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)

Waitangi Day Blog Challenge

Waitangi Day Blog Challenge : Your earliest known ancestor

From the Facebook page of Auckland Research Centre

Recently our Australian cousins have all been encouraged to blog about their earliest piece of research about an Australian ancestor in celebration of Australia Day (see Shelley's blog at Twigs of Yore). We think this is a terrific idea and have noticed that it has provoked participation from loads of people. Waitangi Day, on February 6, is our national day. Its intent is to celebrate a bringing together of the peoples of New Zealand and it is usually a family day.

Post your contribution here

My connection to New Zealand is a modern one. My Grandfather's brother Harry Butcher married Ann Lasseter in Guildford in 1942. All that is known about Anne was that she was a Land Girl during the war and I guess that is how she met my Uncle Harry who worked on a farm and was therefore in a reserved occupation. Together, Harry and Anne had two children. After Harry died in 1958 Anne remarried to My Grandmother's brother Ernest Matthews. What is especially interesting is that prior to marrying Anne, Ernest had been married to Harry's sister Margery. See how complicated genealogy can get? And that is just the start of it!

Ernest and Anne had one son and at some point Anne's daughter by Harry migrated to New Zealand. Now Ernest died in 1975 so I guess this is the time frame for the migration, see I did say it was modern! Once the daughter and her family were in New Zealand that strengthened the case for Anne to go which she did.

At some point Anne remarried in New Zealand and remained so until she was widowed in 1992. Anne passed away during the last few years in New Zealand having left her son by my Uncle Harry here in the UK with his family. Her daughter and her family are in New Zealand and her son by my Uncle Ernest is also in New Zealand. Certainly my particular branch of the family has not had any contact with Anne and her family since the late 1950s, which is such a shame. So if you are reading this and this rings any bells, please get in touch.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Wk 6 - Radio & Television

Week #6 – Radio & Television

What was your favourite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?

Week 6: This challenge runs from Saturday, February 5 through to Friday, February 11 2011

I have never really been much of television fan, preferring to read, that is still the case. As a child we use to have a black and white television, rather than colour as I guess the amount of use it received was minimum. I did use to watch some Blue Peter, which is a well know children's programme here in the UK. I also used to watch the Muppets, which I recall was on the television at 5.15pm on a Sunday. Why I recall those fine details are anyones guess.

Now, I still prefer to read, but do like mystery type programmes, Morse, Lewis and Midsomer Murders, gentle murder mysteries nothing grim and especially violent! I am also rather partial to watching the Agatha Christie based programmes, such as Miss Marple and Poiret. I also like the BBC Who Do you think you are programmes which are usually broadcast yearly. Now with Sky Television I can watch most of the repeats and have a genealogy fix to my hearts content. I also like watching Antiques Roadshow and often glean snippets of information from that.

Radio, I rarely listen to the radio, when I do I prefer Radio 2 and Gold which are broadcast here in the UK. Gold especially is good as I can listen on my iphone. For news and current affairs I am a bit of a Sky News fan.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 5

At various points my Grandfather would often say to my Grandmother, "its the gypsy in you". As a child I never really gave any thought to just what he meant. Later on as I gathered an interest in my family history I wondered was there any truth in this. My Grandmother's skin tone was tanned and not from the sun, she actually never really sat out for long periods of time. Was this the case? I am half Italian and my skin tone is lighter than my grandmother's was, or was it simply the way it was?

As I researched back through the Matthews side of the family, which was my Grandmother's maiden name, I was researching in Warwickshire. The only bit of my own ancestry, apart from my Italian bit to come from outside of the Surrey, Sussex & Hampshire borders. The Matthews family connected to the family surnames of Pettifer and Drakely. My Great Grandfather, John Matthews (1875 - 1931) was the Great Grandson of William Matthews born 1795 and Bethsheba Drakely born 1797 in Nuneaton.

I was unfamiliar with both the surnames and further general research using Google into the name of Drakely for example proved fascinating and gave food for thought. The name was mainly seem to occur in the Nuneaton area of Warwickshire, there were links to Ribbon weavers. I also came across a reference of Facebook to Whatever became of Drakeleys fairs so was there a grain of truth in the comment? Were the Drakeleys Romany? and my Grandmother's skin tone a throw back from generations past? Certainly there was a fair called Drakeley's in the early 1900s, how had they come about? There is a National Fairs Archive at the University of Sheffield and they may have more information.

