Week 1 (Jan. 1-7): Family Lore

Lore: /lɔː/

noun

a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.

"the jinns of Arabian lore"

Family folklore is the study and use of folklore and traditional culture transmitted within an individual family group. This includes craft goods produced by family members or memorabilia that have been saved as reminders of family events. It includes family photos, photo albums, along with bundles of other pages held for posterity such as certificates, letters, journals, notes, and shopping lists. Family sayings and stories which recount true events are retold as a means of maintaining a common family identity. Family customs are performed, modified, sometimes forgotten, created or resurrected with great frequency. Each time the result is to define and solidify the perception of the family as unique.

The study of family folklore is distinct from genealogy or family history. Instead of focusing on historical dates, locations and verifiable events, this area of study looks at the unique stories, customs, and handicrafts that define the family as a distinct social group.

With thanks to the Oxford Dictionary and Wikipedia for helping to define but not really clarifying the topic for me. The prompt for this week is:

Many of us have heard stories from our grandparents about incredible feats our ancestors did or a famous person we're related to. What's a tale that has been passed down in your family? Did it end up being true or did it turn out to just be a good story? 

So, there have been a few stories passed down, and as in many families some are true, some are fabricated and some are based on a truth but have been embellished over time – although not quite tall tales.

• “Davys is a Welsh name.”
• “Somebody changed their name after the Monmouth rebellion.”
• “One of great grandad’s brothers was the first soft drink manufacturer in Wellington, another brother founded Cooper’s Seeds.”
• “Great great grandfather Laney was the first baker in Nelson.”
• “My mother’s people came from the Black Country.”
• “Timms are ten a penny.”
• “Rosina Buckman the opera singer is a cousin.”
• Great grandma died when the children were young and he needed to find a wet nurse.”
• “My grandad’s mother left and took 2 children to Australia. He always said he was about nine years old. Many years later a man came to visit and said he was a nephew.”
• “Grandad built the Post Office in Levin.”
• “A cousin of Granny Davys was the founder of the company which became AVON.”
• “Five times great grandfather was the Lord of the Manor.”
• Great great grandfather spent time in Ireland carrying out the ordinance survey.”
• “Great uncle Walter was a gold miner in Western Australia.”
• “Grandad’s 2^nd cousin founded the YMCA.”
• “One day, we had been to Ninety Mile Beach and I was in the car – a Ford Beauty – with Grandma and Grandad when we realised my Mum and Dad were not behind us. We had to go back, and they were stuck in the sand.”
• “Grandma had a pet magpie which was a bit vicious and sometimes you would get stuck at the outhouse and have to use the wooden lid as a shield to return to the house.”
• “One night when we were staying at Grandma’s the bed that Mum and my sister were sleeping in collapsed and they landed on the floor.”
• “We played in wide open fields unsupervised, although there was a fenced off area we called “the Keep Out” (because there was a sign). It was in this expanse that we found tiny black rabbit near the railway embankment and took him home to keep.”
• “The bus couldn’t go down the hill so we would get dropped at the top and then throw our school bags ahead of us and slide to the bottom on cabbage tree leaves. Our mothers used to wonder at the state of our clothes.”

Have you heard any of these ones before? Do you want to know more? Do you know any others?

I am sure there are many more.

R - Richard

Richard Gibson was born in Corraderran in the parish of Killeshandra, Cavan in Ireland in about February 1841. He appears with his family on a surviving piece of the Irish census taken on the night of 6 June 1841. It was a great census, with so much more information collected than the English census which was taken that same night.

He was the 12^th and youngest child in his family. By the time of his birth four of his elder siblings had died. George aged 16 in 1839, Margaret age 13 in 1838, William aged 1 month (a visitation of God) in 1836 and William Henry in 1840 aged less than 1 year. His 2^nd eldest sister Hester had already emigrated to America and was employed there as a servant.

This census recorded the population of Ireland as being 8, 175, 124 million. By the time the next census was taken in 1851 the population had dropped over 1.5 million. This was because of the Famine which was responsible for approximately 1 million deaths and the great migration which saw about a million people leave Ireland to start new lives in England and in the colonies.

Not a lot more is known about Richard's siblings and how they fared through the Famine. A brother James emigrated to New South Wales in the late 1850’s marrying in 1860. His bride has been born in Fermanagh, Ireland and emigrated as a baby with her parents and siblings in 1839. Another brother Ephraim emigrated to New York with his wife in the early 1860s.

Richard too, packed his bags and left Ireland, arriving at Twofold Bay, (Eden) New South Wales on 21 May 1867 as a passenger on the Lighthorse Brigade. Just over a year later he married the younger sister of his brother’s wife and settled into farming in the south coast hinterland; Kiama, Berrima, Burrawang, Jamberoo, Robertson before moving to Unanderra in his later years.

