Newsletter – 21st December 2024
City of London Cemetery burials indexed at last! NEW
When did you stop believing in Santa?
Cousin marriages in the spotlight
Even more prizes in this year’s competition
How to enter, how to choose your prizes
Save over £90 at The Genealogist EXCLUSIVE OFFER
Ancestry DNA offers ENDING SOON
Last chance to save on Who Do You Think You Are? magazine
The LostCousins newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue (dated 6th December) 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!
City of London Cemetery burials indexed at last! NEW
The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium in Manor Park, east London, is one of the biggest cemeteries in the country – when they eventually put their burial registers online over 6 years ago there were nearly half a million entries.
Sadly the entries were unindexed, and remained so until someone else stepped into the breach: this week The Genealogist announced that all 492,465 burial entries have been indexed, from the opening of the cemetery in 1856 to 1998.
If you have a subscription to The Genealogist you can search the index here. The images are free online here, but the pages are so big and the typescript so small that even when you know the precise date of a modern entry it’s hard to find – which meant that searching typed entries was previously nigh on impossible.
There is a common misconception that the use of ‘Xmas’ rather than ‘Christmas’ is an attempt to ‘take Christ out of Christmas’. In reality the letter ‘X’ frequently appears in parish registers as an abbreviation for ‘Christ’ – one of the most common examples being ‘Xofer’ for ‘Christopher’.
Of course, it was not really the letter ‘X’, but the Greek character chi – however there’s no point quibbling since most people these days don’t have the benefit of a Classical education. (It’s difficult enough to convince people that ‘ye’ is actually ‘the’ written using the Old English thorn character – now only found in Icelandic.)
© Image copyright Ancestry – The London Archives. Used by kind permission of Ancestry
The image above shows one of seven marriages celebrated on Xmas Day 1862 at St George in the East.
When did you stop believing in Santa?
I’m not sure I ever really believed in Santa Claus, or Father Christmas (as he was known in our family).
I’m pretty certain I never wrote a letter to Father Christmas, and I definitely don’t recall worrying when our sole remaining fireplace was boarded up and replaced with a gas fire, blocking for ever Santa’s supposed access from the chimney. I suspect that most children in the 1950s went along with the pretence to keep their parents happy…..
It seems to be rather different in 21st century Hampshire where – according to this BBC News article – a vicar was recently forced to apologise after telling a group of schoolchildren aged 10 and 11 that Father Christmas was not real.
The Cinderella story has been retold several times – according to Wikipedia there are 69 variants around the world, the earliest of which dates back 2000 years.
For me the 1950 Walt Disney film is rather special, because it was released when my mother was carrying her first child, and the song Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo – which was nominated for an Oscar – became ‘my’ song, though it wasn’t until long after my mother’s death that my father told me why.
My wife and I watched Cinderella this week – remarkably it was the first time either of us had seen it. It prompted my wife to tell me afterwards about her childhood, and all the chores she had to do when she was still living at home. I ventured to suggest that if she was Cinderella, then I must be Prince Charming – but that broke the spell as surely as if the clock had struck midnight!
That film was based on the 1697 version of the story, published in French as Cendrillon, but Anglicized as Cinderella. The character we now know as Buttons didn’t feature until 1804, when the famous clown Joseph Grimaldi played a servant called Pedro in a theatrical production in London.
As many of you will know, I recently underwent surgery on my left eye – the third procedure since 2022. Thankfully the surgeon confirmed at the post-op assessment on Monday that the operation 2 weeks ago had been successful, and that no further surgery was necessary. I still don’t have perfect vision in my left eye (and never will unless I risk more dangerous procedures), but it’s the best it has been in a long, long time, and has given me the confidence to give the go-ahead for cataract surgery on my right eye (probably in early February – after the competition closes, but before the Zoom presentations begin).
Most cataract surgery is routine, and I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from having it, but when things didn’t go right it certainly got me thinking about how important vision is, especially to family historians who need to be able to decipher unfamiliar handwriting.
I know that some of you have been less fortunate, and if you are one of them, I hope that you took the opportunity to connect to your ‘lost cousins’ before your vision deteriorated. Collaborating with a distant cousin – even someone you may never meet – is like having an extra pair of eyes, and extra hours in the day. Grasp the opportunity while you can!
Admiral Horatio Nelson is famous for ‘turning a blind eye’: at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 he put his telescope to his blind eye so that he couldn’t see the order to discontinue the action.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the phrase was first used in 1698; Wikipedia defines it as ‘an idiom describing the ignoring of undesirable information’.
I am constantly reminded of this when readers of this newsletter say that “I didn’t know I had a LostCousins account”, or “I thought this was just a newsletter”. For them it’s an excuse for not taking part in the LostCousins project to connect experienced family historians around the world who are researching the same ancestral lines, searching the same parish registers, and faced with the same ‘brick walls’.
For their ‘lost cousins’ it’s a missed opportunity; for me it’s an indication of my failure to get the message across. The Annual Competition is my attempt to remedy that, and so far it has worked well – but there are still far too many people reading this newsletter who haven’t realised that LostCousins is about saving time, and achieving more with less effort!
If you and your cousins work independently you’re inevitably going repeat the same research – and when you hit a ‘brick wall’ that can result in years of wasted effort. It’s not just about sharing the workload: when you can talk things through with someone else who’s in the same position it really brings home what ‘two heads are better than one’ is all about.
The introduction of civil registration in England & Wales took effect on 1st July 1837. According to the UK Parliament website:
“…the Marriage Act of 1836 [..] allowed non-conformists and Catholics to be married in their own places of worship. It was also made possible for non-religious civil marriages to be held in register offices which were set up in towns and cities.”
In fact, during the first year only 1,093 marriages took place in a register office, and 2,976 in a registered place of worship – a drop in the ocean compared to the 107,201 Church of England marriages. These statistics from the First Annual Report of the Registrar General are quoted on page 54 of Tying the Knot, one of many authoritative books on the law of marriage written by Professor Rebecca Probert (who will be speaking in February to some of the lucky prize-winners in my annual competition).
Those who chose to marry in the parish church could still choose to marry by banns or by licence, but the new legislation introduced a third option – often overlooked – which was to marry in church by superintendent registrar’s certificate.
7 days’ residence was required before notice could be given, and there was then a waiting period of 21 days before the superintendent registrar’s certificate could be issued; the cost was 2 shillings (half paid when notice was given, and the remainder when the certificate was issued). Marriage by banns was quicker and usually cheaper, but some couples may have felt it was more public: whatever the reason, by 1854 2.8% of Anglican weddings were by certificate rather than banns or licence.
Many
family historians won’t have a marriage by certificate in their tree, or if even
they have, may not have noticed the difference in wording. The frequency of
such marriages varied according to the parish: for example, there are numerous
examples in the marriage register for St Mary, Whitby in North Yorkshire,
including the one below:
© Image copyright Ancestry –
North Yorkshire County Record Office. Used by kind permission of Ancestry
Of the 89 marriages celebrated at St Mary, Whitby in 1863, 38 (42.7%) were
after banns, 34 (38.2%) by licence, and 17 (19.1%) by certificate.
By contrast, at a London parish (St George in the East) where several of my relatives married earlier in the 19th century there were 121 marriages in 1863 of which 101 (83.5%) were by banns, 20 by licence (16.5%), and NONE at all by certificate.
Professor Probert has confirmed that it’s still possible to marry in your parish church by superintendent registrar’s certificate – indeed, for those subject to immigration control it is compulsory to obtain such a certificate.
If you have a marriage by certificate in your tree, see if you can figure out why your relatives might have chosen that option: for example, was the register office closer than the church?
Note: I wonder whether some couples assumed that they would need to attend church on the Sundays when their banns were read? I can imagine that might encourage some to go for the certificate option – people who chose to marry in church were not necessarily regular church-goers.
Cousin marriage in the spotlight
Earlier this month a Member of Parliament called for marriages between 1st cousins to be banned in the UK on the grounds that the risk of birth defects is higher (this BBC article has little more information).
The danger is that both parties may have inherited the same genetic defects from the grandparents they share – if so, this greatly increases the chance of their children suffering from defects or diseases even though there is no family history of such ailments. Of course, nowadays it’s possible for couples to have their DNA screened, though I suspect that in practice few choose to do so.
In October, when I last wrote about cousin marriage it was with reference to Scandinavia, where the concerns go back a long way. But what I didn’t realise was that in the 19th century Charles Darwin attempted to persuade the government to include a question relating to cousin marriages in the 1871 Census.
