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| Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe with granddaughter Annie Maria. |
A is for:
Adventure - when I started toying with the idea of tracing my family history, how little did I know on what a journey of adventure it would be - finding my way through the resources; alighting on surprising coincidences such as my great grandmother Maria Rawcliffe (right) born the same day as my daughter 114 years later; discovering I had American connections, hitting obstacles, with the birth of my grandmother and the name of her mother remaining my major brickwall; being at times astonished, puzzled and moved by what I am finding. The Adventure continues.....
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| Alice Mason nee Rawcliffe with husband James and 3 of their large family |
Alice is the sister of my great grandmother Maria (above) and her story of Adventure particularly fascinates me as she emigrated from rural Lancashire with six children under 11 (plus 2 pieces of baggage) to join her husband, John Mason in the teeming tenments of Brooklyn, New York in 1887. They had a further five children including Arthur Valentine, born appropriately 14th February 1888. To add to the story, after many many years, I have recently had contact from Alice's descendants in America (thanks to this blog) and am looking forward to discovering more about my American connections.
Archives - I had to include this, as I used to work in the Heritage Hub, Hawick, home of the Scottish Borders Archive Service. Again it is a story of Adventure exploring the unique records and touching pages that record details of our ancestor in their own lifetime, whether it be a poor law entry, a school record, or a will.
Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights Reserved
I can take no credit Susan, it was Julie at Anglers Rest who sent me down the A to Z path. I agree that family history is a most wonderful adventure, and you know I love archives.
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