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A Happy New Year

to all my blog readers

Let 2013 be a good one for you



A card in the family collection of my cousin Stuart

An embroidered card from the collection my grandfather, William Danson,
  sent back from Flanders during the First World War.

Another bonnie card from Stuart's collection

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

 

With love from Belgium, December 1918 - Sepia Saturday

 

Each week Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.

 

 

 This week's fun prompt features passengers on a tram enjoying a song with Father Christmas.  

 

 I couldn't come up with anything on a similar vein, so have returned to the theme of Christmas as a family time, and featured more of the cards sent during the First World War by my grandfather William Danson of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.   The two scenes of Brussels were sent to his daughters, Edith and Kathleen (my mother)  around Christmas 1918, when presumably he was waiting  to be demobbed.   

 





 

Left - William (1884-1962)   was the fifth son of James Danson and Maria Rawcliffe who went onto to have four more sons and one daughter.  Five of their sons fought in the First World War, which saw the deaths of George and John.  William won the Military Medal at Givenchy and fought in the mud of Passchendael.  The romantic cards he sent to his wife Alice featured in my previous Sepia Saturday posting - "Love From Flanders Field".  

 

Grandad  never talked about his war experiences, but the collection of card he sent to his family back home remain  a poignant treasure  of  this time, and something I am very proud to have. 

William's daughters - Edith and Kathleen  (my mother), c.1916

 

 

 

 

24th December 1918 - Dear Edith, Just a card to let you know that I am in the best of health.  I am staying not from the ?? that is on the card.  From her Dad XXXXXX

 

 

 

 30th December 1918 - Dear Kathleen, I am in the pink and hope mother and family are the same.  Will send a few more cards in a day or so.  From her Dad XXXXXX

 

 

 

 

 

 

With best wishes to all my blog readers. 

 Your comments and support mean a lot. 

 

To see how other Sepia Saturday participants  have interpreted this week's theme - Click HERE

 

 

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

Advent Calendar 21 - Christmas means Singing

Advent Calendar is a daily blogging prompt from www.geneabloggers.com used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their family and their ancestors. The theme today - Christmas Music.

 



From:  www.classroomclipart.com

To me Christmas means singing. One of my earliest memories is taking part in a primary school (girls only) nativity play, singing solo the first verse of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" and wearing a cardboard crown with jewels made from fancy sweetie papers. I have never wanted to sing solo since.

 In another Christmas concerts, my role was to play the triangle in the percussion band - a bit of a come down from the most desired instrument that everyone longed to get - the sleigh bells.

One family get-together, after the meal, we children did our party pieces, with mine on the piano. My young brother decided to plough his way through all 12 verses of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". He developed hiccups and his long socks kept falling down - this was the days of lads in short trousers, despite the weather.   But he was determined to finish singing the carol, kept pulling his socks up and by the end, we were all falling about laughing and we never allowed him to forget this occasion.

At secondary school we always had a carol service where the tradition was to sing some carols in foreign languages - so for French "It est ne le divin enfant" or "Qui est cette odour agreeable", German was "O Tannenbaum", "Es ist ein Rose entsprungen" or "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" and Latin always "Adeste Fideles".

My father sang in the church choir and my mother in the Townswomen's Guild Choir and being a choir member myself has been one of my key interests. In autumn, out came the orange, green and blue books of "Carols for Choirs" (Oxford University Press) as we prepared for our Christmas concerts, looking for a mixture of old favourites and newer arrangements and trying to come up with slightly different themes e.g. Carols from Around the World, Carols Down the Centuries, Carols for All Ages etc. (I know, not exactly original, but then Christmas is a time for tradition). 


My own favourite carols  have not changed much over the years "Silent Night", "In the Bleak Mid Winter", "Three Kings from Distant Lands Afar" and "O Holy Night". I like the simple unadorned arrangements best - nothing too fancy, but the descants of the standard choral classics such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", I find it so uplifting as the sopranos soar up to the high notes. We always end the concert with a lively rendition of "We wish you a Merry Christmas" followed by the serving of mince pies and mulled wine to complete one of my "must do" Christmas activities - a great start to the Christmas Spirit.

It is much the same with that other staple Christmas music - Handel's "Messiah" which I have sung many times and it never palls. An unforgettable, wonderful experience was singing in the Royal Albert Hall in London in a "Come and Sing" Messiah in a choir of 1000, with orchestra, organ and a packed audience. Singers came from all over Britain and Europe to take part, so there was a great buzz and camaraderie as we found our seats. It was altogether marvellous, moving and exhilarating, and at the end, I walked out on a high!

Classic FM is my favourite radio station and come December 1st we know we are in for a feast of carols and Christmas music. On Christmas Eve, it is time to watch on TV the beautiful candlelight carol service from Kings College Chapel, Cambridge.

So for me, Christmas would not be Christmas

without the enjoyment of seasonal music!

 

Images from free clipart sites.

Adapted from a posting in December 2011.

 

 

Advent Calendar 18 - A Christmas Stocking Collection

 

Advent Calendar is a daily blogging prompt from http://geneabloggers.com/preview-advent-calendar-christmas-memories/ used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their family and their ancestors.

 

I cannot remember having a Christmas stocking as a child, though we always hung pillowcases at the foot of our beds.

An apocryphal story was told every year of my mother and aunt, as children, waking early and delving in the dark into their Christmas stockings. The house at that time did not have electricity and they thought they had come across a box of chocolates and opened it up to eat them before breakfast. But to their dismay they found them too hard and later discovered it was a box of dominoes!

My first attempt at making stockings for my family was a simple patchwork - right.  

I later wanted to reflect the fact my daughter was older and had started learning languages at High School. I combined the idea with my love of cross stitch, whilst the tartan ribbon reflects our Scottish connection.



 

Other stockings as tree decorations  (below)  again reflect my crossstitch hobby, whilst others  are fond  reminders of holidays - the lace stocking from Bruges, the golden boot (as the red boot above) from Austria and the brocade stocking was bought at the shop of the Royal Opera House in London after seeing a magical performance of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".

All bring back happy memories.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights Reserved
Adapted from a posting in December 2011.



Blog Carolling - Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Blog Carolling is something new to me, but  I am pleased to follow the request to join in from FootnoteMaven’s,

My all time faovurite carol is " Silent Night"  in a simple unadorned arrangement, like the original, with guitar accompaniment.  It  has beautiful harmony and is very moving sung softly, especially in German which reminds us of favourite holidays in Bavaria and Austria.

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Alles sclaft. einsam wacht
Nur das traute heilige Paar
Holden Knabe in lockigten Haar
Schlafe in himmlische Ruh
Schlafe in himmlische Ruh



It was Dec. 24th ,1818 in a small Austrian village called Oberndorf, just hours before Christmas mass and pastor Joseph Mohr's musical plans for the evening service were in ruins,  since the organ of his church (St. Nicholas Kirche) had broken down.   In a moment of inspiration, he found a Christmas poem he had written two years earlier and  asked   his friend Franz Gruber, the church organist, to set it to music for the choir and congregation to sing.

Franz Gruber's composed  that night  the first version of the world renowned Christmas carol “Stille Nacht”, sung to a guitar.

Sing along with this lovely German version, with a harp accompaniment  at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gnRvumDiA

Not Oberndorf Church, Austria, but one in the typical style of the region
- Ramsau Church,  Bavaria  (my own photograph)

Free clipart at http://www.123rf.com/clipart-vector/rural_scene.html

The Well Dressed Woman in December, 1805,

What were your well-to-do ancestors wearing in December over 200 years ago! 

I came across this fashion article in the "Kelso Mail" of 9th December 1805 and it makes fascinating reading. Think of Jane Austen!



Free image from
 http://classroomclipart.com/

General Observations -The prevailing colours are crimson, puce, purple and yellow. The most fashionable walking-dresses are black or coloured velvet pelisses, trimmed with very deep lace. Bonnets are the same colour. For dress, fine worked muslin, trimmed with lace is universally worn. ......Our British shawls far exceed those of the French fabric for elegance and greatly equal the Indian shawls in durability.

Morning Dress: A round dress of cambric muslin made high in the neck with a collar; the back formed into a diamond with small tucks and long sleeves. A bonnet of crimson velvet trimmed with satin.
Evening Dress - a long train of fine white muslin, with a dress of the same, trimmed all round with lace. The hair dressed and ornamented with combs. White shoes and gloves.

Head Dresses - a cap of crimson velvet with a white veil over one side and a wreath of flowers over the top. A pelice of crimson or puce coloured velvet trimmed all round with black lace and the lace edged with black velvet. A velvet bonnet trimmed with a black feather. A hat of white satin turned up in front and ornamented with a bunch of flowers. A Spanish hat of white satin edged with gold, and ornamented with a white ostrich feather.

This conjures up quite a picture!

Advent Calendar 16 - Christmas at School, 1915.

This colourful school certifcate from the time of the First World War   is in  the archive collection at  the Heritage Hub in Hawick, and featured here with their kind permission. - www.heartofhawick.co.u/heritagehub.

********

Advent Calendar is a daily blogging prompt from www.geneabloggers.com to encourage writers to relate their family stories and memories.

Sepia Saturday - Love from Flanders Field

Each week Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.

This week's prompt features a couple (in war time?)  enjoying a romantic moment.

As a child,  it was a great treat when I was allowed to look through a shoebox kept in a fireside cupboard at my grandfather's house.  It was full of old photographs of the family - Grandad (William Danson)  had eight brothers, one sister and five children).  Many  of the photographs were taken at the time of the First World War.   What especially caught my attention and fostered my interest in family history  were the embroidered postcards Grandad   had sent back to his family from Flanders  I have featured many of them in previous blog postings.    



William and Alice Danson - my grandparents , c.1916

But in the collection were some different cards that Grandad sent to his wife Alice.  I never knew my grandmother who died when I was a baby.  Grandad was a taciturn labourer, not given to flowery language, so the emotions expressed through these cards seemed out of character, but revealed his closeness to Alice. By contrast, the pencilled messages on the back were very prosaic. 

 

 Field Post Office - Feb 7th 1918.
Dear Alice, received your letter allright, I have landed back at the Batt and am in the pink. I have had a letter from Jennie [sister] and am glad they have word from Tom [brother]. Your loving husband, Billy XXX

 

 

 Field Post Office 29 April 1918

Dear Alice, just a line to let you know that I am in the pink and hope all at home is the same.  There is nothing that I want.  Will write again shortly.  Your loving Billy XXX

 

I don't  know when this card below, with the embroidered rose,   was sent, but  again it shows my grandparents' love - an appropriate theme for Christmas. 

 

 

 

 

 Inside verse

"O! Can you read the secret of my heart?

You surely must.  dear Wife

Snice of myself, you are the better part,

Companion for my life

The secret is Wherever you may be,

No power on earth can change my love for thee!

From your loving Billy XXX

 

 

To see how  other Sepia Saturday participants

have interpreted  this week's theme -  Click HERE

 

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

Sepia Saturday: Overalls & Billboards

 

 Each week Sepia Saturday encourages bloggers to record their family history through photographs. This week's theme features a man in overalls in an advertising billboard.  it immediately brought to mind my husband's father  - John Robert Donaldson of South Shields, County Durham,

My father-in-law John Robert Donaldson came from South Shields, County Durham and was proud of his Scottish roots, but vague on the detail, believing his ancestors came from around Edinburgh.

Research began by tracing the family back from South Shields, using birth, marriage and death certificates and census information. I was delighted to establish the Scottish connection in the 1851 census where Robert Donaldson, mariner was listed as being born c.1801 in Leith - this was a great bonus as often English census returns just say born Scotland without specifying a parish. Another one of those typical family history coincidences - Leith was the place where Robert's great great granddaughter Gillian was then working.

John Robert with his youngest son Neil - my husband.
No helmets worn in those days!!

Samuel's descendants included his youngest son Robert, grandson Robert who went from South Leith to South Shields, and his son another Robert who moved to Portsmouth - the linking factor the sea, with family occupations as a merchant, master mariner, seaman, roper, ship's carpenter, caulker and river policeman.


The first John Robert Donaldson was born in 1856 and the name perpetuated down the generations, with the family occupation changing to that of painter and signwriter.  Here are some examples of my father in law's work. 

 

 

Painted just after the Second World War with son Ian who also went into  the family business  by the side. The story went that because of a shortage of paper, it was painted directly onto the board.  Nowadays, amidst anti-smoking campaigns, this advert would be banned. 

 

 

Another photograph with Ian standing beside his father's work in South Shields.  The story went that the railway company who owned the wall  eventually tried to paint over the advert, but the original paint kept showing through.

 John Robert, in his overalls, taking a break from work!

 

 

Click here to find how other blogger's have depicted this week's theme.

 

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

 

Motivation Monday - I finished it!

My target was to complete Part 4 of my family history narrative by Christmas - and I have done it!  

This is in my series "James and Maria:  The Story of Their Ancestors and Descendants" and focuses on thei large family of eight surviving sons and one daughter, born to my great grandparents,  James Danson and Maria Rawcliffe of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire  with the ever present theme the First World War in which two sons died.
I must admit it has taken a long time to get to this stage.  I was shocked to discover that  Part 1 - The Rawcliffe Story was completed in  2005 - I never realised it was that long ago, followed by Part 2 - Danson Ancestors and Part 3 - Danson Sidelines.    However once  I  discovered the exciting pastime of blogging and www.geneabloggers.com,  that has tended to take over  my writing energies, and the narrative went on the back burner.

The style I chose owes much to a book I came across through membership of the Borders Family History Society - "William and Christina:  One Woman's Search for her Ancestors", by Hilary Forrester. I was immediately attracted by its format.  The author traced the story of her great grandparents with the family living both sides of the Scottish-English border, their ancestors and descendants, the background to their lives, and  the places and times in which they lived.

I recently took  a PHAROS online genealogy course  on "Developing and Writing Family History" which echoes this approach.  The first two assignments focused on finding out  background information on our ancestors' occupations and  places where they lived, and for the final week, we had to draw up an action plan with an outline contents list  for writing our family history.  We also took part in three chat rooms (a new experience for me), to exchange views and gain ideas from one another.  This I found particularly valuable and reinforced the extensive course notes.   To find out more, take a look at the PHAROS website.

There is nothing like a sense of achievement to spur  me on  to writing Part 5 where I look at the story of my grandparents William Danson and Alice English - I just hope it does not take me quite so long to complete
 

James Danson (1852-1906) sitting merry in Poulton Stocks



Maria Rawcliffe (1859-1919)

Motivation Monday is one of many daily blogging prompts from www.geneabloggers.com to encourage writers to record their family history.

Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

Deck the Halls - 2012 Christmas Geneameme

 
 Pauline at http://cassmob.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/deck-the-halls-2012-christmas-geneameme/has set a new challenge for Christmas.  Click on the link, if you would like to join in - contributions by December 16th, 
 
 
THE 2012 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME

1. 
   
   
   1. Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?
   Nothing very distinctive   Customs have changed and evolved  as our daughter got older.  We always have a tree, Christmas stockings (home made) for small gifts,  decorate the house, enjoy carols and have something that bit different to eat. 
2. Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?
   I can't say we go every year, but it is part of Christmas to go to either the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols or on Christmas Day morning.
3. Did/do you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?
   My brother and I as children believed in Santa and now we have the pleasure of seeing our little granddaughter enjoy the experience of "writing" to Santa and leaving out food & drink for the reindeer.  At just 4,  she is at a gorgeous age for the Santa theme. 
4. Do you go carolling in your neighbourhood?I have in the past when a group of us from church went around local  care homes singing carols and encouraging everyone to join in - followed by a chance to chat and enjoy shortbread, mince pies, tea and even sometimes sherry!   
5. What’s your favourite Christmas music?Where to start!  Traditional carols.  My  musical highlight was a few years ago in December  when I was one of over a 1000 singers, plus orchestra and organ in a "Come and Sing" performance of Handel's  "The Messiah" in the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London - an exhilarating. moving and unforgettable experience, with singers from all over Britain and Europe and  in front of a packed 4000 audience. I was on a high, walking back to our hotel.  
6. What’s your favourite Christmas carol?
   "Silent Night"- in a simple unadorned arrangement, like the original with guitar accompaniment.  Beautiful harmony and very moving sung softly, especially in German which reminds us of favourite holidays in Bavaria and Austria. Other favourites -  "In the Bleak Mid Winter", "Three Kings from Distant Lands Afar" and "O Holy Night".  As a local choir member until recently, carols are a key element in my Christmas.  I love the descants of the standard choral classics such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and  find it so uplifting as the sopranos soar up to the high notes. We always ended the concert with a lively rendition of "We wish you a Merry Christmas" followed by the serving of mince pies and mulled wine to complete one of my "must do" Christmas activities and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.
7. Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read?A DVD of the ballet "Nutcracker" in a magical production by the Royal Ballet - plus any other classical ballet.  Also "Love Actually",  and "Sound of Music" which again reminds us of holidays.  My husband's "must watch" favourites are -  "Christmas Carol" (Alistair Sim version)  and "White Christmas" and "Holiday Inn".
8. Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for little only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?We are only a small family, with both sets of parents no longer alive and we have always bought individual presents, though not gone over the top with these.  Neil and I have most things that we want  - there is a limit to how many socks a husband needs - and we now  exchange small fun personal gifts, but treat ourselves to something  special  e.g. theatre visit to Edinburgh, weekend break  hi-fi, lap top computer.
    
9. Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?
   This is Scotland, so definitely indoors! Either at home or at our daughter's.   
10. What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?
    For me turkey with all the trimmings but I am used to having to cater for my vegetarian husband (and mother in law). 
11. Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?
    I like to do something different from the usual run of the mill meals throughout the year.  We must have "kilted sausages"  (chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon)  and for dessert I often do a cranberry and orange compote, served with meringue.
     
12. Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?
    No.  Christmas pudding after a heavy first course on Christmas Day never appeals and I tend to reserve it for another day in the  holiday season, best served with stewed apple.  Bought - not made. 
13. Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?
    I like Io do something different for breakfast e.g. warmed croissants.  Last year I followed a recipe for  a luxury breakfast sundae with muesli, raspberries and yoghurt, prepared the night before - delicious but a bit too filling in view of the Christmas meal to come, not forgetting munching on chocolates in my stocking.  
14. Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?
    Yes - I think it is a lovely touch and in turn I have enjoyed receiving home baking, especially when I was working full time.  My daughter appreciated a hamper of home made soup, crumbles, cottage pie and lasagne for the freezer when she was just home with a new baby.    When she was little (and money was short),  I made felt or knitted toys, collage nursery pictures for her bedroom and rooms out of shoeboxes to create a doll's house.  This year our little granddaughter wanted a bed for her favourite "White Ted" (no longer very white!) so already wrapped up for Ted  is a crochet blanket and a pillow & quilt.  The gift of time and tasks is also  one full of pleasure - my daughter has taken me on shopping trips to places I could not get to easily and I have done household tasks for her - the fun comes is in composing a voucher for the task, so there is still a surprise to open on Christmas Day.    
15. Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?
    With both sets of parents no longer alive, Christmas is either at our house or our daughter's.
16. Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?
    Broadly very similar with its emphasis  on get-togethers with families and friends, modest gifts,  carols and family entertainment.
17. How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings?
    It's a great excuse  to meet in December/early January for coffee or a meal.
18. Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?
    Christmas tree in the hallway, visible from the road - nothing outside.  
19. Is your neighbourhood a “Xmas lights” tour venue?
    Christmas illuminations outside the house (aka the film "Christmas Vacation" )    has not reached our neighbourhood yet, though most town centres  have some  feature lighting to add to the Christmas spirit of shoppers.
20. Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?
    Yes - an important part of Christmas.  Either in church, at schools, at local choir concerts.   On Christmas Eve, it is time to watch on TV the candlelight carol service from Kings College, Cambridge - something not to be missed.  
21. Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)?
    You are right - very unlikely here in Scotland, though some hardy souls have a tradition of "winter dipping" in the sea or river on New Year's Day.  Crazy!  
22. Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?
    At home.  going away has never appealed - and there is always the worry that the main roads across the hills could be blocked by snow, so we would not want to travel anyway.  And you have to stock up the freezer, anyway,  just in case you do end up at home.
23. Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?
    Yes and it is has been snowing this week as I have typed this.  
24. Do you have a Christmas tree every year?
    Always.  It would not be Christmas without one.  
25. Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?
    I had enough of sweeping up pine needles off the carpet  so we went onto an artificial tree -  traditional style, no modern, minimalist designer trees here.
26. Do you have special Xmas tree decorations?
    Yes.  It is a Tree of Happy Memories with decorations collected over many years, many from holidays abroad, so it is always a delight to get the boxes down from the loft, discover the ornaments again and relive where and when we got them.  The themes -  bells, baubles, stockings and musical instruments.
       
27. Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving?
    With no Thanksgiving Day here, i can only compare Christmas to New Year - and Christmas wins hands down!  Although I live in Scotland, I can't get enthusiastic about Hogmanay.

Happy Christmas to all my blog readers.