Women in the Workplace - Sepia Saturday

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt photogrpah shows  the scene in a munitions  factory in the First World War where the workers were largely women.  I featured munition workers recently so here I take a look at other "women  in the workplace" ranging from agriculture, and textiles,  to hairdressing and dressmaking. - and not forgetting housewives.  

 

Mill Workers at Rhymer's Mill. Earlston in the Scottish Borders- early 1900's. As in other Border textile towns, women were a significant part of the ẃorkforce and key contributors to the local economy.   But to me, as someone who is non-technical,   that machinery in the first image looks frightening! 

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 Housewives at Work - here shopping in the Traveling

Co-op Van in Earlston.

Where home was the workplace:   

                                           
Both before and after her marriage, my mother offered dressmaking services from her home.  Mum had been apprenticed to a tailor at the age of 14, and was still sewing well into her 80's.  I only came across her early business card after her death. 

 

She continued her home dressmaking  throughout her life.  In the 1950's this meant working in the small spare bedroom which was icy cold in winter and hot and stuffy in summer.  I remember one time when my little brother - a typical boy into everything - got hold of her oiling can, filled it with water and proceeded to "oil" the sewing machine!.  He was not very popular!   

 

Mum  was a typical homemaker of the 1950's and 60's -- and beyond.  She was always making something - cushions changed their covers regularly, new patchwork quilts appeared on the beds and new curtains at the windows, worn sheets were turned, old bath towels were cut, and trimmed into hand towels, tray cloths and table cloths were embroidered.  

  I remember as a young child  my mother wearing her apron with a front pocket for carrying dusters etc.  and putting up her long hair in a scarf and turban  on wash day - always a Monday - we were very traditional in the north.   This was the days before washing machines, not even a twin tub,  never mind an automatic.   She did the washing by hand and then got out the mangle  to feed the soaking clothes etc. through it to wring out the water. If I was at home on holiday I helped feed the sheets through, before  everything was hung outside to dry. 

All of this made wash-day an arduous task, so Monday tea was left overs - cold meat from the Sunday roast, served with chips. 

Needless to say  no photograph exists of my mother  on her housewife tasks.  Family snapshot were strictly for recording leisure activities, not housework.  

 

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Workwear at the Egg Packaging Station at Georgefield Farm, Earlston 

 

 The distinctive work costume of the Bondagers.

Bondagers were female farm workers in south east Scotland and Northumberland. As part of their husband's contract (or bond) with the farmer, he would undertake to provide another worker (usually his wife) to help as and when required. The women wore a distinctive dress with bonnet, described as the "last remaining peasant costume" in Britain.  The custom of bondagers lasted well into the 20th century. 

 

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And from my own family collection   photographs I have featured before, but are among my favourites and fit the theme so well. 

 

My great aunt Jennie Danson  (second on the left) with her work colleagues from the post office in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.  Her daughter Pam recalled a story that during the First World War, a telegram was received at the Post  Office for Jennie's widowed mother Mrs Maria Danson.  Fearing the worst, Jenny was allowed to run home with it.  Fortunately it was good news to say that brother Frank was wounded  but recovering in hospital in Malta. . 

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Home was the workplace for my mother's second cousin,  Elsie Oldham, who as "Elise" (note the French version of her name!) offered "Bobbing, Shingling, Marcel Waving and Perming", from her home in Blackpool, Lancashire, and advertised (above) on this lovely evocative 1920's blotter. 

 

 

The Oldham home in Blackpool, Lancashire with the adverts in the window and  on the garden pole, promoting Elsie's business.  

 

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 A different source gave me a lovely  insight  on my Aunt Edith (Danson),  a teacher . Ex pupils at the school set up a Facebook page  ahead of the centenary of the school in 2014 and in a google search found my blog and got in touch. I was delighted to read comments from former pupils of "Miss Danson",  who was remembered with fondness: "I always thought she was a wonderful teacher with lots of patience and 8nderstanding".

