Family History Through The Alphabet Blog Challenge : Z is for...

Here we are, the last post (bugle sounds) for the Alphabet Blog Challenge and once again I have to credit somebody else for the topic of the most baffling letter of all. My amazingly perceptive daughter came up with Zeppelin. How could I refuse when I've already blogged about my 4xgreat-grandfather Zachariah Rudd?

It makes perfect sense to write about the Zeppelin raids which affected my ancestors, not least because my ancestors lived in London and along the East Coast of England (the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Kent were repeatedly raided from 1915-17) but because my paternal grandmother Freda often spoke of her parents who saw the Zeppelins as they came across the North Sea.

Before the First World War, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin developed an airship specifically for long-distance passenger flights. When the war broke out in August 1914, these airships were taken over by the German army. Throughout the war the Germans were prepared to try new forms of warfare and in January 1915 they mounted the first airship raid on England.

On the night of 19 January, two Zeppelins bombed the docks at King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth (county Norfolk) which killed four people. The East Suffolk Gazette reported that a Mr T W Holmes of Denmark Road, Beccles "believes he heard an airship coming over the town, possibly on its way back after its tour in Norfolk". Other raids followed and much damage was inflicted across the Eastern Counties. In the Autumn of 1915 a raid on the City of London killed 38 people and caused extensive damage.

A Zeppelin over Cuffley, county Kent
They look eerily like Alien space-craft

During my research into the Zeppelin raids I was amazed to discover how they were made. Zeppelin airships had a metal frame containing large bags of hydrogen gas, which lifted the craft into the air. They were powered by engines mounted outside the craft. Crew and bombs were carried in a gondola which hung underneath the craft. There was no protection which meant the men were exposed in all weather conditions, and there was nowhere to sit in the gondola which meant long periods of having to stand up. In the early part of the war the bombs had to be dropped by hand!

Most Zeppelins flew too high for British aircraft to catch and attack them but by the autumn of 1916 British airplanes were equipped with explosive shells (and later, incendiary bullets) and on 2 September the first Zeppelin was shot down by a British pilot. After two more unsuccessful raids, the Zeppelins stopped coming. By 1917 most German airships were restricted to reconnaissance work at sea. According to the Illustrated History of the First World War by John Keegan, "Germany flew a total of 115 military Zeppelins during the war, of which 77 were destroyed, 7 captured, 22 scrapped and 9 surrendered to the Allies".

Raid on Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 1915

Zeppelin Raid on Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 1915

My great-grandparents may not have been directly affected by the Zeppelin raids of 1915-17 but they were certainly witness to its overall destruction and reign of terror across England. I know that my great-grandparents would have seen continual wreckage through both the Zeppelin raids and the Gotha Raids in London.

During the early part of the First World War my great-grandmother Elizabeth was living in Fulham, raising four children alone whilst her husband, my great-grandfather Albert, was fighting off the coast of Turkey with the Royal Navy Reserve. It is known that areas nearby to Fulham were repeatedly targeted and bombed in the 1917 Gotha Raids. I believe that is why Elizabeth and my great-aunts and great-uncles subsequently moved to Edmonton around 1917-18.

My paternal great-grandparents were living close to the coastline of Suffolk during the First World War. My great-grandfather Arthur Ward may have been on the Western Front serving his King and Country but his wife, my great-grandmother Barbara, was living in the heart of London with four of their children, including my grandfather Herbert. It is no small wonder that following 1917, they moved back to Suffolk.

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : Y is for...

In this, the second last week of the Alphabet Blog Challenge I'm currently recovering from a bad back so please bear with me if I type any nonsensical sentences. And we're off and racing. This week's topic: Y is for Yorkshire.

In the early days of my family tree research I narrow mindedly assumed that my ancestry was distinctly East Anglian (aside from my maternal grandmother who I knew, from childhood, hailed from London). As my research deepened however, I discovered that my father's side boasted ancestors from county Hampshire, Dorset & Somerset, and Cheshire. When I first found out my maternal grandfather's ancestors were from Yorkshire I was so delighted, I did a merry dance in front of everyone at the Genealogical Society!

