How identifying DNA matches has helped me improve my family tree Part 3 The Australian connection

 This connection was made a few years ago now.

I was fortunate that when I contacted the person who managed the DNA of my match it was someone who has done a lot of research for the family and has their own website. 

The closest match was to the grandmother of this person and I found out I have more of a connection than I may have expected.

It may be easier to see the connection visually. 

I have one of the two in WikiTree WikiTree contributors, "Sarah (Roberts) Lockyer (bef.1796-)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roberts-2506 : accessed 17 February 2023). Her husband and other family members are in the Family Search tree which can be accessed from her profile on WikiTree. Take particular note of WikiTree contributors, "Lydia (Cable) Roberts (bef.1768-1848)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cable-32 : accessed 17 February 2023). and her parents.

As you can see Frances and Lydia are sisters which means that Sarah and her husband were first cousins.

How Do We Find the Stories of Our Ancestors and their Family

 Every Story Matters

I have taken this title from the message of the opening keynote talk for the 2025 Guild of One Name Studies Conference.

The speaker Jen Baldwin spoke to the conference about British Home Children. Each child had their own story.

My grandmother and her siblings were orphaned in 1907. 

The extended family were unable to take the younger children, and the older ones were too young to look after them, she was the youngest. 

She ended up in the Mullers Home in Bristol.

Her brother Ernest Roy Compton was to go to the National Children's Home in Edgworth, Lancashire, England. He died from wounds he received whilst fighting in WW1.

Now I knew more about British Home Children. 

I believed he had stayed in England and had not been sent to Canada like many orphans. The Home he was in regularly sent children to Canada. 

I decided to update his WikiTree profile and make sure his Family Search profile had a link to his WikiTree profile. 

I went to add a link to his Find A Grave memorial. 

It is maintained by Home Children Canada.

This had led me to want to find out more.

I have found this information about the ship Dominion.

I have now discovered I had information about the ship on which he returned to England aged 17 in 1914.

Did he get to see his siblings before he enlisted? 

His sister was still in the Bristol Children's Home when he died in 1917, and, until I started my research, I was not aware of him or his brothers, one who died later that same year, and the other who died in 1918.

I now know that despite him only having a short life he had lived on 2 continents, was wounded fighting for his country and his family, and is known by the family he never knew.

Next year the Guild holds its conference in Hampshire and I am determined to visit the Hampshire Regimental Museum to see if they have anything more that they can add to his story.

How identifying DNA matches has helped me improve my family tree Part 2 Looking at every record

 Review Everything

My gt grandfather was born in Warminster Workhouse, his mother was unmarried and was born in Fisherton Delamere and living there in 1841, so she would have been expected to have her settlement as this parish, which would be part of the area covered by the Wilton Workhouse.

However we do not find her in Wiltshire in the 1851 census. She has moved to Sherborne, Dorset and is employed as a Silk Winder.

It is possible that before her son was born she had moved to Warminster for work as this town also had Silk Mills.

So who was his father?

DNA matches have proven to be helpful in confirming the research discovered in the records available.

I attended a zoom talk on 29th October and one of the tips was to organise your matches into groups by looking at shared matches.

I have 2 unknown fathers at 2xgt grandparent level in the maternal side of my tree. Once I had assigned those I had confirmed as descendents of known relatives I was left with a number of unknowns which I grouped together.

On 30th October I started looking at how some of them might be connected. I had a number of them who had the surname Jeffery or a variant in their tree. 

Were they connected? Could this be my missing link?

One in particular stood out. 

The Samuel Jeffery in this tree was living at Middle Mills Sherborne, Dorset in 1851 he was a widower and a Carpenter.

I did some investigating and added more sources to the Family Search tree before moving to add anything to Ancestry.

During this research I came across marriage banns in July and August 1854.

Having made this final discovery I added Samuel as a likely father.

I now have more DNA matches that are linked to this family.

William was not the son of Harriett Hunt his mother had died before he appeared on the census records.

 William Burden Jeffery's birth was registered in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter of 1848 in the Sherborne district Mother's maiden name: Burden.''GRO Reference:'' 1848 Oct-Nov-Dec in Sherborne Volume 08 Page 91.

