Family History Fun

Friday, 25 April 2025

A Scenic Coastal Journey - Sepia Saturday

This week's prompt photograph from Sepia Saturday features a rather bleak image of a lone figure staring out to sea from a rocky beach with a stone wall and a dilapidated house in the background.

I have hardly any vintage beach scenes, so instead I am taking you (and my camera) on a coastal journey across Scotland and the north of England, with ancient castles, lone figures, rocks and seascapes - many with a touch of history and also amily connections.

A ruined coastal castle in the Scottish town of St. Andrew's. Its university was founded in the 15th century, is Scotland's first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. Before the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the castle served as the ecclesiastical centre for Scotland and witnessed several scenes of violence.

Further down the east coast of Scotland is Canty Bay, near North Berwick, 20 miles south of Edinburgh. where we enjoyed some self-catering holidays.

On the far right of the photograph is the prominent Bass Rock with its lighthouse and seabird colonies, but in the 1600s it was a remote prison. We had a clear view of it from our kitchen window and the bay was a favourite walk every day, with our dog enjoying clambering over the rocks.

The Bass Rock, off North Berwick in the Firth of Forth

The impressive rocky coast line at the fishing village of St. Abbs, Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders.

Sandyhills Bay on the Solway coast, near Dumfries in south west Scotland was our destination for a short break on the trail of my husband's ancestors, whom I had traced back quite easily to Samuel Donaldson of South Leith, near Edinburgh.

It was only much later when writing the narrative that it struck me I had no evidence whatsoever that the Samuel Donaldson born in 1728 in nearby Kirkbean, Dumfriesshire, was the same Samuel Donaldson who married in South Leith, in 1759. So I abandoned this line of research - but we enjoyed discovering a new part of Scotland!

Across the border into northern England

I am a Blackpudlian, born in the seaside resort of Blackpool on the north west coast of England. Blackpool Tower, built in 1894, was modelled on the Eiffel Tower and rises to 520 feet - facts drummed into us at school. My parents met at the famous Tower Ballroom.

Until the 19th century, Blackpool was just a small hamlet. It rose to prominence with the building of the railway linking it to the mill towns of industrial Lancashire and Yorkshire and soon became England's most popular holiday resort, with its miles of golden sands. The unique Blackpool Illuminations were first switched on in 1879 to extend the season well into the autumn.

A surprisingly empty Blackpool beach with the Central Pier and the famous Tower in the background.

We move across country to South Shields on the north east coast of England, where my husband was born. Here is the beach at Marsden Rock where he enjoyed playing as a boy.

My daughter with her cousin, walking their dogs om Marsden beach.

Marsden Rock is a 100 foot sea stack which lies 100 yards off the cliff face. Believed to be once a smugglers' haunt, it is now the home of seabird colonies. In 1803 a flight of steps was constructed up the side of the rock. In 1903 several choirs climbed onto the rock to perform a choral service.

In a way these are historic photographs, as in 1996 the arch collapsed, splitting the rock into two stacks. The smaller stack was decreed unsafe and demolished.

Here is Bamburgh beach in Northumberland (a favourite day trip away), dominated by the impressive Bamburgh Castle which can be seen for miles around. as it stasnds 150 feet above the North sea. Its history goes form Anglo Saxon Citadel to impenetrable Norman stronghold; home ome to a succession of kings from Henry VI to James 1 and the ﬁrst castle in the world to fall to gunpowder in the War of the Roses. Latterly home to the local Armstrong famiy.

As a child I remember having a book on heroines in history with an illustration of Grace Darling (1815-1842), the lighthouse keeper's daughter at Bamburgh, who in 1838 risked storms and icy seas to rescue sailors from the shipwrecked "Forfarshire. She died of consumption just four years later and is buried in Bamburgh, with a museum dedicated to her life.

And lastly - one of my most favourite places - the Isle of Iona off the west coast of Scotland - a tiny island only 1-5 miles wide by 3 miles long, with a population of 120 permanent residents, famous as the home of St. Columba and the cradle of Scottish Christianity. It is a wonderful, magical place that is high on my "bucket list" to return.

My daughter a lone figure on the beach with the Isle of Mull in the background.

If you think it always rains in Scotland, think again when you see the skies and seas in these photographs, though I admit we were very lucky with the weather. We enjoyed exploring the island, walking south to north and across to the west coast, looking onto the Atlantic - next stop North America!

Peace!

And our dog enjoyed the beaches too, In the background is the Cal Mac (Calendonian Macbrayne) Ferry) which plies between the islands.

