Tiverton : Gold Street cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/1658721 |
Wednesday 6 March 2024
James Prescott and Mary Ann Stone
Thursday 14 December 2023
Alfred Beamer and Emily Luxton
Castle Street, Tiverton cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Cornfoot - geograph.org.uk/p/6587133 |
Monday 6 November 2023
George Hockley and Eliza Crow and William Bloomfield
St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow, Essex - Chancel cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/1304114 |
George Hockley, son of Daniel Hockley and Sophia Mason, married Eliza Crow, daughter of William Crow and Judith Doe on 6 Nov 1843 at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow. The marriage record shows that George, as well as both fathers' were labourers and witnesses were John and Jane Burton.
George and Eliza's children included:
- William Crow bap. 17 Nov 1842 at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow
- Tamer (sic) Hockley b. 1844 (Tamar as a female given name)
- Daniel Hockley b. 1845, bap. 12 May 1850
- Elizabeth Hockley b. 1847, bap. 9 Aug 1857
- James Hockley b. 24 Apr 1849, bap. 10 Jun 1849
- Emma Hockley b. 1851, bap 13 Apr 1851
- Lucy Hockley b. 1852, bap. 8 Aug 1852
- Charles Hockley b. 1854, bap. 9 Jul 1854
- Alice Hockley b. 1855, bap. 11 Nov 1855
- Sarah Ann Hockley b. 1857, bap. 9 Aug 1857
Tuesday 17 October 2023
John Thomas Wykes and Mary Ann Mercury
Classic Trains South Africa Image by Martin Hatchuel from Pixabay |
- Elizabeth Lilian Wykes b. 13 Mar 1890, bap. (as Elizabeth Mary) on 28 May 1891 in Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
- William Ernest Wykes b. 7 Aug 1892 in Germiston, bap. 9 Oct 1892 in Transvaal, South Africa
- Martha Ethel Wykes b. 12 Feb 1894 in Germiston, died aged 20 days and was buried, on 4 Mar 1894 in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa
- John Thomson Wykes b. 16 Sep 1896 in Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa, bap. on 26 Sep 1896 at St Boniface Church, Germiston
- Jessie Harriet Wykes b. 18 Mar 1898 in Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa, bap. on 15 Apr 1898 at St Boniface Church, Germiston. Died, aged 3, in Apr-May-Jun 1901, in Greenwich, London.
- Elizabeth Lilian Wykes married Walter James Fisher on 10 Feb 1916, at St Paul's, Deptford. Walter James Fisher (25) of 388 Evelyn St, Deptford, enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery on 29 Feb 1916. He survived two tours in France in 1917-18 and 1918-19. Their daughter, Peggie Irene Fisher was born on 9 Apr 1921 J Quarter in ST. OLAVE (BERMONDSEY) Volume 01D Page 298. In 1939, Walter J Fisher (b. 9 Apr 1890) Clothier Manager; Lilian E Fisher and Peggy I Fisher lived at 16 Sanderstead Road, Leyton, Essex. Walter James Fisher of 43 Greenhays Drive, South Woodford died on 17 Jan 1958. Lilian Elizabeth Fisher of 43 Greenhays Drive, South Woodford died on 17 Jun 1967.
- William Ernest Wykes married Martha Irene Griffiths (b. 23 Dec 1890) daughter of Seth Griffiths, Police Sargent and Elizabeth Harries, also in the 1st quarter of 1916, in Greenwich. They had four sons: Leonard William Wykes b. 31 Jan 1923; John Stanley Wykes b. 31 May 1924; Walter Seth Wykes b. 1 Nov 1926 and Alan David Michael Wykes b. 1 Nov 1934. In 1939, the two older boys were at home with their parents at 46 Canmore Gardens, Wandsworth, while the two younger ones were at the Pier Hotel, Cavendish Place, Eastbourne, Sussex, presumably evacuated. Their eldest son, Sergeant Leonard William Wykes, 466 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve was killed in action on 22 Jan 1944 when his aircraft was shot down at De Lutte 2 miles east of Oldenzaal, Netherlands, close to the German border, during a raid on Magdeburg. Martha I Wykes died, at 66, in 1957 in Streatham. William Ernest Wykes died, in 1977, in Thanet, Kent.