William had a brother Frederic who is in a tree of someone who is a match and he has the correct mother, 

his descendants are showing up as matches.

I have been slowly adding to this family but being careful to ensure I have the correct family.

One of the key things here was deciding whether it was likely that Samuel and Martha had met. The fact that they were working in the same industry, in the same town, at the same time, was crucial in taking that final step.

DNA Update

 Background Information 

After I started writing this post I attended a zoom presentation by Sophie Kay entitled Six Hats for Genealogy.

This post covers the first of those which is Organisation. It is important to get together everything you know and how you know it before starting to look at anything which might add to your knowledge. Using the Six Hats approach allows us to make considered decisions.

Since my last post I have tested at Ancestry and have made further discoveries. 

I have also decided that I need to share some background information in order to explain some results so before I go further with my DNA posts I want to share some of what I knew from searching the records.

I have needed to be somewhat creative when trying to ascertain where some of my family were and whether I have found the right person in the record. These were illiterate times when most people could not read and write a few could just scrawl their name if required but there was no real consistency in how names would be recorded. 

It is important to consider this and how any accent might change what someone heard. If the person making a record was not familiar with local names or either party was from another area the interpretation could change.

First I will look at my Buckle surname which could be spelt several ways and was even transcribed as Bartlett on one census record for my great grandfather. 

Research on this line lead me to find my 2xgt grandfather who was christened in 1827. His parents were not married and the father although named had no occupation recorded in the register.

However when he married he gave the correct name for his deceased father and an occupation.

I wrote this post in July 2024 but did not publish it. However further developments may make this information relevant for future posts I intend to make so I am publishing it almost 2 years later.

Why take a DNA test!

 This may require several posts but I will start by saying why I took my first DNA test which was with Living DNA.

The Living DNA test would give me a better idea of where my genetic origins lay in England. I was expecting it to be largely in the Southern counties where I knew my family had lived for a couple of centuries or longer.

Below is the current breakdown.

Great Britain and Ireland    94.9%

South Central England    50.6%

Southeast England    14.3%

South England    11.6%

Devon    8.5%

East Anglia    6%

South Wales    1.4%

Cornwall    1.3%

Orkney and Shetland Islands    1.1%

Europe (North and West)    2.8%

Northwest Germanic    2.8%

Europe (South)    2.3%

East Iberia    1.1%

Tuscany    1.1%

I have unknown fathers in my ancestry which might account for the smaller percentages outside of England.

When I took this test there was no way to connect with others who might share ancestors with me other than to upload to gedmatch. This allows you to compare with others who may have tested with a different company.

Before I went to RootsTech in 2018 there was an opportunity to get a free test, with My Heritage, which I took up, after which I started to get matches with others. 

Most of these matches were quite distant but some have since led me to look at my records again in an attempt to see where we might have shared ancestry.

I will explain more about what I have discovered in my next post.

Why did you take a test? If you haven't why not?

Have you made any discoveries after you took a test?

Are you glad you took a test?

Do you regret taking a test?

52 Ancestors Close To Home

How cool would it be to be able to meet up with a distant relation who lives close to you?

I added a gedcom to WikiTree in 2011 and at that time there were not many profiles (individuals) there who lived in England.

However, over the years more people have joined and added family.

One ancestor I added was John Gingell who was the end of the line for this branch of my tree.

Because I was interested in finding cousins I added siblings for his daughter Sarah who is my 2xgt grandmother. I even had the family of her brother John. 

When Lizzie joined she made contact with me and pointed out that I had missed her ancestor Kate from the family of Sarah's brother.

We gradually got to know one another realising that we had a cousin connection.

We are both active members of the England Project on WikiTree and decided that we needed to meet.

Our common ancestor lived in a village on the outskirts of Bristol in the South West of England. 

I now live in North Wales and Lizzie lives in North West England so we are relatively close to each other if not close to the home of our ancestor.

We decided to meet up at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden which is about midway between us.

The restaurant there does a lovely afternoon tea which we thoroughly enjoyed. I would share a photo but we both forgot to take one.

We have met up again since then in Birmingham at The Genealogy Show last June. Here we are with some of our other WikiTree friends.

52 Ancestors Long Line

This week I want to highlight my paternal grandmother's paternal line. 