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And to end this seascape journey, the sign at Land's End, in Cornwall, which marks the most south-westerly point of mainland Britain.

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity

to share their family history through photographs .

Click HERE to find out what other bloggers have

spotted in this week's prompt photograph.

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Saturday, 19 April 2025

Skirts on Show - Sepia Saturday

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt photograph features a women kneeling on her long skirt and holding an early camera to take a photograph. I might not have camera images but I have plenty of skirts to show. So another fashion report from me this week!

At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, a plain dark floor-length skirt was the standard wear for many women such as my great aunt Jennie Danson (1897-1986). On leaving school, Jennie went to work in the Post Office at Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire. Her daughter Pam recalls a story that during the First World War, a telegram was received at the Post Office for Jennie's widowed mo0ther, 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 in hospital in Malta but was doing well.

Was this a group (above) of Jennie's work colleagues, given they were all dressed in the same skirts and blouses? Even better, Jennie had put names on the back of the photograph - Gerty Roskell, Jennie Danson, Annie Jolly, Margaret Porter, Madge O' Rourke, Edith Jackson, with Jennie second on the left with her long plait.

A close look will reveal why Dorothy Chisholm is up a ladder, showing off her long skirt - she is pruning the plant on the wall. Dorothy was engaged to my great uncle John Danson of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, who was a widower with a young daughter. Sadly in 1917 John committed suicide at Tidworth whilst in army training. The Danson family remained in contact with Dorothy throughout her life. She never married and I have vague memories of visiting her with my mother, when she was living in a bedsit - one of the many women whose lives were changed by the First World War and often termed as "Surplus Women". I have looked at finding out more about Dorothy but so far without success.

My husband's grandparents Alice Armitage and Matthew Iley White of South Shields, Co. Durham. The photograph is believed to have been taken to mark their engagement. Alice is wearing a distinctive skirt with a broad ruched hem and arrow insets.

Below ~ Alice and Matthew with their three young daughters, c.1914, with Alice in the tradtional plain long dark skirt of the period.

On to the 1920s

After the war, skirts beame shorter and here is my husband;s great aunt Violet Hibbert again, in a typical 1920's look of cloche hat, long bodice, straight skirt.

Another 1920s unmistakable image - my mother's cousin Annie Danson married on 4 October 1928 and the local press report provided a fascinating picture of the fashion of the day, with a colourful and evocative description of the dresses, with the headline "Gowned in Delphinium Blue".

“The bride, who was given away by her uncle Mr R. Danson, was gowned in delphinium blue georgette, the sleeveless bodice being plain, while the circular skirt was side slashed and bordered all round with deep silver lace. Her hat was ruched georgette to tone and she wore silver shoes and hose to tone. Her bouquet was of pale pink chrysanthemums“.

The bane of family historians - two photographs in my son in law's collection , but with no note as to who they are!

his bride is in a simple stye of dress with a slightly shorter skirt that was coming into fashion at the end of the First World War.

Another unmistakable image from the late 1920s for this unidentified photogaph with the bride wearing a short skirt, a cloche hat and carrying a huge bouquet.

Onto the 1930's

In their stylish midi skirts are my mother Kathleen Danson (left) with her sister Edith. My mother was apprenticed as a tailoress at the age of 14 and both sisters made their own clothes on a treadle machine at home, which did not have electricity until the late 1950's.

A late 1930s image of my mother and aunt - this time skirts have got shorter.

1940s simplicity

Postwar simplicity for my aunt Peggy Danson and her husband Harold Constable, always known as Con. It was a wartime courtship whilst Peggy was working on the barrage balloons on the east coast. They emigrated after their wedding to Australia. I have two cousins there, but unfortunately contact was lost following Peggy and Con's deaths. A pity!

Forty years on to 1971 and here am I sporting a mini skirt. This was the era when girls were frantically shortening skirts in their wardrobe to appear in fashion. Even my mother favoured the trend!

I loved wearing pinafore dresses and had several in different colours in my wardrobe - slimming and versatile worn with jumpers or blouses. Here with Inverary Castle, in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland in the background.

I am standing at the stone marking the border of Scotland and England, and the entrance to Northumberland National Park.

1970 - and can't you tell from our outfit colours! I am in the orange and brown which seemed to characteristic the decade and my mother equally vibrant in royal blue and shocking pink. I had been to the hairdresser's to achieve that bouffant hairstyle.

1977 - Another mother and daughter alike pose - same colour outfits, four knees on show!

We were soon to move fashion wise into the midi and the maxi era and the hippy look - long flowing skirts - not my style at all. But for a brief period, and at the only time of my life, I was on trend with my mini skirts.

And Finally - back to the start - and wearing long black skirts - this was pretty much the standard uniform for choirs in the late 1970s, before other fashions took over.

The alto section of my choir - Roxburgh Singers - I am on second on the left in the back row.

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity

to share their family history through photographs .

Click HERE to find out what other bloggers have

spotted in this week's prompt photograph.

Saturday, 12 April 2025

Hats off to Men - Sepia Saturday

My latest blog post follow on from the prompt Sepia Saturday photograph of a group of women and a lone man - all wearing hats around 1930s and 1940s. I focussed on the man and looked at their fashions down the ages in headgear.

Beginning young - My uncle Fred, c.1910 in a large hat

Women have lots of hat styles but apart from cloches, berets and the current fashion for fascinators, I cannot think of many given a distinct name. Very different for men, as I soon discovered.

Fedora and trilby came on the scene in the1890's and were made popular by 20th century movie stars such as Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart.

Homburg - named after Bad Homburg (‘Homburg Baths’), a town in Hesse in Germany, where it was created.Think of Edward VII, Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot.

Pork Pie - another mid 19th century development and one associated with the man about town and jazz musicians.

Straw Boater - traditionally associated with Venetian gondoliers that became a popular choice for summer wear.

Panama - another popular light hat, though it actually originated in Ecuador.

Beret - associated with peasant wear in France (think Onion Johnny) and Spain. Adapted in Scotland to become a "Tammie" - after the Robbie Burns hero Tam O' Shanter - often topped with a pom-pom.

Deer Stalker - think of Sherlock Holmes and upper class country wear.

Bowler - think of the typical London businessman of the 20th century with rolled umbrella, briefcase and bowler hat; also movie comedians Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy.

Top hats - think of romance and swirling capes - the symbol of the 19th century society gentleman, and now more associated with Ascot Races and weddings.

Below are some men's hats from my family photographic collection, though I can't always identify the style by name.

Master Mariner John Robert Moffet (c.1814-1881) was my husband's great great grandfather. In the early census returns he was living near the docks in Stepney and Limehouse, London, but by 1871, he and his family returned to his roots in South Shields on England's north east coast.

This dubious looking character, I am pleased to say, is no relation, as far as I know, but he features on the right in the photograph below of my great grandfather James Danson, sitting merry in the ancient stocks in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. And are those berets worn by the two men seated on the left?

Wearing a straw boater is John Mason who married my great great aunt Alice Rawcliffe. of Hambleton, Lancashire. They had six children in England, before emigrating in 1886-7 to the teeming tenements of Brooklyn, New York where they had a further five children, three not surviving infancy. This photograph came from my third cousin Bonnie - finding her was a great blog success story and I am grateful to her for filling a gap in my family history.

The three men in the front of this wedding picture are all carrying hats - panamas or trilbys? My father, John Weston (on the left) is looking very solemn at the wedding of this eldest brother Fred Weston at Leicester in 1929.

I remember Dad wearing a trilby and, when he climbed up the business ladder he often went down to London on the train, carrying his "badge of status" - bowler hat and briefcase. Nobody ever thought, though, to take a photograph of him.

The flat cap brigade! A photograph of my grandfather William Danson seated with a group of workers at the ICI factory at Thornton, near Fleetwood, Lancashire. Was this some special occasion with Grandad given the pride of place at the front? He would have had his 50th birthday in 1935.

In Britain flat caps were generally associated with workers in the industrial north . Think of old photographs and newsreels of men streaming from the mills, or cheering from the football terraces or enlisting for the First World War.

I think of them too as worn by coster-mongers in London - memories of Eliza Doolittle's father in the film of "My Fair Lady"; or Del Boy in the TV comedy "Only Fools and Horses".

At the other end of the social scale, the Duke of Windsor as Edward Prince of Wales, in the 1920s/30s was photographed in a flat cap as part of a golfing outfit. Nowadays finer versions are popular rural wear at farming events, countryside fairs, horse race meetings etc. And if you have the youth and looks to get away with it, flat caps are being worn as fashion statements by "celebrities", in including women.

My own father and also my husband would not be seen dead in one!