Of course, the two best-known facts about Charles Darwin are that he came up with the Theory of Evolution and that he married his 1st cousin. This certainly didn’t prevent them from having offspring: there were 10 children, 7 of whom survived to adulthood, and 6 of them had long-term marriages – though it may be significant that half of those marriages were childless.
According to a Guardian article from 2009 the question of whether the offspring of cousin marriages might be less healthy was highlighted in a study by Sir William Wilde, the father of the playwright Oscar Wilde. Wilde was appointed Assistant Medical Census Commissioner for the 1851 Census of Ireland, and he arranged that for each family with a deaf person a family and medical history was taken.
As
genealogists we’re particularly interested in the legal constraints to marriage
between relatives, and a recent lecture by Professor Rebecca Probert looks at
the historical background to the current legislation – you’ll find it here.
Divorced
by mistake!
An article on the Law Gazette website this week reported on a rather unusual court case. The judgment handed down in the case of The Lord Chancellor and 79 Divorced Couples was not only sensible but practical.
The case involved 79 divorce applications which were submitted one day earlier than allowed by law: they should have been rejected, but the computer system had been incorrectly programmed and allowed them through. At least 11 of the people involved had remarried before the fault came to light – and if their divorces were found to be invalid their marriages would have been bigamous.
The two judges hearing the case determined that the divorces should stand, which must have been a great relief for all those involved – including the government employees who had spotted the error in a single case and amended the software in November 2022, but failed to conduct a thorough search for other divorces that might have been affected.
There was one part of the judgment which I found particularly interesting:
‘The distinction between mandatory and directory provisions, which was much
discussed in judicial decisions over many years, has gone out of fashion and been
replaced, as Lord Steyn has said, by a different analysis, directed to ascertaining
what the legislature intended should happen if the provision in question were not
fully
observed’.
You may recall that in Professor Probert’s excellent Marriage Law for
Genealogists (see my review here)
she highlights the difference between mandatory requirements – those which
were essential to validity – and directory provisions. I wonder
what difference it would have made this new approach been adopted 250 years
ago?
Quite a few people who receive this newsletter seem to be under the impression that they’ve joined a mailing list. This is perfectly understandable – when I began my research (in the early days of Internet genealogy) mailing lists were a big thing, because it was often the only way that researchers who shared the same interests could communicate. I would ‘subscribe’ to the mailing lists that interested me, and could ‘unsubscribe’ if I no longer wanted to receive emails.
But LostCousins isn’t a newsletter, and you didn’t join a mailing list. LostCousins is a website where family historians who share some of the same ancestral lines can connect and collaborate to knock down ‘brick walls’ on the lines they share. And we all have ‘brick walls’ – absolutely nobody can trace back all of their thousands of ancestral lines to the 1500s (not even King Charles).
There IS a LostCousins newsletter – you’re reading it – but it’s incidental to the main purpose of the site, which is to make those important connections. The newsletter is sent ONLY to members – there is no separate mailing list – so whilst you can remain a member and opt out of the newsletter, you can’t receive the newsletter unless you’re a member.
Earlier this year I was forced to add an Unsubscribe link to the emails that I send out to members when a new edition of this newsletter is available online, and that has only added to the confusion.
(LostCousins members do have the option of purchasing an annual subscription in order to support the site, but many never contribute – which is fine with me, because I know that many of you have fixed incomes and budgets that are stretched so tightly that even £10 a year would be a problem.)
Ancestry have
attempted to sidestep the confusion over what a Subscription is by using
the term Membership instead – though it probably doesn’t help that if
you want to buy an Ancestry membership you have to click Subscribe in
the menu!
Earlier this year I became a Friend of the National Gallery, and my wife is a Friend of the Royal Opera House; you don’t have to be a friend to visit either institution, but it does bring some privileges as well as the nice warm feeling we get from supporting causes that we believe in.
I was wondering whether we should call LostCousins members who support the site by contributing £10 ‘Friends’? After all, nobody has to pay a subscription – I don’t believe that family historians ought to be prevented from connecting with their ‘lost cousins’ by lack of funds, which is why we use censuses which are free online.
What do you think? I’d be interested to hear from members who don’t currently contribute, as well as from those who do.
Even more prizes in this year’s competition
This year there are more prizes than ever before – and I can announce some new additions….
