Showing posts with label award. Show all posts
Showing posts with label award. Show all posts

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Blogging Awards & Some Thoughts

In the last week there has been numerous posts about awards and the value of them. You can read a really good discussion at Finding Eliza with a link to an article called Blogging Awards & SEO & a further posts and comments over at Family History Across the Seas hosted by Pauline, along with a post at Australian Ancestral Journeys

It became clear that many of the genealogical bloggers appreciate the gesture of receiving the award, but feel uncomfortable of the forwarding of it. Feeling, that it singles out fellow bloggers, in addition to the SEO.

I have to say I agree. There are lots of blogs that I visit and comment on, and whilst I am very grateful that others feel that my blog is worthy of an award, and that people read my posts and leave comments. I do not like passing them on.

Several times last year I wrote a post saying that I had been awarded an award and then linking to the main page of the awarder - much in the same way as I have linked to Pauline in this post, and the way that I often to link to other bloggers when I write posts, as a courtesy and acknowledgement.  I then went onto to say this -
"I follow a tremendous number of blogs and many of them are versatile. I have therefore decided not to pass along the award, but to make a further loan $25 to the Kiva Project that I have mentioned several times on this blog. I am a member of the Genealogists for Families Team"
Therefore I have decided that should I be nominated for a blog I shall no longer forward it on. Nor will I be awarding any awards.  Instead I shall
  1. Use it as an opportunity to undertake something of lasting value by making a loan to KIVA via the Genealogists for Families Team 
  2. Create a page for blogs that I follow regularly and enjoy.


Saturday, 12 January 2013

Blog the Year Award 2012

Blog of the Year Award 1 star jpeg

I was really delighted to see that I had been nominated for the Blog of the Year 2012 Award by Pauline from Family History Across the Seas.

The biggest reward I get from writing the Anglers Rest blog is that people read my posts, comment, and subscribe and/or follow it. 

The amount of team work and friendships that have evolved is wonderful and is a testament to the wonders of the Internet. If we didn't have the Internet, blogging as it stands would not exist and the friends we make and the projects we can involve ourselves in would be unknown to us. It has to be the most amazing invention of the 20th Century.

With those thoughts in mind. I am nominating the following bloggers for this award.
  • Judy Webster, absolutely deserves this award. Judy's project of the Genealogists for Families Team is such an inspiration of sharing, kindness and team work. 
  • Allin at Australian Genealogical Journey's - I love Allin's motivational Monday posts and as I read them every week usually with a pen in hand to jot down any thoughts that come to me!
  • Alona at Gould Genealogy & History News - Alona was the host behind the A-Z Family History Writing Challenge which ran last year. I still have a few draft posts to complete and then plan to post them.
  • Frances of Rebel Hand - Frances posts are always full of interesting facts and is the author of Rebel Hand, Nicholas Delaney 1798
  • Kristin, of Finding Eliza - For being such a supporter and commenter of Anglers Rest and for writing such fascinating and well researched posts.

THE RULES

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Awardhttp://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

Saturday, 30 June 2012

One Lovely Blog Award

Last week I was nominated for this award by Vikki who blogs at The View Outside.

Like Vikki, I am a little bit of an blog award rules breaker! So I am on this occasion not nominating this to other bloggers. This is for two reasons, firstly I received an award in early June which I have only just responded to and secondly, I plan to, as is my custom to make a further loan in support of the Genealogists for Families Team at Kiva.

I will though say this, I read many blogs, not in a particularly timely manner. Each one adds value to my reading and thoughts and I value the comments and friends that I have made via the blogging world.

Illuminating Blog Award

In early June I was awarded the Illuminating Blog Award by Peggy at Musings of a MadCityWriter. I am always amazed that there is an interest in the ramblings that I write and that people enjoy what they read and then bestow a virtual award.







Here are rules of acceptance:

  1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).
  2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.
  3. The Nominee should include a courtesy link back to the official award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) in their blog post.
  4. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.
  5. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Many people indicate that they wish they could nominate more so please feel free to nominate all your favorites.
  6. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).
As is my custom, I shall nominate several writers whose blog I read, I shall share one thing about myself and make a loan via the Genealogists for Families Team.

The random fact about myself is that I rarely drink alcohol. The alcoholic drink I had was a glass of sparkling rose wine in Jersey in July 2011 for our Wedding Anniversary!