To learn more about my ancestors' Yorkshire roots, I read Lettice Cooper's 1950 County Book: Yorkshire West Riding. There I found the following description of the village of Horbury, where my ancestors lived for well over a century, painting an idyllic picture of their lives: "Horbury was a characteristic village. Its narrow streets, climbing the hill between stone houses, were linked by narrower ginnels and snickets, paths just big enough for two people to walk almost enclosed by stone walls...Horbury is situated up the hill-side above the River Calder, about half way between Dewsbury and Wakefield."

The county of Yorkshire was so named as it is the Shire of the city of York. North Yorkshire is the biggest county in England, formed in part by the old North Riding of Yorkshire. The term 'riding' is of Viking origin and derives from Threthingr meaning a third part. Historically, there were three ridings in Yorkshire - the East Riding, West Riding and North Riding. Today Yorkshire is made up of South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire (after the introduction of the 1974 Local Government Act).

South Yorkshire has a population of around *1.34 million and consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.
North Yorkshire covers over 8,000 square kilometres of non-metropolitan Dales and Moors, making up over 40% of Yorkshire's National Parks area. Local government districts consist of: Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby.
West Yorkshire (where my ancestors hail from) has a population of around *2.2 million and has five metropolitan boroughs: City of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, City of Leeds and City of Wakefield.
East Riding is a ceremonial county of England which includes the city of Kingston upon Hull and the non-metropolitan county of Humberside.
*N.B. Population statistics as from 2011

North York Moors

Yorkshire Moors

Old Cote Cottages, Oxenhope

Horbury Town Hall and Library

Cusworth Hall, Doncaster

Things I personally associate with Yorkshire:
My Preston ancestors who lived in: Horbury : Thornton : Hull : Huddersfield : Wakefield : Dewsbury : Thornhill : Ossett
Yorkshire Terriers : Yorkshire pudding : Moors & Dales : The Bronte sisters (especially Wuthering Heights) : All Creatures Great and Small : Heartbeat : Emmerdale : Pulp

Yorkshire is definitely on my Bucket List

 

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : X is for...

I'm giving my Mum's partner full credit for this week's blog. He proved the theory that talking with somebody about a problem you're having can be seen by the other person with fresh eyes. I was truly stuck on what to write about for the letter X until he said, "What about Xmas?"

 

To be honest, there was a time (not so long ago) when I really loathed the expression Xmas because I mistakenly thought it was a form of blasphemy. According to Gerry Bowler's "The World Encyclopedia of Christmas" though, Xmas means thus:

"An abbreviation for Christmas derived from "X" (chi), the first letter of the Greek word for Christ. Though the term has a long and honourable history, some modern Christians have misunderstood it as a disrespectful kind of shorthand unsuitable for the solemn origin of the name."

Or Dr R Brasch's "Christmas Customs & Traditions" says:

In the Greek language, the letter "X" - shi - was the initial letter of Xristos, meaning Christ. Early scribes were busy people and parchment was costly. They often shortened words to save time and money, and that is how they came to use just the letter X.

So, what about my family's Christmas/Xmas traditions? I have many fond memories of Christmas, both as a child and as an adult. Thanks to my upbringing I have long honoured it as being a time for family, the chance to put aside grievances and worries and spend time with people who mean the most. My grandparents were perfect hosts at Christmas time, going all out with large quantities of festive food and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). My Mum has very fond memories of her parents preparing for Christmas, from her father carrying home a tree over his shoulder and her mother lighting candles on the tree before gathering around the tree with the whole family to sing carols and hymns. Every year my grandmother Lilian knitted jumpers for each of her four children and later, her many grandchildren. She gave out sugared mice, nuts and oranges to everybody on Christmas morning.

Another childhood memory my Mum has of Christmas with her parents was they would not allow their children outside to play on Christmas Day. They stayed indoors all day sitting by the hearth, sharing stories and singing. Boxing Day was a different story however, and my grandfather would race his children outside and build snowmen and instigate snowball fights with all the children on their street. My first year in Australia was mostly spent on the beach near Scarborough, and I remember that it was awfully hot. I was so sad that day because I missed the snow terribly and all the trimmings and traditions of a northern hemisphere Christmas. I vowed I would never again visit the beach on Christmas Day, and to this day I have kept that promise.

