A missed opportunity.....

Staying, loosely, with the theme of my last entry, I went to the Cambridgeshire Collection today to look at their newspaper collection on microfilm.  The focus of this search was a possible funeral report (I know how to have fun) which, sadly, appeared to be conspicuous by its absence.

I did, though, find a short article which would be a headline-maker's dream in the 21st century but was treated with much more respect in 1951, the year I was furkling through.....

"DOCTOR FOUND PATIENT DEAD" was the heading.

The patient's name?  LIVING.

Just think of the possibilities.......!!

More soon.

Don't diss the Fens.......!

I may have mentioned before that I just *love* the British Newspaper Archive (although I am less than enamoured at the cost, given that their Australian counterparts don't charge at all); so you will understand that I enjoy a good search through the BNA's pages.

The following came up as a result of a search for Langfords in Stretham and I only really read all the way to the end because I was attempting to edit it.  Then, after a mild chuckle at the "..... followed to the grave...." I got a bit sniffy with the journalist who wrote it, for his somewhat back-handed compliment to my favourite part of the land....

CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE & JOURNAL – 25^th March 1831

The late Mr John Read of Stretham, whose death at the advanced age of 83 was noticed in our last paper, was on Thursday followed to the grave by, amongst other relations and friends, the four after-named persons—his widow, in her 84th year—Mr John Dimmock, in his 81st— Mr John Langford, in his 86th—and Mr Wingfield Hitch, in his 87th —Mr and Mrs Read had been married upwards of sixty two years, and had eight children, two of whom died in their infancy—the other six attended the funeral of their father.

—The above account may perhaps tend to shew that a residence in the fens is not altogether so prejudicial to health as many persons are inclined to suppose.

—Mr. Read for many years of his life had the management of the Drainage within Waterbeach Level, and this duty he performed with great zeal and activity; indeed it is well known that at this period he might be said during the winter seasons to have passed almost the whole of his time amongst the waters. Mr Read was also for a great length of time steward to the late and the present Sir Charles Morgan, Bart.

More soon.

Getting about a bit.......

First today a "big up", as the yoof say, to GRO Scotland.  I applied for a death certificate online and the small print said it could take up to three weeks, not including Royal Mail time.  So, expectation duly set low, I was more than pleasantly surprised to receive it in three days!

Actually, I have to say that the Scottish death certificates are a joy to behold for a genealogist as they give so much more information that their English counterparts.  Parents, spouse (all deceased too, on this occasion) and more maiden names that you can shake a stick at.  And the index includes maiden names too.  What's not to like?

Went back to the National Archives last week and found some more stuff.  Such an easy journey - down to Kings X, then underground, including the easiest train change ever - get off one, walk ten yards to the other platform and step on the next train.  And then, from Kew Gardens station to the Archives ..... signposts for the hard of thinking, and it's only about a six minute walk.  I discovered a hitherto-hidden side of my friend Mo as she stopped every few paces to ogle the planes coming into land at Heathrow..... :-)

Having pre-ordered some documents, I was a bit disappointed that the War Diary of the Suffolk Regiment was unavailable because it is being digitised.  I know that means I'll be able to see it online but nothing can really replace touching a document written nearly one hundred years ago.

Two officer files *were* available though and fascinating reading they were.  Both Culpins, both were sent to Officer Cadet Battalions - one in Oxford, one in Cambridge.  The Cambridge lad was coming up from the ranks and it was quite bizarre to read that one of the questions in his application form was: "Born in wedlock?"  He was, fortunately, so wasn't turned down!  The Oxford chap was a school teacher who had previously been turned down for poor eyesight but was plainly determined to join and got a more accommodating ophthalmic surgeon to approve him.  His application was accompanied by a letter from his school housemaster, clearing up a mild confusion: his "real" name was Karl but he changed it to "Charles" - the housemaster explained that his mother was German but his father was pure English!!

Sadly, but inevitably, Karl/Charles was killed in 1917 and I saw a list of his personal effects sent back to his mother.  Poignant to notice that it included "Pair of eye-glasses (broken)".

