Scribbles in the Danson Bible

This is a page from the Danson Family Bible.  Henry Danson (1767-1839) was my great great grandfather who married Elizabeth Brown,  with his son, also  Henry (1806-1881) my great great grandfather, also marrying an Elizabeth (Calvert) - I know it gets confusing!   They lived in Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.

My knowledge of the Bible came to light through one of my best contacts made through the Internet ever internet contacts, with a direct Danson descendant, who had in her possession the family bible and copied me these page of scrawled writing.   

The  page (left) headed January 4 1827 “Be good to the poor”
features, among the  signatures, Henry Danson (senior) , Elizabeth Danson (his wife)  and James Danson (son);  also an entry “January 1^st 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 (right)  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 Henry Danson (junior) was living in the 1841 and 1851 censuses, so this record shows the family to be there a previous generation.   Ellen and Peter were siblings of Henry (junior).  The fact that servant Ellie Simpson  was also included in the activity and signed her name,  somehow casts  a lovely light on the household - though the fact they used the Bible for these scribbles  raises other issues !     

Sole entry on another page (below)  reads “January 4 1827 Henry Danson Son of Henry Danson Born 25 of July 1806”.  This entry was dated just after the death of Henry' s brother James, so is there a signficance in this?

The frontispiece of the Bible (below) refers to "Elizabeth Hodgson Departed this life January 13th 1779 Aged 24.  So far I have been uinable to trace any family connection wtih this name

            

          

Copyright © 2011 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved

Great Grandmother's Kettle: Fearless Females - 6

I remember this copper kettle sitting in the hearth of my grandfather's house and was always led to believe  it was his mother's - my great grandmother Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe (1859-1919).   I was abolutely  delighted when it eventually passed down to me. 

Complementing the kettle was a teaset which is now with Maria's granddaughter. Apparently Maria was very proud of the teaset which she got from collecting coupons from a newspaper offer. 

It is items like these, however mundane, that help paint a picture of ancestors and bring them alive.

My great grandmother Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe
with her daughter Jennie (back) .  Jennie was the only daughter after ten sons.
The little girl is granddaughter Annie Maria. 
c.1909







In In honour of National Women's History Month in the USA , Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist  blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts for March.

March 6th  - Describe an heirloom that you have inherited from a female ancestor.

William & Alice: Fearless Females - 4

St. Chad's Church - a photograph taken by the son of William & Alice - Harry Rawcliffe Danson,

The marriage certificate of my maternal grandparents was among the family papers that I inherited. It recorded the wedding  on 11th April 1907 at St. Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde,  Lancashire of William Danson, a 22 year old labourer 22 (father James, a joiner, deceased) and Alice English, a 22 year old spinster (father Henry, a painter,  deceased), both of Poulton-le-Fylde.  The witnesses were John and Annie Letham - names unknown to me.  





The Danson family are at the core of my family history research and I have traced them back to 1736.  Alice however represents the proverbial brick wall in my research, as despite intensive efforts, including a professional researcher,  I have found nothing about her life before marriage.  She died when I was a baby;  my mother and aunt were surprisingly reticent about her and I did not ask the right questions at the time. I know that she came to Poulton as nursemaid to the Potts family, prominent Methodists in the town and I have her prayer book presented on her confirmation in 1904 in Poulton. I was also told we shared the same birthday - 23rd September. The  1911 census return confirmed her birthplace as Bolton, Lancashire, but I have been unable to trace a birth certificate or entries in earlier censuses.

 This is one of the few photographs of Alice, with copies held by different members of the family.  As she is wearing a corsage, could this have been taken on her wedding day?  Again a question I should have asked my mother.

Among the family papers was this receipt  paid by Alice on February 26th 1907 for:

 Two yards of bodice lining, hooks, silk sundries and bodice making.

Was this her wedding outfit?  It surely must have had sentimental value for it to be kept? 

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 In honour of National Women's History Month in the USA , Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist  blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts for March.

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents?   Write a post about where they married and when.

Eye Witness - Major Events that Made an Impact on Me

I was prompted to write this article after reading Susan Petersen's  moving account  on Long Lost Relatives.net  recalling the Challenger Space Tragedy and her involvement as a teacher at the time.

It made me think back to other major national and international events that had an impact on me.  So here are my thoughts and memories of the Queen's Coronation, the assassination of President Kennedy, the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill, the death of Princess Diana and 9/11. 

                                                          

2nd June 1953 - The Queen's Coronation.  I was nine years old  and had been busy making  red, white and blue decorations, creating  a coronation scrapbook, collecting my coronation mug (presented to all children)  and playing with the doll my mother made for me, dressed as the Queen with a long velvet purple embroidered train, and on the day itself watching the ceremony on our new 10-inch screen black and white television   I had put on my yellow taffeta party dress in honour of the occasion.  But there was a personal dimension to the day, as my mother was in hospital for three weeks around that time after a major operation.  For my younger brother and myself it was a strange uncertain time, especially as children were not allowed to visit the hospital.  The day she came home was emotional as we all burst into tears - and I wore again my party dress to welcome Mum back to the family.

22nd November 1963 - President Kennedy was Assassinated.  We were watching TV in the early evening when a special "over to our newsroom" announcement cut in,  and we heard about the shooting in Dallas.  During Kennedy's election campaign I was still at school and JFK was someone we admired and we poured over the photographs of Jackie's fashions.  We saw on TV his powerful inauguration speech, his meeting with Kruschev, his speech at the Berlin Wall and my father got up during the night to hear his statement on the Cuban crisis.  We felt part of a new era.   Young and energetic-looking for a world leader, he made such a contrast with our own Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who seemed to epitomise the Edwardian period  of 50 years past.   I had never lost anyone close to me, yet President Kennedy's death hit me hard.  I stayed off university lectures to watch the funeral on TV and wept at the sight of Jackie and her two young children. 

Only three years later I was in Boston, USA on a year's exchange programme.  With another British girl we travelled around the country on the Greyhound bus, with Dallas and Washington DC on our itinerary.  We also also saw  the unveiling in Boston  of the JFK Library, attended by Robert and Edward Kennedy.    I know the Kennedy legend has long since been tarnished, but  it left a powerful memory.

30th January 1965 - Sir Winston Churchill's Funeral.  I had grown up with my father's reminiscences of the war, (which included working in  London by the Cabinet War Rooms)  and his high regard for Sir Winston Churchill.  At school in my exams for French and German (bit of irony here),   when asked in the essay question to write on a famous person, I chose Sir Winston.  His death, although not unexpected, still was a landmark event which I shared in.   I was doing Modern History and Politics at university and some of my class took the overnight  bus down from Edinburgh to London to join the thousands walking past his coffin in Westminster Hall.  We  sat as a family to watch the state funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral  and the iconic image of the cranes alongside the River Thames bowing in salute as the  coffin was carried by boat  down the river.

31st August 1997 - Death of Diana.  Sunday morning 7am and the phone went, meaning  a  leap out of bed thinking "Has something happened to our daughter",  who we knew would be finishing  night shift in the Edinburgh police control room.  She gave us the news and of course we immediately turned to the television to watch the tragic events unfold - and it was tragic the sudden death of an attractive woman and mother  with so much potential but whose personal life had taken a sad turn before being cut short. You could not but be moved to see the two young princes following their mother's  coffin on its silent route through London.  Psychologists have written pages on the state of the nation at the time, "wallowing in grief tourism"  etc.  We were annoyed at the media calls for the Queen "to be with her people" i.e in London, as if being in Scotland meant she was out of the country.   It was a definitive moment in many ways.

11th September 2001 - I was working at Library Headquarters that day in the Local Studies Room when my daughter phoned to tell me  that a plane had crashed into the twin towers in New York.  I had visited the city many years ago, long before the twin towers were built and I was a bit hazy about them, but my first reaction was "what an awful accident".  I told colleagues and we logged onto the BBC website and saw  the dreadful news of the second strike.    There was an American visitor  in the Study Room and we broke the news to him - he immediately went outside to phone friends and family. We then dashed to the Training Room where there was a television.   Words cannot describe the horror.  What struck in my mind most  was the experience of those on the  planes who had left  Boston to discover  they were flying to their death - yet whose thoughts were to phone family expressing their love.

Celtic Cross on Iona looking over to the Isle of Mull

A  week later we were on holiday on the west coast of Scotland and took the ferry from Oban to sail to the Isle of Mull and then onto the Isle of Iona.  It was the most perfect September day you could have asked for - sunny blue skies, a calm sea, a  panorama of hills and the seals bobbing around the ferry.    There were a lot of Americans on the boat, and the atmosphere was quiet and subdued.  People were going up to them to shake their hand and extend their sympathy. 

Everyone talks abut the magical nature of Iona -  the seat of Scottish Christianity where St. Columba founded his Abbey in 563AD.  It is amazing that even though the boat seemed busy, visitors spread out on the small island and it seems as if you have the place to yourself.  It was so peaceful - a beautiful haven in what suddenly seemed  a very  evil world.

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Photographs - copyright Susan Donaldson

Great Grandfather James Danson

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Maria Rawcliffe,
James' wife



The  starting point for information on my great grandfather James Danson (1852-1906) was the family bible which recorded his marriage in 1877 to 18 year old Maria Rawcliffe and the birth of his first four sons - entries petered out after that. The births of six more sons (two did not survive infancy) and one daughter were not recorded.



Trap Farm, Carleton c. 1998

The 1881 Census Return   provided the information  that enabled  me to trace James'  birth certifcate.  He was born on 7th August 1852 at Trap Farm, Carleton, Lancashire. He was third son, tenth and youngest child of Henry Danson, yeoman farmer and Elizabeth Calvert. 

The 1881 census showed the family living at Pott's Alley, off the Market Square at Poulton-l;e-Fylde. In the various literature on Poulton, Potts Alley earlier in the century comes in for some condemnation, described as “the town’s slum quarter….contained some of Poulton’s most squalid over crowded properties…..the subject of severe criticism in a public health report of 1852”.

Little knowledge has come down through the family on James Danson who died in 1906 before the birth of my mother and aunt. Anecdotal evidence does not reflect creditably on him - he was by all accounts of his grandchildren a bit of a ne-er do well - in contrast to the obvious respect for “Granny”. This is borne out by the only photograph of him (above), sitting merry in Poulton stocks.  (See my blog Great Grandfather in the Stocks - Black Sheep Sunday (10th Dec, 2010)

Barrett's  1904 General and Commercial Directory  for the Fylde area of Lancashire listed James Danson, joiner of 2 Bull Street, Poulton - a row of terraced houses just off the Market Square, which around the 1960's was demolished to make way for a shopping centre. 

James died at the age of 53 on 20th September 1906, A report in "The Fleetwood Chronicle and Fylde Advertiser" of 28th September noted:  "The deceased gentleman who was 53 years old was a native of Poulton. His father was toll collector at Shard Bridge for 14 years.  Mr Danson had been ill for soem time but had only recently taken to his bed.  The chief mourners were Mrs Danson (wife), Messrs Robert, John, Tom, Willie Danson (sons) and Mr John Danson (brother from Clitheroe), Miss Cookson (niece),  Mrs Riley, Mrs Roskell and Mrs Geo Riley (sisters-in-law), Mrs Porter, and Mr Threlfall.  There were a number of beautiful wreaths."

There was no reference in the funeral report to James' first born son Harry who died a year later at the age of 30, nor to the younger sons Albert, Frank and George, and  only daughter Jennie, but perhaps as children they did not attend or  did not warrant a mention.

James was buried in Moorland Road Cemetery, Poulton-le-Fylde, leaving his wife a widow, with a large family all still at home, including 3 children  under 14 years old.

Funeral Card for James Danson

This the third posting to show how I traced back my direct Danson line.

See Also:

Danson Discoveries - posted 4th February 2011.
Grandfather Willian Danson - posted 17th Feburary 2011

To follow - Great Grandfather' s 10 sons and 1 daughter 

Copyright © 2011 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved



Technophobe or Technocrat? 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Week 8 .

This is the eighth  challenge in a weekly series from GeneaBloggers called 52 weeks of personal genealogy and  history, suggested  by Amy Coffin,  that invite genealogists to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants.  Week 8 - Technology

Technophobe or technocrat?  That is the question. 

Central heating, automatic washing machine, instant communciation and entertainment, cars, trains and planes - what would my life be like  without these elements of techology ?   I like my home comforts.

I suppose the radio must have been my first encounter with technology, followed in 1953 by television. 20 years on colour television came along and then the mysteries of videos and DVDs - and yes - I am the stereotype woman,  as I haven't a clue how to programme them.   For me they brought my favourite art ballet directly into my home, something that before I could only experience in the theatre  itself.   As far as the TV goes, things such as high definition and the red button I ignore.

Soundwise it was a big event around 1959 when our family Christmas present was a gramophone/record player, though we could only afford a few records for it and I remember spending my pocket money in Woolworths buying 78's of Oklahoma, Carousel and Gilbert & Sullivan.  Technology moved on to those cumbersome decks for recording on tape,  to be replaced quickly by what seemed miniscule tape cassettes and then CDs, though I still have some of my favourite long playing records up in the loft.  A Walkman proved a godsend for me when I was in hospital for a major operation.  What a pleasure and change from reading, crosswords and sudoku  to be able to tune into my favourite radio progammes  - though there were regular anxious pleas to family "Bring in some batteries"!  Pop culture passed me by and I Pods and MP3's are other new mysteries I don't know anything about  - and don't see much need to know.

