Researching our Twentieth Century Ancestors

Nov29 by thehistoryinterpreter

Until recently, I was a columnist for the In-depth Genealogist Magazine and also wrote for their blog. Now the magazine is sadly no more, contributors have been invited to re-post their blog material elsewhere, so that it is preserved. This is another post that I wrote for the magazine, which I have edited to bring it up to date.

As genealogists, we often shy away from researching our twentieth century ancestors, treating them differently from earlier generations. When we begin our quest to uncover our family’s story, the inclination is to rush backwards as far as possible, as fast as possible. Often, our knowledge reaches back to the early years of the twentieth century without us having to do any documentary research. Here are people we have known and whose personal reminiscences, memorabilia and vital records may well be in our possession, or held by close family. For some of us, there is the tendency to view the twentieth century as ‘not really history’; after all we may well have lived through half of it. Our starting point may well be a granny or great granddad who was born in 1895. Family historians will often, justifiably, comment that it is easier to research in the nineteenth century than it is the twentieth. Records that are closed to public view, families that are increasingly mobile and just sheer numbers of people, all add to the difficulties of more recent research. This means we sometimes gloss over the recent members of our family tree, relying on what the family can tell us and instead we immerse ourselves in the stories of our earlier ancestors.

If you have never really focused on your more recent relatives, I would like to encourage you to do so. This is not just about a family tree, it is about recreating your family’s lives. There is so much context that can be incorporated in to stories of ancestors who were alive between 1900 and 1950: two World Wars, the changing role of women, the Great Depression, to name but a few. If you have an English family you might add the General Strike, in Ireland the fight for Home Rule. I had great fun researching this era for my novel Barefoot on the Cobbles. This period may see your family owning a car, a camera or a radio for the first time. Can you find out what they might have seen at the cinema, listened to on the phonograph or played with as children? Fashions, communications, travel and social welfare all changed immeasurably between 1900 and 1950; how would this have affected your family?

More recent research has become more important now that our quest for DNA matches encourages us to take our trees downwards, in an attempt to identify potential 3rd and 4th cousins.

Taking time out from your quest for earlier generations, to concentrate on those from this period, can bring great benefits. Just selecting a few decades really focuses the mind and you will probably be surprised how much you can find out about these relatives, their homes and localities and the lives they may have led. There is much to help you tell that story. You may well have photographs of this period. Even if you do not have photographs of your own ancestors, there are others available to evoke the era. There will be newspaper reports that again might not name your own relatives but will tell you what was going on in their communities. Would granny have attended the church bazaar? Did granddad win the ploughing match? Would your family have been affected by the closure of a major local business? It is much more likely that you will have precise addresses for twentieth century ancestors and it is also more likely that those homes are still standing. This opens up opportunities to include photographs of those homes in your stories.

This is also a fascinating period for those with One Place Studies to focus on – get ready for the release of the 1921 census by focusing on the other documentation now!

CUE ADVERTS

For those of you with British ancestors in this period, if you feel that this is a project that you might like to try and you would welcome further guidance, the next presentation of my five week online course Discovering your British Family and Community in the Early Twentieth Century, run by Pharos Tutoring and Teaching starts in January.

Barefoot on the Cobbles – true story based in Devon 1890-1919. Available on Kindle. Unless you are outside the UK, please buy paperbacks from me (trying to make room for Christmas tree) – postage free to UK addresses. Gift giving season approaching etc.. Also available Remember Then: women’s memories of 1946-1969 and how to write your own. Ditto that think about buying from me. What else can I say, oh talks available on both books on request. Phew, that’s today’s marketing done.

And just because I can, photos of a few of my ancestors who made it into the C20th. P.S I don’t seem to have inherited the ears!

003 Eliza Smith nee Seear 1823-1900.JPG Mary Archer Dawson née Bowyer 1830-1919.jpg

Philip James Woolgar 1855-1913 c 1899.jpg

Four Favourite Sources for Researching English Ancestors in the early Twentieth Century

Nov13 by thehistoryinterpreter

Regular readers will know that my historical novel Barefoot on the Cobbles is set in the early twentieth century. It is based on a true story and the sources that I used, in order to research the lives of the characters, are those that I also use for family history research. With the gift-giving season in mind, I am busy promoting it and my other books as potential present options. Sadly, many family historians do not focus on their more recent ancestors. This is a shame, especially in the era of DNA testing, when researching forwards can help us to understand our DNA matches and enable us to progress backwards.