All of this I have found out from research alone, as my Grandmother knew fairly little of her family history and every now and again a slither of information would be shared. Nothing was really withheld, it was simply a case of in those days you didn't really ask questions and gain the information. What is true is that, as genealogists with every stone we move we find other snippets which may or may not lead to more questions than answers.

Word count 375

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 4

A few weeks ago, as part of a Graveyard Rabbits post I commented about the grave of my Great Grandparents who were buried in a joint grave at The Mount Cemetery Guildford. John Matthews who died in 1931 and Mary Elizabeth Matthews nee Elstone who died in 1937.

Here are two photos of the grave, the first in 1937 and the second in 2007.





About ten years ago I was emailed by a fellow genealogist, we share several surnames the same, but can not find any connection. Anyway, had I seen the notice about The Mount Cemetery? I replied that I had not and in due course a photo of the sign was emailed across to me. On my next visit to Surrey a few weeks later I went to the Cemetery, located the plot and photographed the grave. The plot had been purchased by my Great Grandmother on a lease for 75 years. That had been what the notice was about. I pondered and upon my return home I contacted the cemetery office and laid claim to the grave and asked that the grave now be placed in my ownership. In doing so, the plot can not be disturbed without my consent and I am responsible for any repairs necessary.

According to my Grandmother, her mothers coffin had been lead lined because she had cancer of the stomach and there were concerns that something might happen post mortem. I have not investigated this further, and at some point plan to send for her death certificate. How dreadful though, to loose your Mother and then to find out the finer details of her burial arrangements. Apparently the weather leading up to the funeral was very bad; snow and ice and Mary Elizabeth's Cousin with the surname Boxall was unable to make the funeral.

Now that snippet of information, at the point when it was given to me simply raised more questions. The name of Boxall in the Surrey,Sussex and Hampshire borders is common. I do know that Mary Elizabeth was born in Liphook Hampshire and I will again have a further search for a potential candidate, but in reality it is the proverbial needle in a haystack situation.

Word count 368

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 3

As I said in an earlier post, my Grandmother's parents died in 1931 and 1937 respectively. This is a photograph of them; John Matthews and Mary Elizabeth Elstone.

John Matthews was born in Rugby Warwickshire in 1875 the only son of John Matthews and Elizabeth Spencer. Elizabeth died in 1877 following the birth of the their youngest daughter Edith Annie leaving father John to care for son John, and daughters Edith and Mary Anne.

John Matthews Senior, was born in 1848 in the parish of Long Lawford near Rugby. He was recorded as a coke dealer and had a business address near the gas works in Rugby. Following the death of Elizabeth, whom he married in 1871 he remarried to Maria Flick who is recorded in the census and on her marriage records as a widow, yet no evidence has been able to prove this fact. She even gives her father as William Flick deceased on her marriage certificate.

My Grandmother knew fairly little about her father's family history. She certainly knew about the sister Edith and passed along to me a few photos. She always maintained that her parents would visit Rugby each year to visit family and that her father attended Rugby School. I need to further chase the school records but so far no record has been found to confirm this. Whatever happened in Rugby, John and his family moved to Guildford Surrey and resided in the parish of Merrow, having moved there after 1882. We know this from the marriage certificate of John to Maria. Nothing was known of John’s sister Mary Anne, but that is another story.

Word count 272

Write about a challenge you faced last year......

The blogging prompt for theladybloggers group on Wednesday 5th January had the following prompt:

"Write about a challenge you faced last year. What was the outcome?"

Quite simply the outcome of my biggest challenge was I resigned from my job. Not because the challenge of work was too great, but because I no longer felt that the work I did, the team I led or the experience I had to contribute, was considered to be of value by the business that I worked for. I simply could not carry on.

When things were tough after my father in law's death last summer and I returned to work, with an obvious backlog caused by being away for a month, I was rewarded by another huge pile of work with deadlines. Being able to prioritise was fine, but the business wanted everything in A1 order NOW! asking for help was fine, the challenge was getting the help. I limbered on from June until the Autumn, when I was unwell. Then a change of line manager, excellent, an individual that might just understand, not only the challenges that I had personally faced, but also the challenges that the business was facing. Did he understand? No.

We had numerous conversations. The business hadn't failed, I had. There was huge unpleasantness. Not the ranting that you see on the soaps, but genuine honesty from myself to a rather hostile organisation representative - my line manager.

Over the last 3 years, since the company I worked for merged with a bigger, financially struggling one that is well known, I have seen more colleagues leave either through redundancy or simple exhaustion or "I give up". Once the decision to leave is known, the thumbscrews that have been in overdrive stop and no one talks to you and you are excluded. At that point there should be relief that the thumbscrews have stopped, but instead it is replaced by the constant looking over ones shoulder and wonder what is going to happen next, what will be sprung upon me?

I should say that colleagues that are still in the business have been great, as were the team I managed, the hostile treatment and behaviour doesn't come from the organisation building, the bricks and mortar, it comes from a deep inset belief that no one could possibly want to leave. You only leave if you are discarded. Which explains the feeling of being not valued.

The business likes to be in control, not just of the business rationale, but also of its staff. I don't mean running a tight ship, I mean a control that is actually not healthy, that is overbearing and very unpleasant, and I would call it industrial bullying.

I met and worked with some truly wonderful people, and made some great friendships, both with people still working for the business and those who have since moved on, and many of those friendships continue. It is the people that we meet along the way that make our day jobs enjoyable and a pleasure to do.

Regrets?.....my regret is that I didn't leave sooner.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 2

After my Grandmother was forced from the family home she went to live with her sister Elsie and brother in law William Downes called Bill. They lived at Paynes Close in Guildford and I certainly don't remember this as a child.

Elsie and Bill had three children, all of whom kept in touch with my Grandmother and it has only been in very recent years that we have lost touch with one of the two remaining cousins. The eldest child was a boy called Ron. Incredibly tall and with, as my Grandmother always said Matthews features. The little girl standing is Mollie and the baby is Janet. So this photo dates from circa 1937-1938.

Mollie was always very shy, like her brother she never married and they both continued to live in the family home. After their mother died in 1981 and their father in 1985 they remained their together. They were all very generous with to our family and we would visit them and they us, yet the links that I personally felt was completely different to the links felt to my Grandfathers sisters.

Nonetheless, I was very sad to see that Ron had passed away when I came across his gravestone in the Cemetery at Stoughton Guildford in 2009.

Although by then, we had moved from Guildford one of last conversations that I had with Mollie was not to loose touch. We moved away in the Autumn of 1996 and sent and received Christmas cards in 1996. In 1997 I sent a card with a letter and did not receive a response. Every year I always sent a card and did not receive one in return then when I saw the headstone the silence was explained. I do still receive Christmas cards from Janet who has taken to signing it Auntie Janet and Uncle Mike and my questions in the cards as to Mollie always go unanswered.

Word count 315

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 1

I often remember the pain that I saw on my Grandmother face when she talked about the feelings she had for her brothers. It wasn't just pain, but an anguish and in some ways a disbelief that her own flesh and blood could behave in such a way.

After her parents died, her father in 1931 and her mother in 1937 my Grandmother, as the eldest daughter still living at home kept the family home running for her brothers. Her eldest sister, Elsie whom she was fairly close to was married and living in her own home, perhaps some of the brother were too, I don't recall my Grandmother saying and I have not checked my files. Anyway, she kept the house running for the boys as she called them and the house was rented I think from Franks the coal merchants who had their yard at the back of Guildford railway station.

One day she came back from shopping in town, remember this was the late 1930s and their were no fridges therefore shopping was done everyday, to find the furniture being loaded onto a coal truck. I am not sure about my Grandmother's personal effects, but she said when she asked her brothers what they were doing they said they had given the house up and moving out.

When I heard the story I truly felt her pain and anguish. How could they I asked? and her reply was because they cared for no one but themselves. My Grandmother after that time never had a good word to say about her brothers. She lost touch with brother Sid who was one of the youngest, although they did start writing again in later years, and her younger sister Dorothy rushed off to Wales...... I got the impression that the culprits of the furniture incident was the eldest brother Jim. As a result my Grandmother had no heirlooms from her family at all. She didn't really keep in touch with her brothers, although if she met them, or their families she would "speak to be civil, as not too would be as sinking as low as them" I can hear her saying that as I type.

For me this is a tragic story and piece of my family history and as a result family relationships were negligible and this continues to be the case. All my Uncles and Aunts have now passed away and this story is confined to the family history.

Word count 412.

Family History Writing Challenge - Introduction

Well I committed to writing 250 words a day for the Family History Writing Challenge and I wasn't too sure if I wanted to post them to my blog or not. Several days later I decided that I would. This week has been a challenging one on the work front, I have done lots of work related reading and thinking and my posts for this challenge have been done in long hand with my trusty notebook and fountain pen, which explains my introductory post and the writings from the 1st - 3rd February being made today.

I have mentioned elsewhere that I have been writing an Ancestor of the Week post, and posting mostly on Saturdays. I will still continue to write those posts, although some of the data posted during the challenge may also appear elsewhere in my blog, sorry for any duplications.

It occurred to me, that besides the genealogical evidence that I have gathered over the last 20 odd years, that I also have a collection of notebooks written by me from conversations with my, now all deceased Great Aunts, and my relatives. I also have a collection of notes, perhaps one liners from phone conversation and memories that I have formed over the years and things I remember from my earlier years. There are also memory and journal prompts in my Memorial Log that I kept after my Grandmother passed away and it is these things, in addition to photos which I will use to complete the Writing Challenge.

Those Places Thursday - Puttenham Surrey

(Photo taken July 2004)

Like the majority of Genealogists I started my research by working from the known to the unknown. My major known fact was that my grandfather was born in the Parish of Wanborough, which is the neighboring parish. As I worked back to my great grandmother and beyond, my links with the village of Puttenham were firmly bought home.

By the time I was back four generations I reached the surname of BUDD and on looking through the vast amount of material I established that the Budd family was, in one way or another related to most of the inhabitants of the village. I decided to study the Census material for the village more fully and the day I saw my great grandmothers name listed on an official record was a very special one.

This was the great grandmother who I had sat with as a child and suddenly I realized that I was part of this village and I simply wanted to know all that I could about it. I visited the parish of Puttenham, I had heard stories from my grandfather's sisters about who lived where, who married who and so forth, and in the summer of 1986 decided to visit the village. It was beautiful summer's day, not a rain cloud in sight! and as I wandered through the village I tried imagining the atmosphere of the village at a time, several generations before my grandfather was born.

Someone greeted me from the Puttenham and Wanborough History Society and I was welcomed and introduced to the legend of the Curate Charles Kerry, who produced such a wealth of information, in manuscripts form; it is truly a Genealogical and local History treasure and the Puttenham One Place Study was born.

The Puttenham (and Wanborough) One Place Study commenced in August 1986 and is a work in progress as well as an obsession.

Month in Review - January 2011

January is always a funny month, and is often depressing, the anti-climax from Christmas. The Festive season in this house passed by fairly quickly. The workload in the run up to Christmas was huge in the day job and compounded by the dreadful weather. I was glad to have the early part of the month on annual leave, especially as there is always a strange feeling when one is in the middle of their notice period. In addition to that,the cold and flu season was dreadful with Stuart getting flu, yes proper flu not "man flu" despite having the flu vaccination. After the flu followed an infection and now 5 courses of antibiotics later there might just be some improvement. Meanwhile I did not remain cold free, Stuart's cold ping ponging its way back and forth between us, and I have had three colds since November, stress and weather driven I suspect. Also, as I have mentioned elsewhere, my Aunt passed away on 29th December and the funeral was on the 11th January. So we started off the new year, that I had high hopes for on a rather sad note.

I had two books turn up, unannounced from the publishers - thank you!

1. South Riding by Winifred Holtby
2. Seperate Beds by Elizabeth Buchan

I've not started reading them yet, but they are high on the agenda.

I had a rather good month on the blog and genealogy front. Firstly, I was approached to have my Grave Encounters blog featured on the Graveyard Rabbits blog. At the end of January I was asked to write a guest post on the Geneabloggers blog about Robert Burns Day (Burns Night) for 25 January. I was Inspired by the post on Twigs of Yore in commemoration of Australia Day on 26 January, which doubled up as my Ancestor of the Week post.