I remember the early days of getting a telephone, although it was on a shared line.  Today my mobile is for quick contact with family and not much else.  I stick with my old model and again don't see the need for  all those fancy functions.   To me a Blackberry remains a delicious fruit - not a bit of up-market technology.

I love curling up in bed or on the  sofa with a good book and can't see that an electronic book has nearly the same appeal.  However I have moved on this a wee bit, and am quite taken with the latest Amazon TV advert for a Kindle.

At work I progressed from manual typewriter, to an electric one,   to word processor and to computer.  I achieved the status of becoming  a home silver surfer around 1999 when getting linked online was my Christmas present - and I haven't looked back since.  After all where would my blog - and my life -  be without this wonderful piece of technology which has  brought me so much pleasure.  

So yes, perhaps I am a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to technology - in no way  a technophobe, but not exactly a technocrat.  

Grandfather William Danson

My grandparents William Danson and Alice Engluih



Alice with Edith, Kathleen, Harry
and baby Billy, c.1916.

My grandfather William Danson (1885-1963) was the fifth of ten sons and one daughter of James Danson and Maria Rawcliffe of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.  In 1907 as a 22 year old labourer, he married Alice English and then went on to have six children - Edith, Kathleen (my mother), George (who only survived six weeks), Harry, Billy and  after the First World War Peggy. 

Grandad won the Military Medal at Givenchy and sent back from Flanders a wonderful collection of postcards that remain among my family treasures and feature on many of my blog postings. 

In 1924 the family moved from a small terraced house in the  centre of Poulton  to a new 3 bedroomed semi-detached house, bought on the deposit of  £67 - I have the receipt.  It looks quite big, but, with only three small bedrooms, it must have still been a squash for parents, 3 daughters and two sons who all lived at home until they married. The front door had a round stained glass window which I thought was very posh.  Half way up the side wall was a small door which revealed the coal shute where the coal men emptied  their sacks down into a small cellar under the stairs.  The side trellised gate was later taken down and a driveway created to take my uncle's car.  The former hen house at the back then became the garage.  The large gardens were my grandfather's and later uncle's joy - with floral displays in the  front and vegetables and fruit  grown at the back.  There was one surprising feature about the house, though - it did not have electricity until the late 1950's, because my grandfather refused to have it installed. I remember my aunt standing on a chair to light the ceiling gas lights, and ironing with a heated flat iron, and the flames from the gas cooker frightened me.

Grandad was a country man at heart, and before the land around him was turned over to housing, I remember him taking my brother and I out on a Sunday afternoon down lanes and across fields, showing us rabbit burrows and helping me collect items for the Nature Table at school.  Our Sunday treat from him was a bag of pear drops.

Of his children - creative, talented and good-looking would be a good description.  

Kathleen and Edith Danson

Eldest daughter Edith (left)  was the only one of the family to go to a Grammar School. and later became head of an infant school at Burn Naze, Thornton.  She remained at home looking after her father and brother.  She was a feisty lady with lots of anecdotes about her teachibng days, and widely travelled , including a trip to Russia in the days of the Iron Curtain.  Like my mother she was a great craftswoman, with a particular interest in painting and Jacobean embroidery. She married for the first ime at the age of 73 a friend of my parents.   She was someone who left behind an indelible mark - you could not forget her and she lives on in our memories.

More about second daughter (my mother) Kathleen in a separate blog.  I showcased her life in "Happiness is Stitching - Talented Tursday" in December 2010.

Son Harry Rawliffe (right)  took his middle name from his grandmother Maria and like his grandfather James  became a joiner.  I remember him making me some little doll's house furniture and itnroducing me to stamp colelcting.   He was part of the large army rescued at Dunkirk, arriving home days later still in the clothes in which he entered the sea.  He loved ballroom dancing  (so living near Blackpool with its famous ballrooms was ideal), and was growing his own fruit and vegetables well into his 80's. 

Uncle Billy, (left)  was named after his father, and I knew him the least of the family.   He served in the navy duirng the war and later went to live in Evesham Worcestershire.

Peggy was the baby of the family, born after the First World War, so 12-13 years younger than her two older sisters.  Shortly after her marriage she emigrated to Australia



Edith, Peggy, Wiliam, Alice, Harry and Kathleen Danson
with just son Billy missing from the  family group c.1940

To follow - My Great Grandfather James Danson  (1852-1906)

See Also:  http://www.dansonfamilyhistory.co.uk/

Copyright © 2011 · Susan Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved