How long is a year . ?

So while I wait for music to download onto the pc, let me tell you about today's birthday boys and girl.

Edward Wright, son of Thomas & Rebecka (nee Langford) was born in 1695 in Stretham and died in April 1696. Now . . I think I've just noticed a glitch in my expensive genealogy database's thinking - because, although that period of time looks like 15 months, it's actually only three. This was the time of the old calendar which ran from late March - but the software which writes the reports has decided that Edward was 1 year old when he died. Hmmmmm, something to speak to the makers about, methinks.

Interesting fact - according to Wikipedia, a £2 fine was introduced in 1695 for swearing in England.

Moving on some 140 years, Elizabeth Young was born in 1834 in Chatteris, daughter of David & Jane (nee Bigley) and, sadly, she too only lived a short while, dying the following year. Sidetracking slightly, the Bigley line (on my maternal side) is really rather short and problematical. I think that John, my g-g-g-grandfather was born around 1776; I know that he married Mary Smith in 1807 in Great Yarmouth and I know that he died in 1860 in Chatteris. However, I don't know where he was born and, just to complicate matters, he was a soldier when he got married. This makes it likely that he was somewhat peripatetic and there were no national registers at this time; soooo, you'll understand when I say that this slows down the research slightly. What is known in the trade as a "brick wall".

And finally, introducing Arthur James Staden of this parish. As he lived in the 20th century, I will not be quite as free with info as I have been previously. Suffice to say that he was born on this day, son of Alfred & Catherine (nee Derby) and he died in 1997. His sister Iris was born yesterday, but I ran out of space to mention her - so I do so now; another with a sadly-short life, she died at the age of three (I checked the calculation) and was buried at St Edward in Cambridge.

The weather? It's been raining most of the day.