin to "the boys". Whilst the value of the gift was small, the meaning and attachment was huge and as important as ever. Over the years I would meet the various family members of the evacuee, and her husband, and that relationship remains with us to this very day. So out of the passage of War came something of immense value, and something that as two families we treasure.

NaBloPoMo - February 2012 Getting Ready - Relative!

The February theme for NaBloPoMo is the word RELATIVE. Now that is a word a genealogist can hardly ignore. Shame it is February though, as I am already taking part in a challenge; The Family History Writing Challenge. However, I can see a possible opportunity here and so, for as long as my energy and brain power holds up, I am going to contribute to this as well. 

You can sign up HERE (by 5th Feb if you want to be included in the blog roll).

NaBloPoMo - Return - Day Four

After having a disturbed night I still woke early, how annoying is that? Anyway, I popped the kettle on for a cup of tea then headed back to bed with my latest read.

At just 10 am the church bells started ringing; and I pondered on how lovely it was to hear, and the very fact that after hundreds of years we still call people to church in the same way. I imagined the townspeople of the 19th Century hurrying from their humble homes to the church upon the call of the bells, and reflected on what the church meant to people two centuries ago. I have no local connections and after 15 years still do not think of Devon as my home. My roots are firmly in Surrey and I pondered on the activities of my ancestors. The fact that up and down the land, bells would have called parishioners to church in the same old way and I think that is quite remarkable.

Taking part in NaBloPoMo for Septmber. NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. The Goal is for participants to write a post each day for a month. To help inspire bloggers, NaBloPoMo allocates a theme for each month. The theme for September is Return.

NaBloPoMo - Return - Day Three

My mum has been working on a quilt for several years and has recently returned to it to finish it, before it makes it's new home in my spare room. Over the course of the last few weeks, inspired by an article in one of the UK quilting magazines we saw an advertisement for a local patchwork & quilting shop.

Serendipty is a local shop, originally situated in the Dartmoor border town of Bovey Tracy it has recently changed hands and then moved venues to just outside of Newton Abbot. Although quite small, the stock offered, along with friendliness and the class facilities is very good and as I left yesterday I picked up a brochure of the classes offered. We didn't manage to leave though without buying a few items!

Taking part in NaBloPoMo for Septmber. NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. The Goal is for participants to write a post each day for a month. To help inspire bloggers, NaBloPoMo allocates a theme for each month. The theme for September is Return.

NaBloPoMo - Return - Day One

The theme for September NaBloPoMo is Return and I did wonder, when I signed up two things. Firstly would I manage it and secondly even if I did manage to post everyday could I use the theme across every posting. I wondered that last week and as I write this post a week later I still wonder.

There is rarely a post on the Anglers Rest blog about the day job. This is my corner of escapism and I work in a field where confidentiality is paramount. That said, I spoke with someone yesterday who has been a client of the business that I work for. The business that he worked in has made him redundant, another casualty of the recession.

Whilst redundancy is not nice, he worked in the field of caring for vulnerable adults in a residential setting. What is even worse, as the receivers and administrators moved in to calculate the losses and salvage what they could, is that 15 vulnerable adults lost their homes and care staff. In some cases those residents had lived there a lifetime and the staff were the only family some of the residents had known.

I thought something was morally wrong with this situation when I learnt of it a month ago, and when my thoughts returned to it yesterday, as the organisation closed its doors, I still believe something is morally wrong. Sometimes, gain and loss is more, much more than about money.

Taking part in NaBloPoMo for Septmber. NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. The Goal is for participants to write a post each day for a month. To help inspire bloggers, NaBloPoMo allocates a theme for each month. The theme for September is Return.

NaBloPoMo - August - Fiction

The NaBloPoMo word for August if Fiction and whilst, I don't always take part my thoughts turned to the fiction of my family history.

We have all inherited stories of our ancestry and very often by the time we research the facts of the story, the storyteller has passed away and all we are left with is a story which may or may not be true, or perhaps there is a grain of truth and much fiction. The details and stories we are told can be used as springboards for the truth of our ancestry and I don't believe we can ask for more.

Frequent readers of this blog will have seen that I have posted about our recent holiday to Jersey of which I am currently about half way through. Jersey is rich in history, and much focus is given to the "recent" history of the German Occupation during the Second World War. There are monuments and the Occupational Tapestry, the Underground Hospital and a whole host of other things that makes the Island history rich in terms of this part of its history.

As we wondered and explored the island my thoughts turned to my Grandparents during the Second World War, were they fearful, how did the emotions of it all affect their lives? Why did my Grandfather join up?, he could easily have found work on the farm that my family worked on. What of my Grandfather's time in Africa? Did he see, like many others the dreadfulness of Europe? Some of these questions will never be answered, as there is no one left to ask, and his service record does not give instant answers.

What I do know is that my Grandmother had evacuees during the War and worked at the Laundry in Guildford, which washed and dealt with the clothes of the military. There is very little documentation of the formed laundry at Guildford, although the derelict building wasn't demolished until the late 1980s I think, and now the Crown Court sit on the same site. If only the walls of that old building could have talked, what stories would they have shared?

This photo is one of the ones that I have inherited, given to me by a cousin after my Grandmother passed away.  The cousin that had this photo was the daughter of my Grandmother's sister, so why did she have it? What did my Aunt do in the War? The photo shows my Grandmother in the middle, and two work colleagues from the laundry or two evacuees? There is no one left to ask, but I do know, because the photograph tells me on the back that one is called Eadie Greenaway, but which one?

For me, this is a combination of fact and fiction, and I believe that most of our ancestries can be like that. The stories we inherit are fiction, until we can prove them with evidence and then they become fact. Of course if we can't locate any evidence then we are always left wondering.......

NaBloPoMo - Day 11 - Death

We have I am sure all heard the saying "There are two certainties in life; death and taxes"

Such a sad single word, which has the ability to shatter ones life. In the past year in this household we have suffered two bereavements. One on my husband's side of the family and one on mine. Each one different, in as much as partially expected against totally unexpected, the emotional connection we each felt to the deceased. Yet the two separate events were catalysts for a chain of events that neither of us expected. Such is life and even though the initial catalyst was dreadful, they are the positives that have resulted from a sad situation.

Look beyond though, to the practicalities. The turmoil that death leaves behind. The family divides and arguments at a time when families should pull together. The questions that there are no answers too, the questions that potentially might arise in the future.

• Is there a will? Where is it?
• Who are those named in the will? names and addresses?
• Is all the answers the executors will need in the will?
• Does even our spouse know of our wishes?

There are so many questions. Would your family know the answers, or perhaps be shocked by the answers?

Certainly in my working life it is okay of course to be ahead of the game, being prepared for a meeting or alike,to know the outcome of your labours. This is different. Being ahead of the game in this situation is the final journey. There is no way of checking everything is in place, the last conversations for clarity. In a rather callous way the curtains are down and there is no encore.

Sobering isn't it?

NaBloPoMo - Day 10 - Photographs

The concept of photography is quite simply amazing. We can with the click of a button these days take a photograph and record and event in history. Is that what the developers originally thought of?

The most important camera most of us have is our eyes. Think how many snapshot images they capture over a lifetime, the data committed to memory, which in turn sparks a moment of clarity and recognition as our brain computes the data the eyes have seen previously. Fascinating!

The camera and the ability to record events is wonderful. We can record events, people and objects. Like many of us I have a collection of photographs in the study. They span back for years and each have an importance, otherwise they would not have been taken in the first place!

The snapshot of our holidays, young family members, pets to name a few, and are the historical facts of the future in much the same way of the older photos we probably all have inherited, were at one time.

The here and now will become the history of the future.

NaBloPoMo - Day 9 - Letters

In times past we used to get two daily postal deliveries, nowadays I barely get one delivery. The art of writing a letter has gone, vanished, a casualty of the modern age of emails, blogs, texts, tweets and Face Book.

In my study I have a collection of letters written to me by my late Grandmother. I have also a collection of letters written by the wife of my deceased cousin. In those letters, she shared with me a host of things, snippets of her family and domestic life and asked questions about mine. I also have other letters which I have kept and treasure.

Do we though, keep emails in the same way? I print off any particular genealogical email that I want to keep, but the typed word feels completely different to that written by the pen. I don't know why, it just does, perhaps it is a psychological thought of handwritten letters being more personal?

I read somewhere a few months ago of a lad who was aged 16. He had never written a letter. You know the sort of letter that involves and envelope and stamp and a favourite pen. I remember being amazed at this. When I was a child my task on boxing day was to sit and hand write letters of thanks for my Christmas presents. I don't know if any of those letters survive the estates of my late relatives. So perhaps this lad simply tweets his thanks or maybe sends a text?

I have a favourite pen, well actually I have two. The first one is a silver Parker pen which has my initials and surname engraved on the side. This was a present from my Grandmother when I finished my professional training in the early 1990s. The second is my trusty fountain pen, a present from my Mum in the mid 1990s. I usually sit and use the fountain pen when I write my Christmas cards.

