Newsletter – 30th
June 2022
Party like it’s 1921 – half-price access to
the census 24 HOURS ONLY
Sussex parish registers online at Ancestry
Half-price Ancestry.com
subscription offer ENDS TUESDAY
Do you belong to Essex Society for Family History?
Do you have ancestors from the Caithness area?
Photos of London and Londoners from the 1950s
Unusual crafts provide inspiration
Last day of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine
offer ENDS TODAY
Must organ donors remain anonymous?
Masterclass: Before you ask for help….
The LostCousins
newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue
(dated 18th June) click here; to find earlier articles use the customised Google search between
this paragraph and the next (it searches ALL of the newsletters since February
2009, so you don't need to keep copies):
To go to the main
LostCousins website click the logo at the top of this newsletter. If you're not
already a member, do join - it's FREE, and you'll get an email to alert you
whenever there's a new edition of this newsletter available!
Party like it’s 1921 – half-price access to
the census 24 HOURS ONLY
I
grew up in the Swinging Sixties, but most of the books I read then were set in
the Roaring Twenties: for 24 hours you too can go back to the 1920s with half-price
access to the 1921 England & Wales census!
Not
only can you find out where your relatives were living and what they did for a
living, you can find out who their employers were and precisely where they
worked – information that you’re very unlikely to find on previous censuses (nor
is it usually given in the 1939 Register). The articles in my 6th
January and 10th
January newsletters tell you all you really need to know about this important
resource.
The
offer runs from noon (London time) today, Thursday 30th
June, until noon tomorrow, Friday 1st July. As ever, searching at
Findmypast is free: you only need to pay to view transcripts or images, and
since all the information in the transcripts is available from the images I
recommend you focus on the latter – especially since corrections and other
alterations to the census schedule often provide insights that you can’t
possibly get from a transcript.
Please
use the relevant link below so that you can support LostCousins:
HALF-PRICE
1921 at Findmypast.co.uk
HALF-PRICE
1921 at Findmypast.com
HALF-PRICE
1921 at Findmypast.com.au
HALF-PRICE
1921 at Findmypast.ie
Tip:
if you really want to get in the mood, learn to dance the Charleston in under two
minutes with this YouTube video.
Sussex parish registers online at Ancestry
Last
month Ancestry added more than 11 million birth, marriage and burial records
from Sussex. The county is now split into two for administrative purposes, and
the records are split between the two halves of the county:
East
Sussex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
East
Sussex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920
East
Sussex, England, Church of England Confirmations, 1813-1927
East
Sussex, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936
East
Sussex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1995
West
Sussex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
West
Sussex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920
West
Sussex, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936
West
Sussex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1995
Although
these records are described as exclusively available at Ancestry, in the past
it has been possible to view some Sussex parish registers at FamilySearch, and this
week I was still able to view the baptism register entry for Frederick James Lemon at
St Nicholas, Brighton in 1869. However the quality of the Ancestry image was
vastly better because it had been scanned in colour; it was also much easier to
find – FamilySearch took me to image 1 of 701, whereas the entry I was looking
for was on image 697.
Note:
Frederick James Lemmon was my 1st cousin twice removed – he married his 1st
cousin Alice Calver (my great aunt) in 1895. It’s one of the few marriages between
cousins in my tree – there are, however, many examples of two brothers marrying
two sisters.
Half-price Ancestry.com subscription offer ENDS TUESDAY
From
3pm Pacific time (11pm London time) today, 6 month subscriptions will be discounted
by 50% at Ancestry’s US site, Ancestry.com – the offer ends at 7pm Pacific time
on Tuesday 5th July. Please use the link below – which will become
live only when the offer starts (the start had been delayed when I last checked):
Ancestry.com – SAVE 50%
on 6 month Ancestry Memberships ENDS TUESDAY
This
offer is not, to the best of my knowledge, restricted to US residents – but it won’t
be open to you if you have an existing Ancestry subscription, even at a different
site. If you live outside the US make sure you know what the exchange rate is
before you make your purchase (I generally look-up exchange rates here). Also watch out for taxes, which will be
added to the total (these will depend on where you live). You might find that
your local site is cheaper, even at regular prices.