Here is a photograph of her parents and a link to their profiles on WikiTree. I am in the process of updating these to provide links to free sources rather than the records I found on Ancestry. Their profiles were imported from my Ancestry tree in 2011 and now we have more free resources available I am slowly adding and updating.

Alfred William Wiltshire and Sarah Alice Tudgey

My great grandfather followed his father and became a shoemaker, when he was old enough he worked with him, and they would work on the boots and shoes of those living in their village.

He was following both his father and grandfather in what must have been the family business. It is possible that this occupation went back further than this, but as this was before the census recorded an occupation, and very few residents were recorded in a directory, I have yet to discover the occupation of any earlier generations.

He was recorded as working for the poor law guardians and must have been providing shoes for the inmates of the local workhouse.

However, times changed and Alfred was a hairdresser by the time he died. Maybe his customers started buying from shops or did not require him to repair their shoes as they bought new ones. 

Since Asthma is listed as a cause of death was he struggling with any chemicals he used or did he develop an allergy I doubt it as he would probably had contact with chemicals as a hairdresser.

Here are the profiles for George Wiltshire his father and William Wiltshire his grandfather.

52 Ancestors Favorite Photo

Do I have a Favourite?

It is difficult to choose just one photograph.

I want one that I have uploaded to WikiTree so I can share this post in their G2G forum. 

I have decided to go for this one which is the only photograph I have seen for this individual.

His name is Charles Henry Roberts.

If you want to learn more about him then take a look at his profile on WikiTree

52 Ancestors Fresh Start

As we start a New Year we often find ourselves looking at making changes and maybe a "fresh start ".

I have not been  blogging here for some time but as this year begins I know it will be a year full of changes and possibly some challenges. 

This year I am planning on doing all of the 52 ancestor posts and hope that you have the time to follow along with them.

I will be discussing the ancestors and other relatives of my son. These may also be your relatives so please comment if you have something more that you can add.

So where do I start today. As it is a New Year and the start of a decade I want to consider how our Ancestors will have looked upon the calendar. 

Before school attendance became compulsory the majority of the population may have had no need to refer to any calendar, they could not read or write, and their working lives were often closely related to the seasons. Even when education was made compulsory in many rural communities children would be absent from school at harvest time as they were expected to help their parents. Edward Rosling was one ancestor who fell foul of this law. I managed to find a piece in The Grantham Journal 11th May 1889 page 6 column 2. Although given the extent of the absenteeism I doubt that all can be attributed to helping his father. He could have been helping to sow crops rather than harvest them in agricultural Lincolnshire.

When England changed from using the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, apart from losing 11 days (the calendar was advanced by 11 days: Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752), the beginning of the year changed from 25 March to 1 January. The year 1751 ended on 31 December and didn't include any dates from 1 January to 24 March. So the year started in the middle of winter rather than when spring arrived.

Our ancestors may not have been aware of such changes unless they were involved with clerical or legal activities requiring the recording of dates. We do, however, need to consider these changes when we look for records, particularly for those who were living during the year of change, if they were recorded in the parish registers at this time.

We can but wonder whether radically changing the calendar provided any real advantage at the time. With our 21st century global communication a common system is essential but would a village farming community notice the change.

Whilst we live by the laws of our country many changes may have little impact on our daily lives.

The introduction of the 1753 Marriage Act was likely to have more impact and most parishes started a new register when it came into force on 25 March 1754.

So if you are looking at records in the 1750s make sure you consider the changes that took place. Changes to the start of the year and the start of recording more information when couples married.

ORIGINAL RECORDS - Finding Ellen

The Importance of getting close up and personal.

Looking at census records can be a great way to start your research. Now that almost all of these are online it has never been a better time to start researching your family as parents grandparents or great-grandparents will appear at some point in these records.

However, not everyone can be found in a census record. Those that are missing were still a part of our family but names may have been forgotten or overlooked when the information was passed down through the generations. Many could not read or write and word of mouth can be less reliable.

I have already found some missing children because the General Register Office now has an online index, which includes the maiden name of the mother, but sometimes we still miss those who are born and die between the census years. 

I plan to go through these indexes to search for missing siblings but sometimes other records can provide those missing siblings. Today I just happened to come across one by chance whilst adding records on the Family Search Family Tree.

