Last month I wrote about Thomas Neville, the second child born to James and Elizabeth and baptised at St Lawrence, Reading in Berkshire. This was also the church where his elder sister Mary Neville was baptised on 24 October 1783, Mary is my 3rd Great Grandmother, and this story follows her life.[1] When about five years old her family moved to Henley-on-Thames and it appears likely Mary would have gone out to work in her early teens to help … Continue reading
Mary Pallet (Pellet), daughter of William and Mary, was baptised in Benenden, Kent, England on 11 March 1769. Alexander Butler and Mary were married on 16 July 1788 in Benenden.[1] I have identified only two children of Alexander and Mary. Alexander Junior was born in 1790 and another son, George was born on 5th October 1800.[2]&[3] George is my GGG Grandfather. When George was nineteen, he married Charlotte Gladwish on 27 March 1820 at Ticehurst, Sussex. The Minister was Henry … Continue reading
The emotional letter, written by a soldier in hospital following the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, was ragged and well-worn from being passed down through generations. I have extracted the essential messages and adapted them to today’s spelling and writing style. ‘For Mrs Jacobs Near the Half Acre Old Brentford, England’ Written from Brussels on 5 Aug 1815 to his sister Amy, who had married William Jacobs in 1813, her eldest brother Thomas began by thanking her for … Continue reading
Today everyone recognises Port Isaac in photographs because of its starring role as Port Wenn in the very popular television show, Doc Martin but to me it is much more than that, as my ancestor Elizabeth Couch married Isaac Hawker in Port Isaac on 3 May 1862. They migrated to Australia on the Accrington arriving in Melbourne on 24 August 1862. This couple were my great great grandparents. As a result, I have visited Port Isaac twice and delved into … Continue reading
I was recently challenged with reviewing my family tree to identify any ‘naughty’ ancestors – what they did and the consequences of their actions. I knew that at least one of my Stirland ancestors had fallen foul of the law, so decided to focus on that line and searched for newspaper reports of any criminal cases. I found two likely offenders, Herbert Stirland and Joseph Stirland. Even though the surname is not all that common, it is often problematic to … Continue reading