SPECIAL PRIZE – ANCESTRY DNA TEST (UK ONLY)
If you’ve yet to take
a DNA test, or tested with a different company – as I did back in 2012, long
before Ancestry began selling their test in the UK – this is a chance to discover
just how much difference it can make. Whether your aim is to knock down ‘brick walls’, or
simply to verify your records-based research using evidence that cannot be
falsified, you will be amazed by the results – provided, of course, you follow
the advice in my DNA
Masterclass.
Or perhaps you’ve taken the test yourself, but would like to enlist the help of one of your cousins. With DNA the real challenge is figuring out which of your matches share each of your ‘brick walls’, and comparing your matches with those of a cousin who shares a particular ‘brick wall’ helps enormously. But don’t make it a close cousin as they share too many of your ancestral lines – 3rd and 4th cousins are ideal (and they’re the cousins you’re most likely to find through LostCousins).
Note: If you live outside the UK please nominate a cousin in the UK – should you be lucky enough to win.
EXCLUSIVE ZOOM PRESENTATION
MARK BAYLEY FROM THE GENEALOGIST
In this new presentation Mark will explore a diverse set of record collections that can tell you more about your ancestors' lives – discover records that can help trace elusive ancestors and uncover hidden family histories. There will also be an opportunity to look at Map Explorer.
Mark will be speaking at 9.30am (London time) on Monday 24th February – put the date in your diary and remember to fill out your My Prizes page!
Here’s a reminder of the other prizes that you can win in this year’s competition. Please note that dates and times have now been added for all presentations other than those by wife and myself.
TOP PRIZE – 12 MONTH ‘EVERYTHING’ SUBSCRIPTION TO FINDMYPAST WORTH £199.99
With an Everything subscription the world is your oyster – you can log into any of Findmypast’s sites worldwide and access ANY of the billions of records and historical newspaper articles in their collection. Though Findmypast are best-known for their British records, thanks to their close relationships with The National Archives and the British Library, they have massive collections of Irish and Australian records, and unique access to Catholic records.
You might think, I don’t have any Irish, Australian, or Catholic ancestors – well, that’s what I used to think. But thanks to Findmypast’s Catholic baptism records (and some clues from my DNA matches at other sites) I was able to break down one of my oldest ‘brick walls’, proving that my great-great grandmother was of Irish Catholic stock, even though she married in the parish church and all of her children were baptised in the Church of England. In the process I also discovered an Australian branch that I’d previously known nothing about.
STAR PRIZE – 12 MONTH DIAMOND SUBSCRIPTION TO THE GENEALOGIST WORTH £139.95
If you’re looking for records that the other big sites have missed, mistranscribed, or ignored, The Genealogist is a great choice: they have the most complete collection of tithe records and tithe maps that you’ll find anywhere online, and many of the tithe maps are in colour, which makes them easier to interpret. Map Explorer now includes all of the England & Wales censuses from 1841-1911, as well as the 1939 Register, tithe maps, and the 1910 Land Valuation – which is exclusive to The Genealogist (the coverage is fast-expanding, but is currently focused mainly on London and the Home Counties).
Looking for someone with an unusual occupation who is proving elusive in the censuses? The keyword search at The Genealogist is one that I’ve used time and time again.
STAR PRIZE – 12 MONTH UK SUBSCRIPTION TO WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? MAGAZINE
The TV programme Who Do You Think You Are? began when LostCousins was just a few months old, and for a long time it was required viewing in our household. Nowadays I don’t see it nearly as often, but I do read Who Do You Think You Are? magazine every single month – as I have done since the very first issue!
Tip: click the banner above to discover a very special offer – for Christmas only
SPECIAL
PRIZE – CAMBRIDGESHIRE BAPTISM, MARRIAGE, AND BURIAL INDEXES
Donated by Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society, these indexes are likely to prove invaluable to anyone who has ancestors from Cambridgeshire. At some point the registers will be going online at Ancestry – possibly in 2025 or 2026 – but whenever it is, these downloads will allow you to “hit the ground running”.
EXCLUSIVE ZOOM PRESENTATIONS
PROFESSOR
REBECCA PROBERT - BIGAMY
A great supporter of LostCousins, and the closest thing to a superstar in the academic world, Professor Probert first came to my notice when she published Marriage Law for Genealogists – a book that should be on the bookshelves of every serious family historian (you can read my review here). Her next book will be on the subject of bigamy, so I’m delighted that she has agreed to give a sneak preview to LostCousins members.