Sunday 23 July 2023
Henry William Stone and Sarah Snow and Jane Tarr
Huntsham : All Saints Church cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/6039979 |
- Frederick Henry Stone born 1885, bap. 26 Apr 1885, son of Henry and Jane, at St Mary’s church, Uffculme (died 1887, see below)
- Louisa Jane Stone born 1888, bap. 26 Feb 1888 as Louisa Mary Jane Stone, at St Mary’s church, Uffculme.
THE SHOCKING DEATH OF A CHILD NEAR UFFCULMEThe inquest touching the death of the child, Frederick Henry Stone, aged 2½ years, son of a labourer residing at Brickyard Cottage, Wellington Road, near Uffculme, was held by Mr. F. Burrow, district coroner, on Saturday, when the evidence of the mother, Mrs Potter, a neighbour, and Dr. Morgan, of Uffculme, was taken. It appeared that about 8 a.m. on Friday the mother, having lighted the kitchen fire, placed the child, which was wearing its night-dress, in a chair by the side of it. Her back was turned for a few moments, and in the meantime the nightdress, a long one, became ignited by a burning stick which fell out of the grate. On hearing the child scream the mother ran into the kitchen, and finding the nightdress in flames, endeavoured to smother them by throwing some woollen material around the child. Failing, however, in this attempt, she and her little girl called for assistance, Mrs Potter then came in and, according to her statement, found the child in the middle of the floor, getting up into its knees and enveloped in "a mass of flames from head to foot." With the exception of fragments, the nightdress and undergarments were then completely charred. She extinguished the flames upon what remained and then, with the assistance of other neighbours, the burns were treated with linseed oil and lime water. In the meantime Dr. Bryden, of Uffculme, was sent for, as also was Dr. Morgan. The latter arrived first, but not until the child had expired. In his evidence, Mr. Morgan said he entirely approved of the remedies applied and even had he been there more could not have been done. The extent and nature of the burns, involving as they did the whole body were sufficient to cause death. -- The father of the child was present at the earlier part of the enquiry, but as he persisted in interposing remarks he was ordered by the Coroner to withdraw. Subsequently he was recalled and allowed to make a statement, the Coroner holding that he was not in a fit state to be sworn. Stone complained very strongly that Dr. Bryden although called twice and promised to come down did not do so until it suited his convenience in the course of his usual round as parish doctor, which was an hour or more after death. Mentioning incidentally that Dr. Bryden had attended on previous occasions he said he owed him 7s 6d, which he declared he would never pay. -- The Coroner remarked that that was a matter between himself and Dr. Bryden. -- It transpired that the child was insured in the Prudential Insurance Company. -- The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."
Thursday 27 October 2022
Harry Martin, Mabel Grace Tompson & Arthur Stedman
St Martin-in-the-Fields church, London cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jeremy Bolwell - geograph.org.uk/p/6130198 |
- Laura May Martin b. 27 May 1920, registered in Malling, Kent (J Quarter, Volume 02A Page 1800, with mother's maiden name THOMPSON), was baptised on 22 Jun 1920, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster.
Sunday 29 August 2021
Cornelius Walter Jones
Tuesday 23 March 2021
Tom Stone and Margaret Knapman
Royal Marines' Stonehouse Barracks, Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth |
- Archer Henry Stone (Archie), b. 28 Mar 1889 in Plympton, Devon, bap. 21 May 1889, at the Wesleyan Methodist church, Tamerton Foliot
- Frederick Thomas Stone, b. 20 Jan 1892
- Beatrice May Stone, b. 14 Mar 1894, in Plympton
- Bertram Charles Stone, b. 24 Feb 1899 (died 2nd quarter of 1899)
- Leslie Victor Stone, b. 21 Feb 1901
- Rosina Kathleen Stone, b. 14 Apr 1903
Thursday 5 November 2020
Press Gangs and the King’s Shilling
Colindale Hospital around 1920 |
As family stories go, this has to be one of the best (as in the myth is about as far away from the truth as it's possible to get), but also one of the saddest.
Throughout her life, my mother recounted this story so many times it would be impossible to count: The story went that her grandfather, Job Sweeney, had been "press ganged" into the navy no less than three times. Once would be unlucky, you'd have thought. Anyway, this account, undoubtedly passed down to her by her grandmother, Eliza Louisa Sweeney (née Tompson), was further embellished with the assertion that Job liked his drink rather too much, hence was always in the pub and the worse for wear and, therefore, had been tricked, in serial fashion, into taking the King's Shilling.
