#52Ancestors, Close to Home

What do you do when you have been widowed a second time and have five children; three of them under three years of age; the youngest less than two weeks old ?

Look for a replacement, that’s what. And if there was an ideal candidate close by; right on your doorstep, next door or even IN your house – even better.

Thomas Kelsey, my 2 times great grandfather had three wives. This piece of information was one of the things that lit the fire for genealogy for me as a child. I didn’t know anyone who had more than one wife. My grandmother had two instances in her immediate family ! This grandfather married three times, her other grandfather married twice. I was hooked !

Thomas married his first wife Mary James, my 2 times great grandmother in the Bethel Primitive Methodist Chapel in Dudley in 1875. Thomas was employed with the Great Western Railway. By the time of their marriage he had worked his way up from a shunter to a railway guard.

He and his young wife lived in Junction Street, Wolverhampton where they had two children before Mary passed away leaving a son, almost 3, and a 10 month old daughter. These two children were taken in by Mary’s father and her unmarried sister and spent at least the next six years with them in Dudley.

Thomas remarried in 1886 to Louisa Charlotte Rudd. In 1881 she had been a Nurse Domestic on the census, maybe her field of employment made her an ideal candidate to take on his children and have them returned to him. There is no-one to ask how they met so we will never know for sure. It is also not clear how quickly after this marriage that his children were welcomed back into his home.

Thomas and Louisa had three children in quick succession, and sadly she passed away just nine days after the birth of the 3^rd baby in 1890.

Twelve months later at the 1891 census, Louisa’s elder unmarried sister Clara and her widowed father are living with Thomas and his five children in Dunstall Road. Clara is listed as House Keeper. So to be fair, Thomas didn’t rush into a 3^rd marriage. But he did marry Clara three years later just four months before the birth of their daughter.

#52Ancestors, So Far Away

Living at this southern end of the planet – all of my ancestors came from so far away. So, I am not going to choose one of them to write about.

There has been a lot of chatter on social media in the last couple of days (and today) about whether people have “Leaplings” in their tree. People who only celebrate their actual birthday once every 4 years. When you were little that must have been torture – your next birthday being   SO   FAR   AWAY. Not to mention confusing because everyone else will have celebrated each year and your celebration was like Easter or Lent. A moveable feast.

Anyway, it got me thinking. I checked on Family Tree Maker and there seem to be only two occurrences of 29 February events. Strangely enough in the same part of my tree and connected to the family I wrote about for the prompt Disaster.

First I found the death of George Washington Langdon. He died 100 years ago today on 29 February 1920 – or is it 25 years ago ? George was born in Chicago, Illinois about 1856. His parents had emigrated to the US soon after their marriage in Raddington, Somerset in 1855.

George Washington seems to be a fairly illustrious name to bestow on your first born son. Was there a reason for that ? Interestingly back in England one of George’s cousins was named Washington as well – although he lived his entire life in Somerset.

George’s paternal grandmother Jane Venn Norman was a sister of Richard Edward Venn Norman. (Richard’s daughter Emma is the relative I wrote about in Disaster, killed in the Chatsworth train wreck.) So Jane would be my 4 times grand aunt !. George’s maternal grandfather was a 1^st cousin of my 3 times great grandfather and freakishly his maternal grandmother Mary appears to be a sister of his paternal grandmother. Confused ? Welcome to my world !

Another cousin in this tangled branch was born in Iowa a little later and named Lafayette. I really need to do some American history study and research to understand the significance (if any) of these naming trends.

I have wondered why this group of families emigrated around the same time. They went to Canada, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois. What was the attraction then ? It was getting near to the Civil War; mostly they seemed to be farmers although perhaps one or two enlisted and fought. There is a new avenue of research for me to explore.

Anyway, unlike their other emigrating cousins, George’s parents did not stay long in the US. By 1881 they had returned to England with their two sons and taken up farming again in Somerset and later Oxfordshire.

The other event which took place on 29 February happened in 1872 when William Norman married Lucy Cording. I “think” this William is a brother of Emma and Eliza from Disaster – and possibly Lucy is connected to Eliza’s husband James Cording. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if she is, I keep finding more and more random connections through the generations with these people.

I’m not sure if Lucy and William had children – but if they did I bet it raised some eyebrows if they baptised children before their first official wedding anniversary.

Do you have any Leaplings in your family celebrating their birthdays today with great enthusiasm so that the feeling lasts all that way in to the future as they anticipate their next birthday.   SO   FAR   AWAY.

#52Ancestors, Disaster

August 10, 1887.

Three things happened on this day, and one thing didn’t. The first two seemingly unconnected.

Grass fires were set by section men along the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway.

An excursion train left Peoria between 7.00pm and 8.00pm stopping at stations on the way for passengers who had paid $7.50 for the round trip to Niagara Falls.