There will be two presentations at different times so that nobody need be prevented from attending in person on account of their time zone: the first will be on Saturday 15th February 2025 at 10am (London time), and the second will be at 5pm the following week (Saturday 22nd February). Please put these dates in your diary in case you’re lucky enough to be invited to one or the other.
SIMON
FOWLER – VISITING THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The National Archives, love it or loathe it: at some stage in your family history research you are probably going to have to use it. Whether it is their online resources or by paying a visit. All this can be very daunting even for the expert, but in this presentation Simon Fowler will demystify the Archives. Whether you are confused by the catalogue or puzzled about parking this session will be for you. And based on his experience of being a researcher for over forty years and having worked there on and off for nearly thirty, he will provide tips and shortcuts that even the staff don’t know about!
Simon Fowler is one of Britain’s most experienced family history teachers, writers and researchers. Until recently he made his living from professional research, mainly on military topics and the records of central government. He has also written for Family Tree magazine and Who Do You Think You Are? magazine and has authored two dozen books, mainly genealogical help guides. Simon also runs courses for Pharos Tutors and is a regular lecturer at the Society of Genealogists.
Simon will be speaking at 9am on Thursday 13th February and I can already confirm that this talk will be recorded.
DJ
WISEMAN – NOVELIST
For years I’ve been hoping to interview the author DJ Wiseman, whose genealogical mystery novels are not just great stories, but great pieces of writing. At last I’ve managed to persuade him to talk to LostCousins members about his writing and his interest in family history – I’m looking forward to it just as much as you are!
The date of this session has now been fixed: it will be at 7pm (London time) on Monday 17th February – put it in your diary now!
TALKS ON DNA
I will be giving two exclusive talks on the subject of genetic genealogy: one will be for those who have yet to test, and will look at what you can and can’t find out using DNA. The second talk will be for those who have already tested, and will focus on how to make the best use of your DNA results. The dates will be announced once other speakers have made their choices.
SIAN
LLOYD – GARDENING HOUR
As most of you will know my wife writes occasional gardening article for this newsletter. Last year she fielded questions from members round the world, but this year she’s going for a rather different format which she’s yet to reveal to me.
Suffice it to say that every time I look out of the window I’m reminded of her love of flowers and trees. The date of the session hasn’t been fixed because we’ve agreed to let other presenters have first pick of the available dates.
PRIZES DONATED BY AUTHORS
This year there’s something for everyone:
GSI
Superstition Mountains (donated by Nathan Dylan Goodwin) provides a chance for
you to solve three murders using the latest techniques in investigative
genetic genealogy. You’ll be able to work through the case at your own speed
with expert video guidance from Diahan Southard, a DNA guru with 20 years
experience, and Nathan Dylan Goodwin, author of the Venator series of genetic
genealogy mysteries (as well as the incredibly popular Morton Farrier series of
genealogy mystery novels). You can find out more about this intriguing
opportunity here.
The latest book in the Venator Cold Case series is out now – please use these links if you’d like to find out more:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
The
Mourning Brooch is
a trilogy of historical novels by the author Jean Renwick, inspired by a
mourning brooch inherited from her godmother. The first book in the series was
recently the subject of discussion by the Society of Genealogists Book Club,
and it has received high praise from reviewers since its release in 2021. The
author has kindly agreed to donate a signed copy of Book One to the
lucky prize-winner.
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
Blood-Tied was the first book
in the Esme Quentin series of genealogy mysteries from Wendy Percival and if,
like me, you have problems with your sight (or simply want to give your eyes a
rest) you’ll be glad to know that it is now available as an audio book. Many years
ago I used to buy audio books on cassette, but I gather it’s a little more
sophisticated these days. Wendy has generously donated two certificates, each
of which entitles the holder to a free audiobook version from Audiobooks.com
If you’ve yet to discover the Esme Quentin series, they’re also available as paperbacks and as Kindle books: please follow the relevant link below:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
How to enter, how to choose your prizes
It’s easy to enter, and you can enter as often as you like – every direct ancestor or blood relative you enter on your My Ancestors page before 31st January 2025 counts as an entry (relatives from the 1881 Census count double). You can see how many entries you’ve already made by looking for the red number on your My Summary page. Winners will be chosen at random in the days after the competition closes, and the more times you enter the more prizes you’re likely to win – but you could win the top prize with a single entry if you’re really, really lucky.