My grandmother Lilian at Christmas, 1982

The year before my grandmother Lilian passed away she was given a Teasmaid which all the family chipped in to buy her. She was so surprised when she opened her present, and squealed so loud we all had to politely block our ears. But, she was so thrilled and I remember that very special Christmas moment so clearly (and not just because it was captured on camera). It was her last Christmas with us all.

The last Christmas I remember spending with my grandmother Freda, was at my Dad's house. She loved to sit and watch all of us open our presents from each other, and listen to us all natter. She always got more joy from that than from opening her own gifts. She loved being a part of the family festivities at Christmas. As long as she was included, nothing else mattered and I've inherited that feeling. For me, it's not about the presents. It's about family, it's about providing a huge Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and it's about love.

My grandmother Freda, Christmas 1993

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : W is for...

I remember when I first dabbled in the land of Wills and Probate, Letters of Administration and Codicils. I was really nervous about delving into my ancestor's private (and sometimes, quirky) bequests and personal estate details. Even though they are long dead, it still made me feel like a right nosey parker. That was until I received my first very will in the post. Five pages later, I was hooked (and slightly dumbfounded).

It's fair to say that since those early days I have overcome my fear of being nosey. Mild curiosity has given way to blatant detective work. Thanks to some Wills I've received I have been able to uncover previously unknown siblings, offspring, even grandchildren and neighbours. Some Wills, if they are detailed enough, offer a tiny insight into their individual character.

For example, one will I received was quite specific (and lengthy) about who was bequeathed what, with individual persons stated in bequests with the term, "in the event of their death, it shall be passed to (----------) and not (----------). Lots of words like executors, messuages, trustees, exonerate, hereditaments, had me in a five-page tailspin. My 3 x great-grandfather was either very meticulous or just plain paranoid. It took almost 3 weeks transcribe it.

Image courtesy of National Archives

Another example, from a 3 x great-grandfather on my father's side:
"To the said (---------) my large Bible, To my son (-------) the case of Stuffed Birds and the bed bedding and furniture in the large bedroom To my said son (-------) the two pictures "Daniel" and "Jeremias" the oak chest in the living room the large chest of drawers now standing in the parlour and all the beds and bedding not hereinbefore bequeathed..."

Or this one from a 4 x great-grand uncle:
"I give and bequeath all my ready money, money in the Bank monies --- interest securities for money and all other monies whatsoever which may be due or become due to me at my decease together with all my household goods and furniture plate linen and china whatsoever and whensoever situate unto (--------)..."

The Will of my first cousin 3 x removed is rather concise but all the same, to me it is rather poignant. He was killed in action in 1918:
"I (---------) at present a Captain in His Majesty's Essex Regiment hereby declare this to be my last Will I give devise and bequeath all and singular the real and personal property of which I shall be possessed unto and to the use of my wife (--------)..."

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : V is for...

When I wrote out my alphabet plan on an index card over three months ago (has it really been that long?) I had no problem deciding what I would write for this week's letter. Be warned, dear readers, for this week's blog post is taking a religious slant as I present you with the humble Verger.

My great-grandfather Albert Waters was very active in the Methodist Church of Beccles from his youth until his dying breath. I only have vague memories of him (he passed away when I was six years old) but I remember him being present at Hungate Church when I attended the Sunday School next door. When I was little, my grandmother told me many family stories and one was the story of her father Albert joining the Methodist Church after a rather miserable time at home. Albert's father (my 2 x great-grandfather) liked a drink or six each day and when he wasn't working as a Municipal Superintendent at the Beccles Bathing Place (in Puddingmoor), he would be found next door at the Pickerel Inn.

In Albert's time there were two Methodist Churches in Beccles which he frequented and volunteered for, one in Hungate and the other in Station Road. After researching the duties of a verger I was quite humbled to think that my great-grandfather did these duties without pay and with little in the way of recognition. I also realised that my mother did the work of a verger, on top of her myriad clerical duties, at her local church in the Swan Valley up until last year when she retired.

