Family History Fun

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Sepia Saturday - Band of Brothers

Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories through photographs.

This week's prompt asks us to pay tribute to our ancestors who fought in the First World War. I am proud to have covered this topic before several times in my blog, most recently in November 2013 when I took part in the Remembrance Day Challenge.

Few families in the land could have escaped the impact of the First World War and my mother's Danson family was no exception. What must it have been like for my widowed great grandmother Maria Danson (nee Rawcliffe) seeing her five sons going away to war ?

One of the many embroidered cards sent home by my grandfather

William (Billy) - my grandfather who was awarded the Military Medal for action at Givenchy and fought at the Bottle of Paschendaele.
He never spoke of his war experiences.

John (the eldest) - died in army camp 1917
leaving his motherless daughter
Annie an orphan,


George (the youngest) - a stretcher bearer killed on the Somme in 1916 aged just 22.


Frank who was wounded and hospitalized on Malta

Tom

Also remembering:

Arthur William Matthews, my great uncle on my father's side, killed at Gallipoli in 1915, leaving a wife, four young children and eight siblings.
John Thomas Matthews, Arthur's brother, killed in France in 1916 leaving a wife and six children.
Frederick Donaldson, my husbands great uncle, killed on the Somme, in 1916, the same day as George above and remembered on the Thiepval Monument.

The reality of war faced by so many families is epitomized in this photograph of George' Danson's grave, sent to his mother Maria Danson. It conveys in a stark way the horrors of mud and blood that our ancestors must have experienced and contrasts with the pristine white of the more lasting memorials that we recognize today.

Just one extended family's experience of the First World War

Copyright © 2014 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights

CLICK HERE TO READ OTHER FAMILY EXPERIENCES OF THE WAR

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

52 Ancestors: 3 - John Danson. Father of a Bastard Child

Amy at No Story Too Small has come up with a new challenge for 2014 - to write a post each week on a specific ancestor.

John Danson, the eldest son of my great, great, great grandparents - Henry Danson and Elizabeth Brown of Carleton, Lancashire, was the Black Sheep of my Danson family - as evidenced in this document which I was delighted to find at at Lancashire Record Office.

For John, In 1810 at the age of 21, was served with an affiliation order ordering him to contribute to the upkeep of his “said bastard child” - a daughter by Ann Butler of Marton. The poor child was repeatedly given this tag in the document below which is fascinating on its choice of language:

“Ann Butler, single woman, was upon the 27^th day of August last, delivered of a female bastard child in the said township of Marton…and that John Danson, husbandman of Carleton did begot the said bastard on her body and is the father of the same.

Thereupon, we order… for the better relief of the said township…and the sustenance and relief of the said bastard child…John Danson pay unto the churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor…the sum of One Pound Eighteen Shillings for and towards the charges and expenses incident to the birth…further sum of four shillings towards the cost of apprehending and securing the said John Danson….the sum of Two Shillings weekly…towards the keeping, sustenance and maintenance of the said bastard child”.

In 1810, £1 18s 0d would have the same spending power of today's £131. with 2s 0d being worth today £6.88 (- not much for bringing up a child! (http://www.measuringworth.com)

Unfortunately I have been unable to trace anything further on this story. John Danson died in 1836, aged 46, as far as I know unmarried, and he predeceased his father Henry by three years.

Does anyone have any thoughts where I could turn to next?

Take a look at earlier postings in this series

1. Alice English (1884-1945) - A Brick Wall at My Grandmother

2. Edith Danson (1907 -1885) - My Feisty Aunt

Thursday, 9 January 2014

Sepia Saturday: Attic Discoveries

Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories through photographs.

The theme this week is family documents. I have featured over the past year my family bibles, first world war postcards and the war time letters of my parents.

So here is something NEW for my blog - an eclectic mix of papers found when clearing my grandfather's house in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. They recall a birth, marriage and death - and also some shopping.

A BIRTH

The letter below is the only item I have in my grandmother's writing, so particularly wonderful to find, written to her sister in law Jennie on the birth of her baby daughter in 1930. Again I wonder why this was kept at my grandparents, rather than with Jennie. I never knew my grandmother Alice Danson, nee English, who died when i was a baby and she remains the major brick wall in my family history research, as I have been singularly unsuccessful in tracing her birth certificate and discovering the name of her mother.

