9 July 2009

Well Groom-ed

Today is the 151st birthday, so to speak, of my 2nd cousin 4 times removed Frederick Street. Born in Old Warden, Bedfordshire, the youngest of ten children of Thomas & Rebecca (nee Pates), he lived in the village until he went into service as a groom.

The nearby village of Holme then became his . . . er . . home and he appears to have lived there until at least 1901. Frederick married Sarah (no surname available on the indexes) in 1881 and the only other occupant of their home seems to have been his nephew Arthur, who was a labourer at the cycling works in 1901.

The majority of my genealogical time today has been spent tracing the family of James Bullard, basketmaker, born in Bluntisham in 1816. He was my great-great-great-uncle (and uncle to Blanche Culpin's mother) and his entry in my database looked far too empty for comfort. All I knew was that he married Ann Stone in Hitchin in 1838 and also Mary Humphries (at some unidentified date); since I started on him, I've discovered his marriage to Mary (1850 - after the death of Ann in 1849) and his thirteen children. That's five with Ann and eight with Mary - plainly he didn't spend all his time making baskets!

To be brief, because I've yet to enter half of this lot - four of these children produced 26 grandchildren for him; Susan married George Saunders and they had five, Henry married Laura Logson and they had six, Thomas married Louisa Whitby and they had eight and, phew, Ernest married Frances Simmons, producing a further seven.

Best name out of all the grandchildren - Isaline Helen Bullard, born 1881 in Hitchin.

So, I'd better finish entering them into the database.

More soon.




No comments: