General Chat

It would have been nice if my ancestors were rich and inconspicuous, but.... those in the Royal Navy are often on board ship and traceable on Ancestry. The National Archives has the log books, so I can see exactly where they went to. For those in the workhouse, there may be lots of detailed information in the county records office. Admissions registers, settlement examinations and creed registers all provide useful snippets. Class MH12 in TNA (the National Archives) has correspondence, giving a picture of the problems the workhouses, their inmates and the authorities faced. Finally (Oh the shame!) gx3 granny was in Millbank Penitentiary. Records for these are again in TNA, showing she was a habitual thief. Not that I'm plugging the National Archives, you understand!

Yvonne, Just noticed you mention Durham, hope none of your relatives are in the book I am just posting about Dee ;-)) _______________ Northumberland and Durham – The Sinister Side by Steve Jones Information on such things as those who went before the Durham Summer Assizes in 1875, including names, occupations, offence as charged, verdict and sentence. ---------------------------------- Capital Punishments Crime and Prison Conditions in Victorian Times. One of the reports is of 10year old George Davey who stole two live tame rabbits in 1872 and got one month’s hard labour. Another is of William Mapp, a labourer doing 5years in Pentonville in 1882, for house breaking.

Ive just replied to your email Dee, but just seen your message on here. That sounds like a very interesting book! It wouldnt suprise me I think the Harrisons of Tanfield/Tantobie, and neighbouring villages could have been up to something.. but there again if there were as strict as my dad was with my brother and I, then they wont be in there LOL Ive got back 1693 with my Harrison line, im sure they owned half of Durham its like looking for a needle in haystack now. Best Wishes Yvonne

From Dee's Kent hop pickers to Herefordshire ones. ...A Pocketful of Hops... published by The Bromyard and Distict Local History Society, contains many photographs and names of people in that area of Herefordshire in 1800s to early 1900s. Special trains and coaches were laid on to transport pickers from South Wales and The Midlands and an entry tells that a school could not reopen after the summer holidays..'Owing to the lengthy hop-picking'..until October 7th.

Hi Dee, Several of my Somerset ancestors appear in 'Paupers and Pig Killers - the diary of a country Parson.' Here's one bit - '.... Joseph Palmer, a savage looking fellow came here to pay Tithe as I had threatened him. He said before that he had never paid Tithe and never would. He grumbled at the sum. I observed to him that tho he never came to Church yet it was proper that he should pay Tithe. Then I asked him what he thought of another World. He answered that he was no Scholard. I do not presume you are but it is proper you should know that there are two places, there was one for the Good and another for the Bad. Then I talked to him seriously so that he began to wish himself out of hearing but I would not let him go. At last I told him that I did not value his Tithe and if he promised to come to Church I would take but one shilling from him instead of two. He smiled at this. Do so returned I and now before Clerk Dyer it is a bargain, if you come to Church I take one shilling but if you do not I will have two. So we parted. These Broom Squires as they call them have no Religion and I do not ever remember seeing this man at Church, so we shall see what he will do.' Joseph is my 3 x gt grandfather. Gwynne

I try to get hold of parish histories and picture books for every place I am interested in. Some are dire: twee, inaccurate, concentrating on the squire and his circle, etc but at their best they can be wonderful. My local FHS allows me to review books for them, which has to be counted the best job in the world. A sample of my own books includes: The World We Have Lost – further explored By Peter Laslett No names, but a fascinating view of pre-industrial Britain Wiltshire Quarter Sessions and Assizes 1736 Published by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society An explanation of the records, then masses and masses of names. Even more interesting is the book of coroners’ bills, which basically are claims for expenses, but also list names of the dead and their presumed causes of death. On the Parish Recorded lives of the poor of Holt and district 1780 – 1835 By Jane Hales A selection of settlement examinations and other documents relating to Norfolk (and glancing through this I have just this minute solved the mystery of who one of my Skillings relatives married!) Churchwardens’ Accounts of Ashburton, 1479 –1580 Edited by Alison Hanham Published by Devon and Cornwall Record Society A wonderful feel for the concerns of the parish: brewing ale, collecting rent, coping with the dictats to take down the Rood, put it back up again, take it down again…. The registers don’t survive for this period, but you learn that they got money for burials, ringing the bells etc. - lots of names. Puddletown House, street and Family An account of the inhabitants of Piddletown Parish 1724 Dorsetshire C L Sinclair Williams Dorset Record Society Yes, 1724. All the houses in the parish, following a recognisable route, with all the names, the ages of the children and other useful info like “daughter out in service” or “in the same house lives Eliz Johnson [my ancestor], George her husband having left her with two children, Eliz. born in 1714 lives with her. Her son John, born in 1711 or –12 lives with her Husbands Relations”

Growing up Poor Home and School and Street in London 1870 - 1914 Anna Davin An oral history, school records, literary and other sources woven together to reconstruct the lives of the labouring poor.