Since the beginning of January I have been posting two regular themes.

1. Ancestor of the week about an ancestor, which is actually a good way of taking stock of what is known about an ancestor.I am attempting to post every Saturday, even if they are a bit late.
2. Treasure of the Month is attempting to discuss an item each month which is considered a treasure by me. Posting will usually be on the last Saturday of the month. (January post is a week late!)

Following my creating Grave Encounters and loading some photos onto the site I decided to add some extra details to the graves that I featured, which are those relating to the Bowring family. I then received an email from the editor of the Bangalore edition of Time Out which asked if I had some further information about Lewin Bentham Bowring.

This blog was nominated for an Ancestor Approved Award by Allin at Australian Genealogy Journeys.

On the whole, the month ended on a good note and from where I am standing February is looking to be good too!

The Family History Writing Challenge 2011

Lynn Palermo over at The Armchair Genealogist blog has issued the Family History Writing Challenge and I've decided to accept. Here's the details:

The Family History Writing Challenge

Feb 1^st-28^th

A 28-Day Commitment to Writing Your Family History

The What, When, Where and How of it All

Why should I sign up?

To actively participate in an opportunity to write your family history, without having to worry about quality. The key to writing is to write. Stop procrastinating; finally commit pen to paper or fingers to key board. Those family facts, finally assemble them into a format someone will read.

Whom Do I Write About?

A single ancestor, a surname, a branch of your tree, you pick.

You select the ancestor or ancestors, the timeframe, just keep in mind who you feel most prepared to write about in terms of research and interest.

How Much Do I Need to Write?

You pick the amount 250, 500, 1000 words a day whatever you can work into your schedule.

Do the math.

250 words x 28 days = 7000 words, you would be well on your way!

500 words x 28 days = 14,000 words, this would be an incredible start!

1000 words x 28 days = 28,000 words, you would be a hero!

Where Do I Write?

Write on your computer, ipad, typewriter, longhand (tough to do word count). Write in your office, at the kitchen table, the local coffee shop, the lawn chair (if your someplace sunny- lucky you), or beside a roaring fire (that would be me).

What If It’s Not Good Enough?

This exercise is not about quality. Very few of us can sit down and shoot out a masterpiece on the first draft. Newsbreak..... most of us take a half dozen passes at it before it is worthy of anyone else’s eyes. This is about making a start. There will be plenty of time to edit your masterpiece later, committing to the word count is a huge step to making it happen.

When Does it Begin?

The Family History Writing Challenge begins Feb 1st to February 28^th. I am asking you to commit 28 days of writing your family history, in the hopes that you will get a running start and you will never look back.

Where Do I Sign Up?

Right here, leave your pledge in comments or link to your own blog post, no goal is official until you have written it down and shared it. Once you verbalize, you become more committed. If you prefer to keep it to yourself that's ok too. However, keep checking back or sign up through email, throughout the month, I will offer numerous posts to help keep you focused, offer you some tips for your writing and help you stay on track and reach your goals. At the end of the month, you can share how you did again here, or on your own blog.

What is stopping you from starting your writing? Let me know, and I will try to help you overcome those obstacles. Meanwhile, you have the next 2 days to get yourself organized to start writing.

Write your family history in 28 days, are you ready to take the challenge?

I'm going to commit to the 250 word level, because even though many of my posts run longer than that, 250 words is easy enough to do and doesn't put too much pressure on me, given that I have a whole pile of bits on the go in addition to a new job. My only problem is I haven't come up with a definitive plan of what I want to write about yet, so I need to think on it, although I do have a few ideas.....

How about you? Take the challenge! It might be the impetus you need to get some of that family history written that you've wanted to start!

Sorting Saturday - Twitter January 2011

I posted a few weeks ago, as part of Tuesday's Tip that I often read my tweets via my iphone and mark as a favourite any that I want to look at on a bigger screen (see there is another reason why I should buy an iPad!). I noticed yesterday that my favourites in Twitter had increased to 33. Is this a record? I therefore set about today, I know it is not Saturday, but it is the weekend! sorting through the tweets, which reflect most of the month of January. Thankfully February is a shorter month and I will no long have the main distraction which has been the cause of the chaos that has affected me.