I thought I would share my four favourite twentieth century sources. Regrettably, only one of these is universally available online. I realise that this may be frustrating for those of you who are unable to visit the relevant English archives. I am spreading the word about these fascinating record sets in the hope that raising awareness will encourage you to persuade the data-providing websites to make them part of their digitising programme, so that they can be accessible to all.

Firstly, the 1910 Valuation Office records. They are largely un-indexed and often ignored; yet their value is equal to that of a census return. The returns are arranged geographically and every property was valued, resulting in four pages of information being recorded in ‘Field Books’. Owners and occupiers’ names are given, together with details such as: when the tenancy commenced, how much rent was paid and who was responsible for repairs. Entries also include a description of the property’s construction, condition and number of rooms. The records for England and Wales are held at The National Archives (TNA), at Kew, in class IR58. The equivalent records for Scotland and Ireland are held at National Records for Scotland and The National Archives, Ireland. A research guide, Valuation Office Survey is available and reading this is highly recommended. Fortunately, the data provider The Genealogist is gradually releasing these records on their subscription website, I am eagerly awaiting the counties that are relevant to me.

Another under-used source is the National Farm Survey of 1941, which again is held at TNA. Class MAF32 includes a series of four forms relating to each land holding. These are:

The Farm Survey itself, completed by the surveyor, giving the names of the owner, occupier.
The 1941 Agricultural Census, which lists the acreage, crops and livestock on the holding.
The Labour and Motive Power Survey. This lists tractors and machinery but also gives information relating to tenanted land, such as the rent paid and when the tenancy began.
The Soft Fruit and Vegetables for Human Consumption Survey, which is particularly useful in market gardening areas.

There is a National Archives’ Research Guide, which gives further information about the Farm Survey.

The Absent Voters’ Lists are a specific kind of electoral roll. They were compiled in 1918 and 1919 to allow those who were still on active service to vote. For each individual listed, there is also information on their military service, ship, regiment, number and rank as appropriate. Surviving records are likely to be in local archives. There are further details and links to a few online lists.

Finally, a site that you can all consult and will be of interest if your family were in England during the First World War. This is the Red Cross website, which gives details of the service of all the Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses. The site allows access to the personnel records of over 90,000 volunteers, with details of the hospitals in which they served, as well as giving interesting background information.

The next presentation of my five week online course ‘Discovering your British Family and Community in the Early Twentieth Century’, run by Pharos Tutoring and Teaching, starts in January. There is still time to book if you would like to start the new genealogical research year in style. Incidentally, comments on twenty four different sources that I used when researching Barefoot on the Cobbles appeared on my blog in December 2018, so do check back in the archives for these.

Image: screen shot from https://vad.redcross.org.uk

Family History and our Pets

Nov5 by thehistoryinterpreter

It started with a Tweet. Academics from Royal Holloway and the University of Manchester were investigating how we interacted with our pets between 1837 and 1939. As part of the project they were asking for pre-second world war photographs of family pets. I am fortunate to have a large number of photographs from my mother’s family and yes there were pets. Some of these animals I remember, although these were too recent for the purposes of the project but others lived on in family stories. Apart from the labels on the photographs, had I actually recorded the pet stories in any way? In some respects, pets are a little like those on our family tree who left no descendants, the maiden great-aunts whose stories will not be preserved unless we, the family historians, ensure that they are.

It occurred to me that we have a very special relationship with our animals but rarely do they feature in our family histories. We may have no idea about the animals that featured in the lives of our more distant family members but perhaps we should be acknowledging the existence of our own pets and those that belonged to our immediate ancestors.