Tip:
if you purchase a World Explorer membership, which includes all of Ancestry’s
records, you should be able to use it at any of Ancestry’s worldwide sites.
Have you ever
wondered why some family historians don’t respond to emails or messages? I’m
not talking specifically about LostCousins members, since most people who join
do so in the hope of making connections, but even amongst LostCousins members
there are some who suffer from social anxiety. One of them bravely contacted me,
and agreed to write about how it affects them, in the hope that other
researchers will be more understanding:
Finding ‘lost cousins’
– what a marvellous idea. And what a great job Peter has done in setting up a
website that allows people to do just that.
Except for me,
there’s a problem. I suffer from social anxiety, a disorder which impacts
greatly on my ability to communicate directly with people who I don’t know. The
thought of contacting total strangers, even if they are ‘lost cousins’ – or
indeed of being contacted by them – fills me with dread.
So why join LostCousins
in the first place, you may ask, if I can’t fulfil one of its basic aims,
namely that of expanding my own family tree and helping others to expand theirs
by locating missing ancestors?
My answer is simple.
Researching my family history is a perfect pastime for me in this age of the Internet
that we live in. So much is now available online and I have managed to amass an
amazing amount of information, in some cases tracing my ancestors back several
hundred years. I am comfortable with, and very much enjoy, this kind of solo
research, even though not communicating with others means that I may not be
getting the full picture. Also, the information in the newsletters, plus the
useful Masterclasses, outweigh for me the disadvantage of occasionally being
reprimanded by Peter in his newsletters for not completing my own ‘My Ancestors’
page!
I am grateful to
Peter, though, for giving me the opportunity to try and fight my own particular
demons by writing this piece. I’m aware that social anxiety can be a difficult
condition for non-sufferers to understand and, like so many other mental health
issues, it comes with many nuances. However, I hope that highlighting it in
this way will also encourage any others out there with similar afflictions to
know there are many ways we can connect to our past – and enjoy ourselves in
the process. Ultimately we’re all pursuing the same goal, it’s just that some
of us have a slightly less conventional method of achieving it.
I know that there
will be many people reading this newsletter who also suffer from social anxiety
– but perhaps one of you has come up with a way of overcoming your anxiety when
it comes to communicating with fellow family historians (whether they are your cousins
or not)? If so I’d encourage you to write to me, in the hope that your method
of coping might work for some of the others.
Do you belong to Essex Society for Family History?
At
2.30pm (London time) on Saturday 2nd July I’ll be speaking via Zoom to
members of the Essex Society for Family History (ESFH) – so it’s particularly appropriate that in
June there have been two articles in this newsletter about my Essex ancestors.
A complete coincidence, perhaps, but a very convenient one.
If
you’re a member of ESFH I hope you’ll be able to make it – and if you have
Essex ancestors, but have yet to join the society, there’s just time to do so
(follow this link – wherever
you live it’s only £8 a year if you don’t require paper copies of the magazine).
Talking of Essex, I
was contacted this week by a LostCousins member who revealed that her mother
used to be a midwife at Ilford Maternity Hospital, where I was born in 1950 (a
fact I had mentioned in a previous newsletter). She wasn’t working there at the
time of my birth, but she was in 1953 when my sister was born – so might well
have met my mother, and may even have assisted with the delivery.
The
following year I was confined to bed in a different hospital, Oldchurch
Hospital in Romford – I spent 6 weeks there after breaking my leg. Towards the end
of my stay this photograph was taken – I’m the one standing behind the chair and
looking anywhere but at the camera.
There
are four other children in the photo – most of them older than me, and all of
them more photogenic – plus a smiling nurse. I wonder if anyone reading this
newsletter might recognise one of them? It would have been October or November
1954, which is a long time ago – almost a lifetime, in fact.
These
days neither Ilford nor Romford is considered to be in Essex – they’re both in
east London. And I don’t suppose that professional photographers are allowed into
hospitals any more – except, perhaps, when Royalty or other dignitaries are
visiting.
According
to the stamp on the back this particular photo was taken by H Collins of 126
Park Lane, Hornchurch who claimed to offer “Quick Service” and “Reasonable Prices”.