Alice writes "I am longing to see the wee mite and have a frock for her" and relates the reactions of the family to the news " Peggy flatly refused to believe it until i showed her the frock and that Aunt Jennie said she could hold the baby for a few minutes. Little Billy grinner all over this face and said he was glad it was a girl. The Girls [my mother and aunt Kathleen & Edith) are both glad it is a girl and send their love.

Alice ends by sending her love with a "kiss for her ladyship".

A MARRIAGE

My grandmother Alice English married William Danson in April 1907. In the shoebox of family photographs and memorabilia 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 with the photographs?

A DEATH

From a birth and marriage to the end of a life, with this purchase of a burial plot by my grandfather William Danson at a charge of one pound and 14 shillings. The date of 31st January 1911 is significant, as his baby son George Frederick died at just a few weeks old.

Finally some ephemera which so often gets thrown out, but yet conveys so much of the era.

Goodness only knows why this butcher's bill of 1925 was kept, but the design of the letterhead certainly appeals to me. I have done a Google search and believe the crest is that of the Master Butchers. I must admit that the prospect of eating "pickled tongues" does not appeal to me, and I cannot make out even the principal item bought. Does anyone have any ideas?

From the same year (1925) the purchase of a pair of children's one bar shoes. These must have been for my aunt Peggy - very much the "baby" of the family, born in 1921.

Both businesses are listed under of Trades and Professions in an 1934 Directory of Ppulton - W. Bennet under Butchers and Arthur Clegg, under Boots & Shoe Dealers and Cloggers.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OTHER DISCOVERIES BY FELLOW BLOGGERS.

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

52 Ancestors: 2 - My Feisty Aunt Edith

Amy at No Story Too Small has come up with a new challenge for 2014 - to write a post each week on a specific ancestor.

I think of my Aunt Edith (1907-1995) as one of a line of "Feisty Danson Females", amongst them my Great Grandmother Maria and her daughter, my Great Aunt Jennie. Aunt Edith played a key role in my life and was a teacher, traveller, and great talker. She was also a talented lady - and married for the first time at the age of 73.

Edith was born 2nd September 1907, followed just a year and a week later by my mother, Kathleen, born on 8th September 1908, daughters of William and Alice Danson of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. They remained very close as sisters and most of the photographs I have of Aunt Edith show her almost always with my mother.

Edith (left) and Kathleen

Kathleen and Edith (right)

Aunt Edith was fond of regaling me with stories of the family and her life in teaching. She was the only one to win a scholarship to Fleetwood Grammar School, riding the four miles on her bike in all weathers. She became a teacher at Burn Naze School in Thornton Clevelys (a poor area of town in the 1920's and 30's) and had a keen memory for past pupils (particularly black sheep) and humorous incidents such as excuse notes, written for absences.

I have my blog and Facebook to thank for a wonderful update on my Aunt Edith (Danson) . Ex pupils at the school set up a Facebook page on Burn Naze School Past ahead of the centenary of the school in 2014 and in a google search found my blog and got in touch. I was delighted to read comments from former pupils of "Miss Danson". who was remembered with fondness and for teaching sewing and knitting.

Edith on the right with her class on a school trip.

Edith must have been great to know in her 20's, with tales of the young men she went dancing with in Blackpool.

Kathleen & Edith

Like her sister, Edith was talented in painting, embroidery and dressmaking, loved dancing, music, reading and baking - though there were some apocryphal cooking moments when my uncle (her brother) stirred a rice pudding, thinking it was very thin - she had forgotten to put in the rice! Another time she was proud of a tart with a golden pastry crust and blackcurrants from the garden - until we took a mouthful - she had forgotten to add sugar to the fruit. "Scatty" was often a term used to describe Aunt Edith, as her mind was on so many things at once.

My first visit to Scotland was thanks to Aunt Edith - a reward for passing the 11+ for grammar school. I was stirred by the sight and sound of the bagpipes at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, gazed over the battlements at Stirling Castle across to Bannockburn (the site of the battle in 1314) and was captivated by my first island trip to the Isle of Arran. I returned home singing "Scotland the Brave" and wrote a story about a fictional island, complete with map drawn with my coloured pencils. Six years later Scotland became my home.