My great uncle was a serial pet owner. I have photographs of his dog Mephistopheles, so called because my uncle was performing in a choral piece of the same name at the time the dog was acquired. Like family stories that relate to people, things had become garbled in my memory. I was convinced that ‘Mef’ (imagine shouting ‘Mephistopheles’ across a park) was an Irish Setter but pictures show that he was anything but. Sadly Mef died of a heart attack when the coalman’s horse reared up suddenly and broke the front windows of the house with his hooves. Mef was replaced by a Red Setter, Dep, so called because he deputised for Mef. As a late teenager my mother had Judy the Cairn and Squibs the West Highland White Terrier. Throughout my own childhood my constant companion was Sparky the mongrel. So many memories but here is just one, we would hide under the bed together when Christmas balloons were being blown up.

There were occasions when we had to transport budgerigars from granny’s to home. We may only have actually done this once but it seems as if it was several times. Nor can I be sure why we were doing this, as we holidayed together. Initially granny had two budgies, Comfy and Cosy, one blue and one green, although I cannot remember which was which. To these was added the plain yellow Romeo, so called I think, because he had been found ‘roaming’. We seemed to make a habit of catching lost budgies, sneaking up behind them and rescuing them from the dangers of the wild with judicious use of a net curtain. The bird cage was put on my, by then outgrown, pushchair and covered with a blanket. I stood on the push chair step and leant forward holding the handle to stop the cage sliding off in the event of any emergency stops.

I could go on with stories of how Nora the hamster escaped and lived in the back of the sofa for three days before recapture, or how we had to take the side panel off the bath when my daughter’s hamster made a similar bid for freedom some thirty years later. By now you have the idea, add your pet stories to other family reminiscences; man’s best friends deserve to be remembered. If you do have any pre 1939 pet photographs then get in touch with Pet Histories.

RootsTech Day 3

Oct28 by thehistoryinterpreter

Another smooth journey. As we walk towards the ExpoHall we are triaged to divide us from the ComiCon attendees who are meeting in another part of the arena. We are clearly deemed to look more like family historians. That’s probably a good thing. Although we are slightly later today, we enter an almost deserted ExpoHall; pretty much just us and the explosives search dog. I begin the day listening to a lively presentation from Sylvia Valentine on workhouse records. She rightly praises Peter Higginbotham’s workhouse website.

Next the much vaunted keynote by Donny Osmond. He speaks of his career with his family and his origins. Finishing with, ‘When you discover more about your ancestors, you discover more about yourself’. This time I have left the limited interviewing spaces to the die-hard fans.

I follow this with a stint on the Pharos stand, encouraging people to enhance their genealogy education. I have met several of my former and present Pharos students over the three days at RootsTech; it is lovely to put faces to names. I also have the go-ahead to devise a new course. Watch this space but don’t hold your breath.

I opt for Drew Smith again, this time ‘Using an Ancestor’s FAN Club to get Past Brick Walls’, which he delivers to a capacity crowd. FAN stands for Family (or friends, depending on who you listen to), Associates and Neighbours. By investigating extended family, co-workers, school mates and others in the community, we may find clues to our own ancestors. Some FAN Club members are more likely to lead to success than others, so we should prioritise. The session ends with some interesting case studies.

Today is family day so there are many children present. It is a shame that the children’s programme does not seem to extend beyond LDS families. It is even more of a shame that the will to involve young people is not universal in the family history world. RootsTech do a great job in this regard. With this in mind, my final session is ‘Family History that won’t put your Kids to Sleep’ aka ‘Easy Ways to get your Family Involved in Family History’ by Mike Sandberg. This is based on the provision by Family Search. Suggested activities include ‘Walk Where they Walk’, ‘Touch what they Touch’, ‘Hear what they Heard’ and ‘Eat what they Ate’. He quotes, as I do in my talks on a similar subject, from Bruce Feiler’s ‘The Stories that Bind Us’.

The ExpoHall has closed during this lecture. My coat is in the hall. I have volunteered to help break-down a stand. My pass includes the words ‘Ambassador’ and ‘Speaker’. It does not include the magic word ‘Exhibitor’. It takes ten minutes and all my persuasive powers to get past security and back into the hall. The Guild of One-Name Studies stall dismantled and it is time to head back to the van. We have missed the worst of the ComiCon rush but there are still plenty of interestingly clad folk about. We crowd on to the DLR and are almost taken out by a pair of bunny ears. On the final escalator there is another incident. The up escalator is crammed. Chris is on the step in front of me, manfully carrying a box of books and therefore not holding on. The woman in front of him is wearing a large back pack. She leans back. He grabs for the rail but not before he has leaned into me. In order to avoid a domino rally of disastrous proportions, I instinctively grip harder. The sharp edge of the rubber handrail slices through my fingers. Great. I now have deep cuts filled with black rubber and neither of the two first aid kits we have with us appear to contain any antiseptic.

