Catching up....

So, a larger than usual gap between posts, sorry.  I'm house-sitting in the wilds of the county at the moment and, although that means I'm away from my databases, I have spent some of the time checking the info on my website.

Quite an interesting exercise ..... you notice all the references that are missing and the events which simply could not have happened but that you never noticed before!  I would recommend it to fellow genealogists but most of you probably checked all the info before putting it on the interweb!

Anyway, must go as the house-sitting includes looking after two cats who have, during my sojourn here, brought me a decent variety of wildlife.  Mostly small, I grant you, but some of it was still alive.  House has been cleansed of the feathers.....

More soon.

A whole lot of Bull ....

Exciting time this week - I managed to throw away another two sheets of paper from the corner of the desk and one from off the floor!

I also went over to St Ives to finally meet Sue and her husband Rob.  He's my second cousin once removed, and Sue & I have been emailing for a number of years.  An excellent guided tour of the Hemingfords first, which included Common Lane .... a road where the only "common" thing is the grassy field at the end!  

And then Sue let me loose on the photos ..... I love old photos, any old photos, but I particularly enjoy old photos of people to whom I am distantly related.  Sheer joy, then, to finally see a decent photo of Albert (Dick) Culpin & his wife Florence (nee Measures) and their three daughters.  And Henry (Bob) and his wife Grace.

And Sue & Rob were kind enough to give me the letter my grandfather wrote to Florence when her husband, his uncle, died.  That's the first time I've ever seen his handwriting and it will be much treasured.

Oh, and, I had a (reasonably) close encounter with a bull.  The family has a farm and the bull needed moving from one field to another.  I volunteered to help and was equipped with a bit of blue plastic tubing and the instruction to make myself big.  I understood entirely what was meant but wasn't really prepared for the size of the beast.  Or the fact that he was a little bit frisky.  And he spotted me.

Fear not, loyal reader, my hosts intervened before my safety was threatened but I would like to point out that this bull is, to use an agricultural term, a bit of a big b****r.  Rob gently told me that, actually, the bull is only two-thirds of its adult size!

So, exhilarating.  Certainly made my heart beat faster.  But no experience is wasted and I shall know next time: keep out of the way!  I had a lovely day and was made most welcome.  I was drinking coffee yesterday when I got an email from Sue, with an attachment .... a picture of the bull!  Coffee went everywhere as I laughed out loud.

More soon.

Much confused ...

I've spent the last three hours adding Culpins various to the databases.  Some of the notes have been around for a while so it was good to find the writing was still legible and the ink hadn't faded too much! I'd found some obits online a few months ago and was able to claim a couple of them for the family file so that was good. But one note which has led to much scratching of the head. 

On the "iannounce.co.uk" website, I found Reginald Culpin enlisted in Loughborough and was in the Leicestershire Regiment. At the time of his death he was with the Durham Light Infantry. He was killed in Flanders on 14 July 1918 aged 19 years. He is buried in an unknown grave and commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial, Panel 129, and Kegworth Church. And his service details are on Ancestry: Reginald Henry Culpin. Son of Arthur Biddle Culpin and Frances Ellen, nee Heighton. And on the CWGC website: son of Arthur Riddle and Frances Ellen. What's a B or an R between friends? 

But .... and far be it from me to question the authorities here ..... I think he's actually Richard Henry. Born 1899 and the right age. Just to confuse me, he has a brother Reginald Arthur, born 1905. I did wonder if the real Reginald joined up under age but records show him getting married in 1932 and dying, at the right age for his birth, in 1968. So, I think it really was Richard Henry (I'll say his name again) who joined up and gave his life. Wonder why he was registered in the army as Reginald? And how does this error carry on? Surely someone would have corrected it by now? 

Maybe the clouds of confusion will lift if I stop thinking about it .... 

More soon.