My nominations are

  1. The View Outside
  2. Genealogists for Families Project - the blog where it all started!
  3. Family History Across the Seas
  4. ANZ LitLovers LitBlog
  5. Beth Fish Reads

Monday, 30 April 2012

ABC Award

Back in March, I received a lovely surprise; Kate of Believe Anyway had nominated Anglers Rest for The ABC (Awesome Blog Content) Award. Thank you. I am always amazed at the positivity of others in response to my rambling & obsessive blog posts! 

**List 26 things about me in alphabetical order

**Pass the award along
I have saved responding to the award until today, because I thought it was a nice way to conclude this years A-Z Blogging Challenge, although the official reflective post will be made next week. 

Instead of 26 things about me, I am sharing 26 sites that I came across during the A-Z Challenge. Selecting 26 out of the thousands of sites out there in the ether is hard work because there are so many wonderful, informative and creative sites.


I am going to loan another $25 to the Kiva Project that I have mentioned several times on this blog. I am a member of the Genealogists for Families Team.

Friday, 20 April 2012

Versatile Blogger Award


A few weeks ago, I received a lovely surprise; Sherry of Mama's Diaries had nominated Anglers Rest for The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you. I am always amazed at the positivity of others in response to my rambling & obsessive blog posts! 

To comply with the rules of this award, I have to mention, thank and link to the award giver.  I also have to tell you seven things about myself:

  1. Instead of being born in September I was two weeks late and arrived in October. I am always in a rush or running late!
  2. I have a career in pharmacy management and a history degree.
  3. I seriously need to declutter and have despite culling many books I still have more books than bookcases.
  4. I believe that learning and books are medicines for the mind.
  5. I can play backgammon and not chess.
  6. I would rather drink tea than an alcoholic beverage.
  7. I have an iPad and iPhone, I am a potential PC to MAC convert!
Passing it on to other bloggers - I follow a tremendous number of blogs and many of them are versatile. I have therefore decided not to pass along the award, but to make a further loan $25 to  the Kiva Project that I have mentioned several times on this blog. I am a member of the Genealogists for Families Team.

Sunday, 11 March 2012

Sunshine Award


Thanks to Betsy of Remember........a family history blog who gave me the award at the end of 2011.

The rules are quite simple-
  1. Thank the person who gave you the award
  2. Answer 10 questions
  3. Pass the award along to 10 sunshine worthy bloggers
Here are the questions and my answers!
  1. Favourite colour - green and blue
  2. Favourite animal - Kaola
  3. Favourite number - 2
  4. Favourite drink - Tea
  5. Facebook or Twitter - It depends, but overall I think Twitter
  6. My Passion - Several - my family, genealogy and books
  7. Giving or Receiving - Giving is best!
  8. Favourite Day - Friday
  9. Favourite Flower - Sunflower
  10. Favourite Foods - Dark or plain chocolate toffees.
I should now pass the award along to 10 worthy bloggers. I have decided that I am not going to pass the award along. There are so many wonderfully informative and fun blogs out there, certainly many more than 10! I follow loads and do not comment nearly enough.

Instead I am going to loan another $25 to the Kiva Project that I have mentioned several times on this blog. I am a member of the Genealogists for Families Team.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Versatile Blogger Award


I came home from work on Monday 18 April to a lovely surprise; to see that Fi of Fi's Magical Writing Haven had nominated Anglers Rest for The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you. I am always amazed at the positivity of others in response to my rambling & obsessive blog posts!


To comply with the rules of this award, I have to mention, thank and link to the award giver.  I also have to tell you seven things about myself:
  1. Instead of being born in September I was two weeks late and arrived in October. I am always in a rush or running late!
  2. I have a career in pharmacy management and a history degree.
  3. I seriously need to declutter and have despite culling many books I still have more books than bookcases.
  4. I believe that learning and books are medicines for the mind.
  5. I can play backgammon and not chess.
  6. I would rather drink tea than an alcoholic beverage.
  7. After several months I am still debating whether to buy an ipad or an android version. (Any hints and tips appreciated!).
The final rule to this award is to pass it on to other bloggers. I follow a tremendous number of blogs but of them all, I felt that those listed below were amongst the most versatile.

Blogging A-Z - April Challenge - Survival of the Challenge!


Thanks to Elizabeth Mueller for this award. I really enjoyed undertaking this challenge, My biggest challenge was making sure I posted on the correct day, and towards the end, I failed miserably! My focus was on issues and thoughts that meant something to me, rather than random words.

I still have not visited the blogs of all those who took part, but am making a little headway. HERE is the list of participants on Elizabeth's blog & HERE is the original thread.

As I have looked at some of the blogs there are some really interesting posts and I have a few ideas for next year!