So, after all the build-up, it is over. I wish I could have cloned myself to hear more presentations. I am sad that I had to miss so many talks that I would have like to have heard and that I could not support all my friends who were speaking. The highlights were meeting friends, collecting the records from the MOD, giving my presentation to an appreciative audience and meeting Dan Snow and Kadeena Cox. I hope there will be another RootsTechLondon but maybe not until I’ve recovered from this one!

I seem to have been on a non-stop roller-coaster since April. These months have been book-ended by two major genealogical events, with another one in-between. It was wonderful to have played a part in all three. I have been away from home more than I’ve been there, we’ve had a wonderful genealogical cruise, family reunions, visitors, family holidays, research trips and the job we must not mention. Now I have nine talks to give in the next month and I need to prioritise finishing novel number two. I also need to seriously deplete the stock of the books I’ve already written in order to make room for the new one next autumn. The holiday season is rapidly approaching, if you want gift suggestions…….. (Unless you are outside the UK, please buy directly from me, otherwise my pile does not go down!)

Disclaimer: As a RootsTech Ambassador I receive complimentary admission to the event and a free registration to give one of my readers. My status as an Ambassador does not entitle me to any financial assistance for accommodation, travel or meals.

RootsTech Day 2

Oct27 by thehistoryinterpreter

We leave a little later today and are at the station by 7.15am. As someone who lives in a village where there are two buses a week, the frequency of London public transport takes some getting used to. There was nearly an awkward train-related incident when I tried to encourage our party to get on a train bound for Cannon Street, when we are actually heading for Canning Town. Similar though eh?

Again the journey takes about an hour and I begin the day with a long chat with Pam and Paul on the Name and Place stand. This software is going to be so useful to those with One-Place Studies. My first session is Drew Smith on ‘Crowd-Sourcing your Brick Walls’, where he discusses the use of message boards, mailing lists and Facebook Groups, including the helpful Genealogy Squad, of which I am a proud member.

Excitedly, I collect my father’s world war two service records from the MOD stand. What a great idea to give us this quick turn-around opportunity – a highlight of the conference. As my father was in the RAF and the army (long story), I pick up two sets of documents; I guess this counts as BOGOF. By ordering late last night I managed to avoid the queue, which at times was 1½ hours long. Understandably this was a very popular offer.

Then the keynote with Paralympian Kadeena Cox. As a follower of para-athletics I was excited to hear her story. The warm-up act was Tamsin Todd, CEO of FindMyPast. I spot that most of the presenters in the auditorium are using auto cue. Kadeena’s story of her Jamaican heritage and her own experiences overcoming her condition is one of strong family bonds and perseverance. Family Search have traced her family for her and also present her with a series of DNA kits. I am excited to have the opportunity to interview Kadeena and as the grandmother of Robot Wars’ biggest fan, I have to ask her about her experience as winner of the celebrity version. I then get to be number two in the queue for a meet and greet and autograph. I hand my camera to someone in the queue behind me; sadly their efforts are a tad fuzzy, at least of me.

My next session is David Annal’s ‘My Ancestor was a Liar’. He stresses the importance of understanding the records we are using and why they were created. Then there is a Tweet-up for those of us who join in #Ancestryhour. I am an occasional attendee, as I usually remember as the hour draws to a close. Next I am able to chat to the FindMyPast officials, Tamsin Todd CEO and Ben Bennett MD. This is a very interesting hour, even though it means that I miss more lecture sessions I had hoped to attend. I comment that, exciting as all the additional records are, they are giving us lists of ‘hits’ that are becoming unmanageable. They are working to refine the search process to help with this. Also a priority is improving source citations. We learn that the 1921 census will include workplace information. We ask about the likely pricing model. They are not yet ready to announce this but it will be ‘similarish’ to that for the 1911 census and the 1939 register. I guess this means that patience will be needed before this becomes part of the subscription. We are reminded that FindMyPast are the only 1939 register provider with an ongoing programme to reveal the redacted entries. Over 5 million new individuals have been opened for view since the launch. Exciting news for Scotland is promised for the near future. We are also asked for our feedback on the event.