This year we’re once again using the My Prizes page to allow you to tell me which prizes you’d most like to win – it’s been updated with xtra prizes and extra dates, so take another look now!
As usual you give each prize that interests you a rating, which can be anything from 1 (not very interested) to 10 (very interested indeed). There’s no need to do anything for prizes that don’t interest you in the slightest, but don’t make the mistake someone did last year of giving their most coveted prize just one point! You can give the same number of points to more than one prize – it’s entirely up to you – but if you don’t enter a score at all you won’t be considered for that prize, no matter how many entries you’ve made.
Should there be a Zoom presentation which interests you, but is at a inconvenient time, or on a day when you know that you have other commitments, please note that most of the Zoom presentations will be recorded, and if the speaker gives permission a link to the recording will be circulated to all those who were invited, whether or not they were unable to attend. Links are usually sent out a few days afterwards, to allow for the recording to be reviewed and edited if necessary.
If you are invited to a Zoom presentation you will have the opportunity to submit a (short) question in advance using the Comments field. This often enables the presenter to adapt their presentation to cover the point raised, and it always increases the chances that your question will be answered, one way or another!
Save over £90 at TheGenealogist EXCLUSIVE
For a limited time you can secure a lifetime discount on the Diamond Subscription – just £99.95 a year when you click here! Not only will you enjoy all the premium features of TheGenealogist’s Diamond level, you’ll also receive an exclusive ticket to The Family History Show Online, a 12-month subscription to Discover Your Ancestors’ online magazine, plus two informative eBooks: Discover Your Ancestors' Occupations by Laura Berry and Researching and Locating Your Ancestors by Celia Heritage. Altogether, that’s a saving of over £90 in your first year alone! Don’t miss this chance to lock in your discount and enhance your family history research.
Note: I was interested to see that in the latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine The Genealogist came out top in their review of census sites.
Ancestry DNA ENDING SOON
In Australia you can get the Ancestry DNA test for just $85 (plus shipping and taxes if applicable) until Friday 27th December – and if you follow the link you may also be offered the chance of a 3-month World Heritage membership for just $1 more. The same offers apply to researchers in New Zealand, but please remember that the prices are in Aussie dollars.
AU December Gifting - Save up to $59* on AncestryDNA® this Christmas. Terms Apply.
The offer in the UK also ends on Friday but is not quite as generous, though it’s still a £20 saving compared to full price, and there’s also chance you may be offered a 3-month World membership for £1:
Save £25 on AncestryDNA® this Christmas. Terms Apply.
Last chance to save on Who Do You Think You Are? magazine
If you’ve been tempted by the offer of 6 issues of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine for a measly £9.99 (UK only), but haven’t acted, don’t delay – due to rising costs this offer ends, probably for ever, this month. I don’t know how much the increase will be, but it will certainly be pounds rather than pence – so time to make a decision, perhaps? Follow this link to take up the offer before it’s too late!
Tip: if you’re lucky enough to win the free subscription that’s on offer in my competition it will commence when your existing subscription ends – so you could end up with 18 issues for £9.99!
As 2024 comes to a close my wife has jotted down her thoughts….
December
at Alsa Wood is the only time of year when the deep orange glow of the sunset
burns through the denuded branches of the oak, hornbeam and birch trees. It is
a beautiful sight from a window with a warming radiator underneath – and a
reminder that the garden is still responding to whatever sunlight there is,
even if this means hibernation for many of the plants.
But once Christmas is over, what can a keen gardener do in the middle of winter, possibly with colder weather to come? There are plenty of answers – and not all of them need to be outdoor chores likely to worsen arthritic joints or turn our extremities blue.
On milder days, it can be wonderfully restorative to wrap up well and spend just an hour or so in the garden once the daytime temperature has risen. My garden is too sprawling to “put it to bed” for the winter in six weeks flat, so I am always catching up on the pruning and tidying up. I concentrate first on any remaining tall or overgrown plants which might get damaged or root-rocked by strong winds. Apple and (less frequently) pear trees can still be pruned while dormant. But leave the stone-fruit trees alone; these should only be pruned when there is no risk of frost.
Even in midwinter it’s fine to prune most dormant shrubs and trees – but leave the evergreens alone until after they have flowered, and try to prune minimally. Similarly, leave winter flowering shrubs alone until after they have bloomed. Hydrangeas can sometimes be tricky to identify for their correct pruning regime. One solution is to cut back a third of the canes each winter; this will ensure that the untouched canes will still flower in late summer, while keeping the overall size and shape under control over a three-year cycle.
Bird baths and feeders need to be kept clean, topped up, and protected from rodents. Fish in ponds need a hole in the ice (my father would float a tennis ball to remove from the ice). In freezing weather, the roots of evergreen plants need water that they can still take up.
If the ground is neither too hard nor too squidgy, winter can be a good time to get a fork under the deep roots of brambles, or to pull out an invasion of saplings or weeds. Take care to stretch and warm your body and limbs up first; an hour of uprooting or digging will keep you warm and work off some of the Christmas calories. Then mulch and wait until the ground is warmer and not waterlogged before planting something more desirable to fill the gaps.
In the kitchen garden, I always plant autumn garlic and onions, chard, sprouting broccoli and black kale to overwinter in well-prepared raised beds; I am late with planting the garlic this year, but a few weeks won’t make much difference when sunlight is so sparse. By spring, the roots will have settled and growth will be rapid. The harvest of onions and garlic in late June will create space for summer crops. I have also learned that the winter greens like kale can last for several seasons with a little care. And even the white bulbs of scallions, plunged in a pot of old compost, will happily re-root and regrow their long leaves three or four times over even without frost protection. Aquadulce broad beans are ideal for winter sowing (if not decimated by hungry slugs). Check out the seed supplier monthly lists of what to sow, and when.
Indoors, I love using the Christmas fortnight to browse big books filled with dreamy illustrations of gardening perfection in midsummer. This is the time when I imagine ways of introducing some of this magic into my own garden. I make a little sketch of what I have in mind, (nothing fancy) with a few notes and plant names. These sketches are the first steps of converting dreams into reality, even if the eventual planting is a little different!
When feeling more organised, I will review my list of “what worked well” (and what didn’t) in the kitchen garden. Then I inspect the date stamps on unused packets of veg seeds (most should still germinate a year or so after the latest recommended sowing date). Anything very old, or which did not perform well enough in terms of yield or flavour, will be excluded from the next year’s planting. Kitchen gardening is very labour intensive, so the crops must earn the right to be there! Spare veg seeds might be given to other enthusiasts; with more skill or better growing conditions, they might yet enjoy bumper crops where I have failed.
Having roughly mapped out what to grow where (mindful that crop rotation minimises disease), I will then seek to fill gaps with something better or a little different to try. And then comes the excitement of placing orders for new seeds while there are more bargains to be had, and before the best seeds sell out. Although the major companies are currently promoting Christmas-related bargains, they already have enough “edible” veg and herb seed offers to ensure that you hit the ground running!
Even an hour spent outside on a relatively mild day in winter can boost your endorphins, boost fitness, get you into the fresh air, get something done, and help to ground your emotions while navigating the rollercoaster weeks of Christmas and January. And even if you are fortunate enough to be currently enjoying the season of goodwill in the height of a Southern Hemisphere summer… the seasons will nevertheless change, and you now have some extra ideas to take forward into your own winter gardens.
Finally some links that you might find useful:
*Vegetable seeds from Sarah Raven (some are half-price)
*Soft-fruit (bare root) on sale at Crocus
*Gardening Express Special Offers (great selection of winter garden & evergreen staples)
Primrose Allotment & Gardening Sale (raised bed, irrigation and propagation supplies)
* you can support LostCousins by using these links
With best wishes for a Happy festive season, and a whole year ahead of enjoyable gardening!
The missing link for the offer from TheGenealogist has now been added to the article but you can also follow this link
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all LostCousins members a Happy Christmas and offer my Best Wishes for 2025. We’re planning a quiet Christmas, but it’ll be all the more enjoyable for that – and we’ll be helped by the bottle of champagne we bought with the gift that Linda in New Zealand generously added when she paid her subscription by PayPal. Cheers, Linda!
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2024 Peter Calver
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