General Chat

I found an entire website about one of the surnames in my tree - I hasten to add that the family were well established and connected, and my ancestor was definitely a poor relation. Found it by googling the surname. Also searched on www.a2a.org.uk/ for my gt x 3 grandfather Robert Chowns, admittedly an unusual name, and it came up with: COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS Catalogue Ref. Q Creator(s):Buckinghamshire Quarter Sessions COURT RECORDS JUSTICES' CASE BOOKS - ref. QS/JC FILE - Interleaved volume containing notes on the cases, made by the presiding Justices in Quarter Sessions. - ref. QS/JC/4 - date: (Easter Session 1819 - Michaelmas Session 1821) item: Easter Session 1819 [no ref. or date] [from Scope and Content] .... ....Aston Rowant, v Stoke Poges Witness: Robert Chowns, Order Quashed ' I used the QS ref to see the document at Aylesbury records office and it was very useful. You can find a wealth of info about your rellie, such as: 'William Denham (farmer at Buckland) and Elizabeth Thorn Bastardy claim Witnesses: Elizabeth Thorn, Buckland, singlewoman, James Miller, John Howe, Aston Clinto, Court adjudged that Mr. Denham is not the father of the child.' nell

i found one some time back called gathering the jewels, its about people in cardiff had a few bits of history on butnone that applied to me, but may apply to some, or be of interest

The People of Providence Over a period of eighteen months Tony Parker interviewed the residents of an ordinary housing estate in South London. He listened to an assorted mixture of personalities – including a vagrant, two policemen, an often-convicted fence who was the mother of five children, a pro-flogging magistrate, a local doctor, and a 75 year old widower who spent ‘an hour or two in bed each week with one or other of about twelve different ladies I meet at our church’. The inhabitants of ‘Providence’ opened their hearts, revealing all their quirks, emotions and prejudices. These interviews prove that extraordinary stories are found not only in deserts and jungles; even amid the bleak sprawl of South London, Tony Parker discovered a community that is diverse and enthralling

Only in an Industrial School for one and a Workhouse for another. Rather boring really compared to others.

I doubt whether this will be of use to many members, but if it helps one - hooray! I was directed by SKS on a Rootsweb board to an online book published to celebrate the centenary of the town of Exeter, Ontario, Canada. I had been trying to find out if there was any truth in the family rumours that my GGG and GG grandfathers owned a Woollen Mill in Ontario. They did, it says so in the book! There are several books about Canada online at http://www.ourroots.ca/e/ Just search for the town name and you may be lucky as I was! Sue xx

Karen That made it easy to find the death certificate then, I should think. Dee ;-))

Just out of interest.....here is a list of the Female Convicts that were noted, on the Lady Juliana, and their terms OAKLEY Mary 7 PARRY Elizabeth 7 PEALING Hannah 7 PENNINGTON Elizabeth 7 PICKETT Sussanah 7 RANDALL Mary 7 REID Mary 7 ROBERTS Sarah 7 ROBINSON Elizabeth 7 ROCK Ann 7 ROSTER Elizabeth 7 ROWNEY Hannah 7 SANDERS Jane 7 alias Norris SHAKESPEAR Elizabeth Life SIMPSON Charlotte 7 alias Hall SIMPSON Mary 7 SMITH Elizabeth 7 alias Carr SMITH Elizabeth Life SMITH Mary 7 SMITH Sarah 7 SONG Mary Life STEEL Ann Life STEEL Elizabeth 7 STEWART Mary 7 STEWART Susannah 7 SULLEY Elizabeth 14 SUTTON Sarah 7 SYONS Sarah 7 TALBOT Dorcas 7 TALBOT Mary 7 TAYLOR Sarah 7 THOMAS Ann 7 THOMPSON Jane 7 York THOMPSON Mary 7 Lincoln THORNTON Esther Life TUCK Mary 7 TURNER Rachael 7 VANDEBUS Jane 14 WADE Mary Life WALKER Mary 14 WATERS Jane 7 WATSON Elizabeth 7 alias Davis WHEELER Ann 7 WHITING Jane Life WHITTAKER Jane 7 WILLIAMS Jane 7 alias Vicars WILLIAMS Mary 7 WILLIAMS Phoebe 7 WILSON Mary 7 WILSON Sarah 7 WINSPEAR Mary 7 WISHAW Elizabeth 7 WOOD Ann 7 YOUNG Sarah 7