It was summer, the grass was dry and the weather warm and windy.

Now here is the thing that did NOT happen: nobody checked the fires – the foreman although he had been instructed to do so, did not.

The excursion to Niagara Falls was very popular and the train was at maximum capacity. Many passengers had come from Iowa to take the trip and some planned to go on to Canada and New York. Emma Duckett, wife of the local doctor in Forrest and her sister Eliza Cording were just two of the hundreds of ticket holders,  and boarded the train in Forrest. Reports say it was speeding along at about 35-40 miles per hour as it crossed the Livingston county line, trying to make up for lost time.

The train was due to arrive at Chatsworth at 10.23pm but was running late and it was about 11.45pm when it finally got there, stopping for a few minutes before carrying on into the night.

Between Chatsworth and Piper City there was a shallow ditch, about 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The railroad crossed this via wooden trestle bridge. The ditch, a dry stream bed, was filled with dry timber and leaves.

Remember the unchecked fires ? 

By the time the driver saw the burning trestle it was too late. The first engine crossed the bridge, but its weight caused the bridge to collapse behind it. The second engine rammed into the bank, cars crashed into each other piling thirty feet high. The sleeping cars at the rear were not as badly damaged. The second engineer’s watch stopped at 11.54pm.

Emma was one of the 80 passengers who were killed outright. A further 120, including her sister, were injured. Initially estimations of the loss of life were far greater and it was reported that Eliza was also among the dead. The first relief train arrived from Forrest about an hour later, Dr Daniel Duckett was amongst the group on board. One of the first bodies he came upon was that of his wife.

Others had run from Chatsworth and Piper City to help. Women bought linen and bandages for the wounded and assisted where they could. It started to rain at about 3.30am and rained until dawn almost two hours later. Some of the wounded and some bodies were taken by train to Chatsworth early in the morning. People arrived at the scene through the night and into the next day, searching and hoping to find their loved ones.

That other not so endearing side of human nature was evident at the crash site too. Opportunists stealing from the dead and wounded; in some cases leaving nothing to identify the person by. Photographers from the newspapers turned their backs on the suffering and turned their cameras on the ruins. I am often shocked at the invasiveness of today's media, of the relentless pursuit of paparazzi to get the “money” shot. Seems things weren’t so different 150 or so years ago.

Emma Venn Norman was born about September 1847 in Luxborough, Somerset England. Her father was the youngest brother of my 3 times great grandfather; she was a first cousin of my 2 times great grandmother. Emma emigrated with her parents and siblings between 1851 and 1859 to Canada and later to Michigan and Illinois. On 10 July 1869 she married Daniel Duckett in Livingston county Illinois and they had two (possibly three) children. Daniel died a few short years later in 1890. Their son went on to study medicine and followed in his father’s footsteps.

There are many accounts in newspapers all over the US of the trainwreck, even in New Zealand papers (albeit in October). I wonder if my great great grandmother saw the reports. Did anybody write back to England telling the cousins they barely remembered of their devastation ? Did anyone pass on that sad news to her cousin Sarah in New Zealand ? Perhaps Sarah never knew what fate delivered to her kin that day.

Google will find you lots of information if you are wanting to read more.

#52Ancestors, Long Line

I think I have written before about the long lines of James’ and Thomas’ and John’s, Betty’s and Sarah’s and Mary’s. They are what got me hooked into this genealogy obsession. And I’m still trying to untangle it all.

I don’t have a long line of Ag Labs either. Occupation-wise there were weavers, glovers, painters, grooms, dressmakers, milliners, glove makers, farmers, yeoman, gentlemen, artists, railway employees, bakers, millers, tailors…and ag labs.

More recently there have been engineers and others working in the engineering fields; fitters and turners and mechanics. Others in the transport industry, education sector and in the medical and scientific field.

Sarah Horskins (maiden name unknown) was born about 1777 most likely in or near London. She married William Horskins about 1801 and raised a family of ten children (or more yet to be discovered).

William was a baker, a career path which was followed by several generations of the family. William died in August 1842. By then their youngest child was in her early twenties and at least five of their children had married and started their own families.

On Wednesday December 6, 1843 Sarah walked from her home in Pratt Street, Lambeth to the workhouse in Princes Road. She joined the line of people and families waiting for relief. Food parcels. I wonder did she do this regularly ? Each week ? Did her unmarried daughters go with her ? Did she meet old friends, facing the same struggles in their sunset years ?

The December weather in 1842 & 1843 was particularly mild. As recently as 2008 those mild temperatures still fell comfortably within the “top 10” occurrences of mild early winter months. (see more historic weather information here) 

Sarah joined the long line. How long she stood waiting is unclear, as is how close to receiving relief she came. But there, in that long line she was struck by apoplexy and passed away. An inquest was held on 9 December 1843 and reported in the London Standard, 11 December 1843. She was 66.