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Creative Blog Award


I was awarded the Creative Blog Award by Deirdra of The Storybook World for my contribution to the April A-Z blogging Challenge.

Thank you for the nomination.

Sunday, 6 March 2011

One Lovely Blog Award

Thanks to Fi of Fi's Magical Writing Haven and to Kathy of Pond-er-Deeply for both awarding me the One Lovely Blog Award. It has been a lovely surprise and I am delighted that you both think that the Anglers Rest blog is worthy.

Here are the rules for accepting the award:

Here are the rules for the award:
  • Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and their blog link.
  • Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered.
  • Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.
I consider myself very fortunate that I have been introduced to lots of new blogs & their authors by the blog hops I have taken part in and from various genealogical tweets! Choosing just 15 has been difficult but here it is, my list of award winners:

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.

Saturday, 26 February 2011

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:

Medical Corp during Boer War

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

Boy Solider & William Arthur West

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.

Josephine West Death Certificate

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.

Saturday, 12 February 2011

Ancestor of the week - Lilian Edith Butcher nee Matthews

This week I am featuring my late Grandmother, whose family I have focused on thus far in the Family History Writing Challenge.

Born Lilian Edith Matthews in Guildford Surrey on 18th December 1912, the daughter of John Matthews and Mary Elizabeth nee Elstone. My Grandmother was one of 11 children born between 1901 and 1921.

Despite having a really close relationship with my Grandmother so much of her life is unclear, and it was when I started becoming interested in family history that my Grandmother developed the early stages of dementia. I can only describe that as tragic to watch, but nonetheless, I loved her dearly and up until she died we maintained that special relationship and she always knew who I was, although was hazy on other things.

In her earlier life she looked after her brothers, which I described in an earlier post as part of the writing challenge. After she left the family home she went to live with her sister Elsie and brother in law William Downes.

My Grandmother's brothers use to drink, a swift pint after work at the coal yard at a pub called The Plough in Guildford. It was the same pub that my Grandfather's family used. Through this my Grandmother met my Grandfather, and my Grandmother's brother Ernest met and married my Grandfather's sister Margery. It does take a moment or two to get your head around the criss crosses of the family marriages, and I all I can say is that criss crosses of my family history continued after this event and research shows that they had happened before too!

Anyway, at some point between leaving St Nicholas School at Guildford in 1924 and getting married in 1939 my Grandmother had worked at Woolworths in Guildford, always known in our family as Fred's, which sadly demised through the recent recession and Flippance's the Green Grocers in Guildford.

During the war she worked at the Laundry at Guildford dealing with the clothes, uniforms and bedlinen from the hospitals & solders and had three evacuees, which are the subject of the Family History Writing challenge day 7.

Saturday, 5 February 2011

Ancestor of the week - George Butcher

My Ancestor of the week post for this week is about my Grandfather George Butcher 1908 - 1974. Born the son of Charles Butcher and Annie Prudence Harris, who is often known in my research notes as APH! George was one of 12 children, of whom only 9 survived into adulthood.

George worked I believe fairly extensively upon the farm where all his brothers worked, Manor Farm at Guildford. For those that know the area, the land is now occupied by the University of Surrey! During the Second World War my Grandfather served in the Army, having joined up in 1940. Now why he did this is a complete mystery. By then he was living with my Grandmother, they having married in November 1939 at the address in Walnut Tree Close mentioned in an earlier post and working for Unigate Dairies. I always wondered if he can be called up, but no his service record reveals that he volunteered to serve his Country and that makes me very, very proud. He could so easily have gone back to the farm and worked alongside his brothers.

I had always wanted to find out more of his Military life. The photo above was taken probably in Africa where he served during the War. On the reverse it simply says "Your loved one, George X" Such a simple photo, yet I know my Grandmother treasured it, as do I now.

My Grandfather returned to Guildford after the war and didn't discuss his war time efforts. After his death in the 1970s all that remained was a few photos, a square coin in a small leather purse that I had been given as a child, a box housing his four medals and a piece of material with embroidered corners, his efforts to fill any spare time and his pay book.

I still have the coin in the leather purse and about ten years ago I had both the medals and embroidery framed professionally. These both hang in their frames upon my landing where I see and admire them everyday and like so many of us feel very proud.


Then in 2008 I decided that it was time to send off for his service record. I read a post on the WWII Talk Forum which explained how to send off for the record. Here in the UK they are only released to the service personnel themselves or their next of kin. So, I sent off the Ministry of Defence form, and enclosed with it the copies of death certificates for both my Grandparents, the next of kin disclosure form, a cheque for £30 and a copy of the pay book revealing his Army number. I received a letter back advising me of a several month wait. So I sat back and waited. Not very patiently as I am not that patient! I was really delighted when about three weeks later I received the Service Record.

