Newsletter – 19th
December 2020
How to
plan for the 'Five Days of Christmas'
More fabulous
prizes in our New Year Competition
When The
Death Certificate came to life
Review: A
History of Death in 17th Century England
Researching
on behalf of a friend or relative?
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Everyone seems
to think that Oliver Cromwell cancelled Christmas, but the move to ban Christmas
and other "supposedly frivolous additions to the religious calendar" began
in the mid-1500s, long before Cromwell was born. However, it wasn't until 1644,
in the midst of the 1st English Civil War, that the ban was enshrined in law:
in that year Parliament passed legislation abolishing Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsun.
Nevertheless
at this time King Charles was still on the throne, and his head was still intact
(and remained so until January 1649). Legislation in 1647 took things a stage
further, by providing for anyone who celebrated Christmas to be fined – Puritans
believed that, rather than a feast day, it should be a day of fasting (and a
normal working day).
Though Cromwell
was one of the Puritan leaders in Parliament, he didn't assume the position of
Lord Protector until 1653, and as you'll know from my book review
in the last issue, his son-in-law Henry Ireton was arguably more influential until
the latter's death in 1651. So to lay the whole blame on Cromwell is a bit
unfair.
England wasn't
the only country where Christmas was banned in the 17th century – in 1620 the Pilgrim
Fathers spent their first Christmas in Massachusetts working, and in Boston the
observance of Christmas was outlawed between 1659 and 1681.
Note: although
the Pilgrim Fathers were Separatists, not Puritans, they shared many of the
same beliefs - the biggest difference was that the Puritans believed they could
change the Church from the inside.
How to plan for the 'Five Days of Christmas'
In the UK many
families have been looking forward to meeting up at Christmas, as it was
announced a while ago that all four countries had agreed that legal
restrictions would be relaxed for the period 23rd-27th December. But will it be
safe to take advantage of this opportunity? Just because something is legal doesn't
make it safe.
At the time
the announcement regarding Christmas was made, the Government and their scientific
advisers were hoping for a fall in infections, but in many parts of the UK the
figures have moved in the wrong direction; this week's changes aren't going to
have much impact this side of Christmas. It’s therefore understandable that
many have suggested that Christmas should be cancelled, but even in Germany, where
a strict lockdown has been imposed until January they're relaxing the regulations
over Christmas (see this BBC article for more details).
Instead governments have chosen to trust the population to be very, very
careful.
Mixing between
households, especially indoors, greatly increases the opportunities for the
virus to spread. Whilst the most prudent course would be to ignore Christmas and
abide by the usual rules for the area where you live, the psychological impact
would be quite significant, especially since many of us haven't been able to
meet with our friends and relatives for a long time.
But the real
danger is not so much mixing of households per se, but the mixing of generations. The
younger generations are far more likely to be the unwitting carriers of COVID-19,
the Typhoid Marys of the 21st century – they're much more likely to have jobs
or other responsibilities that involve interactions with other households.
Most people reading this newsletter are
of my generation – family history is one of those pursuits that people tend to take
up later in life – so it’s quite likely that the family members you’re planning
to meet up with over Christmas are younger. It goes without saying that hugs,
kisses, and even handshakes are out of bounds - but if you’re going to be eating
together, consider whether you can organise the seating plan in such a way that
different households are kept apart. Separate tables?
And keep the noise down. If there's music
playing keep the volume low, and don't put the TV on unless everyone wants to
watch – otherwise voices will get louder and the risk of virus particles
spreading will be far higher. If you're waiting for a programme to start, mute
the sound.
Whoever you plan to see, ask them to
isolate themselves as much as possible in the days before you meet up – the UK government
has suggested 5 days, which was also going to be my suggestion had there not
been an official recommendation. This may mean them making some sacrifices, but
just imagine how awful it would be for all concerned if you caught COVID-19
from them. The longer the gap between them coming into contact with other people,
and then coming into contact with you, the less likely it is that they'll unknowingly
pass the virus on to you.
Everyone can reduce the risk further by
downloading the app that will tell you if you've been close to someone who has
later tested positive. Not everyone believes in this sort of interference in
people's personal lives, but you don’t have to spend Christmas with those people,
and I recommend that you don't.