And what about the style for young boys? The hat-wearing fashion started early. Below is my uncle Fred Weston again - this time in c,1909. His hat looks more like a sombrero, it is so huge for a wee boy. I wondered at first if it was meant to reflect the popular fashion of sailor outfits for children, but have not seen a coat like this before in old photographs, It is onze of the few photographs I have of my father's side of the family as chil

I remember my brother wearing a school cap like this, often perched on the back of his head, when it wasn't being used as a football. Here is my husband' brother c.1936.

On ten years to a photograph below of my my husband in his school cap with his father sporting a beret. They were on his motor bike, so such a headgear would be very much frowned upon in today''s health and safety era when helmets are the norm.

Nowadays men wearing hats are either sporting the ubiquitous baseball cap, or in more wintry weather a warm knitted beanie - where did that name come from? Google has a variety of answers. In Britain it gained popularity from a character in TV soap opera "Crossroads" where the well-liked Benny wore a knitted version of the hat.

Husband in his beanie, with daughter doing their "Hills Are Alive" act from "The Sound of Music" on the wintry hills around Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

I could not end a feature on men's hats without recollecting the men's hats, topped with feathers and badges, seen on our holidays in southern Germany and Austria.

Here is a fun representation! Enjoy!

Post adapted from one first published on 2015.

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity

to share their family history through photographs.

Click HERE to find out what other bloggers have spotted

in this week's prompt photograph.

Saturday, 29 March 2025

Bored? Pick up a Book or a Newspaper to enjoy a Good Read!

What can be more relaxing than curling up with a good book - as in this week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph?

For my father, newspapers were his favourite form of reading. He left school at 14 years old to become a delivery boy at a local grocer's shop and ended his working life as a sales director of a small company in Scotland - very much a self-taught man. Politically he was unashamedly Conservative, avid reader of "The Daily Telegraph", was a member of the local constituency party helping at fund raising events, delivering election leaflets etc. He often wrote letters to the local newspaper on political issues - much to the concern of my mother who did not like the brickbats that he could receive in return.

My Mother was a reader as well and felt she learnt most of her history knowledge from her favourite historical fiction.

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In the 19th century Reading Rooms were a symbol of Victorian self-help and the desire for education. They were warm, dry and largely free, where you could read newspapers, and borrow books. It was thanks to such facilities being available, that many a Victorian went on to achieve a position of eminence in a wide range of f

In Earlston, where I live in the Scottish Borderss, Major Baillie of Mellerstain Estate was the instigator in 1852 in setting up the Reading Room when he offered an initial donation of of 50 books.

Earlston Reading Room in the Market Square next to the Corn Exchange (with the belfrey tower), c.1920.

Major Baillie set down the following conditions:

That the inhabitants of Earlston and its vicinity be invited to become members, without distinction as to religious denomination, or political opinion, and whether they do or do not belong to any abstinence or temperance society.

The Reading Room and Recreation Room shall be open every day except Sundays and New Year's Day from 9am to 10pm.

That the newspapers and other publications shall be such as may be generally useful and acceptable. Works gifted or loaned should be of a good moral tendency and be approved of by the committee.

That no intoxicating liquor be consumed on the premises on any pretence whatever

Members will not be allowed to whistle or sing or make any undue noise or run up and down the stairs or rooms, or quarrel with one another or use bad language to the annoyance of other members.

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From an early age, after school visits to the local library, I played at being a Librarian and remember one Christmas being delighted at getting in my stocking a date stamp. I made up issue labels for my books, and dragooned my family into being customers, so I could enthusiastically stamp away.

The Cutting Edge I rather fancied working in a newspaper library (this was before the days of the Internet.) The nearest I came to it was a post at the College of Education in Edinburgh. The role involved setting up for the Modern Studies Dept. project files of ephemera - mainly press cuttings, and compiling source lists for students. I got to look through all the quality daily papers - a great job and nothing boring about it. .

I did my best to counteract the stereotyped image of a dowdy librarian who did nothing but stamp books all day. Yes, I did conform a wee - the glasses did it!

Does anyone remember the Smirnoff vodka advert? The librarian (dowdy clothes, hair in a bun and of course wearing spectacles), whips off her glasses, loosens her hair shaking it into a tousled look, shortens her skirt, undoes her top buttons - and gets a new look and new life with Smirnoff of course! I can't say that was me, though I did have a spell at wearing contact lenses.

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So not surprisingly, I did my best to foster the love of books in both my daughter and granddaughter , taking them to the local children's library and enjoying the Rhyme Time sessions.

Granddaughter took an interest in newspapers at an early age!