This family had several hints for the father Elijah some were for marriages of his children but one was for a christening in Empingham, Rutland.

This is the transcription on Find My Past which was the same as that on Family Search as digital images of the original register are available through their link to Find My Past.

The parents are correct and the dates and place fit, even if it was a few years after her birth, so was Annie christened with 2 names but only one was used when the birth was registered.

The original tells a different story. The rector decided that he would record both daughters on a single record.

I have submitted a correction to the record and as can be seen in the first image I have also added Ellen to the family as she had previously been omitted.

Ellen died in the first quarter of 1881 and was buried in Empingham. So like her brother Elijah she was born and died between the census years.

It must have been a sad time for the family to lose 2 children at such a young age. It may have been commonplace for the time but still a blow to the individuals. So if the original record has been digitised or you have a chance to see it in its original form it is imperative that you do so. 

Don't forget to look for other records to ensure you have not missed anything.

Week 15 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Taxes

Whilst our ancestors will have been liable for taxes the records may not still exist or may not hold any clues to help our research. As I have not used any of these records to aid my research I am going to write about how taxing it can be to discover or uncover the relevant records to aid our research.

Rebecca Ellis 1844-1921

The registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales started on 1 July 1837.

However, there was no penalty for failing to register any of these events until a much later date, and as a consequence, many events went unregistered particularly in the early years.

Although I have found a baptism for Rebecca Ellis I can find no record of her birth having been registered. There are no births registered between 1841 and 1845 for girls who could be her. The same is true for her sister Jane. They were 2 of the 14 children born to her mother Rebecca within a 20 year period.

In 1848 the mother Rebecca died of phthisis or pulmonary tuberculosis. Her maiden name was Bouthway according to her marriage record but I have been unable to find any record of her baptism to prove her parentage. She is presumed to be the daughter of John and his wife Mary Thorold who are living in the adjacent property in 1841 census.

The marriage of George Ellis and Rebecca Bouthway in Edenham

1841 Census Edenham, Lincolnshire

Burial register for Edenham 1848-1849

George Ellis remains as a widower on both the 1851 and 1861 census records. His daughter Mary having taken over the role of her mother keeping house and bringing up her younger siblings. By 1861 his children have all left home and he is found as a boarder

1851 Census Grimsthorpe, Lincolnshire

1861 Census Scottlethorpe, Lincolnshire

If we take a further look at the burial register it struck me that on these 2 pages and within less than a year this family had seen 4 burials in this churchyard. Little more than a month after Rebecca died her brother Charles followed and on Christmas day her father John followed. In January 1849 Joseph the illegitimate son of Rebecca was also buried. This is likely to have had a significant effect on the family.

The marriage of George Ellis and Mary Deacon

By 1863 George is remarrying in Swinstead to widow Mary Deacon and in 1871 census we can see why he has remarried. He has now got a 7 year old daughter Lucy Ann. Her christening in May 1864 given that her parents married in October 1863 would indicate the reason for his marriage.

1871 Census Swinstead, Lincolnshire

Christening of Lucy Ann Ellis Swinstead, Lincolnshire

My original conclusion regarding the maiden name of Mary Ellis was Scoles as her father was given as Charles Scoles. However, in revealing more about her past several documents came to light.

First I looked at the 1861 census in an effort to find her first husband and her previous marriage.

1861 Census Swinstead, Lincolnshire

However, by 1861 she was already widowed.

1851 Census Swinstead, Lincolnshire

Looking at the 1851 census her husband is a Swithun Deacon. But the only marriage I can find is this one in Swinstead.

The marriage of Henry Swithin Deacon and Mary Haines

The bride does not give a name for her father and is using a different surname and the groom has used Henry Swithin and I note he is a widower.

Can I find out more and confirm this is correct?

When I looked for a Mary Haines on Find My Past I found a transcription from Lincolnshire Parish Bastardy Cases which had been supplied by Lincolnshire Family History Society. There was a Maintenance Order against Charles Scoles of Grimsthorpe labourer in 1817 by Edenham Parish for a female child of Mary Haines.

Baptism Ann Haines Edenham, Lincolnshire

This is the only baptism I could find that would fit. When she died the death was registered as Mary Ann Ellis which would fit with both of the first names that were used.