Tip: a lot of people think they had
COVID-19 in the first wave, but were never tested. Remember that just because
somebody has had COVID-19 and recovered doesn't mean that they can’t catch it
again, nor does it mean that they can’t pass it on to others. So don't take any
chances - lives are at stake.
The safest option is to do what I suggested
recently – see your friends and relatives over Zoom, Skype or Facetime rather than
coming together physically. It can still be a special occasion - put them on
the big screen and it'll be just like having them in the same room! But
infinitely safer…..
Tip: most laptops have an HDMI output, so
you can link them up to a monitor or TV. I recently bought a couple of cheap USB
video cameras so that I don’t have to
rely on my laptop's built-in camera – this would also be a good move if you use
a desktop computer and don’t have a camera.
More fabulous prizes in our New Year
Competition
When I launched the competition in the
last issue I revealed that Findmypast have generously donated a PRO subscription
(worth almost £160) – but that there would be many more prizes. And there are –
so many wonderful prizes, in fact, that I've given up on the idea of announcing
them one at a time, because the competition would be over before I'd finished.
So here’s a full list of the prizes to
date (I can’t promise that there won't be more):
12 month PRO subscription to Findmypast (worth
£159.99)
Virtually unlimited access to over 8
billion historical records from around the world, modern electoral registers
for the UK, and more than 300 million newspaper articles
12 month Diamond subscription to The
Genealogist (worth £139.95)
Unlimited access to a wide range of
records including non-conformist records, exclusive tithe records and tithe
maps, and a growing collection of 'Lloyd George' Domesday records and maps which
you won't find at any other site.
12 month unlimited subscription to
British Newspaper Archive (worth £79.95)
Over 40 million pages from historic
British and Irish newspapers, with hundreds of thousands more pages added every
month. Optimised search features including the ability to search for articles
added after a particular date, so that you don't have to repeatedly trawl
through articles you've previously read or discarded.
12 month subscription to Who Do You
Think You Are? Magazine (worth at least £60)
A wealth of news, knowledge, and information
from the world of genealogy – plus some inside stories from the TV series.
Family Historian v7 (just out!)
Simon Orde, the programmer of this Great
British program has generously offered to donate a digital copy to the lucky
winner. But you don’t have to wait for the result of the competition to find
out what amazing features the program offers – you can download a free trial version
here.
Three autographed copies of The
Asylum-Hiding the Past
Nathan Dylan Goodwin will dedicate these
copies to the three lucky winners – two great stories in a single paperback, Hiding the Past introduced
us to Morton Farrier, The Asylum is a prequel to that first novel.
Morton Farrier is a fascinating
character, but it’s important to remember the valuable contributions made by
his other half, Juliette.
Autographed copies of The Marriage
Certificate and The Death Certificate
Stephen Molyneux will sign copies of the
paperbacks for the lucky winner. His debut genealogical mystery novel, The
Marriage Certificate, is one of my all-time favourites, and The Death Certificate
is a worthy follow-up.
Is he going to follow up with a novel
entitled The Birth Certificate? I certainly hope so!
To have a chance of winning one of these
fabulous prizes just do what should come naturally to any reader of this
newsletter – complete your My Cousins page so that I can connect you to the
other members who are researching the same ancestors – your 'lost cousins'. See
the last issue for more advice.
When The Death
Certificate came to life
If you've read The Death Certificate
(if you haven’t, you'll find my review here),
you'll know that it was partly inspired by the exploits of two 19th century
mudlarks who discovered that forgery provided an easier path to riches. This week
some of their fakes came up for auction, and fetched some pretty impressive
prices (though below the pre-sale estimate).
If you've read the book and want to see some
examples of the Shadwell Forgeries, follow this link.
Death certificates rarely provide good
news, and when LostCousins member David discovered an article in the British
Newspaper Archive which indicated that his great-grandfather had died in hospital
after being admitted with throat wounds it was with some foreboding that he
ordered a PDF of the death entry.
It might have been murder, but in fact the
wounds were self-inflicted wounds - the coroner's verdict was "suicide
while of unsound mind". Things haven’t changed – despite all the other
advances the human race has made there still isn’t much good news in the
newspapers!
Richard wrote to me after reading the story
in the last issue about the discovery by another Richard of his great-great-great-great
grandfther's mourning ring in an auction sale.
His story was similar, except that his
discovery was the result of the kindness of somebody he'd never met, and
possibly never will:
"I have a rather haphazard blog in which one post I wrote is a
short biography of my great grandfather Thomas Henry James. One day earlier
this year a message from MikeB appeared against the post reading 'Would you be
interested in a item relating to him'. Well, I'm a family historian - of course
I would.
"It turned out that MikeB is a medal collector who had spotted on
eBay a Victorian Coastguard Service Long Service and Good Conduct medal with my
great-grandfather's name engraved on the rim. In doing a little research on the
name MikeB found my blog post, and very kindly allowed me first dibs on the
medal. It just goes to show that you never know how a family history connection
will be made; and you never know what generosity may be visited upon you from
unknown quarters."
Completing your My Ancestors page
is a way that you can help people that you don’t know with their family history
(and more likely than not they'll be able to help you in return). So make the
most of the next 6 weeks, when you can win prizes just for doing the right thing!
Read all about my competition in the
article above.
Review: A History of Death in 17th Century
England
The title of Ben Norman's book - A
History of Death in 17th Century England – sets the scene for an often
fascinating, but sometimes gruesome, account of the differing ways in which our
17th century ancestors met their Maker.
The chapter titles are a good guide to
the contents: The Natural Death, The Soldierly Death, The Criminal Death, The
Deathbed, Of Corpses Coffins and Carriages, The Common and the Noble Funeral, Royal
Funerals, The Unorthodox Burial, and Remembrance.
There is a tendency when writing about
earlier centuries to focus on the rich, the royal, the famous, and the infamous
– probably because more information about them has survived – but I'm glad to
say that this author maintains a fairer balance than most. Of course, what matters
most for the family historian is whether we can apply what we have learned to
the study of our ancestors, and that's going to vary depending on who they were.
Nevertheless, we can learn so little from
a one line burial register entry that most people are going to end up with a
better understanding of their ancestors' lives and deaths as a result of
reading this book. I read the paperback but it is also available in Kindle
format.
Ancestry.co.uk Ancestry.com Ancestry.ca Ancestry.com.au
Researching on
behalf of a friend or relative?
LostCousins members tend to be generous
with their time – I frequently hear from members who are researching on behalf
of friend, a cousin, or (most commonly) their life partner.
Because of the way that LostCousins works
you cannot enter someone else's relatives on your own My Ancestors page – the system
isn't designed for this, and you’re likely to end up confusing other members as
well as yourself.
But there's nothing
to stop you opening a LostCousins account on behalf of your spouse, a friend,
or a relative - just so long as you have their permission. You can even use
your own email address, though there is a limit of two accounts per email
address (and they must have different passwords).
Tip: if you’re
the one doing all the research, and you’re the one adding all the relatives to the
other person's My Ancestors, then should one of those entries win a prize in my
New Year competition, you would be entitled to claim it. Never has helping a friend
been so rewarding!
All sorts of unexpected finds turn up in
parish records, but when Anne was researching her Heaven relatives she was surprised
to discover that Rev Edward Blackwell - the vicar of Amberley, Gloucestershire and
a keen amateur photographer in those early days of the hobby - had photographed
his flock in the 1860s.
Even more amazing was the discovery that
his photo albums were at Gloucestershire Archives, and that included in the
albums are photos of Anne's great-great-great grandfather Enoch Heaven and his
wife, as well as Anne's great-great grandmother!
Copies of the photos are on the village website,
although when I last checked they hadn't been indexed – however it is in hand.
I wonder how many other parishes have similar hidden gems?
Flying cars are on the horizon, but
flying boats go back a long way. This recent news story
about a WW2 era flying boat stranded in Scotland reminded me of Beatrix Potter,
whose biography
I enjoyed so much that I reviewed it in the last issue.
Flying boats were tested in the Lake
District before WW1, much to the annoyance of Miss Potter, who was fiercely protective
of the local countryside. I can remember reading about a flying boat in one of
Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books, but until I read the Potter
book I hadn’t realised that they went back to the birth of aviation. Indeed
according to Wikipedia,
the first patent was filed in 1876, and the first flying boat was tested (albeit
unsuccessfully) in 1898, several years before the Wright brothers made their
historic flight.
I've been exceptionally busy recently – and
not just answering emails in response to the last issue, and writing the
current one. In fact it was more currant then current – I finally got around to
making Christmas Puddings and Christmas Cake.
As usual I followed Frances Bissell's
fatless pudding recipe cut out from The Times in 1999 - I also have her 1987
and 1988 recipes which are very similar, but include a couple of ingredients
that I didn't have in my store cupboard. However, as you would expect, I made a
few modifications anyway: extra dried fruit and nuts (as usual), but for the first
time I added some brown sugar – there's no sugar at all in the recipe. When
I've followed this recipe in the past I've always felt the pudding tasted just a
little too healthy for a once a year celebration, and ended up eating far more
brandy and rum butter than is good for me. Hopefully putting sugar in the
pudding will prove to be the lesser of the two evils!
The other change I made was to substitute
home-made sloe gin for the suggested brandy or orange liqueur – I don’t know
how it will work out (ask me in a week's time!), but I'm pretty confident that
it was a good choice. The scrapings from the bowl certainly tasted good!
For the cake I chose a recipe from the beginning
of the millennium by the Australian cook Jill Dupleix, who took over from
Frances Bissell at The Times when she was unceremoniously and, probably,
unfairly dismissed in 2000 (though as a freelancer she sadly lost the subsequent
Employment Tribunal case). She begins by soaking the fruit overnight in whisky –
I couldn’t resist substituting my own bullace gin, and adding cherries - but
otherwise I remained pretty faithful to her instructions. I still can’t decide
whether or not to ice the cake – I made an extra, miniature, cake with leftover
mixture and will taste this before making my decision. And no, I don’t make my
own marzipan, though my mother used to.
For the first time I've made my own crystallised
peel – using satsuma and grapefruit. It was a lot of effort, and too late to be
incorporated in the cakes and puddings, but I'm planning to dice some to use when
I make home-made mincemeat this weekend. And given how good the offcuts tasted I
may dip the remaining strips of peel in dark chocolate to create very special
Christmas presents; if that all sounds tempting you'll find the recipe here.
Tip: I saved the leftover syrup for use
in future recipes – it has a wonderful bittersweet flavour.
It's not often that I discover a
supermarket product that's worth recommending, but De Nigris Glazé Sweet
Fig with Balsamic Vinegar is a rare exception, and at £2 for a 250ml bottle it’s
also an incredible bargain (I've bought several to use as Christmas presents).
I found it at Tesco,
but there's also a White Truffle version which I haven't tried yet, though
reviewers say it is wonderful – so I'm sorely tempted! You can buy the pair at Amazon, but they'll cost you nearly 4 times
as much.
I use the Sweet Fig vinegar when I'm
making Grilled Goats Cheese Salad with Walnuts – previously I'd make my own
dressing, but this is so much easier, and it looks better too because you can
swirl it over the salad. There's no need to give you the recipe – the title is pretty
self-explanatory – but you do need to use French Goats Cheese log, otherwise it
goes all over place when you grill it. (You don't grill the salad, of course,
just the cheese – on a piece of foil.)
This is where any major
updates and corrections will be highlighted - if you think you've spotted an
error first reload the newsletter (press Ctrl-F5) then check again before writing
to me, in case someone else has beaten you to it......
I'll be back soon – but in
the meantime, please stay safe. And remember, there's not much that's safer
than researching your family tree and completing your My Ancestors page!
Peter
Calver
Founder,
LostCousins
©
Copyright 2020 Peter Calver
Please
do NOT copy or republish any part of this newsletter without permission - which
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includes the newsletter), is FREE? To link to a specific article right-click on
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