Nearly made the century ....

I fully intended to do so serious searching for people called Bellingham and Tong today but, unsurprisingly, I allowed myself to be sidetracked again.

What I actually did was knock over the pile of paper on the corner of my desk and there, in the midst of the scatterings, was a complete gem.

Distant rellies William and Maria Flavell (he's my first cousin five times removed) were Landbeach people who emigrated to Australia in 1855 and I have been in touch, a number of times, with one of their descendants in Oz.  Today, when I found the "gem", I did a bit more googling and found a website (homepage.mac.com) with even more gems!  A heartfelt "thank you" to the Cheeseman family researchers, the owners of that website.

So let's ignore William (1805-1863) and skip straight to Maria (nee Phillips) who merited half a dozen newspaper reports upon her death in 1907.  The following, from "The Donald Times" on 29 November 1907, is a fairly good representation of all of them.  Prepare to be awed at Maria's stamina.....

Another old colonist in the person of Mrs Flavell passed away at Watchem on Wednesday evening of last week, at the ripe age of 99 years and six months.  She enjoyed remarkable health throughout her long life until the 11th of the present month when she had to take to her bed through an attack of influenza which turned to pneumonia.  Dr Calhoun was called in but from the first could not hold out any hope of her recovery.  She gradually sank and passed peacefully away at about 7 o'clock on Wednesday evening.  The funeral took place at Watchem on Thursday afternoon when her remains were followed to their last resting place by a large number of old friends and relations, the Rev. G. Brodie (Presbyterian) of Birchip officiating at the home and the graveside.

Deceased was born at Cambridge (England) on 28 May 1808, her maiden name being Maria Phillips.  At the age of 28 she was married to Mr Wm Flavell. In 1855 they emigrated to Australia in the vessel known as the "Thames".  Her husband and she landed at Geelong where Mr Flavell engaged in pastural pursuits on Mr Swanston's station at Inverleigh.  In 1861 her husband died, leaving her with seven children.  She remained in Inverleigh until 1879 and then went to Wickliffe, where she lived with one of her sons until 1897.  The remaining ten years of her life were spent with her daughter, Mrs (Eliza) Bruce, at Watchem.  Her family consisted of 14 children, seven of whom survive her, and her descendants are: 43 grandchildren, 68 great grandchildren and 36 great great grandchildren.

Phew!

More soon.

Village pride...

So there I was, searching for information about a chap called Laban Thoday.  I know that he was serving with the South African Infantry Brigade when he died so I was hoping to find out when he emigrated.  I haven't, yet.

But I did find a photograph of him (which is on my website).

And some wonderful village pride, courtesy of www.oldwillingham.com:

Willingham:  The late Lce-Cpl L. Thoday - A Willingham correspondent writes:  I noticed in your last issue the photo of Lce-Cpl Laban Thoday, South African Infantry, who was killed in action on July 15th 1916.  He is described as of Harston.  We know he had acquired property there, a house and fruit garden, but Lce-Cpl Laban Thoday is a Willingham boy, being the youngest son of the late Mr Ephraim Thoday.  His widowed mother, to whom he had been a great stay, still lives in Willingham.  We know how unselfishly patriotic he was in leaving a lucrative position in South Africa to fight for his country.  Many brave men perished in Delville Wood, but none more brave or true that Lce-Cpl Laban Thoday, of whom Willingham is justly proud.

More soon.

References, References, References

Thought I'd use the Calendar feature on my website to select today's subject and I settled on Alice Burrows, my gt-gt-aunt, who married John Hopkins today in 1819.  The daughter of Robert & Elizabeth, nee Jallen, Alice was born in Manea in 1798 and she & John were married in the parish church there.

Over the next twenty three years they produced eleven children (seven daughters, four sons) and, according to my records, begat 86 descendants.  That is, 86 descendants that I know of so far.  The majority of them appear to have stayed in the county but one or two broke out and went as far as Lancashire!

What I noticed most of all though was the difference between my early research and the info that I logged more recently.  References.

The early stuff is seriously lacking in the things.  And one reference, memorably, simply says "Christening Records".  Hey, nothing much got past me in those days.

So, I shall leave you contemplating 86 descendants and I'm going to start finding some of those references. Let's just hope that I agree with the information.....

More soon.

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.

Sidetracked again ....

Wondering what or who to write about yesterday, I thought I'd use the new Calendar page on my website.  A choice of William Wade, George Debney and George Blaydon; I discarded the two Georges and went for Mr Wade.

He belongs to the "Langford" side of my ancestry, being the son of Edward Wade & Phebe Bigley, born in Chatteris.  And I didn't have much about him.  So I set to, websites on every tab, and discovered him marrying (Mary Hurry), having children (11:7:4, according to the 1911 census) and ultimately dying in Peterborough in 1925.

However, as often happens, I didn't stop to actually tell you all about him.  Having discovered seven children (remember: 11 born of the marriage, 7 still alive, 4 died), I wanted to find out who the "still alive" ones were.  So far, I have proved that Harriet (born 1878 in Warboys, married Charles Baxter) was in Goodyer's Yard, Peterborough, in 1911 with husband and five children; Minnie (born 1883 in Peterborough, married George Ashpool) was in North Street, Stanground; and Hannah (born 1887 in Peterborough, married Charles Carley) was in Henson Street, Peterborough.

Add to those three, their sister Ethel (born 1892 in Peterborough) who was "assisting mother" at home in 1911.  So we're up to four.  But, if Ethel was born in 1892, where was she in the 1901 census?  

And what happened to Caroline (born 1894 in Peterborough)? Seven years old in 1901, she would be old enough to be out as a "GSD" (general servant domestic) by 1911 ..... can I find her?  How many different ways are there to spell "Wade"?  Or Caroline?  Doubtless, I'll have a better idea later today!

And did William, the only brother, marry Louie Apthorpe in 1909?  Probably more than one William Wade in Peterborough at that time ...!  

All this really is to say that I set out with good intentions ..... but, hey, better late than never ...?

More soon.