A slightly earlier arrival back on site today, which is much needed.

RootsTech Day 1

Oct25 by thehistoryinterpreter

We leave the van in the drizzly darkness that is 6.40am. We manage to not look like total rustics and click our debit cards on the yellow button at the station, in imitation of regular commuters. We change to the DLR at Woolwich Arsenal and a kind lady reassures us that we are on the correct train. Not only that but she kindly comes across to us as we are alighting to direct us to the right platform for our on-going train. Prince Regent station leads directly into the Excel, so we have arrived! There are plenty of happy smiley volunteers wearing ‘ask me anything’ tee-shirts. We can certainly ask them anything. It is day 1, they haven’t quite worked out all the answers yet. We are given bags at check-in. This is very kind but does mean that x thousand people now all have identical bags. I try and fail, to make mine look more distinctive.

The expo hall is barely stirring when we enter at 7.40am. I head to the speakers’ lounge and receive a thoughtful gift and handwritten thank you from the organising team. Then I check out the room for my talk later in the day. It is pretty cosy in the Excel. I am dressed for more Arctic climes. I move to the lecture rooms for the 9am session. A phalanx of Guild of One-Name Studies members are sitting in the back of lecture room 12. For this slot, I have chosen to listen to Myko Clelland on ‘Beyond the British Census’, a session that I have picked because I know he is a good speaker. Although I give talks myself on similar topics, I am sure there will be something new to learn and I am not wrong. We are told that the earliest surviving census is for first century China. More usefully, the Parliamentary Archives now allow a map search leading to catalogue numbers for the Protestation Returns. I am also reminded that the Welsh Tithe map is now online. Next, a really interesting discussion with Patricia and Evelyne, who run a family history society for young people in France.

Dan Snow, the first Keynote, is introduced by show compere Nick Barrett. He tells of a wonderful childhood being immersed in history and outlines his descent from Prime Minister Lloyd George and also from a great grandfather whose blundering led to the slaughter of thousands of men on the Somme. Dan encourages us to embrace the unpalatable aspects of our family history and speculates that future generations may view some of our actions, such as our wilful destruction of the environment, with the kind of horror that we reserve for slave-owning ancestors, for example. I was then fortunate to be part of an interview panel with Dan; an opportunity that I nearly missed as it started early. I asked what he felt about history being squeezed from the school curriculum and his view was history can come from the family. I’m not going to argue with that.

For the afternoon, I choose to attend Lesley Anderson’s presentation about emigration to Canada, because this is a topic that I am particularly interested in. She concentrates on sources available at Ancestry. Form 30A, Ocean Arrivals 1919-1924 sound interesting; these are also available on the Library and Archives Canada site. I follow this up with another session chosen for its content. This time, Simon Gibson, talking about ‘Engaging the younger audience through technology’. Having outlined technological advances over past decades, Simon goes on to advocate encouraging young people to use technology to interview older relatives. He then poses the question, ‘Are the traditional processes of genealogical research a hindrance to engagement (by young people)?’ The answer is undoubtably yes.

Next it is my turn to encourage people to record their own memories with my Remember Then talk. Considering I have some stiff competition from high profile speakers in other sessions, I have a good turn out and there are some lovely comments at the end. I even manage to sell a few books, leading to some more interesting conversations.

I am disappointed that the talk about Huguenot research, that I had earmarked, has had to be cancelled. By this time, the busy day is taking its toll but there is more to come as fifty or so Guild of One-Name Studies’ members forgather at The Custom House for food. Mindful of the length of our journey home, we don’t stay too long and arrive back in the van fourteen hours after we left it, longing for sleep. This is somewhat thwarted by a noisy nearby firework display. Tomorrow we get to do it all again.

Ready for RootsTech

Oct23 by thehistoryinterpreter

After ten lovely days with my descendants, I am hardly feeling rested in the run-up to Rootstech but I am looking forward to three days of fun, learning and meeting friends. We ensconce ourselves in a cosy caravan site some thirteen miles from the Excel Centre. Lovely though it would be to be closer to the action, this is the third major event of this kind this year and more central hotels in school holidays are prohibitively expensive. About the only downside of living in the bottom left hand corner of the country, is the cost of getting anywhere else.