NaBloPoMo - Day 8 - Blog

The word Blog is a new word. Forget the dictionary aspects of it. There are many wonderful blogs out there on the web. Each one, potentially, we can get lost in as we read, understand, develop and get to know the authors. I have taken part in a few blog hops and find it fascinating, as I click each link and see new material and information. All entered freely by others on the wonderful invention of the information highway!

NaBloPoMo - Day 7 - Friendship

A Golden Chain

Friendship is a Golden Chain,
The links are friends so dear,
And like a rare and precious jewel
It's treasured more each year...

It's clasped together firmly
With a love that's deep and true,
And it's rich with happy memories
and fond recollections, too...

Time can't destroy its beauty
For, as long as memory lives,
Years can't erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives...

For friendship is a priceless gift
That can't be bought or sold,
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than gold...

And the Golden Chain of Friendship
Is a strong and blessed tie
Binding kindred hearts together
As the years go passing by.

- Helen Steiner Rice -

NaBloPoMo - Day 6 - Books

I love books, always have done. I especially like old books and the musty smell they share. I don't know if I had a fabric book, you know the sort that babies have that can be chewed, sucked and washed! I do still have my very first set of books which were Noddy books by Enid Blyton.

I remember being allowed each week to choose a book. Mum tells me that even then, I was somewhat obsessive about having a set, and purchasing and reading in order. That is something I still do today and even now I won't start reading the beginning of a series unless I have the next one ready in the wings. Obsessive I know, but it is part of me and I guess that is all there is to it.

I like buying books on line then having them delivered, it saves carrying them from town and they are often cheaper, but you can not beat wandering around a bookshop, reading the titles, perhaps selecting a title, enticed by the cover, reading the rear cover and perhaps a page, or two from the inside.

There are often books which just have that pick me up and touch me cover. Do you know what I mean? The Elm Creek novels by Jennifer Chiaverini books have just that sense about them. I think it is down to the covers, which in the case of this series is about a fictional quilting school, and not too surprisingly the covers are pictures of quilts. - In essence they are feel good books!

NaBloPoMo - Day 5 - Association

Isn't it funny how something you see, hear, smell can be associated with a memory or a thought? The human brain is complex and I guess that this is one of those complexities.

Yesterday I read on a blog that, they had smelt the beautiful aroma of a flower. The flower in question was the Freesia's. For me the sight or smell of Freesia's always reminds me of my late Aunt. She always loved the pink and yellow ones.

As a child I remember visiting another of my Aunt's she would always, without exception, as we left had my Grandmother half a dozen eggs and a Toblerone for me. My Gran would always say "Now, Rose, you know you shouldn't" but Aunt would have none of it and insist we left with the eggs. Just how that little tradition started I have no idea.

Anyway, doing my shopping recently I wandered up the sweet isle and there looking at me, above the fun size mars bars that I usually put into Stuart's lunch box as a treat was a Toblerone. I immediately thought of my Aunt. I am guessing that Aunt's grandchildren liked them and she always kept a few in for junior visitors too! Anyway, I bought the Toblerone and consumed most of while writing a blog post later than evening. It looked and tasted just the same as it had one 30 odd years ago!

Happy Memories!

NaBloPoMo - Day 4 - Weekend

I like the weekend, and especially the last few. That is because I have not had to work! In my last job I found that working an extra 4 hours on a Saturday a pain when I had already worked 40+ hours during the week. By the time I got home and unwound it was Saturday night, then I had Sunday at home or doing whatever needed doing then it was back to work. In an environment that I found stressful.

Since, starting my new job I appear to have blogged more, read more and slept more. All three things I had lacked in the past two years.

So, I am working today, then having lunch with a friend and former colleague, with plans for getting some project work that I have done over the last month proof read and posted to blog. I also have a piece of written work that I need to print, and get ready in its folder for the day job which will take about 40 minutes and I have a rather large pile of papers in the study which needs a serious overhaul and an appointment with the hairdressers!

That might not sound particularly inspiring, but believe me, I am more rested now than I have been in the previous two years!

NaBloPoMo - Day 3 - Birthdays

Today My Grandfather would have been 103 years old. I woke up this morning thinking about him and I am sure my Mum has too. I don't think you ever stop missing your parents or a loved one when they have passed away, you somehow learn to cope and adapt.

My Grandfather lead an interesting life and rather than turn this into another genealogy post, you can read about the life my Grandfather had on his Ancestor of the week post.

My husband has a rather special birthday this year, also his birthday is a few days before Christmas so getting a lovely card and gift is always a challenge. I am thinking early this year, and pondering on getting him a bottle of his favourite tipple which has been fermented or whatever the process is for Whiskey!