All absolute poppycock, of course, like most family stories are.
As I say, I'd heard and nodded along to the retelling of this story umpteen times, but never really considered or questioned it. It wasn't until I met the current 'him indoors' who knows his military history, who immediately said "wrong century", that it became obvious the whole thing was invention.
With hindsight, I can see where it will have come from. Job's father was a dock labourer (sometimes listed as a stevedore); his great-grandfather a mariner and many of their ancestors were sailors, ship's carpenters and shipwrights. Eliza Louisa's family ran pubs around the London docks. They'll have grown up with 'press gang' stories and other seafaring folklore.
My great-grandfather, Job Sweeney (b. 6 Feb 1870 and bap. 11 May 1871, at St John, Limehouse Fields - bombed on 19 Sep 1940 and subsequently demolished), son of John Henry Charles Sweeney and Susannah Harvey, married Eliza Louisa Tompson at St Anthony, Stepney on 5 Jan 1893.
My mother won't have known her grandfather, as he had died on 6 December 1924, aged 54, when she would have been only a few months old.
Having spent his entire life in the East End, it was finding that his death had been registered in Hendon that made me dig further in order to solve the mystery. It even crossed my mind that holidays 'At His Majesty's Pleasure' might well have explained these absences that we were all led to believe were when he was 'at sea', but it was not so. Having ordered his death certificate, this confirmed that the actual place of death was Colindale Hospital.
Built originally as the The Central London District Sick Asylum in 1898-1900 - to provide care for the sick poor in London, separate from the workhouse - in 1919, it was taken over by The Metropolitan Asylums Board and used as male TB sanatorium. The cause of Job Sweeney's death was given as 'Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Certified by Marcus Patterson MD.'
Dr. Marcus Sinclair Paterson (1870–1932) was the medical superintendent of the Colindale Hospital for Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Hendon. "Here Paterson made valuable innovations in the symptomatic treatment of advanced cases", says his obituary in the BMJ. He developed a system of treatment called 'graduated labour'. "He has described how his observations on out-patients led him to the idea of introducing manual work, as well as walking, into the sanatorium regime, with the hope of fitting his patients for immediate return to their work, and of successfully meeting the charge that sanatoriums turned out work-shy loafers." (Not unlike attitudes today, because victim blaming is a whole lot cheaper than doing research and actually treating the sick. Looks like we can see who was originally responsible for ideas that led to the much maligned, ineffective and harmful Graded exercise therapy (GET) too.)
So, we can deduce that the "press gang" story was made up to explain a series of absences, which were probably stays for 'treatment' - forced work when you're already too ill to do your normal work - at the sanatorium. And the saddest part is this tells us that, so strong was the social stigma attached to TB that families preferred to paint their nearest and dearest as 'feckless, drunken, work-shy', etc., rather than admit they had an infectious, then incurable, disease undoubtedly contracted through no fault of their own.
Monday 28 September 2020
Discovering Direct Ancestors' Burials
Headstones (left to right): great-grandparents, David and Laura Jones, 2x great-grandparents, Henry and Mary Stone and 3x great-grandparents, William and Ann White. |
Researching documents and discovering online records that go towards telling an ancestor's story is fascinating. Visiting the places where they were born, baptised, married, lived or worked really helps put those things into context, but there is something very emotive about finding a grave with a headstone to feel properly connected to family members, knowing a physical part of them is right there beneath your feet. But with cremation being the norm in the most recent generations and the majority being too poor for headstones, such moments are very rare and special. There are no graves for my parents nor grandparents, so the first would be for my great-grandparents.
Old Church Cemetery, Cobh, Cork, Ireland
What I didn't fully appreciate until later is there's also an earlier family grave in this cemetery, where the inscription reads, "Erected by David Jones In memory of his beloved father Thos. Jones Who died Jan. 8th 1873 aged 56 years Also his beloved son Thomas Who died Jan. 8th 1891 Aged 9 years and 3 months And his beloved wife Johanna Who died Feb 18th 1891 Aged 35 years."
St Peter's Churchyard, Uplowman, Devon
Headstone for William White and Ann Francis in need of support (left) |