Station Road, Beccles (Author postcard)
Methodist Church spires can be seen on the left
No longer exists today

Hungate Methodist Church, Beccles
Still exists today

The following extract is taken from the 7 March 1942 Beccles and Bungay Newspaper:

METHODISTS: A century ago the Wesleyans in Beccles were described as “lively and consistent Christians”. Their chapel was a neat building, and though small, yet it will contain about 200 persons. In front of the chapel is a schoolroom and yard so there is plenty of room for enlarging the chapel without the purchase of more ground. A resident minister in this place would soon make this a work of necessity. This building was the present Salvation Army Hall in Northgate. Originally the Methodists were connected with the Lowestoft circuit, remaining so until their services were discontinued in 1853 for a short time.

A few faithful friends were not satisfied, and still wished to remain Methodists, so they asked the Bungay circuit to take over Beccles. This was done, but in 1855 services were restarted at Northgate.After a few years two families removed from Loddon to Beccles and were dissatisfied with the hired chapel, so they set themselves to work for and provide a better building. Station Road was then being laid out, and on a site given by Mr John Crisp the present chapel was built in 1872, the schoolroom and vestries being added in 1887. Beccles was made head of a circuit in 1890, the Rev TE Sharp being the first superintendent, but there was return to the Lowestoft circuit in 1906.

The Methodist Church in Station Road was pulled down sometime during the early 1980s after the union of the Methodists and the Congregationalists, becoming the United Reformed Church. Now, sadly, there is private housing on this spot.

The Office of Verger is an ancient one and comes from the meaning ‘He who carries the Virge before the procession’. The ‘Verge’ is the rod of office (Latin - Virga; Old French-Vergier), and was used to ensure that the many processions were not impeded during worship. Duties of a Verger include/d:

• Opening up and locking of Church premises
• Preparation for various weekday services and Sunday services
• Preparation for Weddings and Funerals
• Setting out vestments
• Changing altar frontals according to liturgical year
• Care of linen and altar cloths
• Cleaning of Chalice and Paten
• Ensuring adequate supplies of Wine and Altar Bread
• Ensuring supplies of Candles
• Housekeeping, cleaning, polishing, floors and furniture
• Keeping entrance to porch or entrance clean and tidy
• Care of churchyard
• Care and welcome of visitors
• Preparation of Service Registers

I'm sure there are many more "behind the scenes" duties that a Verger once had. Sadly, today so many churches are closed to the public, except for special services, due to the lack of people willing to volunteer their time to undertake these weekly (and most often, daily) tasks. Men such as my great-grandfather did them out of love and duty to his Church and to his community.
 

Albert Waters, seen on the far right
With my grandparents, my aunt & uncle and
my three cousins at a Wedding at Hungate Church

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : U is for...

Given that I was born in the United Kingdom it would be only fitting to write about it in this week's Alphabet Challenge for the letter U. However, that would be too easy so I am doing it yet again. Writing about something completely different!

The last known address of my 3 x g/grandfather's "wife" was Usk Road in Battersea, in 1881 (I say "wife" because they were not legally married). The census shows us that Sarah Mary Ann (nee Spencer) was living at 35 Usk Road with her husband Thomas Shepherd and three children: William and Charlotte (from her previous relationship with my 3 x g/grandfather) and a three-year-old daughter Emily. I am yet to prove a theory that Sarah died in 1883, aged 36.

Usk Road was not far from where Sarah lived with my 3 x g/grandfather Richard Humphries. In 1871 they lived together with William and Charlotte, as well as Richard's three grown sons from his first marriage, in nearby Putney. On the other side of nearby Wandsworth lies the South West London town of Battersea. Famous for the Dog's Home and the Power Station, Battersea was once a large market garden area and lavender field well before industry took over.

I

I don't believe there was anything quite as romantic as the image above of boats on the River Thames at Battersea for Sarah Shepherd and her children. The whereabouts of my 3 x g/grandfather Richard Humphries (see my post about him) after 1871 continues to baffle me as the paper trail dies off at this time but for Sarah, who remained very much alive, it must have been a very difficult time. She was left with two small children (she had had three but one died in infancy in 1869) and no husband. It is not known how or when she met Thomas Shepherd and the first I knew of him was from the 1881 census. From there I worked back until I found a marriage between he and Sarah in June 1876. Sarah claimed she was a "spinster" which technically was true. Thomas Shepherd, son of Samuel Shepherd, worked in a Candle factory and could not write or sign his name on his marriage certificate.