Richard and Harriett raised a family of seven children. They lost their eldest grandson at Pozieres in July 1916 and saw many other grandchildren grow and marry in their lifetime. They were great grandparents by the time of their deaths.

Richard was my daughters 3 x great grandfather. She has four 3 x great grandparents born in Ireland who emigrated to Australia and New Zealand and three of them are from County Cavan - but from completely opposite sides of the county.

How’s that for a Random fact – to round out this letter of the alphabet !

N - Norman

Were the Normans Normans ?

Certainly their surname suggests they could be. A bit unoriginal though. Perhaps they were Anglo-Saxon serfs, who took their name from the landowner to whom they were tied.

I like to think that my Norman ancestors did have roots in Normandy. They lived in Huish Champflower and the surrounding parishes which sounds a bit French but is actually Old English. Huish referring to a household or hide of land and Champflower apparently refers to the family who owned it in the 12^th century. If that is so then why is it called such in the Domesday Book completed in the 11^th century ?

In the Domesday book the parish is part of the land held by Roger Arundel.

“Roger himself holds HUISH CHAMPFLOWER. Aethelric held it in TRE and it paid geld for 2 hides and 3 virgates of land. There is land for 12 ploughs. In demesne there are 2 ploughs and 5 slaves; and 20 villans and 6 bordars with 6 ploughs. There is a mill rendering 12d, and 20 acres of meadow, and 60 acres of woodland, [and] pasture 1 league long and half a league broad. It was worth £6; now £7.”

By the 18^th century our Normans don’t appear to have been landed gentry, but many of them were farmers employing a number of labourers to work the land. Possibly that would place them socially as villans were they there and counted in the Domesday Book, and assuming they retained their social standing through the years. But if they had been slaves they might have taken their name from their “master” and later worked their way up the social ladder.

Church records and the research started by earlier genealogists in the family in the 1970-1980s, have traced the family back to the early 1700’s. Not a great deal survives earlier than that – and DNA evidence starts to get pretty sketchy around there too.

The common ancestors who most trees DNA and non-DNA seem to settle on are Richard Norman baptised 1719 at Stogumber and his wife Sarah Long. They were married in the church at Clatworthy, after banns, on 24 December 1747 and had at least 5 children. The baptisms of some of the children record their place of residence as “Huish.” Richard’s parents are possibly John Norman and Elizabeth Nation who married on 30 May 1717 at Stogumber, another neighbouring parish, and had about 8 children.

Two of Richard and Sarah’s children are my 5 x great-grandparents. (Pedigree collapse is real in my tree)

Jane born in early 1754 married John Vickery (from another Huish Champflower family) at St Peter, Huish Champflower on 14 December 1774. They had 10 or so children a number of whom died in infancy. Their daughter Sarah born 14 November 1789 at Huish Champflower married her cousin William Norman.

William’s parents were Robert Norman (Jane’s younger brother born late 1760) & Jane Venn who had married at Clatworthy on 8 May 1782. Robert and Jane had a large family of 12 children, most of whom married into other local families, Langdon, Darch, Sellick…

By the mid 1800’s many of the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of those common ancestors Richard and Sarah had emigrated across the globe to the colonies; Canada, America, New Zealand and more than likely Australia ('though I haven’t found them yet !)

F - Frederick Stagg

Frederick Stagg is somebody new-ish in our tree.

I knew there were Stagg’s in the tree. Ann Cooper, sister of my great-great-grandfather married Charles Stagg in 1812, in Montacute, Somerset. Many hours spent with Dad reading the church records on microfilm at the National Library in Wellington (thanks to the LDS and the Wellington branch of NZSG), found that Charles and Ann had 10 children.

All I had was a list of names though. I managed to track some of them through the various census’. At least four of their children died before they were ten years old as was often the case in times gone by.

I also found Ann’s burial – aged 101 ! and a newspaper account (which I have failed to write down the source for – there’s a job for the weekend) which reported her death and her approaching 102^nd birthday. Great genes, I thought. Anyway, that was about all I knew of this piece of the tree, until I came across a couple of DNA matches in New Zealand who shared DNA with lots of my Cooper line.

It made sense, so many other settler families in our tree either followed or came with siblings and cousins to the colonies. So why not this one too ? So I built their tree- cos that’s what I do, and discovered that Charles and Ann’s daughter Jane had come to New Zealand. I’m still not exactly sure when, but she married (apparently for the 2^nd time) near Wanganui in 1859 and had just one child.