Sarah was my maternal four times great grandmother.

#52Ancestors, Favourite Photo

When this topic has come up in the past I have chosen a family group photo to discuss.  

This time though I have chosen a landscape - actually three. 

I have hundreds, thousands of photos; landscapes, sunsets, flowers, trees, people, buildings, holiday memories, instagram gold.

I love these though because they are timeless. 

It is the view I savoured (and photographed) just six years ago. It is exactly the same view that my great great grandparents and their children saw, and will have remembered, every day in the years leading up to their departure from England for their fresh start in New Zealand. Although there were probably more apple trees planted in the orchard in the foreground then.

It is the same view that the original inhabitants of the house and farm would have seen hundreds of years before them.

And this, from the gate at the top of Churchill looking down to St Michael's Raddington. 

Unchanged. 

The Manor House, Kingston, at the foot of the hill where my great great grandfather lived with his elder brother, their mother, stepfather and half siblings. Where their father and grandfather had likely lived before them. St Michael's where his grandfather's brother had been the minister until 1783 and his grandmother's great grandfather or his brother was church warden in 1675.

It is where I feel at home, although I never lived there. Being there feels grounding, walking in the footprints of my ancestors. It’s in my DNA.

#52Ancestors, Fresh Start

So, Fresh Start.

This was the topic for week one this year, but here I am, tackling it now.

Isn’t every morning that you wake up the opportunity to make a fresh start ? Erase the mishaps and misgivings of the previous day and set your sights on today and tomorrow’s goals. My life seems to be full of fresh starts recently. New cities, new suburbs, new countries, new states, new houses, new jobs.

I would really LOVE my next fresh start to be in a permanent role, but temping offers the opportunity for frequent fresh starts. Finding my ways to new parts of the city, learning and mastering new processes and systems, forging and building relationships with team members and colleagues.

I guess there are plenty of others in my tree who have made at least one fresh start at some point of their lives. The obvious ones would be those who took a chance on emigration, a new life with new opportunities in a country at the other end of the planet.

Getting back to blogging regularly is going to be my fresh start goal of 2020. I’ve had enough of moving and changing in every other aspect – I just want some good ol’ humdrum normality now.

…however, if I happened to win Lotto…what a fresh start THAT would be !

#52Ancestors, Same Name

Okay, I am going to tempt fate. Last year I took a break from #52Ancestor blogging, but I saved all the prompts just in case. This year I am doing the same. Telling myself that I need to focus on getting employed before I do too much fun stuff.

But what the heck !

I will probably post out of order until I catch up – and I might even squeeze in some of last years as well. Hopefully life won't get too crazy busy and I won't end up being like the White Rabbit always running late. 

Here we are in week 6, almost week 7, and here is my first blog in forever.

SAME NAME

This topic has come up before so to be sure I don’t just repeat myself I have been back to check what I wrote. So this time, instead of people…PLACES.

When the English colonised the world they bundled all their place names up and gave them to the pilgrims, convicts and early settlers to use. So they did. They arrived in their new countries and gave their old familiar names to the places which already had names bestowed on them by the indigenous peoples in each land.

Those intrepid souls named their towns, farms and houses for the places they had left behind. Even those who had not left by choice seemed to do this. We see them everywhere on modern day maps. The same names, everywhere. Repeated in each state, province, city – do you know how many small towns are named Gladstone in New Zealand; how many Wellingtons there are around the globe ?

I always smile to myself though when I discover coincidences; families separated by time and distance, living in towns or cities bearing the same names.

I lived in Wellington, New Zealand most of my life and branches of both sides of my family lived in Wellington too. One in Somerset, England and one in Shropshire, England. While I haven’t lived anywhere named Milverton, different branches of my families have lived in Milverton, Somerset, England and Milverton, Warwickshire, England.

Uriah Cooper, a brother of my great-great-great-grandfather left Montacute, Somerset, England in 1839, travelled across the world to Australia and settled initially in Montacute, South Australia along with some of his old neighbours.

Henry Davys, elder brother of my great grandfather, was a builder in Cambridge, New Zealand. His son later joined him in the business. Their home on Victoria Street was named Treborough for the village where Henry’s wife was born in Somerset, England. They also ran a successful boarding house in Cambridge, which was named Kingston for the farm which had been in the Davys family for many generations in Somerset, England.

My Nana came from Leamington, Warwickshire; my cousin lives in Leamington, New Zealand. My great-great-great-grandfather was from Hampshire, England; my great-great-grandmother’s sister emigrated to USA and spent her final years in New Hampshire.

There is even a place called New Zealand in England.