1. Disability Living Allowance was a web page that I wanted to read. I had already read it as I wrote a post linking to it about three weeks ago!
2. Allin of Australian Genealogy Journeys wrote about Zotero earlier in the month as a potential candidate for a research log. I have looked at the Zotero website a few times during the course of the month and had reservations. I downloaded the file today and still have reservations. At the point of typing this post the software looks about as clear as mud. I'll keep you posted.
3. This was a link to the online obituary for my Aunt which is documented elsewhere in this blog.
4. A weekly tip on organising genealogy research. Apart from being the best thing any genealogist could do. Researching when chaos reigns is non productive and I should know! there are some really useful links to other similar posts. Including one entitled "In a File or a Pile", alas I am a bit of a piler but determined to get better!
5. A web link for the Twitter page in relation to the day job - Chemist & Druggist which is a reminder to reply to an email sent about a week ago that requires more thinking about! - Email done!
6. Posted by OnePlaceStudies - this was a very useful set of links about a suitable web space to host a one place study. Especially of interest to me as the OPS that I host for Puttenham has not had much luck with web space. Initially hosted at my ISP there were problems with uploads. As a temporary home I moved the data to a Yahoo group, which looked really promising as it had the facility for attachments to be posted to the list and a documents and files section, however, I began experiencing some issues with viewing files that I had created. So the Google Sites suggestion might be worth a go. I don't want to be continually moving the material around. Thankfully I have a domain name for my OPS so I simply move where it points to.
7. A link to the petition regarding the issue with Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - Closing date for the petition is February 7, 2011. -Petition completed
8. An informative post - U is for Under active Thyroid - saved as a memory prompt for something I am working on in the next couple of months.
9. A very emotive posting about the issue with DLA
10. An informative posting about the new Family Search site. A must read
11. From the Dick Eastman newsletter - Digitally Preserving your Family History by Barry Ewell. Contact Barry after 13 Feb for an electronic copy of the slides & handouts.
12. Free Webinar on Virtual Presentations for genealogy
13. Interesting article which acts as a prompt for photographing headstones, heirlooms, books and much more.
14. An interesting view point about a blogger who was approached by a publishing company to use a photograph of her grandmother. I have to say I agree with the approach taken by the person concerned. I was approached before Christmas by a company who saw a photograph that I had taken and placed on Flickr. Nothing particularly special about the photo. I said they could use the photo on two conditions. The first was, as the copyright belongs to me, that they cite me as the intellectual owner and the second, that the company made a donation of £100 to a named Charity of my choosing. The company didn't decline, they simply did not respond as they clearly expected something for nothing!
15. A journal prompt via the Geneabloggers website for Open Thread Thursday for 20th January What's in your research toolbox?
16. This article was shared from Shauna Hicks and is very thought provoking and actually I think kind of sad. I've kept the link to the article as a journal prompt.
17. Old Money is a mobile application. Details from The National Archives and the company who developed the application, where you can also purchase it.
18. Write for a new website?
19. Underground Literary Society
20. Waitangi Day New Zealand challenge (#waitangiblog) - Post written
21. 5 solid ways to get traffic to your blog - interesting article.

The Sunday Salon - Book Collections

This is my first posting to the Sunday Salon. I have always been a book lover and I guess a collector of books and other bits and there comes a time when we need to sit back and take stock of just what it is we have in our homes.

Children's Books

I have my original set of Noddy Books by Enid Blyton, lovingly read and many still have the Woolworth price ticket of 12p stuck to the front. I have always kept them for my children, but as I don't have any they sit in my study on a shelf next to a set of Beatrice Potter books.

Italian Collection

I am half Italian and am interested in my Italian Heritage. There are not that many books published about Italian communities here in the United Kingdom so when I come across one I tend to buy it!

Thyroid Collection

I have a Thyroid condition and obviously have an interest in the condition. Over the last 20 years I have purchased any books on the subject and added them to my collection.

Both the Italian Collection and the Thyroid collection of books sit on the same bookcase in our spare room.

Family History Collection

I have a passion for researching my family history and over the course of a decade or two have read, purchased just about every book going on the subject. This collection though, is about the books that I have found along with the way that relate to particular ancestors and their families.