The next thing I found was some affidavits on Archway and Family Search concerned with the death of Frederick Stagg who had died intestate at Wellington in 1875. One from Jane Woodman who said she was his sister and another from Fred Cooper, the seedsman, younger brother of my great-great-grandfather. In his affidavit, Fred confirmed that Jane was Frederick’s sister. They would have been first cousins. Jane & Fred were both mentioned in the notices placed in the New Zealand Times, 7 December 1875, declaring that the Public Trustee would administer Frederick’s estate.

More recently I have found that Frederick Stagg was a grocer, having a store and living on Thorndon Quay, Wellington, close to where some of his Cooper cousins were doing business as soft drink and cordial manufacturers. He was also married, to Marion/Merion and had at least three children. Two of them died in infancy, one was reported in the Evening Post, 10 March 1870. In the matters relating to his death though, there was no mention of his wife or any surviving children.

More questions than answers, again. I think I will have to buy a couple of certificates to try to discover some more.

When did they arrive in New Zealand ? Had they come direct from England ? Or via Australia where another uncle had emigrated in the 1840s. Who was Jane’s first husband and where did they marry ? Is the William Frederick Stagg aka Henshaw marriage in 1896 actually Frederick William Stagg the surviving child from Frederick Stagg’s marriage ?

And if that is him – how ironic in this crazy year to see that he named his daughter Corona !!

E - Exeter

Exeter is a town that has several appearances in our family tree. Mostly weddings and baptisms, but now a whole new event to research !

I received a letter the other day from England, passing on some pieces of information about the research done by earlier genealogists in the family. Some I had seen or heard before, some I hadn’t.

There has been talk over the years about members of the family being involved on the wrong side of an uprising – but which ? Monmouth was suggested. Records weren’t accessible, even to those living and researching in England, so it just remained “something’ in the back of my mind.

But now !! It seems there might be a connection to an event which took place in Exeter in a tumultuous religious time. The Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549. This is now thought to have been the most important attempt in England to oppose the Protestant Reformation of the reign of the boy-King, 9 year old Edward VI.

The rebels were protesting against the new Prayer Book, which had been translated from Latin to English. They wanted to keep the old Latin book, Cornishmen in particular (where the uprising began) were angered because they did not speak English and were used to the Latin services. The leaders sent a draft of their demands to the King. Unlike the petitions produced by some other rebellions, where protesters asked the King to grant what they wanted, these rebels insisted their demands be met. Among their demands were that Mass be in Latin and all Latin services and ceremonies be restored.

In 1539, concerned that the Catholic doctrine was under threat from the influence of the Lutheran Protestants who would remove all symbols of Catholic imagery from churches, Henry VIII gave his support to the passing of a parliamentary Act known as the Six Articles of Religion. He did this against the wishes of his Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer. Henry VIII remained a devout Catholic throughout his life and this Act aimed to enshrine some of the important element of Catholicism in law. In his will, Henry stipulated that these Articles should remain in force until his young son, the future King came of age.

Henry had been reluctant to introduce the sweeping changes that many Protestants were wanting, apart from where he could appropriate the wealth of the church by dissolving the monasteries. His last parliament, in the dying days of his reign passed an Act empowering him to take into his hands all chantries, hospitals, colleges, free chapel, fraternities, guilds and their possessions. Commissioners would be appointed to inquire into their revenue and inventories would be made of all their goods and certificates returned to the Court of Augmentations. It was left to the King to determine which should stand and which should be dissolved or refounded. Perhaps he still had misgivings, because this did not begin in earnest until after his death.

Cranmer however left no-one in doubt of his intentions proclaiming in his speech at the boy King Edward VI’s coronation that he would see idolatry destroyed and the tyranny of Rome banished.

The government decreed that the church in all parishes must use the new Prayer Book from WhitSunday on June 9^th. This caused widespread anger, in Sampford Courtenay the parish priest was prevented from saying the new service and urged to wear his popish robes and say the mass and all the service as in times past. Although the movement was supported by many clergy, it was predominately a layman’s movement by the people, who did not want to lose the devotional practices to which they had become accustomed.

Numbers grew and the Devonshire rebels were joined near Crediton by rebels from Cornwall about June 19^th. In July the combined force numbering 4,000-6,000 made the fateful decision to besiege Exeter which had remained loyal to the Crown. The siege dragged on for 5 or 6 weeks.  Vengeance followed with brutal executions.

There are some books I need to hunt down and read which involve the churches and parishioners in some of the parishes where our family lived. Maybe there will be further developments later in this challenge. (If the books arrive quickly enough and I can read them all in double quick time too)

D - Dam People

I spent my early years on the banks of the Waikato River. Not literally, but in the city that was built on both sides of it.

It is the longest river in New Zealand at 425 kilometres, flowing from its source on the eastern slopes of Mt Ruapehu through Lake Taupo then on to the sea at Port Waikato south of Auckland. Along the way, its energy has been harnessed, lakes created and great dams constructed.