I then decided to try and decipher some of the military abbreviations. A sheet of relevant ones had been sent with the documents, alas, there were some that were clearly localised ones! I am still reading and really must get back to it again, but in the meantime, I have set up a blog page to reflect the Military life of my Grandfather called George's War and need to update the page and write some additions.

Ancestor of the week - John King

I have mentioned in other posts, here and here about the King family of Puttenham Surrey. Of the family there was only one boy, John born in 1788 in the parish of Puttenham Surrey and died in 1812 in the Gulf of Persia. That small amount of details doesn't seem much to show for 24 years of life does it?

A search of the India Office Records revealed that John had died 29 October 1812 whilst on board the ship Duncan in the Gulf of Persia. At the time of his death he was a Lieutenant in the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) of 21 Madras MI.

A quick search for more details of the ship revealed a website featuring the ships of the East India Company. From glancing at the page it would appear that the ship that John King died upon was the Lord Duncan which remained in service until 1813. Was this a coincidence? Had the vessel not been sea worthy? or was it perhaps disease stricken?

A further Google search revealed a really fascinating view of the Duncan via this web page. Page 134 item 717, which reads

"717 RARE SUNDERLAND CREAMWARE BLACK TRANSFERPRINTED, ENAMEL-DECORATED AND PINK LUSTRE PRESENTATION JUG, GARRISON POTTERY, PROBABLY DIXON & CO. PARTNERSHIP, CIRCA 1813-19. Printed on one side with a rare view of the Wear iron bridge, faintly signed “W. Cockburn,” the other with a view of the “NORTHUMBERLAND 74,” marked “Dixon & Co. Sunderland Pottery,” and inscribed in black enamel beneath the spout “G. J. Sanders” above the verse “Forget me not” within a floral wreath, all within pink lustre squiggles. Height 7 ½ inches.

Literature: This particular Wear bridge view is not recorded in Baker. The central ship depicted in this unusual print is named across the stern “L. DUNCAN.” Launched in 1798, the ship “Lord Duncan” was named after Admiral Duncan, hero of Camperdown, 1797. The print also varies from more common examples with the inclusion of buildings with tall chimneys in the background, and by the ship in dry dock on the right side."

Now, this is a fascinating find as it does give a vague idea of what the ship where my ancestor died upon looked like. I do need to do further research on John King and on the ship.

(note this is the missing post from January 29, 2011)

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Ancestor Approved Award

Thank you to Allin at Australian Genealogy Journal (ausgenjourneys) for nominating the Anglers Rest blog for the Ancestor Approved Award. I do feel really honoured to have received the nomination.

This Award was created by Leslie Ann Ballou at Ancestors Live Here in 2010, who asks two things of those who receive it:
  1. They should write 10 surprising, humbling, or enlightening aspects of their research.
  2. Pass the award on to 10 other researchers whose family history blogs are making their ancestors proud.
Ten enlightening, humbling or surprising aspects of my family history research:
  1. I was very surprised to research that my own Grandparents, George Butcher and Lilian Edith Matthews were 6th Cousins. Something that they never knew in their lifetimes.
  2. It was surprising to establish that for 30 years we had been paying our respects to my Great Great Grandparents, Charles and Annie Prudience Butcher (nee Harris) at the wrong grave.
  3. It is humbling that all our ancestors lived through such hardships in order for the next generation to survive. We owe so much to our ancestors.
  4. I was surprised to see exactly what material was left behind by our ancestors. An example of this is the picture drawn by Esther Bellasis in Australia circa 1803. Truly wonderful.
  5. I was surprised to see that one of my Grandmother's uncles - Alfred Elstone said to New York as a young man, in 1890. He did return to England where he married Rose Butcher of Merrow, Guildford.
  6. I am always surprised just how little some of my ancestors moved around. Both my Grandparents ancestry is centred around the Home Counties borders of Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex (apart from one line who comes from Warwickshire). Movement of no more than 40 miles over 300 years.
  7. My plan for 2011 is to create a weekly post for this blog called Ancestor of the Week. I am quite surprised by just how much I am enjoying travelling back over the research steps I have already travelled, so that I can produce posts that document a great deal of my family history.The second surprise of this is what data and information had been unnoticed the first time around! Which just shows looking with a fresh pair of eyes is always a good thing.
  8. I was surprised that the elusive Henry Budd may have been born into a very nearby rural parish that I had not expected. How could he have done this to me?!! I really have over the last 20 years or so become quite attached to him.
  9. I was surprised to see that my Great Great Uncle William Arthur West had been married twice. Firstly to Caroline Josephine Kimberley in 1887. She died in Eshowe South Africa in 1894. William West was a soldier in the Zulu War, having joined the Army in 1879. His second wife was Emma Jane Ellis whom he married in 1897. I was even more surprised when I started to research William more, to find that he was Emma Jane's first Cousin.
  10. I am very humbled by two photos that I have in my collection. The first is of the son of William Arthur & Emma Jane West, William James West born 1898 in Hampshire. This is a photo of William James as he went of to Europe to fight in the First World War. Sadly William died aged just 20 years.