Looking up the address reveals that it’s now a private house – and may well
have been back then.
There
must be other copies of this photo in existence – perhaps even in one of your
photo albums. After all, what parent could refuse to buy a photo of their sick
child? I couldn’t find out how much a photo like this would have cost in the
1950s, but I did come across a site
that gave prices for other periods (and has links to lots of other sites,
including the one featured in the next article).
Note:
if you have a favourite photo site please post details on the LostCousins Forum
– although I’ve selected a couple of sites to inspire you, the forum is a much
better channel for sharing location-based resources. If you’ve qualified to
join the forum you’ll find a link and a coupon code on your My Summary page ad
the LostCousins site – and if you haven’t qualified yet, that’s probably
because you haven’t completed your My Ancestors page.
Do you have ancestors from the Caithness area?
The
Johnston Collection includes
the work of three generations of Caithness photographers who captured images of
life in and around the area between 1863 and 1975. During that period they
produced around 100,000 glass plate negatives of which around 50,000 survive
and are held in trust by the Wick Society. Over 41,000 of the photos are online,
and you can buy high quality reproductions at reasonable prices.
Photos of London and Londoners from the 1950s
The
Rook Collection has some wonderful photos from 1950s London – I particularly
liked this one.
Unusual crafts provide inspiration
Yesterday
evening my wife and I watched the final of The Great British Sewing Bee –
a series which always reminds me of my mother, who lived and died in an era when
making one’s own clothes was not only normal but expected (I’m not sure that Mum
ever bought a dress for herself in a shop).
Coincidentally
– or perhaps not – the Guardian this week published an article
about men and women who are helping to keep alive crafts that are so rare that
in some cases there are only a handful of practitioners remaining. Or only one,
if you’re the UK’s remaining glass eye maker – though even in 1911 there were
just 6 recorded in England & Wales, all in the Birmingham area, and 3 in
the same family.
Although there are now
more people researching their family tree than ever before, thanks to
programmes like Who Do You Think You Are? and innovations like consumer
DNA testing, the vast majority have never set foot inside a records office, or
handled a centuries-old document. And there are bad influences at work too –
popular TV series like Cash in the Attic encourage people to sell their
family heirlooms for 30 pieces of silver (or the modern equivalent, a conservatory
or a cruise).
What
can we do to make sure that our own heirlooms remain in the family, and
continue to be appreciated for what they represent? One simple thing that we
can all do is photograph our prized possessions, and write about where they
came from, and what they mean to us. For example, this battered magnifying
glass may have lost its handle and most of its silver-plated finish, but it was
passed to me by my father, who told me that it used to belong to his father.
Last day of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine offer
ENDS 30TH JUNE
This
is the very last day that you’ll be able to take advantage of fantastic savings
on Who Do You Think You Are? magazine – so please don’t delay if you
want to get 6 issues for a miserly £9.99 (in the UK) or save between 49% and
64% in the rest of the world. Follow this link
- NOW!
The
High Court in London has determined that a widower may try for a baby with a
surrogate, using the last remaining IVF embryo he created with his late wife, who
died during pregnancy. The regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Authority had rejected his request – and may yet appeal against the
judgement. You can read more about the circumstances in this BBC article.
In
earlier centuries it was, sadly, far from unusual for a woman to give birth
after the death of her husband – I came across an example only this week – but
our ancestors would have been astounded to learn that a dead woman could be the
mother of a child. There are a lot of things that future generations of
genealogists will have to take into account!
Must organ donors remain anonymous?
Like
it or not, low-cost DNA testing has effectively removed the anonymity that
sperm donors were promised (and, in some cases, exposed frauds where doctors
used their own sperm).
Whilst
it’s far less practical to identify organ donors and recipients using DNA,
there are many who feel that contact between recipients and the families of
donors can be helpful, and should be allowed if both wish it: see, for example,
this article.
Note:
while there is a chance that donor DNA may show up when a recipient takes a DNA
test, it’s not something that most genealogists need to worry about right now.
Masterclass: Before you ask for help….
As experienced family
historians we’re used to knocking down ‘brick walls’, but sometimes we need the
help of an expert. In this Masterclass – written by Dr Janet Few, author and
genealogist – you’ll learn to prepare for your encounter with an expert, so
that you make the best possible use of their valuable time. I’d added a few
notes and tips of my own, shown in italics.
I belong to many family
history forums and most days I receive several emails with family/local history
enquiries. I am afraid this isn’t an invitation for you to send me your queries
– I am already at capacity! Nor is it meant to be a complaint about those who
do ask questions. There are no silly questions and we should all be trying to
increase our knowledge. This is meant to help people to frame those questions
in a way that is more likely to get a satisfactory response.
It is highly likely that
you can answer many questions yourself and if you can’t, there are steps you
can take before you ask your question. Often I am asked “Where
can I find such and such a record?” or “Are there any records for …..?” type
questions. Sometimes I know the answer straight away. If I don’t, I type the
question into my search engine of choice and – guess what – there, in a matter
of moments is the answer. The questioner could have done the same.
Tip: the Research
Guides on the website of the National Archives cover a great number of
topics and sources; local record offices often have excellent guides on their
own websites.
Show me a family historian
and I will show you someone who has a ‘brick wall’ ancestor, those folk who
appear to have been beamed down from outer space, or who disappear without
trace. I often offer to help with a bit of demolition. Frequently, the enquirer
hasn’t exhausted all the possibilities themselves, or there is a more
productive way that they could set out their question. By reassessing the
problem, they might be able to move that brick wall back a generation without
any suggestions from me.
So, before you ask someone for help with your ‘brick wall’ (whether
you’re engaging a professional genealogist, asking an expert at a family history
event, or simply posting on a forum) here are some simple steps to follow:
1.
Decide exactly what the problem (the research question) is. Just
pick one specific thing, not ‘more about John Brown’. For example, ‘I want to
find John Brown’s parents’ names’, or ‘I want to know where and when John Brown
died’, or ‘I want to find John Brown in the 1881 census.’
2.
Next, reassess everything that you already know about John Brown.
There may be a clue in some aspect of the documentation that you already have.
Create a timeline of John Brown’s life using all this information. Include the
sources for that information, as some sources will be more reliable than
others. Please note that ‘Ancestry’ is not a source, although ‘family tree
compiled by x on Ancestry’ can be. Ancestry (or FindmyPast or Family
Search etc.) may be the way that you accessed the source but the
source will be an original document, a transcription or an index.
3.
See if you can fill in any gaps. Do you have John Brown’s birth
AND his baptism, do you have him recorded in every census? Have you looked
recently to see if there is new information available online that was not there
when you last searched for John Brown?
4.
Make a note of any possible further research that might be helpful
but which you cannot do at the moment, perhaps because the records are not
online, or you can’t visit that repository, or afford to buy copies.
5.
Make a list of where you have already looked and what you have
searched for.
6.
Finally, make sure you include a place and a time frame. Those who
post on international genealogy forums seems to be particularly poor at this.
There seems to be an assumption that, if no place is mentioned, it must be the
US. There are genealogists elsewhere! Please avoid using abbreviations; these
might be meaningful to you but ambiguous to others. Is WA Washington state or
Western Australia?
To give you an idea of
what I mean, I have given an example below. This is a genuine example, apart
from the ‘searches completed so far section’.
When and only when, you
have reached the end of step 6, share your problem. Family historians love a
good mystery and a fresh pair of eyes can often help. If they can’t, then at least
it might be comforting to know that you have done all the right things.
An Example
Brick wall ancestor – Mary Cardell 2 x great
grandmother
Research Question
I would like to find the
full names of Mary’s parents.
Summary
Mary Woolgar née Cardell
is my 2x great grandmother. On her marriage certificate and the birth
certificates/registrations for her four children, her surname is consistently
spelt CARDELL. The marriage certificate suggests that she signed her own name.
Earlier generations may not have been literate, so the name might be rendered
differently and my searches have included all phonetically likely variants of
the name, of which there are many! It is even possible that it is a corruption
of McArdle.
The evidence suggests that
Mary, or at least whoever provided the information to the census
enumerators, was convinced that she was born in Highgate, Middlesex. Ignoring
the 1841 census evidence, when ages were rounded down in any case, the
suggested dates of birth from the other sources are consistent. If all ages are
correct, then Mary was born on 4 or 5 April 1817. It seems fairly certain that
she was born between 1816 and 1818.
Other clues are provided
by her marriage certificate to Philip Woolgar, which I obtained from the
General Registrar. As it was a handwritten copy, I also consulted an image of
the original parish marriage register, to ensure there were no copying errors
at any stage between the church and the certificate that I received. The
information was the same and assuming it is accurate, Mary’s father was James
Cardell, a gardener. There is no indication that either of the fathers were
deceased at the time of the marriage. Searching surrounding entries, suggests
that whoever filled in the register did not make a habit of noting if the
fathers were deceased, so we cannot be sure James was still alive. The witnesses
were William Groves and Catharine Cardell who has been shown to be Mary’s
sister.
Timeline (working backwards)
Sources are in red, possible further research is in blue. I have
omitted the full document references here to simplify matters.
- 18 January 1892 buried
Islington. Deceased Online. I need to check the original
burial registers and possibly locate a gravestone, if one survives. It seems odd that she was
buried the other side of the river, albeit only seven miles away.
Islington is however nearer to Highgate.
- 13 January 1892 died 153 Railton
Road, Lambeth (the home of her daughter Caroline) death certificate age 74 – born 14 January
1817 to 13 January 1818
- 1891 census age 74 born Highgate,
Middlesex – born 6 April 1816 to 5 April 1817
- 1881 census age 63 born Middlesex – born
4 April 1817 to 3 April 1818
- 1871 census age 53 born Highgate,
Middlesex – born 3 April 1817 to 2 April 1818
- 1861 census living Rosendale Road,
Lambeth age 44 born Highgate, Middlesex – born 8 April 1816 to 7 April
1817
- 7 Sept 1855 son Philip
James born Figs Marsh, Mitcham son’s birth certificate
- 1851 census not located
- 5 Mar 1848 daughter Fanny
Amelia baptised Highgate, ‘of Highgate’ baptism register
- 5 Feb 1848 daughter Fanny
Amelia born, the exact address is unclear but appears to read ‘Cookers
Haven’, Finchley daughter’s birth
certificate
- 1 Feb 1846 daughter Mary Ann
baptised Highgate, ‘of Highgate’ baptism register
- D Q 1845 daughter Mary Ann
born registered Barnet RD (as Wodgar) born Finchley GRO indexes, census returns
for daughter. I could
purchase this birth certificate.
- 27 Nov 1842 d Caroline
baptised in Highgate, ‘of Highgate’ baptism register
- J Q 1842 daughter Caroline
born registered St Luke’s district (Caroline’s census entries say born St.
Lukes (1861/1871/1901) Clerkenwell (1881 NB husband b Clerkenwell) London
(1911)) GRO indexes I could purchase this birth
certificate.
- 1841 census living Turnpike road,
Finchley age 25 born Middlesex – born 7 June 1811 to 6 June 1816
- 1 May 1841 marriage certificate ‘of full age’ – born
before May 1820. Father, James Cardell, gardener. I have also checked the parish register entry for the marriage and
the details are identical to the marriage register.
Searches completed so far (not a genuine
example)
I have searched the
indexes at Ancestry, FamilySearch and Findmypast for James Cardell (and
variants) between 1750-1805 in London and Middlesex.
If you want to know more
about my actual long and inconclusive search for Mary’s parents, there have
been several posts about it on my blog, including the sorry tale of how I
nearly adopted a very exciting (but sadly wrong) set of ancestors for Mary. Of
course, if you can find Mary’s parents for me, even better!
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
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......
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2022 Peter Calver
Please do NOT copy or republish any part of this newsletter without permission - which is only granted in the most exceptional circumstances. However, you MAY link to this newsletter or any article in it without asking for permission - though why not invite other family historians to join LostCousins instead, since standard membership (which includes the newsletter), is FREE?
Many of
the links in this newsletter and elsewhere on the website are affiliate links –
if you make a purchase after clicking a link you may be supporting LostCousins
(though this depends on your choice of browser, the settings in your browser,
and any browser extensions that are installed). Thanks for your support!