 

 

 

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  As for my working life life 

 - that ranged from student work in a variety of Einburgh shops including a fishmongers (totally out of my comfort zone), a bookshop (my favourite) and a tartan trash souvenir shop - think garish tasteless  tartan products aimed a tourists. I spent a year in the USA on an exchange  programme as a trainee librarian (a  wonderful American experience);  as a young mother I did voluntary work setting up a library  at my daughter's school and at the local Citizen's Advice Bureau.  

 

I returned to the workplace in 1978 at my local tourist information centre - above.  It now looks so old fashioned - old telephone, no computer, let alone a typewriter, no uniform, just a name badge - they all came years later!   But I loved it   -  until I was made redundant!   Finally I returned to my roots in the Local Studies Library,   before    being the Family History Researcher in the Scottish Borders  Archive Centre. How many people can say their hobby became their job!!

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And finally - not to forget this week's prompt photograph ....../ 

 

 

Earlston Munition Workers in World War Two.  

 

With thanks to my local heritage group Auld Earlston for many of the images shown here.  

 

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Sepia Saturday gives an opportunity for genealogy to share their family history and memories through photographs

 

 

 

 

Click HERE  for more memories of work  from fellow bloggers.

 

 

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Week 13 - A Family Naming Pattern. - 52 Ancestors

 

Family Naming  Pattern is my theme for this week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks”.  

How many of us have been tearing their   hair out at the confusion that comes from researching the same name occurring  down the generations?  As in my extended family: 

• My great grandmother, Matilda Such  born 1849  was the illegitimate daughter of Matilda Bloomer Such, born 1815, daughter of Matilda Bloomer, baptized 1787 and William Such.  

 
My great grandmother Matilda Such 

      My head spins just trying to write down these                       generations of Matildas!    

• In my husband's family of direct ancestors  - there were three Robert Donaldson's, followed by three John Robert Donaldson's, spanning over 200 years.  
   
• On my husband's mother's side, a  Matthew White married an Isabella Iley in 1821.   Three direct descendants were named Matthew Iley White, the last in 1915 - plus cousins to add to the confusion - the result of sons naming their eldest son after the baby's paternal grandfather. 
  
  
• My G.G.G. G. Grandfather's sister Jennet Danson,  married,   in 1786  at St Chad's Church (below), John Bryning of Carleton, Poulton-le-Fylde,  Lancashire. 
  
  
  
   

But when I came to research this branch of the family, I discovered there were eleven John Bryning/Brining descendants living in the Fylde area at the turn of the 18th to 19th centuries - all descendant of John Bryning (1703-1779) through his sons, John and Richard, with their sons, grandsons and great grandsons taking the name of the family patriach. 

The traditional naming pattern (certainly  prevalent in Scotland & the north of England) of naming sons after their grandfather or  father can often be helpful in research,  but with the Brynings, you need a clear head to distinguish them all. 

Jennet Danson's  father-in-law John Bryning died in  1820 and in his will, he notes:  "My pew in the north gallery to my son John".  This boxed pew is still in place at St. Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde. My photograph is not very good, but you can make out the name and the date 1778

St.Chad's Church with the Bryning pew at the front of the gallery on the left. My parents were married here and I was baptised in the same church, as were Dansons back to 1736.  

John Brynings (and also Dansons)  are named on the list of churchwardens displayed  in the church  - with the dates 1770, 1816, 1833, 1848, and 1864.

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One John Bryning stands out amongst the eleven - Rev. John Bryning (1770-1855), grandson of the first John Bryning.  

My first knowledge of him came many years ago through  a response to  a query on an Ancestry Message Board.    My contact, a descendant of the Rev. Bryning, was able to supply me with a fund of documentary evidence, plus several obituaries.  He certainly had led an eventful life. 

He was bound to an apprentice  to a mercantile firm in Liverpool, rising to the position of foreman  and in this capacity travelled widely.  He was in Brussels when the Battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815 and wrote about "the booming of the terrific engines of death."