Burial Mary Ann Ellis Swinstead, Lincolnshire

I also discovered that her first husband had been christened Swithin and had been married previously. The older children on the 1851 census were from his first marriage.

Looking in other record sets and thinking around a problem can be time-consuming but can ultimately lead to a result.

Maybe I will find a record that confirms who are the parents of Rebecca Bouthway or should it be Botherway.

Week 14 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The Maiden Aunt

This week I shall look at someone who I have written about before her name Ruth Ellen Gadsby.

Ruth is my father in law's aunt and I wrote about her for the Worldwide Genealogy blog in 2016.

The story I told in that post was about how I went about confirming who she had worked for as another of her nephews had told me that she had worked for a grandson of Gladstone the well known British politician. Finding her on the 1939 register in the place where I had been told she worked was only the start of my journey.

Whilst I have not yet found anyone famous as a direct ancestor I have found that the lives of the Gadsby Family including cousins, aunts, and uncles have been touched by others who have a place in history. The added interest from knowing your family shared experiences with these notables can help bring history closer and adds to the joy of finding elusive family members.

One thing I didn't include in my earlier post was her headstone. This is in the village of Gunby St Nicholas, Lincolnshire, England just across the road from the house where she lived in her later years with her mother and brother. I would expect this to be where she is buried but I have not confirmed this and it is possible that she was cremated and only her ashes are here.

Headstone of Ruth Ellen Gadsby taken 2006 by Hilary Gadsby 

Week 13 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The Old Homestead

With a background of labourers, there is no single place that my family could call "The Ancestral Home". 

Whilst a single generation may have stayed in the same house, once they had married and had children, no property has been passed down the family.

Therefore, I will discuss the houses where my grandparents lived when I was a child.

Home of Alfred and Florence Ann (Compton) Roberts (Grandma)

Grandad in his back garden

My grandparents' house about 1935 with Nan (paternal grandmother), Dad and his younger brother.

The first picture is the house where my maternal grandmother lived when we were children. We always called her grandma. She was the stricter grandparent possibly due to her time living in the orphanage. 

The front room was for visitors and we rarely used it when we visited grandma as we were family. I do remember it was where the family bible was kept.

The bedroom above was not used though I think grandma slept there if we stayed overnight. This was the room which received a hit from some shrapnel during WW2. Southampton and the surrounding area were subjected to a number of air raids.

The rear of the property backed on to the railway line for trains to the New Forest and Bournemouth and we would sometimes go down to the bottom of the garden and wave at passing trains. The rear bedroom was where we slept if we stayed over and we would "top and tail" as it gave us more room. We also had what was affectionately known as a "gosunder" or a chamber pot when we stayed as there was no indoor toilet.

Photos of chamberpots courtesy of Pixabay 

We even had to use a tin bath (see one hanging on the fence in my paternal grandparents garden), should we want to have more than a wash when we stayed with grandma, it would be placed in front of the fire in the kitchen. This would be quite a thing, having to heat sufficient water, then a quick in and out, before the water went cold.

My paternal grandparents (Nan and grandad) also had an outside toilet which is the part of the building with the tiled roof in the first picture. However, they did have a bath inside the house. Only once did I stay overnight when my youngest sister was born.

It is not visible in the above pictures but the following 2 pictures show part of the concrete bunker in the garden.

This was the air raid shelter and was still in the garden when the house was sold after my uncle died.

My grandmother did not have any air raid shelter in her garden but the house had a large cupboard under the stairs big enough for a bed which could be used during any raids and would have protected the occupants from flying glass or other debris.

Life in these houses would have been cramped for both my parents were one of five and both of these houses had only 3 bedrooms. No central heating so you may wake up with ice on the windows in winter. When war broke out in 1939 my parents were only aged 7 or 8 old enough to realise what was happening.

We would spend Christmas with my paternal grandparents and I remember fondly the clockwork Father Christmas and the Christmas Tree on the table in the front room window. We would meet up with cousins, aunts, and uncles and have Christmas as a family. I also remember my Nan making delicious apple pies using dinner plates.

