Family History Fun: The Pleasure of Discovering Family Photographs: Sepia Saturday

I am marking Sepia Saturday’s 750th blog challenge by looking back at photographs that I have received over the years. They enhanced my family history and contribute to my enjoyment of 14 years of blogging, much of it on Sepia Saturday.

Reconnecting with Relatives

My initial blog posts were based on the shoebox collection of memorabilia at my grandfather Danson's house which we visited weekly in Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire.

My aunt Edith Danson and my mother Kathleen Danson are the two little girls at the front of this parade c.1912.

The cards my grandfather sent home from his time serving in the First World War are among my top favourites.

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Funerals can be a time when families come together and such was the cas, when I chatted to my mother's cousin A. who I had not seen since I was a child. I told her of my family history hobby. She later kindly supplied me with memories of her father - my great uncle Bob, a postman in Blackpool, a 1928 press cutting of another cousin's wedding, and importantly contact details for other cousins, including P. now living in the English Midlands.

I decided to phone P. - given I was not aware of any sensitive family issue, I was happy to do this and introduced myself as "A voice from the past - I'm Kathleen Danson's daughter."

What a wonderful reception I got - P. outlined the family memorabilia she had up in the loft and wondered what to do with it, offered to come up to Scotland to visit us, and my husband I made a return visit the next year. The result of making contact, I received:

Memories of my grandparents William and Alice Danson - my grandmother died when I was a baby. It was somehow funny in the nicest possible way to hear my grandparents referred to as Uncle Billy and Aunt Alice.

Memories of my great grandmother Maria Danson (1859-1919), nee Rawcliffe passed down through her daughter, Jennie to Jennie's two daughters. I had not seen this photograph before and have found it quite difficult to date.

The only photograph I have of my great grandfather James Danson (1852-1906), sitting merrily in Poulton old stocks.

Memorabilia of the youngest Dansonson George including a two letters written by him, just weeks before he was killed on the Somme in 1916 aged just 22.
I touched and photographed - Maria's tea-set, bought from collecting coupons in a "Daily Mail" offer; and her jewellery including items brought back from Malta by her son Frank, who was hospitalized there in the First World War.
I was given a collection of some 50 postcard photographs of Jennie's friends and their families, with many of the men in World War One uniform, so dated from c.1916. It must have been the practice to exchange such cards between friends, (the Facebook of the day!) and Jennie had thoughtfully written their names on the reverse.

Gerty Roskell - a popular surname in the Fylde area of Lancashire and one with connections to my Danson family
Other encounters with my mother's cousins were less successful.

With one I received a friendly chat, a memory of me as a child in pigtails, a request to do research into a sideline of the family, but nothing more in terms of memorabilia. Sadly the contact with Australian relatives petered out after initial e-mails.

Nevertheless a wonderful contribution to my Family Archive! So the message here is do not dither and delay in reconnecting with relatives - you never know what might result to enhance your collection.

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Other family photographs arrived on my computeras a result of my blogging activity, with two unknown third cousins discovering it.

I found out about my first emigrant ancestor, Alice Mason nee Rawcliffe (1853-1930) - sister of Maria above. Alice emigrated to the USA with her husband John and had a large family of 11 children - 3 dying in infancy. The granddaughter of Alice's youngest child Florence got in touch and we exchanged information and photographs.

John Mason (Alice's husband)
with his youngest daughter, Florence

It was special to receive a later photograph of the Mason family (below) with all eight surviving children. A number of descendants are listed as my DNA matches, /

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My other big success was much nearer to home. Like me   Stuart was born in Blackpool, Lancashire and in fact we went to the same junior school, though not knowing one another. We shared the same great great grandparents - Henry Danson and Elizabeth Calvert - Stuart from their eldest daughter Elizabeth (1831-1885) - me from their youngest son James (1852-1906) .

Even better Stuart lived only 50 miles away so we could easily meet and spent afternoons, sharing research, old photographs and memorabilia. As a result I was given a wonderful boost to my blogging activities in terms of family stories and images, just when I felt I was coming to a halt with my own material.

Stuart had done considerable research on many branches of his family.    His father's Smith family cane frin the Scottish island of Unst - the most northerly spot in the British Isles, 120 miles north of the Scottish mainland. His grandmother married into the Oldham family of Blackpool carters and coal merchants in Blackpool in a house with a large yard, hay loft, tack room. and stabling for around 7 horses.; and his great grandfather was William Dower, a minister in the Presbytrian Church who became a missionary in South Africa. So rich material for blog posts.

Stuart's father Arthur Smith not looking too happy, as he perches on the chair, clad in a dress, as was the custom for very young boys. The tartan reflects the family's pride in their Scottish links.

Stuart's Grandfather - Edward Stewart Ingram Smith. His early life was full of promise, but the impact of serving in the First World War at the age of 44 took its toll on him.
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Edward with his young family c.1916, with son Arthur shorn of his curly locks.

An elegant portrait of Sarah Alice Oldham on her wedding to George Butler in Blackpool, Lancashire and what a showy outfit, magnificently decorated large hat, and a large posy set off by long broad ribbons. She was one of three daughters in the Oldham family of carters and coal merchants,

Oldham grandaughter ~Elsie Oldham was my mother's second cousin. On the death of her father in 1939 Elsie (left) took the helm with her husband Arthur Stuart Smith. She also ran her hairdressing concern her as "Bobbing, Shingling and Marcel Waves." This lovely evocative advertising blotter below is in the family memorabilia.

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Family history can take us in all kinds of directions and Stuart's family connections, although not my direct ancestors, added a new dimension to my blog posts.

How many people can claim to have a published poet amongst their ancestors? That was the case of my third cousin Stuart whose great great uncle was John Critchley Prince (1808-1866). He became well known in his time as a writer of poetry in the Lancashire dialect.
A pioneering South African Missionary, a politician, a test cricketer - and one of the leading scientists of the 20th century - you can stumble across some amazing stories when you start to delve into sidelines of your family history.

Such was the experience of my cousin, Stuart who was researching the family of his Scottish great grandmother Isabel Edward from Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Isabel's sister Jessie married William Dower and in 1865 they set sail to South Africa for William to take up an appointment as a Wesleyan missionary.

William and Jesse Dower

Their children and grandchildren made their mark in the world in a variety of key positions, amongst them

Alan Blumlein (1902-1942) has been described as "the greatest electronic engineer of the 20th century", notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recordings, television and radar. He died at the young age of 38 during a secret trial of an airborne radar system.

The commorative plaque in London.

Stuart's contact with me was my lucky day - and I haven't even mentioned the war-time tales, the business bankruptcies, the wealth of wedding photographs down the decades or the charming children's photographs that have found their way into my blog posts.

So to finish - thank you to Sepia Saturday for your 750 weeks of blogging challenges and the opportunity to feature so many photographs that have come my way from family connections.

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