Edith kept home for her widowed father and brother for much of her life and travelled widely, even to Russia in Iron Curtain days, bringing back gifts to add to my collection of costume dolls.

In line with her spirit of adventure, she married for the first time in 1981 at the aged 73. a widower friend of my parents. and died in 1995 aged 88.

Aunt Edith (in blue) with her husband George, my mother Kathleen and brother Harry.

You can tell from these photographs that Aunt Edith was someone who enjoyed herself. She took on the role of my godmother with great gusto and with my mother left me with a wonderful legacy on how to get the most out of life, plus many fond memories of a feisty woman.

A Painting by my Aunt Edith

Take a look at earlier postings in this series

1. Alice English (1884-1945) - A Brick Wall at My Grandmother

Saturday, 4 January 2014

52 Ancestors: 1 - My Grandmother Alice English

Alice English - could this be a wedding photo,
given she is wearing a corsage?

Amy at No Story Too Small has come up with a new challenge for 2014 - to write a post each week on a specific ancestor.

How far back have you got?" is a standard question for family historians, and I am sorry to admit that the search for my maternal grandmother Alice English (1884-1945) quickly hit the proverbial brick wall.

My mother and aunt were surprisingly reticent about her early life, though her photograph (right) was on display in both homes.

I failed to ask the right questions at the right time, and ended up with vague and conflicting information - a classic family history mistake.

Was she born in Manchester or Bolton? There were stories that her mother had been a matron, with some Irish connections; that Alice was orphaned and her uncle went off to America with her money and never called on her to join him, as arranged.

Alice went to Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire as nursemaid to the Potts family, prominent local Methodists and was confirmed at St. Chad's Parish Church in 1904 (I have her prayer book from that occasion).

Alice became known locally as an unofficial midwife and the doctor wanted her to train professionally, but this was not possible with her family commitments.

My starting point for research was the marriage certificate - she married my grandfather William Danson in April 1907, at St. Chad's Church, Poulton when Alice was 22. Her father's name was given as Henry, a painter (deceased), plus I was always told we shared the same birthday - September 23rd. She died in 1945 so I never knew her. Her age on the death certificate confirms her year of birth as 1884 - and that is all I know.

William and Alice

Despite many years of hunting and using a professional researcher, I have been unable to trace a birth certificate for Alice to find out the name of her mother. I cannot link an Alice born in Lancashire 23rd September 1884 with a father Henry, a painter, and have gone down several fruitless paths.

Nor could I trace Alice in the 1891 census when she would have been 6 years old. The 1901 census did not move things forward - there was an Alice English, born Bolton aged 17, so born c.1884 living-in domestic servants at Stockport. This could well be my grandmother, but does not help with any more information on her family.

So I was eagerly awaiting the release of the 1911 census to find the record for the married Alice. It confirmed that Alice's birthplace was in fact Bolton. However I am still no further forward. However I am still no further forward with the Registrar Service at Bolton finding no such record. The Improved search facility for BMD and parochial records online came up with a Harriet Alice English born Bolton in 1884 - my hopes rose, but her father turned out to be James, a weaver. So more frustration! I also have had no luck in tracing a record for a Henry English who married or died in Bolton.

Sadly Alice developed cataracts and became blind - a condition which now with modern medicine can be treated so easily.

Does anyone have any ideas how to break through this brick wall? I am unsure where to turn to next.

Note: if Alice had married and died in Scotland, there wouldn't be this problem. Scottish certificates were introduced in 1855, later than England (1837) but they are much more informative, notably the fact that both marriage and death certificates give the names of both parents, including the maiden name of the mother - a huge advantage for Scottish researchers. Of course this does rely on the informant of a death knowing the facts.

Alice with her children

Edith, Kathleen, (my mother) Harry and baby Billy. c.1916

Most likely taken before William went off to war.

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Alice with her three daughters - Peggy, Edith and Kathleen, c.1940.

William and Alice in 1938 at my parent's wedding

This item is based on an earlier posting of November 2010.