Lives Cut Short - Remembering Uncle Sid and his brother Roy

This certificate can be downloaded from here

Who was Uncle Sid? Who Died 100 years ago today.

Why do we not talk about our ancestors when we are young? Too often we only get interested when we have already lost those who could tell us more. Only when I started to research my maternal line did I discover that my grandmother had more than one brother (see my earlier post Mother's Uncles). 

That being said Uncle Sid (Sidney Herbert Compton 31 Aug 1893 - 28 Aug 1917) brother of my maternal grandmother was only 23 when he died 100 years ago. His younger brother Roy (Ernest Roy Compton 8 Jun 1895 - 23 Feb1917) had died at the age of 19 only a few months earlier. The certificate for his brother, which can be found here, does not even have the names of his parents (something I have plans to rectify). When I wrote my earlier post I could not be sure that Roy Compton was the person I was looking for but further records have confirmed my assumption was correct.

This image was cropped from the original to show the entry of interest on the page.

"UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929," database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (http://www.ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 August 2017), image for Roy Compton, Record 725425 (1919); citing Soldiers' Effects Records, 1901-60,  1991-02-333, 434, 724001-725500, National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England.

This shows who received any money that was due to him for his service and I have found a record for Sidney in the same collection.

This image was cropped from the original to show the entry of interest on the page.

"UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929," database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (http://www.ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 August 2017), image for Sidney Compton, Record 578886 (1919); citing Soldiers' Effects Records, 1901-60,  1991-02-333, 337, 578501-580000, National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England.

I am fortunate to have been able to see a photocopy of a letter that Sid wrote to his sister Florence whilst out in France before his untimely death. You can see it in my earlier post mentioned above.
We will never know if my grandmother received her half-a-crown or whether she wrote that she had received it. Even if she did he may have died before he got her letter. 
I have also seen a letter sent to my grandmother from a Miss D Phillips, who we believe to be Sidney's girlfriend, whom he has asked to visit my grandmother, in the childrens home in Bristol, where she has been living.
I wonder what happened to his girlfriend who was living in Thornbury, Gloucestershire in 1917. Did she go on to marry and have children. There must have been many like her.

How much would my grandmother have remembered of her brothers. When I was born they had been dead over 40 years and she had lost her own husband less than 2 years before I was born.
She was only 6 years old when she was orphaned and how much would a six year old remember about her older brothers. Visits would be occasional as they involved travelling some distance.
It can be difficult for children to approach older relatives to speak about people who they knew. Sometimes it can be all too easy for earlier generations to be forgotten. When lives have been cut short too soon it can be painful to think of what they have missed. 

In his all too short life Sid experienced things that nobody should have to encounter. His father died of tuberculosis and the following year he discovered his mother when she took her own life. The horrors of seeing friends die whilst serving in WW1 can be hard to imagine. Let us hope that death was a gentle release for a hero.

Today is a day to Remember one who is gone but not forgotten.

Getting closer to the truth - Dealing with conflicts

This morning I saw a post that another Geneablogger wrote about how much evidence is required to prove a genealogical fact. She used as her example an English birth.

I have discussed a similar case in a blogpost last year.

In this post I will be following on from my previous post with results from my research trip earlier this year.

At the end of March I travelled to Hampshire, England for a research trip, genealogy conference and catch up with family.

Whilst I was unable to find some of the records that may have furthered my research I did find some new publications that have assisted in clarifying that my conclusions may be correct or require modification.

Whilst perusing the shelves in Hampshire Record Office I came across 3 books published in 2015. Since it has been several years since my last visit these were new to me. Had I looked in the online catalogue I would have found them they are TRA286/18-20. 

Whilst only being transcripts they are at the present time the best that is available. In fact they are to some extent better than just having the original records for most researchers. 

I say this for 2 reasons 

1. Many of the originals were written in latin
2. The records have been supplemented by reference to other records which may not be readily available e.g records from the undertakers regularly used by catholics in Southampton.

I would also note that there are numerous pages given over to the history of catholism in Southampton at the beginning of at least one of these books. They have been written by someone with a great knowledge of these records and it must have taken a considerable time and effort to collate the contents of these books.

In my earlier post I included this image of a letter from the office of the parish priest of St Joseph's Church Southampton.

I transcribed the baptism records from TRA286/20, relevant to my research, into a Google sheet and reviewing the 2 shows some inconsistencies and demonstrates the danger of relying upon transcriptions alone.

I have discovered more from these records but will discuss these in future post(s).

In conclusion it appears that my previous assumption that my ancestor may have lied about the date of birth is false and it may be that the person in the priest's office transcribed the dates incorrectly when writing to my cousin.

Illegitimacy, Divorce and Emigration Part 2

Divorce

In my previous post I discussed how I figured out the parentage of children discovered in the census with grandparents. This was quite common as women could not get help from the parish without disclosing who was the father of the illegitimate child.

I have a photograph of a copy of one certificate where an amendment was made.

It is interesting to note that a few years later the census actually shows him as grandson.

So parish records and birth certificates may tell you who the parents were but unless you have a direct line ancestor it can become expensive to get certificates for all the extended family.

Henry and Mary Ann Dennis nee Gadsby had 3 children according to the 1911 census. Rebecca (who was born prior to their marriage), Elizabeth Ann and Lucy.

Elizabeth Ann Dennis married John Harris who is also a relation via another branch of the tree.

Rebecca is the mother of George Henry Dennis and is proving to be elusive.

Lucy married Frederick William Harby in 1891 and is with him in the 1891 census.

I could not find her in the 1901 census so was wondering if she had died.

However a look at my Ancestry tree hints suggested she may have divorced him. 

Documents pertaining to this divorce can be found in this record group on Ancestry. 

The National Archives has a research guide to help anyone who has not used divorce records for their research. It is important to note the years covered are very limited.

The file revealed in quite a lot of detail who the family were and what had happened. There were 2 children from the marriage and custody was granted to the mother.

Why was only one child, the daughter, living with the grandparents where was the other child?

A search in the 1901 census showed him living with his paternal grandparents.

I also found Lucy Harby as I now had a better idea of where she might have been living in 1901 just a year after the divorce case.

In the next part I will reveal where she was and how this linked up with an emigration.

Illegitimacy, Divorce and Emigration Part 1

Finding the missing links?

I want to discuss some of the challenges I have encountered. 

Trying to find out the parentage of illegitimate children and whether a relation on my husband's tree had left any descendants.

Sarah Gadsby, sister of my husband's 2xgt grandfather William Bemrose Gadsby had 3 illegitimate children Mary Ann, Thomas Richard and Emma.

Her eldest daughter Mary Ann also had a child Rebecca born several years before she married her husband Henry Dennis.

Trying to piece together relationships with the census and BMD records can be quite a challenge with these illegitimate children and it can be expensive to get birth certificates for them all.

The 1841 census did not include relationships but as these events took place in Lincolnshire I am able to access many parish baptisms online making the task somewhat easier.

Here is a table I created to help me explain

Census Year	Name	Head of Household	Age	Birth Registration
1841	Betsy Gadsby (Mary Ann)	Nathaniel Gadsby	2	1839 Bourn Dec qt Vol14  p274
1851	Ann Gadsby (Mary Ann)	Mary Plowright	12
1861	Rebecca Gadsby	John Robinson	2	1858 Bourn Dec qt Vol7a p254
1871	Rebecca G Dennis	Henry Dennis	12
1881	George Dennis	Henry Dennis	4	1877 Grantham  Mar qt Vol7a p516
1891	George H Dennis	Henry Dennis	14
1901	Mabel Harby	Henry Dennis	7	1894 Melton Mowbray  Mar qt Vol7a p337

So Mary Ann has different names on the census but a search in the christenings for Castle Bytham finds these entries

8 Nov 1839 Mary Ann Bast^d Daug of Sarah Gadesby Counthorpe  Page 91 No 723

29 October 1843 Thomas Richard Bast^d Son of Sarah Gadesby Counthorpe Castle Bytham page 104 No number Entry 6.

Emma is not in this register and by 1861 she has taken her stepfather's surname.

In the register for Swayfield we find this entry

18 April 1858 Emily child of Sarah Gadsby single woman Page 47 No 373 (with a margin note Aged 11).

In 1871 census Emma is to be found in the workhouse for Bourne with 4 year old John Gadsby.

If we turn to the next page in the register for Sway field we find

1858 26 Sep ^r John William child of John and Sarah Robinson Swayfield Laborer Page 48 No 377

1858 23 Dec ^r Rebecca child of Mary Ann Gadsby Swayfield single woman Page 48 No 379

Did the birth of another child persuade Sarah to get Emma christened?

So I have managed to ascertain the parents for four illegitimate children but who are George H Dennis and Mabel Harby.

Again the registers provide the answer for George this time the Heydour parish

Page 33 No262 1877 January ? George Henry child of Rebecca Gadsby Oasby Received into the church March 29 77 (In margin Privately)

Mabel Harby was not born in Lincolnshire and her parentage came to light through a different set of records altogether. In fact I had overlooked that she was there with her grandparents in 1901 until I found her mentioned in records created regarding the divorce of her parents.
I will continue with this in my next post as the story is still unfolding.

Piecing it all Together - A Family Story Part 1

Original post published 13th February 2014 on my blog http://genemeet.blogspot.co.uk/

Much of the pleasure many family historians get when researching their family is from using detective skills to discover the truth.
We gather the information and piece it together so that using the genealogical proof standards we can say that given all this evidence this is what I believe to be the conclusion.

I have one part of my husband's tree which has and still is proving difficult to  establish.
My husband's paternal gt grandmother died in Lincolnshire in the late 1960's at the age of 90.
On her death certificate the place of birth had been changed, from Gunby, Lincolnshire where she died, to Aldershot and her maiden name was recorded as Clark. This information came from her unmarried son who lived with her.

Her marriage certificate recorded her name as Elizabeth Agnes Clarke and her father as George Augustus Clarke whose occupation was Army Pensioner. The witnesses were Frederick Agustus Clarke, Samuel Gadsby, Jane Emma Gadsby and Ruth Avendar. Three of these were obviously relatives but what about the fourth one with a somewhat unusual surname.

I thought nothing more about a possible connection to the family maybe she was a friend or cousin.
Next to find Elizabeth on the 1901 census, she had married in 1900 and was found with her husband and eldest son and her birthplace recorded as Hants Farnboro. 

Farnborough is on the Hampshire/Surrey border near Aldershot which is known for its connection to the British Army and fits with information found on the death and marriage certificate. Both places are in the Hartley Wintney registration district and I found a birth registration for her and the copy birth certificate was obtained.

The date of birth matched that given on the death certificate and the parents were George and Elizabeth Clarke late Perry formerly Flowers.
The index to the 1881 census was available on the Family search website and I found the family living in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Elizabeth had 2 older siblings Frederick and Rebecca the eldest age 5. 

This indicated a marriage 6 years earlier or possibly longer all the children were born in Farnboro so this was the first place to search for the parents marriage. George was recorded as being born in Ireland and his wife Elizabeth in Marston, Lincs.

Their marriage had taken place in Farnborough and the church record is now available on the Ancestry website. 

The copy marriage certificate which tallies with the church record indicates that both George and Elizabeth were widowed her surname at marriage was Perrey and their fathers were William Clarke Pensioner and William Flowers Labourer respectively. Ages were not recorded but both stated they were of full age.

So far things are straightforward. It was relatively easy to pick up Elizabeth on the earlier census with her parents. She is recorded in the 1851 census as Eliza Flowers living in Marston, Lincolnshire.

The marriage to George took place in 1874 so I needed to find her in the 1861 and 1871 census.
I also needed to find her marriage to the first husband a Mr Perry/Perrey.
Who was George Clarke's deceased wife?
Were there any children from the previous marriages?
There were no older children on the 1881 census what had happened to any children from previous marriages?
It may have been at this point that I made contact with a fellow researcher. She is a distant cousin, a descendant of William Flowers by a brother of Eliza/ Elizabeth. She sent me a skeleton tree that she had built of the family and I set out to confirm what she had sent was correct.
At the time I was doing this research there were much less digital records available online and I had limited time to make research trips.
I shall continue this in my next blog post.

A Letter from Mother at Christmas

Original post published 28th December 2013 on my blog http://genemeet.blogspot.co.uk/

I am fortunate to have in my personal collection a letter written by my great grandmother it was written on Christmas Eve and my grandfather would not have received it for several days at least.

As you can see it was sent to Portugal and it is likely that he would have read it after the Andes returned from its Argentine trip on the way home. see http://genemeet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/across-sea-at-christmas.html

The above image is of the accompanying envelope with a postmark dated 25 Dec 27

It is addressed to Mr A Buckle Deck Dept, R.M.S.P Andes, ℅ Messrs James Rawes & Co, Rna Bernardino Costa 47, Lisbon Portugal.

The letter transcribes as

437 High Street Bitterne

My dear Albert just a few lines to you hope you are well we are well. but Len and me have been home all the week with a bad chill and bad throat.  we have had it very cold. now it is dirty and wet. I am writing this on Christmas Eve.

I am in doors all by myself. I have been to town in the afternoon and had a look round I was glad to get back for the town was crowded so I am having a quiet evening to my self Queen and Bet came down today they are all right but Queen have had a bad eye wee had a letter from Nelly to night. She says she is awful busy at the shop. I hope you will have a nice Christmas I expect we shall be Quiet on our own.

Charlie and Edie are still courting strong well now my dear I shall have to draw to a close with best love from Dad and Len to I must wish you a happy new year hope to see you soon so good bye love from your mother

Across the Sea at Christmas

Original post published 28th December 2013 on my blog http://genemeet.blogspot.co.uk/

As we celebrate Christmas this year I want to think about those who cannot be with their family for whatever reason and those who are without the 21st century comforts.

The weather in recent days has left many in the UK without power and at risk of flooding. We also hear that others have suffered due to an Ice Storm in parts of the US and Canada.
Christmas day was much calmer we could even see the sun.
There are other reasons why we may not have spent Christmas with our loved ones and the same reasons may have been true for our Ancestors.

I have previously mentioned that my grandfather was in the Merchant Marine. see some family connections to the sea

These are images of a book in my possession which details information regarding my grandfather's voyages to the Argentine in the 1920s.

It is also a great source for a physical description of him.
He married in 1924 but as can be seen from the dates he was away from home at Christmas and I am sure he would have been missing his family.

For more information on the Andes below are a few links I have found.

http://www.trains-worldexpresses.com/webships/300/306.htm
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/royalmail.shtml
http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/rml.htm

Please see my post A Letter from Mother at Christmas.