Sarah Mary Ann Spencer was born in 1846 in Battersea. Records indicate she was the daughter of Christopher Spencer and Mary Ann Hosier. Christopher Spencer was born in Wandsworth about 1822. In 1851 the Spencer family lived in King Street, Battersea but the following census paints a very different picture. Christopher died in 1856 and Mary Ann, along with her four children, were living with George Temple in Red Lion Street, Wandsworth. Interestingly, Mary Ann had only aged three years between 1851 and 1861!

Battersea Power Station
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Battersea was heavily bombed in 1944/45 and Usk Road was the last recorded road to be hit by a V2 weapon (in the Battersea district) on 27 January 1945. It is recorded that at least seventeen people died that day and more than twenty houses were fully destroyed or damaged.

I wish I knew why Sarah Mary Ann Spencer/Humphries/Shepherd was left abandoned with two small children. It was certainly not common for a bachelor to take up with an unmarried woman with children so what sort of person was Thomas Shepherd to do that so willingly? Then Sarah had a child with him: Emily. What is more intriguing is that by 1881 Sarah gave the children she had with my 3 x g/grandfather her name, Spencer and had totally dropped the name Humphries. Did Thomas know anything at all about Richard Humphries? Surely, you would think that this would totally baffle and confuse any of their descendents. Anybody trying to trace the family tree for their Shepherd or Spencer ancestors would possibly not even know of the connection with the Humphries family and that three children were registered at birth as Humphries (later becoming Spencer). These children were:

William Spencer Humphries born 1868 in Fulham

1881 census: William Spencer, aged 12

Sarah Spencer Humphries born 1869 in Putney

Died in 1869, aged 4 months

Charlotte Amelia Spencer Humphries born 1871 in Putney

1881 census: Charlotte Spencer, aged 8
When Charlotte married in 1893 to William Tilley she gave her father's name as Thomas Spencer, not Thomas Shepherd (just to further confuse the issue!).

Aftermath of V2 bombing in Battersea
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : T is for...

I could have chosen a name for this week's Alphabet Challenge post as there are several names in my ancestry that start with the letter T. For example, Thomas (son of) Thomas, (son of) Thomas etcetera. Rather than bore you all with that, I have chosen to write about Travel as my ancestors have proven, they moved around a lot.

 

 

In the times we live in today, we think nothing of walking out of our front doors expecting to access all modes of transport such as cars, mopeds, buses, trains, taxis and ferries. It is easy to take it for granted and forget that our humble ancestors had to rely (most often) on one method of travel: Walking. My London ancestors for example, would not have been able to afford the luxury of owning their own horse and cart or liveried carriage and when bicycles became popular in the Edwardian era, not everybody felt safe riding London's busy streets.

 

Let's cast our minds back to the days well before cars and buses. Before well-paved roads were in demand, our ancestors highways were mere ditches and tracks, potholed and uneven, flooded and thick with mud. If you were rich enough to be able to travel by coach or horse and cart you were at the mercy of the highwaymen. I would bet our ancestors were thankful for the likes of Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford, who singlehandedly changed the way people travelled forever. The Industrial Revolution also put travel on the map, so to speak. Roads, canals, railway, bridges, even the penny post system, which was introduced in 1840, made travel an exciting thing for our ancestors to contemplate. My ancestors used these methods of travel to move from county to county; village to market town. Where before, in the 1600s and 1700s they remained in one village, they were now branching out and exploring a world outside of their own backyards.

 

Thomas Telford
(1757 - 1834)



Before my 4 x great-grandfather moved to Beccles around the year 1809, he came from an unknown area of Norfolk. How did he come to settle for the village of nearby Barnby? I have this rather romantic notion that he travelled by canal boat or wherry. He saw the village from the Waveney River and thought to himself, "This is pretty, this is peaceful, this will do me" and he settled there, married and he later moved to Beccles with his wife where they raised their eight children.