We take our lives in our hands and drive in to the Excel Centre to help set up the Guild of One-Name Studies’ stand. This reinforces our resolve to drive through London as infrequently as possible. The trusty Sat-nav gets us pretty much to where we need to be. By dint of asking several high-viz clad folk, we manage to find where the appropriate entrance is. We cram the quart that is the Guild display materials into the pint pot that is our stand space. It is hard to believe that all these stands will be ready by first thing tomorrow. The excitement is certainly building.

Our journey back to the van is ‘enhanced’ by rain, darkening skies and rush hour traffic. We nearly end up in a one-hour queue for the Woolwich Ferry but thankfully manage to divert in time, in favour of the Blackwell Tunnel. After seventy five minutes, we have accomplished the journey; that’s London traffic for you. Tomorrow, the ‘delights’ of public transport.

Back in the van, I run through my talk once more and hope that I will not be performing it to one man and his dog. With so many great presentations to choose from, it is always a danger. Now to rest. I’ve no idea how folk have the stamina to include evening socialising and early morning meet-ups in their schedule every day. Alarm set for 6am, which I probably won’t need and I’m ready for the fun to begin.

Honfleur and Deauville – Day 13 of our genealogical cruise adventures

Oct15 by thehistoryinterpreter

A really interesting brickwall-busting workshop with Mia to start the day. I am pleased to be able to contribute to the demolition. Then at lunchtime we are off to Honfleur. We are now in temperatures that are 15 degrees cooler than three days ago. Some sort of happy medium would be good. Our tour guide today is Amilee. Normandy, where we are, is of course the country of the Vikings (North/Norse men). They were in this part of the world from the eighth century. In 911 Robert I, from Scandinavia, became the first Duke of Normandy. The area is also the home of impressionist art, noted for the move away from aristocratic portraits, in favour of landscapes and movement, with accurate interpretations of changing light. We cross the Seine, named for its snake-like sinuous turns. Normandy is noted for its beef and dairy cattle, cider making and calvados.

From Amilee we learn that Honfleur means ‘house on top of the hill’ and unusually, the port was not damaged during the Second World War. Honfleur was the major harbour until it began silting up, so Le Havre was built 500 years ago on the north bank of the Seine. Le Havre is now the biggest port in Europe and it certainly takes us a long time to drive across it. It is not however the busiest, that honour goes to Rotterdam. Honfleur was the site of many battles during the 100 Years’ War against the English. Amilee mentions fourteenth century English Protestants, which makes me doubt her historical knowledge. Like parts of the south-west of England, Honfleur had links with the Newfoundland cod-fishing grounds. Salt for the fishing industry came from La Rochelle. The French don’t call the English Channel the English Channel, to them it is just The Channel. Honfleur is a focus for artists and the go-to seaside for Parisians.

In Medieval times, tax was based on the size of the ground floor of buildings, hence the practice of jutting out the upper floors. This was stopped when the tax was placed on windows instead. Wooden shingles on the facades are typical of the area. St Catherine’s Church is all wooden and is famous for having two naves. We see the ‘road of the little butchers’ aka the Shambles and hear about Frederic Sauvage, the inventor of propeller, which was first demonstrated in Honfleur in 1832. In my tour of the souvenir shops, I have an unfortunate incident with some fridge magnets. I may just have spun the carousel upon which they were displayed a trifle vigorously and some found themselves on the floor. I promise I picked them all up. I am not prepared to comment on whether or not they all survived unscathed.

179 3 October 2019 Honfleur.JPG

We move on to Deauville, a town that was developed as the holiday playground of the rich in the nineteenth century. The popularity of sea bathing amongst the well-to-do meant that other attractions, such as the casino and race track were also built. The town is mostly shut up for the winter. Deauville is now full of expensive Parisian holiday homes and it really wasn’t our sort of place; it clearly caters for the luxury end of the market. No opportunities to buy tourist tat here. We wander around the town and along the beach where many of the beach huts are named for film stars.