My grandma was quite frugal and had been taught how to get the most out of a loaf of bread. Once the crust had been removed she would butter the slice before cutting it from the loaf. She also would not allow us to eat sweets before our meal.

Growing up at a time when there was no rationing it is difficult to visualise the impact this had on the lives of our parents and grandparents but some things did have a hangover effect. 

Week 12 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Misfortune

Many of the events, I mentioned in the life of my grandmother, may be considered to be a misfortune. All of them involved a premature death in some way due to illness, accident or war.

However, there may also be instances when something happens which causes pain, disfigurement or otherwise upsets our everyday lives. The loss of a job in times of high unemployment or something which means we are less able to work can have a huge impact.

We are fortunate that in today's society the state can provide relief but this was not always the case.

Family and friends were often the first port of call when hard times struck and many were reluctant to go to the parish unless they were desperate. The Workhouse was avoided wherever possible.

My 3xgt grandparents lived in the village of Britford, Wiltshire. This was in the  Alderbury poor law union and they both died in the Alderbury workhouse which was also known as Salisbury workhouse. The local archives hold records and I shall be checking how long they were resident in the workhouse before their deaths. This appears to be one of the better institutions of this type, as this was the only place where the poor could obtain help when they became unwell, it may have been that their stay was short and spent in the infirmary.  

However, despite dying in the workhouse both of them were buried in Britford.

Many poor persons died in The Workhouse and would have had a paupers grave. I have not checked for any headstones, but I doubt that the family could afford this luxury, by this time surviving children, had moved away.

Week 11 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Lucky

Two lucky ladies who won their registration the first time they came to Rootstech.

Robbin Smith and Hilary Gadsby

The ancestor who I highlighted last week could be classed as being unlucky so this week I will be highlighting the opposite and talking about lucky finds and contacts and good fortune.

If I had started my research earlier I think my luck would have been so different. I could have spoken to my mother in law about her family and would have had grandparents who could have helped with personal experience and family stories. 
Judy G. Russell aka The Legal Genealogist gave a presentation at RootsTech and highlighted how quickly the knowledge of our ancestors disappears. So we all need to start our research as early as possible and record it before we lose it or we lose the ability to record it. Don't forget family members do not have to die for us to lose their stories. Speak to everyone you can they may each have something to add.

I lost my father before I had thought to speak to him and my mother lost her ability to speak due to illness. Fortunately, I did manage to interview my father's older sister who was the record holder for her generation and she told me about things that do not show up in the records correctly. She also told me about a missing child who I have now tracked down see my post.

I have also found records at an archive by chance such as the settlement examination for my 3 x gt grandmother Louisa Richards see more about this in my earlier post and my other blog. 

If I look back at my research I will also find other instances where luck has intervened. 

I think for me the luckiest thing to happen since I started to research is the way that the internet has changed genealogical research. Contacting others who I haven't, and may never, meet but can provide me with breakthrough information has never been easier.

Don't rely on luck, it is great when it helps but most breakthroughs are due to good research and understanding more about how to do things right.
Speak to others, attend classes and watch webinars. 
If something has helped another researcher it may help you. 

Week 10 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Strong Woman

Today is International Woman's Day and March is Women's History Month. 

This is my maternal grandmother Florence Ann Roberts nee Compton. 

I am going to tell you more about events in her life that meant she had to be a strong woman.

Florence Ann Compton was born on 17 February 1901 in King Street Warminster.

She first appeared in the census on 31st March 1901 with her parents and siblings the youngest child of Edmund John and Thirza Ann (Robbins) Compton.
She was baptized in Christ Church, Warminster on 16th May 1901.

When she was only 5 years old her father died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Pleurisy & Pneumonia & Asthma, he was only 51 years of age, and this left her mother a widow, at the age of 41, with 5 children, the eldest being just 14 years of age.

Less than 16 months later, Florence and her siblings were orphaned, when her mother, failing to cope, took her own life. I have found a report of the inquest in the local paper. It appears that her mother had been unwell, she was reluctant to leave her children to be supported by the parish, whilst she received treatment in the hospital.
With all the older siblings being boys, close relatives being unable to take in all the children, the family was split up. My grandmother went to the Mullers orphanage in Bristol and her slightly older sibling Ernest Roy Compton was finally found on the 1911 census living in The National Children's Home.