 

My London ancestors moved around a lot. They are found each ten years (by the census return) living in a different street. For example, one family who lived in Putney had moved two or three streets apart, every ten years. When I travelled to Putney in late 2006, I visited all the streets they had lived in and discovered that although the addresses were in close proximity, they were still quite a distance apart in terms of moving house. How did they move their personal effects from one house to another? I had visions of them having to carry everything they owned or perhaps they borrowed a neighbour's cart to put their mattresses and humble effects into. In times past, our ancestors' homes were not heavily furnished. In particular, the working classes of England who possessed little in the way of dining tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, dressers, sideboards and wardrobes. I wonder what they would make of an IKEA store if they could see one today!

 

Image courtesy of www.rushdenheritage.co.uk
 

In the past one hundred years transport and travel methods have vastly improved and we have seen many changes and upgrades with railways, cars, ships and airplanes. My first cousin 3 x removed was the first to embark on a journey from London to New York by airplane in 1947. She well and truly caught the travel bug, as passenger list records prove she travelled back and forth from England and America regularly, both by ship and by plane up until her death in 1975.

 

My great-grandfather refused to drive a motor vehicle, choosing instead to ride a bicycle. He used this method of travel wherever he went and would happily ride for miles and miles at any given journey. He was seen daily in Beccles, from the early 1900s up until around 1970, riding to and from work and to and from church, as well as neighbouring villages and market towns. When he grew much older and age robbed him of his eyesight, his family were very concerned for his safety but he was stubborn and could not bear to part with his trusty cycle. No amount of coercion convinced him to give it up until one day his sons were forced to hide his bicycle away. This story still breaks my heart when I tell it, because I know full well how my great-grandfather must have grieved this enforced loss. I do not drive either. I refuse to just as my great-grandfather did. Instead, I rely on buses, trains, lifts from family and friends, and my two size-seven feet.

 



Edwardian Gent with his Bicycle

 

 



Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : S is for...

For this week's Alphabet Challenge blog post I have chosen a topic which is close to my heart - Scrapbooking. Besides genealogy, reading and writing historical fiction, and collecting old postcards I love to play with photographs and create layouts in a scrapbook album.

 

 

 

For those who may not know, scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook. Scrapbook albums usually contain memorabilia such as photographs, postcards, poems, letters, cards, recipes, and artwork. The first scrapbooks appeared as far back as the 15th century when it became popular in England to keep "commonplace books". I often wonder whether any of my ancestors kept scrapbooks and what happened to them. Did anybody keep them, pass them on, or were they destroyed by disinterested parties. My great-grandmother Nellie kept her precious memorabilia in an old biscuit tin and both of my grandmother's had an assortment of albums and leather-bound satchels for their photographs.

 

I began scrapbooking in earnest back in 2001 after I attend a Babies & Children's Expo. I still remember the "Creative Memories" display like it was yesterday. Layed out on tressel tables were rows of scrapbooks of all colours and sizes and the ideas flooded in my over-active mind. I wanted to create something unique and special for my then unborn child and in that moment, I was determined to ensure that all of my photographs would be lovingly displayed and preserved. Thus, my love of scrapbooking was born (pardon the pun).

 

Three generations of photograph albums
My grandmother Lilian's, My mother's and mine

To date I have made nine scrapbook albums. I would really like to say I have made ten if it included my intended heritage scrapbook but that is still on my "to-do" list. Why haven't I made it yet, I hear you ask? Simple, it's one word: fear. I confess that I am a perfectionist (eat your heart out Jim Cameron) and more especially when it comes to creating scrapbooks. I have all the necessary implements, papers (acid free, of course) and tons of photographs but I just cannot bring myself to sit down and actually do it. I am terrified of mucking the whole thing up. Crazy, I know.

 

I can proudly say that I have accumulated a lot of favourite scrapbook "how-to" books and these are a few of my absolute favourites, which I return to again and again:

 

The Complete Guide to Creating Heritage Scrapbooks (Memory Makers)
Scrapbook Journaling Made Simple (Memory Makers)

Scrapbooking Your Family History (Maureen A. Taylor)

Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs (Maureen A. Taylor)

Scrapbooking Your Family History (Laura Best)

Scrapbooking Family in Historical Events (Laura Best)
'Good Housekeeping' Wartime Scrapbook (Barbara Dixon)

The Altered Book Scrapbook (Susan Ure)

A sample of some of my personal scrapbooks

My personal tips for scrapbooking: Don't ever use your original photographs. Always use copies; that way if you make a mistake during the cropping process you can always print off another. Always ensure that you use acid-free papers and scrapbooking materials. If you don't feel confident when it comes to journaling, practise on a separate sheet of paper and use the photograph as a narrative guide. Remember, every photograph tells a story.

