Elsie Lilian Timms

Elsie was born in the northern hemisphere summer of 1907. She was the second child and second daughter in her family. At the time of her birth her father was employed as a coachman at Cranford House on Kenilworth Road near Blackdown and Old Milverton, Warwickshire. They lived above the stables in a small coach house.

In the summer of 1926, she celebrated her nineteenth birthday. She is the second youngest in this list of ancestors alive in 1926, and in fifty-nine years’ time she would become my daughter’s great grandmother.

Five years earlier at the 1921 census, Elsie was still in school aged almost fourteen. But by now she will have been working to help her father, a taxi driver, support the family. Working in service was mentioned but no further details as talking about her childhood was not really a place she wanted to spend time in her later years.

The year 1926 though, will have been filled with mixed emotions for the whole family. Elsie was living with her father and siblings at 6 Stamford Place, Milverton. On 14 August 1926 her elder sister was married, there would have been a lot of excitement, fun and planning in the lead up to the big day. But it would also be tinged with nerves, anxiety, and sadness – with a bit of excitement. Elsie’s sister and her new husband were bound for New Zealand where he had been offered a position in Greymouth, on the West Coast.

Laura and Ernie sailed from Southampton on 10 September 1926. Did Elsie and her other siblings travel to farewell them as they sailed? Or perhaps there were earlier tearful goodbyes as they left Milverton to travel to Southampton.

The days and weeks after their departure would have seen Elsie impatiently waiting for mail to arrive with news of their voyage and of their new home.

Mavis Harriett Myrtle Denniss

Mavis was born in mid 1908 in Wollongong, New South Wales. She was the fourth child and fourth daughter in her family, although her eldest sister had lived only a few months.

In May 1926 she turned eighteen. She is the youngest ancestor in this list of ancestors alive in 1926. She would, in fifty-nine years’ time become my daughter’s great grandmother.

The year will have been filled with exciting events for her; there was a wedding to plan and baby to look forward to.

It has been said that she worked as a schoolteacher in Wongawilli, but I haven’t been able to confirm this. Wongawilli was a small settlement with a colliery which had opened in 1916 at the foot of the Illawarra escarpment. It is now considered a rural suburb of Wollongong.

She married Robert Hogg on 14 August 1926. The first electoral roll she appears on is from 1930, where she is recorded as living in Five Islands Road, Unanderra in the Commonwealth electorate of Werriwa and State electorate of Illawarra. Her occupation at that time was Home Duties.

Even if there was an electoral roll available for 1926, Mavis at eighteen would not have been eligible to vote.

What was happening in your family 100 years ago?

I happened across this thought reading a post/article in Substack. Substack is a platform where I have been lurking but have not completely grasped yet. I want to be there; I just can’t work it out. LOL.

A fellow genealogist wrote examining the direct ancestors of her children. Where were they one hundred years ago, in 1926? What was happening in their lives? For her children there were 31 ancestors alive in 1926, some yet to meet and become life partners, others still to emigrate to what would become their new home.

There is a challenge, I thought.

Turns out, my daughter has just 24 direct ancestors who were alive in 1926. I suspect the original poster, and her children are likely older than me and my daughter.

None of my daughter’s grandparents feature in the list. Three of them though would be born by the end of that third decade in the 20^th century, actually all three in an eleven-month space of time. Her fourth grandparent would not be born until near the end of the following decade.

Her living ancestors ranged in age from eighteen to eighty-four and lived in three different countries.

I have pondered how to present them; oldest to youngest, youngest to oldest, location based, generationally, as couples…but have decided on youngest to oldest (I think).

And starting today, if I can keep up, by the end of September you may have met them all.