The evening is Master Christopher’s opportunity to cure a few ailing passengers. He has an excellent turn out and the appreciative audience watch as he performs enemas and amputations with aplomb.

193 3 October 2019 Surgery.jpg

At Sea, Conference Time – Days 11 & 12 of our genealogical cruise adventures

Oct13 by thehistoryinterpreter

My travelling companion is still plague-ridden and has had a very bad night, which by extension, means that I have too. We don’t quite make the first lecture but I am up next with part three of my writing-up workshop, this time concentrating on occupations. This is followed by Eric talking about emigration from Germany. Although I have no German ancestry, this is interesting, as I am fascinated by motivations for migration and migration processes.

Rosemary then outlines the advantages of The Genealogist website. I am planning on taking out a subscription as soon as they upload more of the Valuation Office Records, which are a favourite of mine. Its smart searches are a feature not shared by other sites and allow for searching for suggested siblings or parents. There is also a facility for overlaying maps of different eras.

Roast beef is on offer at lunch time so, although I have been avoiding eating too much in the middle of the day, I break the habit of a holiday and choose this. Then it is a full afternoon of lectures. Michelle describes how to break down Irish brick-walls, followed by Paul’s guide to researching at the National Archives. We are encouraged to plan ahead and use the research guides. Apparently the National Archives have a YouTube Channel, who knew? I finish the afternoon with my Darlington to Wellington story, which seems to go reasonably well. The final session of a very long day is Paul again, this time telling us about Quarter Sessions records.

The following day is also packed with lectures and finally I feel a little less shattered. Even my lurgy-filled companion is showing signs of improvement. Although several of our party are suffering with sore throats, coughs and headaches, it does not seem to be infectious as cabin companions are not being struck down. Michelle starts us off by encouraging us to review our research, something I shall certainly be doing when I get the opportunity. A combination of timelines, checklists, DNA and robust research techniques should help us to make progress. Rosemary reminds us of the value of Directories and Almanacs. Many historic directories can be found via Internet Archive or the Leicester University historic directories site. Amongst other things, she mentions lists of sheep brands. Not you understand, as in brands or breeds of sheep but the distinguishing marks used to brand sheep in order to identify their owners. A quick search by those with internet access suggests that these are a thing in England too. I so have to check this out and use it in a talk somehow.

Next is the first of my two writing up sessions of the day. Part four focusses on the social history. Sue follows with another of her family case-studies, this time about Georgian abuse and Victorian divorce as she recounts Mary Stephenson’s journey in the Bawdy Courts. My last writing-up session includes a lively discussion on the ethics of including sensitive issues in our family stories. It is sad that my contributions are over. In a way I wish I could have ended with a different talk but I have enjoyed sharing my presentations and hope that they have been enjoyable, informative and above all have enthused my audience and made them think – that’s the aim anyway. I am excited that some of the Queenslanders plan to replicate my Remember Then project in Australia.

Paul’s final session records the workings of the Scottish Burghs. I am fascinated by a Glasgow Police Return of 1841, which gives details of the names, living conditions and health concerns of many described as destitute. I hope there is access to this online. Michelle talks about some of the Breakthroughs, Surprises and Skeletons in her family tree. Sue’s evening talk is about using forenames as a guide when investigating a family. I have rashly consumed too much cake and indeed food in general.

173a on board.jpg

At Sea and Mijas, Spain – Days 9 & 10 of our genealogical cruise adventures

Oct12 by thehistoryinterpreter

I play truant from the first two lectures and persuade my companion to rise from his sick-bed to get some air. We go up on deck where I am the sole occupant of the hot tub. Ok so I am sharing it with some slices of lime left over from last night’s revels but hey! I am frantically trying to keep up with photograph labelling and the holiday diary but it is a losing battle. Already I have numerous unidentified pictures that will have to be generically designated ‘Rome’ or ‘Florence’. We also rearrange our excursions in the light of Hurricane Lorenzo. Much as I feel that I ought to see Paris, having not been, I can’t face a three hour trip each way in order to spend four hours there, so we opt for shorter trips to Rouen and Honfleur. We also have a walk booked in Spain for tomorrow.