Fortunately, I know that she kept in contact with at least three of her brothers. 
My uncle obtained a copy of her orphanage records and they contain a letter from her brother Sidney Herbert Compton and several from her eldest brother Walter John Compton.

When she left the orphanage it was with Walter and his family that she lived initially. The record stating that on 19 May 1917 she was taken by her brother Mr Walter J. Compton to live at 8 Jubilee Terrace, West St., Warminster, Wilts. as he wished to provide for her. 
On the 23 February 1917 her brother Ernest Roy Compton who had joined the Hampshire Regiment had been killed in action in Mesopotamia.

UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929 
Then on 28 August 1917 her brother Sidney Herbert Compton died of wounds in Flanders he is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery,  Poperinge, Arrondissement Ieper, West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium.

UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929

So by the end of WW1 Florence Ann had lost both her parents and two of her four brothers.
But this is not the end of her story she was to encounter further tragedy when her eldest brother died in the flu epidemic in 1918.
Her one remaining brother lived to the age of 90 and died the year after her.

Stanley James Compton 1895-1986

Grandma at my wedding

In 1927 my grandparents were married the following year their son Kenneth Alfred Roberts was born.

Kenneth Alfred Roberts

In 1929 tragedy was to affect the family one more when Charles Henry Roberts the youngest brother of her husband Alfred Roberts was killed in a road traffic accident.

Newspaper cutting

Death of Charles Henry Roberts Newspaper Cutting

LATE MR. C. H. ROBERTS.

The burial service of Mr. Charles Henry Roberts, who met his death with tragic suddenness on December 28th, was conducted by the Rev. G. Percival at the Primitive Methodist Church, Totton, on January 1st. Deceased was 24 years of age, and though the youngest of eight children, was the first to be taken from the family. Mr F. Harrison played during the service, and the hymns chosen were “My faith looks up to Thee” and “Jerusalem the golden”.

The mourners were Messrs. W. G. Roberts, A. Roberts, and J. Roberts (brothers), Mrs J. Smeeth and Mrs. J. Allam (sisters), Miss A Denniss (fiancee), Mr. H. Roberts (nephew), Mrs. Maton and Mrs. Savory (aunts). Mr. J. Smeeth (brother-in-law), Mrs. W. G. Roberts and Mrs. A Roberts (sister-in-law), Mrs Denniss, Mr. S Dance (representing Messrs. Dance and Sons), his workfellows, and other family friends. The coffin was borne by his chums, Messrs. W. Green, J. Stares, F. Godwin, S. Aslett, R. Blake, and F Nutheem. The floral tributes included a cross from Mother and Dad, brothers and sisters, and others from Aunt Alice, Uncle Albert. and family; Lily and Eva; Mrs Savory and Willie; Alvina; A few of his chums at Totton; C. and S. Dance (employers); The Staff and Workmates; Primitive Methodist Church and friends; Mr. and Mrs. Denniss and family; Mr and Mrs Blake and family and Mr. Sillence; Mrs Sparrack; Mr. and Mrs Bayly and family; Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton and family; Mr. and Mrs. Aslett; Mr. J. H. Drew; Mrs. Russell, Nelson and George; Reg. Cronan; Mr. and Mrs. Rose; and W.  Nordy.

Killed 28th December 1929.

Charles Henry Roberts

On 5 January 1944 the day before my mother's birthday her eldest brother Kenneth died. I had been aware that he had died young for a long time and decided to do a search of the newspapers to see if I could find more details. 

This was from Southern Daily Echo Saturday 8 January 1944 Vol. LVI No. 17108 p.7 accessed at the Southampton Special Records Collection Library in Southampton, Hampshire, England on 5 March 2008.

Finally, if all this was not enough my grandmother lost her husband at the age 61 when she was only 58. She died at the age of 84 in 1985 of Bronchopneumonia, Chronic Obstructive airways disease & Ischaemic Heart Disease.
During her lifetime she had experienced the loss of both parents, 3 siblings, a brother in law, child and spouse. We all expect our parents to die before us but all of these events can be classed as premature and several as sudden events. War, disease and poverty may have shaped, most of, these events, each will have made her the woman I knew as my grandmother.