The second photo is of his mother who is wearing, with pride and deep sadness the loss of her only son, a pendant bearing the photo on the left. This is a really humbling fact of my family history and we have plans to head to France and pay our respects to William James.



Ten other researchers whose Blogs are making their ancestors proud
  1. Blundering Blindly Backwards
  2. Kentucky Kinfolk
  3. Cruwys News
  4. Our Family Quilt
  5. Leaves for Trees
  6. Twigs of Yore
  7. Little Bytes of Life
  8. Random Notes
  9. Tangled Trees
  10. A Brummie Family Tree
There are so many humbling and surprising things that we find along the way when researching the lives of our ancestors. Likewise there are so many fascinating blogs and websites that document other families. Choosing ten was quite a challenge!

Ancestor of the week - George Bridges Bellasis & Ester King

Inspired by the post on Twigs of Yore in commemoration of Australia Day - 26 January, and doubling up as my Ancestor of the Week post.


Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don't have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia.
  1. What is the document?
  2. Do you remember the research process that lead you to it? How and where did you find it?
  3. Tell us the story(ies) of the document. You may like to consider the nature of the document, the people mentioned, the place and the time. Be as long or short, broad or narrow in your story telling as you like!"
The document I am going to use for this is the picture on the left of a pink Hibiscus and is titled "The Carrajan by Mrs Bellasis, Sydney and was painted circa 1803.


I first became aware of the Bellasis connection to my ancestry back in the late 1980s. I then did little research into that line beyond the records that existed in the rural Surrey parish of Puttenham and created what is online as the Puttenham One Place Study

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. I can almost here the cries of Mary King as she worries about her daughters finding good husbands. Just how the King daughters became connected to the Bellasis family is intriguing, but all but two of the girls (one married in England and the other died in 1795 aged 17 years) married men connected to the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) and their son also spent time in India before dying in the Gulf of Persia in 1812. The link to how I established this is rather wonderful. The Curate of the parish of Puttenham was a man called Charles Kerry. During his time in the village he kept a series of manuscripts and as part of those there is a reference or two to the Bellasis connection. It was this fact that acted as my springboard.

Ester 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 the painting above online. I sent off to the archive, The Mitchell Library, State Library for NSW, 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 afterall.

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.

Associated posts - Genealogical Wonder published November 2010 has more details on one of the King daughters.

All the posts submitted for this challenge are here

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Ancestor of the week - Henry Budd

My Ancestor this week has always been a bit of a challenge. Just when I think I have "got" him something happens that changes any hypothesis that I might have.

I started researching my ancestry the way most of us do, researching from what is known to the unknown. My Great Great Great Grandmother was a lady called Prudience Budd and it was this fact that got me on the trail to Henry and my obsession with the rural village in Surrey the family lived in called Puttenham.

As I trawled through the Parish Records and archives I became aware of one of the Curates of the parish called Charles Kerry. Kerry kept during his time in Puttenham a series of manuscripts written at the time and it was this manuscripts that brought the Budd family to life.


Budd Strudwick Vol 8 (Puttenham)

This pedigree, which appears in Volume 8 of the Kerry Manuscripts confirms all the details that I had already established from the Parish Records and very faintly, just above the name of Henry it reads "First of the Budds". I can still remember, 20 years on, the fascination that I felt when I stumbled across this pedigree, also the "what do you mean?" response that I echoed to the papers in a room full of archives and fellow researchers, much to everyone's amusement!.

I went back to the parish records and retraced my steps. All the children of Henry and his wife Martha were baptised in Puttenham. Another look in the Marriage records did not reveal a marriage for Henry to Martha. I spent more than 10 years looking for their marriage, searching each parish methodically from Puttenham and then each village and parish within a 10 mile radius. Success happened with the Church of the Later Day Saints released the Vital Records on CD.