Sometime in his 40's he left the merchant  life  behind for quite a different calling - that of the ministry.  In 1820 he travelled to Quebec and became a preacher at New Brunswick on the Long Point Settlement on Lake Eerie. He was ordained as a pastor of the  Presbyterian Church of Canada, and established a church at Mount Pleasant, Simcoe.   He became a colourful  and influential leader, a familiar sight in  in the  Long Point Settlement.  An obituary noted that

 "In pioneer times he for nightly travelled the considerable  distance  between churches by horse and buggy on dirt roads, which turned to mire in rain.....  He was esteemed throughout the area as a tireless man of the cloth."

Presbyterian church historian James Dey described the Rev. Bryning thus:

"Mr Bryning was, in more senses than one, a great man.  Physically he was great, well proportioned and muscular, he was of astonishing weight of 412 pounds.  He had three wives and fiftenn vigorous children..... He laboured incessantly to preach the glad tiding of the everlasting gospel to the few and scattered inhabitants, gifted with a vigorous constitution and as vigorous a mind, undaunted by difficulties, ready and ever working for the case of Christ against bigotry and superstition......He has left a memorable example for succeeding ministries."

The Reverend John Bryning died 15th September 1853 aged 83 - his eldest son his namesake.  

With thanks to Yvonne for her contribution to this family history profile.   

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Postscript 
I have come across four public trees on Ancestry that  have the Rev. John Bryning as the son of John Bryning and Jennet Danson (my ancestor) - wrong, wrong, wrong!  

I have from Lancashire Record Office  a copy  of the marriage bond of John and Jennet dated 1786, when the Reverend was already  16 years old.

Signatures on the Marriage Bond of 1786.  The document was a promise between two people, normally the groom and a friend or relative (in this case John's future   brother-in-law Henry Danson) that,  if the marriage proved invalid in the eye of the law,  they would pay a penalty to the church of a substantial sum of money - in this case £200.

Marriage licences could be obtained in this way, as an alternative to having the banns read.  They enabled marriages to take place at any time and were useful  if the marriage had to take place quickly or be kept quiet for some reason.   John's  marriage bond was dated the day before the actual wedding.  Why the hasty ceremony remains a mystery, as their first child was not born  until July 1787  - perhaps Jennet  had been pregnant but lost the earlier baby?

John and Jennet’s son named John was born 1801.    He  lived all his life in the Fylde region of Lancashire.  He remained unmarried, making his home with his two unmarried sisters Margaret and Betty. He died in 1874 aged 72; his life, verified by parish records, statutory BMD records, census returns and transcribed monumental inscriptions

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Musical Notes- Past and Present - Sepia Saturday

This week’s Sepia Saturday  prompt photographs  features a small musical ensemble with an invitation for us to show our related old photographs. 

I begin with images from my local heritage group - Auld Earlston. 

  

Earlston Orchestra in Concert, 1898

The earliest reference found in the local press to the Orchestral Party (sometimes called Orchestral Society) was in “The Southern Reporter“: 28th October 1886. The occasion was a concert and dance, organised by Earlston Street Lighting Committee to raise funds to provide winter street lighting in the village. After the concert, part of the evening was given over to dancing.  

 

 

 

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, local newspapers regularly reported on the activities of the orchestra .  cheif conductor was Mr, SAmeul Fisher , with Miss May Smith and Miss Betty Kerr taking on the role of deputies.   

 

During the First World War, the Orchestral Party was a regular participant in fund raising concerts, held to provide Christmas gifts to serving soldiers; to assist the War Relief Fund; and for the War Comforts Fund under the banner “Under the Flag of Britain” in a programme of patriotic music, with the plaudits:

“The Earlston Orchestra gained fresh laurels from the high standard of excellence reached by its members”. (Berwickshire News: 7th December 1915)

The 1920s & 30s  marked a busy time for the orchestra. Events included playing  at Carolside in aid of the Scottish War Memorial Church [at Edinburgh Castle]; at a major two-day Masonic Bazaar;  and at Earlston Horticultural Show. , a WRI (Women;s Rural Instiutute) sale of work where the orchestral played "in a tasteful and effective stye".   