Michelle provides us with more tips and tools for DNA, advising us to create broad and deep online trees covering six generations and including siblings. Shared matches are the key to interpreting our DNA results. I just need several free hours a week that I don’t have. Sue shares another Swalwell case study, this time about a Georgian lady who was declared bankrupt. I don’t think that I was aware that there was an important distinction between debtors and bankrupts. Mia then outlines some online sources that are often overlooked, extolling the virtues of the Online Parish Clerks,of which I am proud to be one (or three actually).

I finish the day with the new and improved version of Remember Then, encouraging people to tell their own stories. This was the practice run for Rootstech and something decidedly weird has happened to the formatting of my presentation, which I need to fix. Nonetheless, the content is very well received and people are still fired up and chatting 45 minutes after I finish.

We are up in time to hear Eric Kopittke’s interesting presentation, ‘In the Steps of my Ancestors’, about genealogical journeys. Michelle kindly helps me look at my DNA matches; I am more eager than ever to get home to work on them some more. We dock in Malaga and our rearranged, afternoon trip, due to the reduced time in port, is to the village of Mijas. We are instructed to meet at the end of the pier and I am a little concerned that we may be in the wrong place but no. Sergio is in charge of trip number twelve and he tells us how fortunate we are to not have opted for Malaga as it is siesta time and all the shops will be closed. The Spanish are not stupid. It is 31 degrees; a siesta seems eminently sensible but here we are, mad dogs and English tourists, out in the heat of the day. Apparently temperatures are higher than average for the time of year. There is no sign of the forecast cloud. Malaga was founded in 830BC by the Phoenicians. It is the capital of the Costa del Sol in the Andalusian region. It typically has 300-320 days of sun a year and 21-22 days with rain. There is a drought at present and limitations on water usage are expected.

We drive past Malaga Cathedral, nicknamed the One-armed Lady, as only one of two proposed towers was built. An artificial beach near the port was constructed in 1990 and looks to be popular. We get stuck behind a bin lorry for a while but are soon able to recommence our journey. We see the botanical gardens that were to have been part of our destination on the trip that we chose originally.

Mijas is a typical Andalusian village that is famous for its donkeys, or burros, which are available for riding or to pull carts. They were the typical form of transport until the 1960s. There are also a number of horse-drawn vehicles for hire. Especially given the heat, I would not part with money to put animals through this, quite apart from the fact that one of the donkeys is aiming vicious kicks at its neighbour. Car parking in Mijas is set a €1 a day to encourage tourism. Beginning at the Plaza Virgen de la Pena, we walk up past the shopping area, where leather goods and Moorish influenced ceramics predominate. We can hear crickets chirruping as we climb the steep streets. We are also taken into a typical courtyard at the back of a shop. This is very attractive but fails in its undoubted aim of guilt-tripping us into making purchases. Courtyard living is the norm for most of the year and in the winter, fires are fuelled by olive wood. There are more than 420,000 olive trees in Spain. They also grow avocadoes but these trees need 100 litres of water each per day in summer and the current drought has caused severe problems.

We see Constitution Square, which is attractively laid out with a fountain and benches that were carved from the marble rocks that were left by the landslide following a flood in 1884. Despite the lack of rain in the area, this flood reached upper-storey windows. The Medieval fortress was built on top of a former defensive building that dates back to Phoenician times. The Church of Immaculate Conception was completed in 1631 and incorporates a Moorish bell-tower. We cannot escape from genealogy, as our guide tells us that 30% of Spanish DNA is Berber.

The Bullring was built in 1990 and is unique because it is oval. It has a capacity for 600, so is small by Spanish standards. Seats in the shade are more expensive than those in the sun. Animal fights only take place in early September.

We look at the Virgin of the Rock chapel that was hewn out of the rock by a Carmelite monk in the seventeenth century. Allegedly, the image of the Virgin inside the chapel was found by two child shepherds in 1586, having been led to the spot by a dove. It was a slightly less strenuous excursion than others we have been on and very enjoyable.

164 30 September 2019 Courtyard, Mijas, Andulucia, Spain.JPG A group of Guild on One-name Studies’ members foregather in the Windjammer in the evening and we consume yet more copious amounts of food.

The History Interpreter – Janet Few

Presenting and Preserving the Past

Category Archives: Family History