Just out of interest.....here is a list of the Female Convicts that were noted, on the Lady Juliana, and their terms FORBES Ann 7 GALE Elizabeth 7 GALLAND Ann 7 GEE Hannah 7 alias Teesdale GIBSON Ann 7 GILES Elizabeth 7 GITTOS Mary 7 GOLDSMITH Elizabeth 7 GOMER Sarah 7 GOSLIN Elizabeth 7 GRAHAM Sarah 7 HAGER Ann 7 HANNAWAY Ann 14 HARD'AMAN Ann 7 HARDING Amelia 7 HARDYMAN Elizabeth 7 HAYNES Alice 7 HENDERSON Elizabeth 7 HEYLAND Catherine Life HIGGINS Mary 7 alias Harrold HODDY Rachael 7 HOLLOWAY Elizabeth 7 HOOK Mary 7 HOPPER Elizabeth 7 HOUNSETT Mary 7 HOUSE Sarah 7 HOUSUM Catherine 7 HOWARD Ann 7 ISRAEL Maria 7 IVEMAY eliz 7 JOHNSON Mary 7 JOHNSON Matilda 7 JONES Ann 7 JONES Elizabeth 7 JONES Elizabeth 7 JONES Lydia Life JONES Mary 7 JONES Mary 7 JONES Sarah 7 KELLY Sarah 7 KEMP Ann 7 KIMES Mary 7 LEICESTER Elizabeth 7 LEWIS Mary 7 LLOYD Jane 7 MADDOX Grace 14 MANSON Isabella 7 alias Smith MARSH Charlotte 7 McDONALD Eleanor 7 METCALF Elizabeth 7 MICHAEL Sarah 14 MIDDLESEX Elizabeth Price 7 MORGAN Anne 7 MORGAN Margaret 7 alias Mary Jones NASH Mary 7

Anthony Hull, from Oz, has given me permission to add this list of names of the women who were on board 'The Floating Brothel' Just out of interest.....here is a list of the Female Convicts that were noted, on the Lady Juliana, and their terms Convicts on the Lady Juliana ACTON Sarah 7 ANDERSON Mary 7 ANSELL Mary 7 ARNOLD Mary 7 ATKINS Violetta 7 ATKINSON Mary 7 AYRES Elizabeth 7 BARNES Elizabeth 7 BARNSLEY Elizabeth 7 BARRY Ann 7 BATEMAN Mary 7 BEACH Mary 7 BONE Ann 7 alias Smith BRADY Ann 7 BRAY Susannah 7 alias Gay BROOKS Ann 7 BROOKS Jane 7 BROWN Elizabeth 7 BROWN Grace 7 BROWN Sarah Sophia Ann 7 BUTLER Mary 7 CARTER Elizabeth 7 CARTER Margaret 7 CARTER Sarah 7 CAVENAUGH Mary 7 CHAFEY Mary 7 CHAPLIN Mary 7 CHRISTMAS Mary 7 CLAPTON Ann 7 CLAYTON Mary 7 COTTEREL Elizabeth 7 CURTIS Esther 7 DANIELS Martha 7 DAVIS Mary 7 DAVIS Mary 7 DAWSON Jane 7 DAWSON Mary 7 Alias Bray DORSET Sarah 7 DOWLING Mary 7 EMMES Ann 7 alias J'Amms FARRELL Elizabeth 7 FITZPATRICK Rose 7 FLANNEGAN Mary 7

The Floating Brothel - Sian Rees In July 1789, 237 women convicts left England for Botany Bay in Australia on board a ship called the Lady Juliana. Based on painstaking research and primary sources, such as court records and the first hand account of the the voyage written by the ship's steward, this is a riveting work of recorded history btw, thanks for adding that Bev ;-))

There are a lot of intrestinf info on this thread, so I thought I would add mine, I went to the Local History Centre in Walsall, there I was pointed to a book called 'yowm nicked' this book was written specialy for the History centre, and it refers to several cases, it gives a lot of info on the crime, and the cercumstances (sp), if you think you have any rellies in the Walsall, and surounding area's that may have been on the wrong side of the law try this book. Bev

Oceans of Consolation – Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia David Fitzpatrick This book explores, through the personal letters of Irish emigrants to Australia in the nineteenth century, the history and cultural influence of migration It includes letters, written in the 1850’s and 1860’s by: - Michael Normile Isabella Wyly Biddy Burke Michael Hogan Edward O’Sullivan The McCance family Patrick and Edward Comber Philip Mahony William and Eliza Dalton Christopher Dunne Maria Doorley Joseph and Helena Hammond Mary Brennan and Joseph McKee William Fife

A good book for anyone tracing the Leadbetter's of North Meols Lancashire is 'The Leadbetter Papers' written by Frank Leadbetter. I had tried to get a copy via Amazon but to no avail but there are copies at the library. Takes them back to about 13/1400. Very interesting. Germaine x

Hi Vicky Sadly it is often the out of print books that give such a wealth of detail. When I was first married they re published a history of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, I would dearly loved to have had a copy but it ran into several volumes and sadly I couldn't afford it. It contained a wealth of information about long forgotten names, places and occupations. Second hand books are so expensive these days, even through charity shops, gone are the days you could find a gem of a book for a bargain price Dee xx

a couple of mine are mentioned in passing in David Dippie Dixon's Upper Coquetdale - its History Traditions Folk-lore and Scenery First published in 1903, reissued in 1974, probably only available via inter-library loan now. (If anyone sees a reasonably priced copy please let me know!) I found this fascinating, not just for the minutiae of everyday life. There are some useful sections on history, and its helped enormously with the geography too - giving alternative spellings for places.

I have Henry Mayhew's book, Dee. It can be found online, too, at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2000.01.0026 Joy

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

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

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

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.