Bingo! I had located the marriage of Henry Budd to Martha Ottaway in 1723 in the parish of Chertsey. I should say that given the proximity of Puttenham to both the border with Sussex and Hampshire I checked the strays indexes held in those two Counties by the Family History Societies in addition to the one held in Surrey and there was no other marriage for a Henry to a Martha in the right time frame. What I did know was that Henry had certainly been in the neighbourhood as in 1720 he was witness to a marriage in the parish of Elstead, about a mile or so from Puttenham.

Next I set about trying to unravel the details of Henry's birth. I headed to the IGI first of all to see if that could give me a clue. The index revealed a Henry born in 1699 in Binstead Hampshire. Not all that far from Puttenham, certainly walking distance by 18th Century standards. I wasn't convinced I had the right man. I shelved the Henry Budd mystery for a while.

Then I was following a discussion on the Surrey Rootsweb list when someone suggested that perhaps my Henry came from Shackleford, a rural parish some 2 miles from Puttenham as there was a mention of a Henry Budd being a tenant of a house called Cobblers. Alas no parish records for Peperharrow, which would be the most likely parish for any births to be recorded in, have survived. I am now still looking in the neighbouring parishes for the birth of Henry.

What is a coincidence is that I had a Great Aunt and Uncle who lived in Shackleford for many years, the distance by road is about 2 miles and across the fields to Puttenham the distance is shorter and unachievable now or certainly in the 18th Century. My gut feeling tells me that this is the Henry I am seeking, I just need to have some proof and undertake some additional research on this elusive ancestor of mine.

Saturday, 8 January 2011

Ancestor of the week - Henry Rhodes Hindle

The following posting started life as a posting and article made back in 2007 to the now defunct Yahoo group "Preserving our Heritage" (POH). There were also four post scripts to the article through the course of 2007 - 2008. Therefore I have tweaked the structure of the initial post and the additional research for the point of this blog posting. I don't exactly know when the POH group folded, but it did and that was a huge shame. The group was friendly and very often the discussions were very thought provoking and informative.

About 15 years ago, my father in law, Derek Goucher gave me a pencil. There was nothing particularly special except that it lead to a part of my husband’s ancestry that I find intriguing, because it is harboured by geography.

“My grandmother divorced her husband, moved to America and remarried”, said my father in law and this pencil is the advertising his business.

Well, not quite, but let me explain.

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

The 1901 UK Census shows the three children living with both their parents in Bradford.

The 1911 UK Census was not available for general searching at the point of the initial start of the research.

The story of Annie WORSHIP (nee RHODES) going to America was confirmed when I was greeted with a photograph, bearing on the back an address in PA in 1943.
I can not be specific on the address and my father in law was not happy to let me copy the photo, so I let the matter drop, at least for now!

Meanwhile, Ancestry had put online lots of Passenger lists, so a search was done to be able to see if I could establish a date when Annie went to America.

Passenger Lists

1905 Passenger List
Mrs Annie WARSHIP, aged 36 years arrived in Philadelphia on 13th December 1905, having travelled under her own carriage on board The Noordland from Liverpool. Annie declares that she has more than the requisite $50. With her is Master Harry, aged 10 months. The address given is in Philadelphia is 113 Lambert Street, and last abode in England is Bradford. It also indicates that Annie had been to Philadelphia before, again in 1905.

1921 Passenger List
Annie Hindle aged 51 years sailed from Liverpool on board the SS Haverford on 7th January 1921 and arrived at Philadelphia Port, United States on 23rd January 1921, under State Dept PP 180721, Naturalised date 1917, living at the address of 3625 Fairmont Ave, Philadelphia. Travelling with Annie was Henry Rhodes Hindle, aged 16 years, son.

1931 Passenger List
Annie Hindle along with husband Harry Hindle were due to sail from Liverpool on board the SS Laconia on 31st October 1931, which docked 10th November 1931 at New York. According to the list of passengers, neither, Annie or Harry embarked on the journey.

Instead, they waited and are to be found on the passenger lists for a month later. The SS Laconia left Liverpool on 28th November 1931 and arrived in New York on 9th December 1931. Their address is recorded as 3725 Haverford Ave, Philadelphia.

Passenger List 1932
There is a Harry Hindle aged 28 years who is a discharged deck hand, having signed on in New York on 10th Sep. Nationality is recorded as British.