 

Lastly, I picked up this invaluable tip and I want to pass it on to you. When you create a scrapbook or photograph/memorabilia album, include an "About the Author" and paste it on the inside front page and remember to include a small photograph of yourself. Write a brief introduction: tell the person who will be looking at your album who you are, why you made the album, what your hobbies are, what date it was when you made the album and where you were living at the time. Below is an example, taken from one of my personal scrapbooks that I made in 2003. Please, try not to laugh at my photo (it was the 1980s, come on!).

 

"About The Author"
Fom my personally made childhood scrapbook

My favourite websites to order my scrapbooking supplies from:

http://www.creativememories.com.au/ (Companies in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Canada, USA, Japan)

http://www.familytreefolk.co.uk/ (UK based, but overseas orders welcome)

http://www.gould.com.au/ (Australia based, but overseas orders welcome)

 



Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : R is for...

I've decided to write this Alphabet Challenge post about two of my family lines that start with this week's letter - R. My 4 x great-grandfather was Zachariah Rudd and my 4 x great-grandmother was Sarah Rivett. Both of these families are from my father's side.

 

 

 

 

Sitting down to write this post brought home the startling reality that I know very little about these two families. I owe what I do know to my second cousin Terry, who was researching his family tree long before I got serious about it. He was able to determine that the Rudd family originated from Thelveton in Norfolk before moving to Loddon and Beccles. The Rivett family lived in the villages of Ringsfield and Shipmeadow, in Suffolk (both of which are located between the market towns of Beccles and Bungay).

 

Zachariah Rudd (born about 1778) was recorded in the census returns as a cotton weaver, a jobbing gardener, and a boot and shoe maker. Every ten years his address appears to change from Beccles in 1841 (Smallgate Street)  to Loddon in 1851 (with his daughter and son-in-law William Leman, who I posted about a few weeks ago) and then back again to Beccles (Old Market in 1861 and Northgate in 1871). Zachariah Rudd died in 1871 at the ripe old age of 94. I wonder what his secret to long life was back then!

 

Sarah Rivett (born about 1780) in Shipmeadow, Suffolk. Today there is scarcely nothing to the village of Shipmeadow. It has no shop, public-house or church (the latter was made redundant in 1980) but its parish workhouse still stands today, as a testiment to its history, even if it has been converted into modern housing and flats. Sarah married Issac Turrell in 1807 and they had at least six known children. They lived in nearby Ringsfield but unfortunately the census returns of 1841 and 1851 does not give an actual street address. Ringsfield was a small village with over 1,000 acres of agricultural land and farm-houses; today it has a primary school, a village hall and a public-house. The church of All Saints is a Grade II listed building and the churchyard contains the grave and memorial of Napoleon Bonaparte's  great-niece Princess Caroline Murat.

 

Ringsfield Church, a sketch from 1819



Ringsfield Church, 2011

Princess Caroline Murat's Memorial Gravestone

 

Interior of Ringsfield Church, 2011

Ringsfield Hall
http://www.ringsfield-hall.co.uk/

The Three Horseshoes, Ringsfield
Photo courtesy of Tony Green
http://pubshistory.com/Suffolk/Ringsfield/ThreeHorseshoes.shtml

 

I do not know who either Zachariah Rudd or Sarah Rivett's parents were. There is more work to be done on these family lines. It takes a blog post like this one to make you notice the gaps in your genealogy research. Turns out this post had more to do with Ringsfield, which is probably just as well as it still covered the letter R for the week!

 

 

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : Q is for...

This week's letter was a challenging one I confess. I have no ancestry names that start with Q (unless you count my first cousin four times removed, Charlotte Foster who married George Quinton in 1888). No, I thought my best bet was to write about Quarter Sessions but with a Becclesian twist (being Beccles, in county Suffolk).