 

Conductor Samuel Fisher died 8th May 1938 aged 75, buried in Earlston Churchyard.  With his death and the  impeding threat of war, this once showcase of Earlston  musical talent appeared to come to an end.  

 

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In 1944, Polish Lancers  were stationed in the village  in training for the Normandy landings, with their tanks taking over the concreted Rugby Football ground.     The Polish contingent involved themselves in the local community events, including playing for the dances which were a popular form of wartime  entertainment.  

 

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Earlston Clown Band  - The earliest report found appeared in "The Berwickshire News" of 28th August 1906 and referred to a village picnic at Cowdenknowes House, near Earlston, where the band was the star performer in  the entertainment.

"The famous Clown Band was unanimously considered, nay acclaimed,   as the most striking and most original performance of the day..........  The performer on the big drum would be marked for distinction,  for never before "throbbed the war drum" under such handling as it got from  the wielder of the drum sticks."

  

 

 The last report found  was  in "The Berwickshire News" of 13th July 1937 when the band took part, with great acclaim.   in a fancy dress parade in Lauder.

 "Much of the success of the parade was due to the efforts of the Earlston Clown Band,  which led the procession through the streets of the Burgh .  The antics of the band, who were all in character,  and its leader Mr. John Murdison roused peals of laughter from the many spectators who had gathered to watch the procession.

At the presentation of the prizes, an extra vote of thanks was given to Earlston Clown Band, who had kindly given their services free.  

No further press reports were traced after that date. Did the outbreak of war bring an end to the Clown Band activities,  which had delighted its followers down the decades.   

 

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To more recent times - musical groups  in costumes that reflect their country’s heritage. 

 

A musical group in Austria  with a zither 

amongst the instruments. b eing played.   

 

  

A group laying  in the square in Krakow., Poland  

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Pipe  Band leading the Civic Week Fancy Dress Parade in Earlston. 

 

The local band in St. Gilgen, Austria  

              Local Bavarian Band in Berchtesgarten, Germany 
 

 

 Band of the Grenadier Guards, the oldest regiment in the British army. 

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Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity 

to share their family history through photographs

 

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Week 12 - An Address with a Story - 52 Ancestors

"An Address with a Story" is the theme of this week's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge.  Below is my Danson ancestral home,   Trap Farm, Carleton, Lancashire  - but not quite as I envisaged it!

Trap Farm, Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde Lancashire, c.1998. 

 

Trap Farm, c.1998

My first knowledge of Trap Farm as my ancestral home came from obtaining the birth certificate of my great grandfather' James Danson.    I found the farm on the current Ordnance Survey Map and set out to find it on a visit to the Fylde c.1998.  

Situated amidst fields on what is now a busy road, it was a sorry sight - dilapidated and overgrown.

In the 1841 Census, 30 year old Henry (my great great grandfather) was living there with his wife Elizabeth (Calvert), five daughters - Betty, Grace, Mary, Margaret and Ellen, his much older brother Peter and two servants.

By the time of the 1851 Census,  it was a household of 13. Henry was described as a farmer of 31 acres. Eldest daughter (now married)  Elizabeth  (Betty)  was there  with her three sisters and her husband Thomas Bailey, whilst second daughter Grace had left home.  But there were now two sons - John and Henry  plus Henry(senior) 's brother  Peter and two servants.   How did they all fit into what looked a small farmhouse?  My great grandfather James, was born 1852 at Trap Farm, 

By the time of the next census in 1861 the Danson family was no longer at Trap.

 

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 But thanks to an Internet contact, Janet,  more details came to light on the Danson family at Trap Farm.  

 

Janet was descended  from John Danson, brother of my great grandfather James.  John as the eldest son had inherited  the family bible which included three pages of scrawled writing.  This took the Danson family  at Trap Farm back an earlier generations - It gets a bit confusing as the same Christian names appear down the decades!

