Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories through photographs.This week's prompt reminds us of the major pleasure we get in finding original documents that our ancestors must have touched and written.
This Danson family bible was an important impetus in starting me on the family history trail. Kept In the glass fronted bookcase in my grandfather's front room at Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, the bible recorded the marriage of his parents James Danson (1852-1906) and Maria Rawcliffe (1859-1919) on the 12th May 1877 and the birth of their first four children - all sons - Harry, John, Robert and Albert.
Sadly all but Robert died young - Harry aged 30, Albert as an infant, and John in 1917 during the First World War.
As their family grew, enthusiasm for keeping the record obviously waned, as they went on to have five more sons (William - my grandfather, another Albert, Tom, Frank, and George) and as their last child only daughter Jennie, none of whom were listed.
Unfortunately the bible entry did not give the place of marriage, and in pre-internet days, efforts to trace a marriage certificate through various registrar offices proved
tricky. The ceremony took place in neither Maria nor James birthplace. It was thanks to a local member of the Lancashire Family History Society who traced the record of marriage at St. Anne’s Church, Singleton - a small village near Poulton. As I
had already found through the 1881 Poulton census that their first two sons had been born in Singleton, this should have been an obvious starting point that I
failed to see.
On the marriage certificate, James (left) was described as a joiner of full age from Singleton, with his father
Henry a toll receiver (at nearby Shard Bridge over the River Wyre) 
James' wife’s names
were given as Martha Maria, (right) a spinster, aged 18 of Thistleton, with no
occupation, no address given, so nothing to indicate why she was then living at Thistleton - a tiny hamlet. Later research revealed that Maria’s eldest
sister Ann was living in the village where her husband was a gamekeeper. The
witnesses to the marriage were Henry Danson and Elizabeth Ann Bailey, who
proved to be James’ brother and eldest sister.
Maria’s Christian name was
a source of some puzzlement too. On her
birth certificate and early census returns it was given as Maria – and this was
the name that her granddaughters recalled.
However a number of official documents, including this marriage cert6ifcate) had her name as Martha or Martha
Maria. Research into the Rawcliffe family
established that her youngest sister Martha had only lived a few months, dying
when Maria was only four years old, so she could hardly have remembered
her. What prompted her to adopt the name for
herself?
A second Danson Bible came to light through an internet contact who proved to be descended from John Danson, brother of my great grandfather James (above). John as the eldest son had inherited the family bible which included three pages of scrawled writing. It gets a bit confusing as the same Christian names appear down the generations!
It is mysteries like this that make family history so absorbing a hobby .
A second Danson Bible came to light through an internet contact who proved to be descended from John Danson, brother of my great grandfather James (above). John as the eldest son had inherited the family bible which included three pages of scrawled writing. It gets a bit confusing as the same Christian names appear down the generations!
The page ((above) headed January 4 1827 “Be good to the poor” features, among the signatures, Henry Danson (my GGG grandfather), Elizabeth Danson (his wife) and James Danson (their son); also an entry “January 1st 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.
Trap Farm was where my GG grandfather Henry Danson was living in the 1841 and 1851 censuses, so this record established for the first time that the family were there a previous generation. 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 family, with this beautifully written page which even includes the days of the week when they were born.
Copyright © 2013 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights Reserved
With thanks to Janet, my third cousin once removed, for the images from the earlier Danson Bible. .
With thanks to Janet, my third cousin once removed, for the images from the earlier Danson Bible. .
Fascinating, and I can see why you find it so absorbing. Our curiosity is piqued as to why Maria adopted her dead sister's name. There must be a story behind it.
ReplyDeleteIf I only could find that elusive story! We can find out the when, where and who of family history, but the "Why" is the big question which we may never be able to answer.
DeleteSo interesting. The willy nilly writing is fascinating. It must have been the only paper they had?
ReplyDeleteYou are so fortunate to have these pages to mull over and wonder about.
I found many pages of notes in our bible and noticed, as you did, some repetition that made it confusing. At some point, when my grandmother came to own the bible, she had her mother write down all the details of *that* side of the family so that my dad and his siblings would have the full details, as it were. This is a tradition that surely has gone out of fashion but is so helpful in keeping details straight. I do so appreciate the neat and beautiful hand of the antique writing styles!
ReplyDeleteOh... such wonderful treasures. Thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteI've seen pages in parish registers that aren't much more decipherable than those family bible pages.
ReplyDeleteWith treasures like this, scanning or copying the pages must have been difficult. Or did you photograph them?
ReplyDeleteI never saw a bible in our house when I was young.
Thanks, bob, for your comment. The pages were photographed and then scanned.
DeleteYou are so fortunate to have these bibles. It's amazing how they can solve a mystery and then create a new one.
ReplyDeleteI envy you, having access to family records like these.
ReplyDeleteA comprehensive post and beaut pictures. I am rather envious. Thanks, Sue.
ReplyDeleteAll those signatures are just amazing -- such a tangible link to your past!
ReplyDeleteOh I love a good story too! Your bible looks much like one of ours. Such an interesting story, thanks.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your family bibles go back so far. How fantastic to have writing from your ancestors. I suspect that mine that far back were not literate or were semi-literate.
ReplyDeleteFamily history is so complicated and interesting, ours goes back to the 1400 and it wanders in all directions. Most of the time men had two or three marriages because the women died in childbirth.
ReplyDeleteA family Bible sounds like the perfect place for your genealogy to begin!
ReplyDeleteSue, what treasures! And I liked the way you took me along on your family research. Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteYour bibles with all their ancestral information are amazing. We have a leather-bound bible printed in 1881 by Cranston & Stowe that was given to Kit's father as a wedding gift. It's big - measuring 10"x 12" and 4" thick, and weighs a 'ton', illustrated throughout with gorgeous works of art. Unfortunately I left my camera with Kit up at Lake Tahoe when I had to come home early from vacation, and the book is too big to try to scan the pictures, else I would have included some of them in my Sepia Sat. blog. :->
ReplyDeleteThere are many possible reasons for the Maria/Martha name, but you'll probably never know the real reason.
ReplyDeleteThe differences in the bible notations are so interesting - from the willy nilly scrawls to the very neat and complete list.
ReplyDeleteNancy
We live in the information age, but earlier generations did not think about records in the way we do now. They may have considered names placed into the family bible as different than the parish registry, and preserved as more of a memorial or blessing. I find handwriting to be a real talisman to the people of the past.
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone for such kind and thoughtful comments.
ReplyDeleteI and mum have many pages photocopied from various family bibles, collected by mum or grandparents or maiden aunts. The challenge not only seems to be who owned the bibles and were are they now but the new questions such as you have found - an unexpected name (or two).
ReplyDelete