More soon.

2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment

Before our next trip to the National Archives at Kew, I thought it might be an idea to transcribe some of the info I picked up last time ........ can't hurry these things!

My great-uncle Ben, the reason I started this family-history lark, served with the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War, sadly losing his life on 31st October 1914.  I'd worked out roughly what the regiment were doing but it was good, if somewhat sobering, to read the war diary.

So, in the unlikely event that any of my readers also had someone in the 2nd Battalion, here's what the diary said:

4th October	Embarked Southampton
5th October	Sailed at 0830
6th October	At Dover
7th October	Arrived Zeebrugge and moved to Bruges
8th October	Moved to De Haan and bivouacked
9th October	Returned to Bruges
10th October	Marched to Beermen
11th October	Remained at Beermen
12th October	Marched to Coolscamp
13th October	At Coolscamp
14th October	Marched to Ypres
15th October	21st Infantry Brigade in centre of line from east of Ypres to east of Halte; captured several Uhlars
16th October	Removed before dawn and reached Gheluvelt about 0800.  Took up line Ypres-Menin Road-Poezelhoek-Reutel-Nord Westhoek.  21 IB in the centre.
17th October	Trenches were improved
18th October	21 IB advanced to the line 10Kilo-Terhamd.  Entrenched. “During the advance the Bedford Regiment came under sharp artillery fire and had a considerable number of casualties, including one officer killed.”
19th October	21 IB fall back, re-occupy previous entrenched position. Nordwesthoek.  Position reoccupied about dusk.
20th October	Recce not carried out.  Enemy very strong.
21st October	Brigade HQ moved back from Chateau to farm house.  Very heavy shelling all along the line all day.  All ordered to hold on.
22nd October	Congratulatory message from GOC Division.
23rd October	At dawn, one company of Bedfordshire Regiment advanced to retake the trench evacuated by the Royal Scots Fusiliers on their right, supported by one company of Royal Scots Fusiliers.  The attack met a very heavy fire from machine guns and artillery and could not accomplish their objective but they were able at dusk to take up a line linking the Yorkshire Regiment and Royal Scots Fusiliers, this line was occupied by the Bedfordshire Regiment.  Heavy shelling all day.  Infantry attacks repulsed.
24th October	Bad communications.  Phones not working.  Heavy shelling.  Bedfordshires in same position.
25th October
26th October	The Bedfordshires were to assist the Guards in their attack as soon as the 1st Guards Brigade passed their trenches, but the Guards did not succeed in doing this.  At dusk, Brigade relieved and assembled during the night in reserve at Veldhoek.
27th October	Brigade moved back to Hooge into bivouac in a wood to rest, but were moved out again at 5pm to take up a line from Vanvoordie Chateau to join with 1st Guards Brigade at about 9Kilo Menin-Ypres Road; which they did during the night, Bedfordshires on the left.
28th October	Held the line under heavy shell fire.  Enemy entrenching.  Bedfordshires filled the gap between Royal Scots Fusiliers and 7th Cavalry Brigade.
29th October	No attack against the Bedfordshire Regiment or 7th Cavalry Brigade.  General offensive ordered.  Bedfordshires on the right of Yorkshire Regiment.  Advance under heavy shellfire.  Casualties heavy.  Not far.  Prepare a further advance in the morning.  Welsh Fusiliers occupied the Bedfordshires trenches, the Bedfordshires came into reserve.
30th October	Movement of large bodies of troops heard during the night.  Further offensive action put off.  Germans occupied Zandvourdie.  Bedfordshires cover the withdrawal of 20th Brigade from salient.  Many casualties.  Line occupied by Bedfordshires on the right.
31st October	Heavy shelling early in the morning.  Germans seized Gheluvelt.  Bedfordshires (on the right) able to withdraw to new line at dusk.  Fighting very fierce.  Many casualties.  Bedfordshire Regiment also losing their CO and many of their officers.  Total Brigade strength reduced to 11 officers and 750 men.