The  page (left)  headed January 4 1827 “Be good to the poor” features, among the  signatures, Henry Danson (my GGG grandfather), Elizabeth (Brown) Danson (his wife)  and James Danson (their son);  also an entry “January 1^st 1827 James Danson, Sone of Henry Danson” – which must mark the death of Henry’s youngest son at the age of 15.   Another entry that can be deciphered is for “Elen (?) Simpson Borne 29 October 1811”

Another page (below)  also features signatures scrawled all ways - ones that can be deciphered are    Henry Danson, Trap, Elizabeth Danson,  Ellen Danson, Carleton, Peter Danson, Ellie Simpson, Carleton, Trap, Servant, 1830.

Ellen and Peter were siblings of Henry. The fact that servant Ellie Simpson  was also included in the activity and signed her name,  somehow casts  a lovely informal light on the household - though the fact they used the Bible for these scribbles  raises other issues !

 

Fifty years on, John (1844-1914),  my great grandfather's brother, made a much neater job of recording births and deaths in his own  family,  with this beautifully written page  which even includes the days of the week when they were born.

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Years later I returned to Carleton,  fully expecting Trap Farm to be wiped off the map and replaced by a modern housing estate.   To my surprise it was still there, but was undergoing a transformation into a modern home.

 

Trap Farm, c.2011 

I searched on the British Newspaper Archive website to see if I could find anything on the farm, but came across only an advert o.nthe sale of livestock.  

 

I have since heard that the farm has been demolished  -  and my ancestral home at Trap Farm, Carleton  is no more,  after being a family home for nearly 200 years.   

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Holiday Time in the 1950s - Sepia Saturday

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph shows a happy family striding along, carrying suitcases  - heading for a holiday perhaps?  Cue for me to share my family, setting out in the car for our holiday in the 1950s.  

We lived outside Blackpool, the famous English north west seaside  resort, but for our summer holiday we travelled to Bournemouth on the  south coast, where a close friend of my mother (known as Auntie Phyllis)  had moved to open a hotel. 

It was a long journey, before the days of motorways, through industrial Lancashire.  My brother and I (below) hated crossing the swing bridges over the Manchester Ship Canal at Wigan and Warrington with visions of the bridges   swinging around whilst we were on them.  We would crouch down behind my parents' seats and hide our eyes.

With my brother , c.1948 

Another journey was crossing the  hills of the Pennines through the Peak District to visit my aunt and uncle in Sheffield, passing over the Snake Pass,  or in the Lake District going over the  Kirkston Pass - we must have seemed such wimps, but we hated the twisty roads and sudden drops below us, so it seemed safer not to look out,  until we reached  safer ground.

 

A family group with my auntie Fran  in the middle - with my Uncle Fred at the camera.  

This was  long before the days of electronic games , Walkman and I Pads - I don't think we even had a car radio. To pass the time, we did the usual car games of I Spy, I went to the seaside or the market , and bought A ...B..C ...etc.. ,and making up silly sentences from the registration numbers of cars MXD - Mummy kisses Daddy  and also making up silly songs.  My father was a commercial traveller (sales rep.) for the Beecham Pharmaceutical Group and one ditty we came up with was: (I still remember it!)

There was a hermit in the hills

Living off his Beecham Pills

He ate two in the morning

And two at night

To make him feel so merry and bright.

We usually stopped somewhere for a picnic, prepared by my mother.  One notable time, she excelled herself by making chicken pieces instead of the usual sandwiches and a fruit tart - and left them all behind at home  in the pantry!   We had to stop somewhere and find a cafe for lunch. My father got the blame here, as he was always chivvering us get a move on and get away, whilst m,y mother eas seeing to everything domestic.  We returned home a week later to discover the food covered in fur! 

Like all children, the excitement of going away quickly turned to boredom and the perennial question was voiced   "Are we nearly there?"

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Once there - we enjoyed ourselves! 

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Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity 

to share their family history through photographs.

 

 

Look HERE to see more contributions 

from Sepia Saturday bloggers.

 

 

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