Hydro electric power. New Zealand is lucky, there are several rivers such as the Waikato offering the opportunity to manipulate the flow and generate electricity in a sustainable, renewable way.

My maternal grandfather, a fitter and turner, worked most of his adult life in this industry and so did my father, an engineer. Grandad worked at Coleridge, near Christchurch for a short time before moving on to Waitaki. These were the first two hydro electric stations that the Government was involved with. The beginnings of the State Hydro Department and still going strong today producing energy to keep our homes and workplaces running smoothly.

Waitaki, Highbank, Mangahao, Maraetai, Whakamaru.

My father left school and became a draughting cadet then progressed to become an engineer. While in working in Hamilton many days were spent visiting the stations along the Waikato. Arapuni, Karapiro, Aratiatia, Atiamuri, Waipapa, Whakamaru, Maraetai, Rangipo, and Tokaanu some of which were still under construction.

As well as hydro power generation there was steam at Wairakei and coal fired at Meremere. More recently a new geothermal station Ohaaki and a larger coal fired station at Huntly, although Dad didn’t have much involvement with them.

After we moved to Wellington, the upper Waitaki became Dad’s area of responsibility. Aviemore and Benmore had recently been completed and yet to come were Ohau A, B & C and Tekapo A & B.

My grandfather’s brother left New Zealand and worked on the Snowy Hydro Scheme and in the coal fired stations at Yallourn and in the LaTrobe Valley.

What a cutting edge industry it must have been in those early years, bringing unimaginable change to our society. It seems to me that it was probably comparable to the change that rail brought to our great and great grandparents lives.

Railways provided new opportunities for employment, travel for all and a step into a different socio-economic group. Electricity generation for the masses improved living conditions, promoted the use of new transportation (electric trams as opposed to horse drawn) and lit the streets at night making it safer for those of our ancestors finding their way home in the evenings or later at night.

There are Dam people in my tree – and I’m pretty damned proud to say so.

C - Cyclopedia

C is for cookie and cookie is for me…

So much choice, Christchurch, Castles, Cars, Christmas, Climate…Claire.

Here is a bit about me then.

Eldest child, sister, mother, daughter, cousin, aunt, friend, collector of family history, storyteller, name nerd, puzzle solver, cross-stitcher, card maker, baker, maker, reader, traveller…

It was names that got me interested in genealogy – so many James’ and Johns, Marys and Anns. I remembered tallying them all up once when I was still at college to see how many of each there were. Lots. Some names were definitely overused. Not like today's parents – our ancestors stuck with the tried and true, over and over again. How did they even tell them apart or get the right person to respond ? Even now it is refreshing to see something new – an Arabella, Kerenhappuch, Roxillianna, LaFayette, Aeneas, Balthasar.

Along with names there were the stories people would share, offering a peek into their childhood memories and places they had been. The idea of large families fascinated me. Being one of two and my parents one of two and one of three, the idea of having a whole bunch of siblings seemed so foreign – but fun all the same. I imagined it would be like being one of “The Waltons”, or the Bradfords on “Eight is Enough”.

I think I have always liked history, miniseries such as “The Pallisers”, “Family at War”, “Poldark” and early soaps like “The Sullivans” captured my attention. I loved history at school even though the Third Reich , the Potato Famine & Rise of Sinn Feinn seemed quite disconnected to life in New Zealand and where my roots were.

Over time though, that love of society, people and history has influenced my reading choices and captivated me. Historical fiction is a great way to learn about history and how people of the times experienced the events around them. This led to me trying to learn more and more, and to imagine my ancestors in those times. How did world events, or local events affect them personally. Which events were catalysts for them to change the way they lived ? Who were they ? How did they feel ? What did they believe ? What did they like ? What drove them to make a change in the direction their lives took ? So many of them were from Ag Lab stock. What was it that inspired them to take the leap, leave the village where their families had lived for generations and make a new life in a new town or to find employment with the railways or in large industrial mills ?

I love family history, it consumes a lot of my spare time. Studying DNA matches looking for links, reconnecting with cousins all across the globe, planning where to visit next (when we are ever allowed to do that again). Remembering those who have passed, telling their stories so that their memory will live on for others. Celebrating them and the sacrifices they made – if not for their actions in the face of adversity and their planning in the good times none of us would be here.

Always thinking and wondering, sometimes it is hard to make my mind just stop and reflect. It's a bit like a cyclopedia that I always have with me.

And just as I am sitting here another thought occurred to me.

C is for Coromandel. I read just the other night that gold had been discovered there in 1862. I wonder if that news influenced the decision to not go to Albertland since it was only a few short years after their arrival that the Davys family left Auckland and set up home north of Thames on the peninsular felling trees, saw-milling and gold mining. What resilience and determination they had.