This collection is mainly made up of books relating to the family names of Bowring, Bellasis and Eastwick. There is also a copy of a diary called the Diary of Thomas Asline Ward. Which cost me a little over £60 but simply had to be purchased. This set of books sits on the bottom shelf of a pine bookcase in the hall.

Elm Creek Quilts Collection

I was introduced to this set of books by a fellow avid reader and they are lovely books. They are a set of fictional books set with the obvious theme of Quilting. Each dust jacket has a picture of a quilt on it. There is something about these books that makes you want to hold the book and admire the quilt picture. These sit on the top shelf of the bookcase in the hall.

Cookery Books

There is nothing particularly special about this collection, other than it sits on the middle shelf of the bookcase in the hall and is, and one would expect, of a practical nature. Two books which do stand out are those that I have kept from my school days and I have fond memories of my O level cookery classes.

Angling Collection

These are not mine, but Stuart's and sit in a bookcase in the lounge with a few angling type ornaments and collectibles.

The Rest

The remainder of my books sits on three bookcases on the third floor of the house. Two in my study and the third one on the top landing. These books span the last 25 years and cover fiction and non fiction. The fiction books are ones that I will read again and particularly want to keep. Others are sent to the charity shop. The fiction books are mainly the lovely cozy mysteries set around bookshops and craft shops which are to me pure escapism!

Having spent a great deal of time ploughing through boxes and piles of books I am now to the point of wanting to catalogue them. I don't want to spend ages doing it though as that will break into my valuable reading time.

I have a Library Thing account and in a perfect world would like to be able to scan books using my iphone where they can added to my Library Thing account online with access via my iphone.

I have come across two iphone applications - MyBookLibrary and Home Library and shall experiment more with them. I was reasonably impressed with Home Library when I tried the lite version, but having just downloaded the lite version of MyBookLibrary I can see that might be better as it has the facility to import and export the data.

If anyone has any suggestions please leave a comment.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Wk 5 - Favourite Food

Week #5 – Favourite Food

What was your favourite food from childhood? If it was home made, who made it? What was in the dish and why was it your favourite? What is your favourite dish now?

Week 5: This challenge runs from Saturday, January 29, 2011 through Friday, February 4, 2011.

My Grandmother, Lilian Edith Butcher nee Matthews was a good cook. Not fancy food, simply, nutritious meals that involved, not too much fuss. My grandfather had always been, because of work an early riser and like many of my Grandparents generation they ate their main meal at about noon and called this dinner. When my Grandfather worked at Unigate Diaries he would take a lunch box for his morning break and then cycle home for his main meal at lunchtime. At tea time there was bread and butter or sandwiches and cake. After my Grandfather retired and then later passed away this remained the same and it was only when I started working that lunch was simply a sandwich or alike and dinner was in the evening. Having said that, perhaps this is a geographical issue? Stuart from the North of England calls lunch dinner and his evening meal tea, and even now we sometimes have to have some clarity on what meal is being referred to!

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

I remember the smell of baking potatoes in the oven for a tea on Saturday night. I would sit and watch my Grandmother grate piles of mature cheddar to be added to the potato. The smell of the potato was lovely and even now there is nothing like a jacket potato cooked in the oven. That was probably my favourite food as a child and remains so into adulthood.

On Saturday's if we had my Great Aunts visiting we would have sandwiches and cakes. Some dainty little bread rolls from a bakery in Guildford. Cake would be usually from Marks and Spencers. By coincidence I was in the food hall of M & S today and had a look a the cake counter. None of the sponges that I recall from childhood were there, which is a great shame. Shopping for food in M & S was considered a treat and reserved for the weekends and holidays. I wonder what my Grandmother would have made of my buying some basic groceries from there today, which I do say is not the usual for me!

Burns Night - 25th January

I had never celebrated Burns Night as I am from England and as I grew up it was not really promoted. Having met my husband, who although was not born in Scotland did grow up there, so we have always made a bit of an effort to have a Burns Supper for the occasion.

There are two recipes that I choose from Haggis Pie or Wee Beastie! Always served for dinner on the 25 January, which is the anniversary of Robert Burns birthday. If you don't like Haggis, as my Mum does not, I usually cook a chicken breast instead!

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