This looks a really interesting thread will read it all through later when I am awake enough to take it all in. I was looking for my gggrandmother and in the end had to go via her brother I eventually found him a tutor in Thornbury castle in 1861 and she!!! a postitute in prison for theft in Liverpool (was at Southport in 1860). Still trying to find out where they were before and how they could have ended up on such different paths. By 1871 he is a vicar and she is settled and married only 5 miles miles apart Thornton and Fleetwood. Germaine x

Abbess The World We Have Lost was one of the books that I used for research for my essays last year, I found it brilliant. I agree that some of the parish histories are a bit dire. I bought one about the village I was researching for an essay and when I came to look things up in the local archives I found huge discrepancies. Have also had a similar problem with internet information on places. Dee xx

I have a book about Glasgow called 'A Short History of Lambhill, Possil and the Little Lands of the North -West-there are details of the residents going back to 1500. If anyone has rellies in these areas let me know and I`ll see if they are mentioned. Rosalyn

A while ago I came across a few copies of who was who in the local library and found some of my relatives in 19th century with lists of their careers, clubs and hobies. No photos unfortunately. My grandfather was a grocer and I found an advert for his high class provisions in the local scout magazine. I have found a few relatives on the historic trade directory site mainly men. I googled the name of my grandparents village and found a picture of my aunt sat outside the family cottage.

I found a relative in a mutual friends kitchen. We were dicussing my recent trip to Cornwall to discover more about my rellies and friend asked me about names, 'Trevethan' I says and am greeted by looks of amazement (or horror). After much discussion she is a cousin (three million times removed - she hopes). Cheers All Kaz

I was examining a fiche on a very hot day. Appearing in front of my eyes was the family I had been long searching for. The next minute it had gone and there was no finding it. Was I hallucinating? The answer was that because of the heat two fiches had stuck together and without knowing the science of it, one had shown through somehow and then was replaced by the other. Happy days

Thanks for all the fascinating accounts of where you have found relatives folks. It is so nice to be able to find out some background about our ancestors. Sadly so many people seem content with just a list of names, and are not interested in the sort of environment there relatives would have lived in. Dee xx

During the nineteenth century more than a million people, many of whom had never ventured beyond their homes in Britain, sailed to the new colonies of Australia. On their months-long voyage the emigrants lived in a state of limbo - isolated, belonging neither to the old world nor to the new, and living in fear of icebergs, fever and storms. Drawing upon a wealth of contemporary records, Don Charlwood, in his book 'The Long Farewell', evokes their experiences: the physical dangers, stress, boredom and personalities of travellers on their way to a new life. He has sifted through records, letters, copious illustrations and more than 100 immigrants' shipboard diaries to bring that experience to vivid, salty and fascinating life (This resume was written by 'The Age')

......my most recent 'cousins' I've found in Genes Reunited.... ....perhaps G reunitee was better lol

Not in Front of the Servants – A true portrait of Upstairs Downstairs life – by Frank Victor Dawes A great book if you have ever wanted to know what life was like for servants. If a servant girl lost her position with a family in the 1860’s, and was not given a reference, there was little left for to do than go into the workhouse or become a prostitute. They were known as ‘Dolly Mops’ and the Prime Minister of the time, William Gladstone, was known to walk the streets of London at night trying to help them and offering to take them home for tea.

Dickens’s Dictionary of the Thames 1887 and Dickens’s Dictionary of London 1888 Are both described as Unconventional Handbooks They capture the atmosphere and vitality of the period The Thames Dictionary gives a ‘masterly description of the villages and towns along the river’ and is evocative of a period when steam boats with a 1000 passengers plied regularly between Westminster and Southend The London Dictionary includes such things as a list of the acting Magistrates of the county of Middlesex in 1888, the principal Hospitals and the names of the chief consultants who were working at them and the principal London churches and charities of the time

The Snowflakes, the Dungeness football team of 1914, is shown in the book ‘Kentish As She Wus Spoke’ by Alan Major, together with other interesting photos of the area. There is a companion book ‘A Kentish Childhood’ Both are fascinating for anyone born in the area, or with relatives from the area, especially the first one, as it is a guide to Kentish Dialect

London Labour and The London Poor - Henry Mayhew In fact any book by Henry Mayhew about Victorian London gives a wealth of detail about the lives of the poor in London