More soon.

Checking ancestry .....

So, domestic chores done, fan on, windows & curtains shut (it's stonkingly hot out) and let's settle down to some genealogy......

But first, let me recommend something to you ..... check everything!  I've just printed out the Fordham branch of my Culpin branch, so to speak, and thought I'd fill in a lot of source data which I knew was missing.

Then I discovered some anomalies which had .....er....slipped through.... For example, George Fordham born circa 1820 in Chesterton, Cambridge and christened in Hemingford Grey 31st July.  But his age on the various censuses suggests either 1827 or 1829.  Hmmmmm.  Made a note and determined to go back to the Huntingdon RO for to check the PR.

Dear old Ancestry very kindly tries to give one hints of where else to find info about the person you're searching for and sometimes they're right.  But sometimes they're very frustrating.....don't suggest George Fordham in the Australian Death Index when you *know* my subscription is only for UK records!!!  Or that his cousin Harry might've gone to the US, 'cos I can't search that one either!  

Two more things for the "To Do" list - go to the library and use Ancestry.com for free, after the new term starts.

Right, back to searching records which I *can* access.  Going to see some chums in September so I think I'll update their Westons and Yettons....

More soon.

Static statistics?

Today, while watching Andy Murray beat Roger Federer, I was wondering if my ancestors and rellies moved around much.  So I downloaded the information on the people on my website and played around with it a bit....

What data would best serve this purpose though?  I thought about the early censuses and then discarded them; I know that some Cambs info is missing in 1861 and didn't want that to skew the results.  In the end I chose the 1881 and 1911 returns.

And?  The only significant conclusion to be drawn?  10% fewer people in Cambs in 1911 than there were in 1881.  The 4% drop in Huntingdonshire residents wasn't really surprising as the majority of those (in 1881) were Culpins and they had scattered by 1911.  I had expected a massive rise in those living in the Greater London area but there was only a 1% rise - proving the first rule of genealogy: Never Assume!

By now I was fully into "statistics mode" and decided to download birthplaces (as you do).  For comparative purposes, I looked at "my people" born in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.  I'm guessing that paucity of information led to the highest 18th century figure being for "Place of birth Unknown".  Other percentages followed the pattern of the census places, in that Cambs has the most births, Greater London has 2% more in the 20th century than the 19th, and the Hunts figure goes down by 4% in the 20th century.

So, all in all, I don't know what to make of my little stats exercise.  Interesting, certainly; and it gave me the chance to correct some errors!  I'm sure I could find some significance if I were to sit down and look at it properly, without the distraction of the Olympics!!

More soon.

Helping people.....

Sometimes, just sometimes, one's ancestors really help in the search for them, by leaving the odd (sometimes inadvertent) clue.....

I'm sure we've all got rellies whose middle name is their mother's maiden name - after years at this family history lark, I'm beginning to think that particular practice should be made mandatory; but today's subject, one Arthur Hinks, really knew how to leave a clue.

Arthur was born in Boothorpe, in Leicestershire (or Derbyshire, depending on who's writing it down) and is a distant relative of my friend Ann.  He was the seventh of nine children and the family moved to Huthwaite, in Nottinghamshire (I'm sure of this one!) soon after his birth in 1882.  I've had to work backwards, in the true genealogist way, to find much about him.

In the 1911 census, he's married to Florence, and living with her, and their son Wilfred, in Sutton in Ashfield.  He filled in the form and states, as required, that he and Flo have been married for four years.  Bless him, he also writes his wife's maiden name (Cotton) on the form and then crosses it out, presumably after realising that it wasn't asked for.

With such a lovely clue it wasn't hard to find out that Arthur Hinks and Flora (in the registration) Cotton were married in 1906.  Cheers, Arthur!

And how well did he do? Well, Arthur Hinks lived to the grand age of 101 years, dying in January 1984.  Impressive stuff; see what happens when you help people.....!

More soon.