Passenger List 1933
There is a Henry Hindle aged 27 years who is a deck hand. He sailed on board SS President Pierce arriving at the post of New York 26 Oct 1933 from the port of San Fransisco. Ship consigned SS Lines Inc Ltd

1933 Passenger List.
Annie Hindle, aged 64 years once again making the journey from Liverpool on board SS Laconia on 11th November 1933 and arriving back in the US at New York on 21st November 1933, under passport number 272342, and the address recorded as 4117, Hallaran Street, Maffair, Philadelphia.

1935 New York Passenger List
Annie Hindle aged 66 years, sailed from Liverpool on board SS Laconia on 28th September 1935 and arrived in New York on 8th October 1935. She is travelling alone, under passport number 191565. Her address is recorded as 4117, Hallaran Street, Philadelphia

1938 New York passenger list
Annie Hindle aged 69 years sailed from Liverpool on board SS Franconia on 16th September 1938 & arrived in New York on 26th September 1938 with her husband Harry Hindle aged 68 years. The passport number is listed as 191565 and under Harry in the details that he was naturalised in the Supreme Court in PA in September 1917. Their address is recorded as 3004, Fanshawe Street Philadelphia.

1944 - 1945 Passenger List (Aliens employed on vessel as crew members)
Harry Hindle, aged 40 years, sailed on board the vessel British Courage on 19th Dec 1944 from Greenock Scotland to New York, where it docked on 5th Jan 1945.According the passenger list he had 1 year as a length of service at sea and was a deck hand

1945 Passenger List (Aliens employed on vessel as crew members)
Harry Hindle, aged 41 years, sailed on board the vessel British Courage on 1st Feb 1945 from Portsmouth to New York, where it docked on 20th Feb 1945. According the passenger list he had 1.25 years as a length of service at sea and was a deck hand

1946 Passenger List
Annie Hindle, now aged 77 years sailed from Southampton on board SS Queen Elizabeth on 22nd November 1946, docking in New York on 27th November 1946, under passport number 54184 and her address reported as 14, North Belfield Av, Havertown, Pennsylvania.

1948 Passenger List
Annie Hindle departs Southampton 30 July 1948 on board The Washington, arriving New York 6th August 1948. Annie is recorded as a British Subject with passport number V71666. Her luggage is recorded as 3 bags and her address is 593 La Foret Ave Windsor, She is aged 64 years and recorded as married. She is travelling alone.

1950 Passenger List
Henry Hindle travelled on board air craft N 6012 C from London to New York, arriving in New York on 26th October 1950 under passport number 293797, and his address recorded as 3004, Fanshawe Street, Philadelphia. (I believe this to be Henry Junior, as Henry would have been 80 years old)

1953 Passenger List
Harry Hindle arrives on 2nd Oct 1953 at Halifax Nova Scotia Canada on board Britannia, The port of departure was Liverpool, on 5th September. Passport number is recorded as V-386612 which is the same as the passenger list for 1956. The address recorded is 18, East 41st Street, New York, 17 NY

1954 Passenger List
British Overseas Airways Corporation – Aircraft - G-ALSD - BA607/256 Departed London and arrived at Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1st Oct 1954. Passengers in Transit to the US. The Offical Use column indicates – B-1 T 2987687

1956 Passenger List
Harry Hindle travelled with Belgian World Air Lines 18th June 1956. Harry flew 1st Class flight number SH545. In remarks column – V-386612 (passport no?) From Manchester UK to New York USA

From those details I now have confirmed addresses plus a year of birth for Henry Rhodes Hindle.

A quick search in April 2007 FreeBMD for an update on the entries for the surname of WORSHIP. I was totally surprised to see the following:

Dec Q 1904 Henry Rhodes WORSHIP Birth Bradford 9b,43

So, it would appear that whilst still married to Charles Worship, Annie gave birth to son Henry Rhodes who was given the surname of WORSHIP. Certainly by the time the family are in the US both Annie and Henry Rhodes are using the surname of HINDLE and this is confirmed by the 1905 passenger list.

A further search recently revealed two further references to the Hindle’s, named on a Passenger record in 1922 for a Herbert George PITCHFORD & his wife Ida Mary Pitchford. According to the shipping manifest for SS Pittsburgh which sailed from Liverpool on 28th October 1922, and arrived in Philadelphia Port 4th November 1922 Ida Mary’s nearest relative in England is her brother William Rhodes. With this data, this now set me on the trail in Yorkshire for the surname Rhodes, and to trace the ancestry of Annie herself.

A quick search of the 1881 Census for the UK revealed the birth of Annie Rhodes the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Rhodes. The family were living in 1, Oakroyd Terrace in Manningham, which is a small village outside of Bradford. Also listed, born in 1879 is William Rhodes brother.

Another curious thing, was that Annie did make regular trips back home to see her three daughters, they were all left here in England. Out of interest I did a quick search for the surname of WORSHIP, and was surprised to see that Emily Worship, Annie’s Eldest daughter had, in April 1914 gone to Philadelphia on board SS Haverford, which sailed from Liverpool on 16th April 1914, to visit Annie Worship. Recorded on the shipping manifest, Emily’s relative in England was a Chas A Worship residing at 212 Philip Street Newcastle upon Tyne, and address that my father in law recognises for correspondence that he has inherited from his parent’s courtship.

In October 2007 I turned once again to the birth of Henry Rhodes Hindle or was it Worship and ordered the copy of Henry Rhodes Worship’s birth certificate from Bradford It confirms what I’d believed, that Henry was registered with the surname Worship as that was his mother’s husband, making the assumption that Charles Worship was the father. The address given is Eastbrook House, Chapel Street, in Bradford. Occupation Curate. Having just checked the 1901 census to confirm what Charles and Annie were doing there, it appears that Charles was the “Chapel Keeper”.

Henry Rhodes Worship (Hindle) Oct 1904 Bradford

Turning to the US, A search of the website http://www.germangenealogygroup.com/otherdb.stm, on the off chance to see if a marriage could be located. I struck lucky, as there in New York City was the marriage of Annie WORSHIP & Harry HINDLE on 6th September 1922. Certificate number 31122, in the county of Manhattan. I had already located a second marriage for Charles Worship, Annie’s first husband in Edinburgh Scotland in 1922, so it looks as though the divorce became final in 1921-1922. The divorce records have been tracked down and is in the National Archives and was finalised in 1922.

I ordered the marriage certificate only for it to be due to arrive here in the UK as were about to head into a load of postal strikes, needless to say I was irritating and grumpy until the certificate arrived!

Marriage Cert Annie Worship & Harry Hindle 1922 New York USA

I next looked for a Naturalisation record. On every passenger list and the census Henry is recorded as being Naturalised (except 1910 US Census) with the year as 1917. There are variations to the month and court it was done in. I located a copy of the Naturalisation record for September 1917 in the Eastern Court of PA, which ties in with various other documents and a further check of the passenger records confirms September 1917 as the date for naturalisation, so bingo!

Petition for Naturalization (Naturalisation Record) Harry Hindle 20 Aug 1917

Harry Naturalization

I now wanted to see if I could find any records for the deaths of Annie and Harry Hindle. A search of the SSDI for Henry and Annie proved fruitless, but I did check again to see what the index said for Henry Rhodes. There was the death of a Henry in November 1962 with the SSDI number of 159-09-3752 and issued in Pennsylvania with the birth date as 4th October 1904, the same date as the birth certificate from Bradford. A later search of the FamilySearch revealed the following death certificate.

Harry Death Certificate

I went through the census and passenger lists and looked at the addresses the family were living in. The latest date I had at the time was 1946 for 14 North Belfield Havertown PA. Havertown is in Haverford township, 7 miles from the centre of Philadelphia & is in Delaware County with zip code 19083. I searched Google maps to get an idea of the area and to see if I could in a roundabout way locate the cemetery records for both Annie and Henry bearing in mind I had no dates of death for either of them.

There are three cemeteries in the area – Har Jehuda, Arlington (PA) & Montrose.

A search online for the cemetery records in Arlington revealed two likely suspects!

Harry Hindle 19th Feb 1871-19th Feb 1952 buried in Avon section and
Annie R Hindle 14th May 1869-14th May 1953 buried in Avon section.

The years of birth are right, and Annie appears to have a middle initial of R possibly for Rhodes? The actual dates for birth and death look a bit suspicious, but it does give me a starting point. The address for the cemetery is in Delaware County – 2900 State Road, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026. Then by chance I made contact with someone who connected to Henry Rhodes Hindle and was sent the Cemetery details which confirmed those details.

Hindle USA 002

I do feel that I have, in someway completed a circle, but the story is full of more questions and I guess that is the appeal of genealogy. I have made contact with someone who connected to the family of Henry Rhodes Hindle. They very kindly sent me some bits electronically and some of those things have given more questions. One of the things I was sent was a lovely photo of Henry Rhodes Hindle and his parents, my husband's Great Grandparents.

Family

Oh, the details on the pencil –

Henry R HINDLE
Fruit & Produce Commission Merchant
Market 2414
200 Dock Street
Phila
PA

Linkwithin

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