What are Quarter Sessions exactly? Researching Records of the Court can be daunting and just a tad mind-boggling to the average amateur genealogist, such as yours truly. Terms such as Minute Books, Order Books, Assizes, Session Rolls, and Judicial Proceedings leave my brain swimming. I can easily explain, however, that Quarter Sessions were held four times in a year (hence the name, Quarter) at: Easter, Midsummer, Michaelmas and Epiphany (January). Quarter Sessions were presided over by the town sheriff or his deputy; or a Justice of the Peace (magistrates).

The Beccles Charter of 1584 granted the right for a gaol to be built in the town. Beccles historian E. A Goodwyn wrote: "The holding of Quarter Sessions at Beccles indicates the importance of the town in the country. Theft, poaching, assault and bastardy orders here the most cases..." Public interest in crime was strong and many books on crime and criminals were sold in Beccles shops, such as Horth the chemist. A body on a gibbet was common in large towns and in market towns such as Beccles public whipping frequently followed the Quarter Sessions. It is interesting to note that public whipping was carried out to coincide with Market Days. This was done on purpose; it drew in large crowds from both Beccles and neighbouring visitors. Public whipping of women was abolished in 1791.

Image courtesy of Rictor Norton

Beccles sessions were held at the Town Hall (on the site of the old Market Cross), in the New Market-place. Beccles also had a Custom House, Assembly Rooms and a House of Correction (Gaol) near Newgate. In the first half of the nineteenth century the Earl of Gosford (then Lord of the Manor) held court in the town. The chairman was Colonel Henry Bence Bence (that is not an error, that really was his name).

Beccles House of Correction was situated on the site of the Game Place which is now covered by Tesco Supermarket (formerly, Clowes Printing Works), bordering Gaol Lane and Newgate. In 1679 it was agreed that the House of Correction should be placed on the Game Place, a former open-air theatre where plays took place by travelling acting companies. In the 1780s the Public Hall (orgininally called the Assembly Rooms) was built.

In 1865 Quarter Sessions in Beccles came to an end and all cases were transferred to Ipswich, despite initial opposition from the magistrates and townsfolk of Beccles. After this time, the House of Correction was used as a County Police Station in which there was accommodation for a married inspector and his family and three constables. The building was remodelled in 1874 which included eight cells and a large airing-yard for prisoners. Petty sessions and Police Courts continued to be carried out in Beccles.

Image courtesy of Eugene Ulph
"Time Remembered"

The Beccles Quarter Sessions paint some pretty disturbing images in history. What follows may make you laugh or cry but they are an insightful look into the life of our ancestors:

1764. Elizabeth Thornton, being disorderly, idle and refusing to work, to be publicly whipped "until bloody".
1766. Fines imposed on 5 Beccles men for non-appearance when chosen as Jury men.
1769. A woman of Beccles to be publicly whipped in the Market Place for reeling false yarn. Commited to the Bridewell for 14 days.
1771. Martha Mash and Hannah Peake for stealing 13 turkeys and one goose. Mash to be transported to America for 7 years. Peake to be publicly whipped on the next Market Day.
1777. Bejamin Eves stealing a pig. Publicly whipped the next Market Day.
1771. John Poll, charged with bastardy, to enlist for a soldier.
1774. Sarah Calver, for feloniously stealing 3 loaves of bread out of the house of John Sratford of Wenhaston, to be publicly whipped and discharged.
1790. Will Burroughs. Petty Larceny. 3 months hard labour and publicly whipped the next market day in Beccles.
1794. Ely Leggett leaving poor house at Shipmeadow and taking away apparel belonging to the same. Sentenced to 2 months hard labour and solitary confinement in Beccles Gaol.

Beccles Town Hall

A Beccles guidebook of 1888: Town Hall of Beccles now used as a Public Library and contains 6,000 volumes. In 1904 it was said to hold over 9,000 volumes and was under the control of 12 committee members. However, in 1911 the East Suffolk Gazette newspaper reported thus: The Council intends to recover possession of the old Town Hall, near the Church, now used as a Public Library, to use it as a Council Chamber and offices for the Borough Surveyor.

If you are interested in knowing more about the history of Beccles you may like to subscribe or follow my Twitter page @RelicsofBeccles where I regularly "tweet" historical facts and anecdotes of Beccles.