Week 51 (Dec. 16-22): Good Deeds

The penultimate 52 Ancestors prompt is 'Good Deeds', and has me thinking about how helpful the wider genealogical community can be.

Earlier this week I blogged about the 15th birthday of the Trove website.  Trove is a collaboration between the National Library of Australia and hundreds of partner organisations across Australia that contribute collections and digital content.

Everything you would find on a visit to a library or museum can be found in Trove. It brings together billions of pieces of information. Search for digital copies of newspapers, Government Gazettes, maps, magazines and newsletters. Or books, pictures, photographs, archived websites, music and interviews. Even information about famous Australians, including copies of letters, diaries and personal archives. And it is all available free.

Text correcting has been a part of Trove since its first days, and in Trove’s 15-year history, Voluntrove text correctors has corrected over 513 million lines of text – and this number increases every single day. 

There are a number of other websites out there that help genealogists research their family histories, not to mention the huge number of archives, societies and groups around the world.  There are transcribers and volunteers and researchers who give their time and expertise to help others.  

Countless good deeds.

 

Week 50 (Dec. 9-15): Chosen Family

The theme for Week 50 is "Chosen Family." Family isn't necessarily just those you are genetically related to. What about the special family friends who become "Aunt" and "Uncle"? Special friends who are as close (or closer) than siblings?  Who was chosen to be part of your family?

One such 'Chosen Family' member was William Knox, known to all as Uncle.  For many years Uncle lived next door to my maternal grandmother, a close family friend who attended many family gatherings and took an active interest in my grandmother's children and grandchildren.

Pictured here in 1954, by the time I was born he was quite elderly.  I don't recall Uncle having any family of his own, but every time I visited by grandmother as a young child, a visit to Uncle was a highlight.

My mother could recall visiting Uncle when her parents were busy or ill, childhood trips to the theatre or cinema, or walks to the local shop to buy sweets as a treat.

"Chosen Family" indeed.

Week 49 (Dec. 2-8): Handed Down

There is so much that can be 'Handed Down' by family.  Heirlooms, certainly, but we are also handed down so much more.  Stories are often handed down by generations, family legends that may or may not be 100% accurate.  Traditions are also 'handed down', some of which are common, some cultural and some unique to your family.  Family traits are handed down in our DNA.  Even names can be 'handed down' within the family, used generation after generation.  The list goes on.

I have blogged several times about my family's Christmas traditions, which started last Sunday when my Christmas tree went up and decorating began.  As usual, the tree will stand un-decorated for a week until my cat loses interest, and tinsel will not be used in my decorating as he sees tinsel as a food group (his stomach and vet both disagree).

A few years ago I posted about my experience of my sister and I cleaning out the family home after the deaths of our parents - our father in 2013 and mother in 2015 - and the importance of knowing the stories behind the many treasures tucked away in cupboards and drawers, or out in the shed.

Cleaning out the house, we came across treasures in every corner.  A hand tinted photo of my mother as a child, a box of slides and negatives from early in our parents' marriage, a small garnet brooch that belonged to my great grandmother, a bronze alligator nutcracker made by my grandfather, and so much more. 

Then there is my heirloom garden gnome.  Some family treasures are small, portable and easy to take with you when you move.  Some, like my gnome, are not.  He is about 50 cm tall, and my family purchased two of them for my father's 50th birthday, back in January 1976.  When we sold the family home my sister and I decided we wanted to keep one gnome each.  At the time we first brought them, there was a rash of gnome-napping happening where we lived, with gnomes disappearing from gardens, never to be seen again.  So my father filled the concrete shells with solid concrete, then installed them on concrete plinths about 30 cm in diameter and 10 cm thick, out in our front yard.  They weigh a ton, and needless to say, they have never been successfully 'gnome-napped'.

Then, there is the heirloom hare's foot fern.  The original hares-foot belonged to my grandmother.  Before she passed away, my mother took a cutting from her plant, brought it home and potted it.  It thrived in our greenhouse and by the time my parents passed away it had overgrown its pot, attached itself to the wooden shelf the pot sat upon, and was firmly attached to the shelf.  Clearly it was not moving with me to my new home.  So much as my mother had done, I took a few cuttings, potted them and hoped for the best.

These two little cuttings have thrived.  They quickly outgrew the little pots I had started them in, and have since been transplanted to bigger pots.  They sit, one in my main bathroom and one in a stand in my dining room, and I think of my mother and grandmother whenever I see them.  I have recently taken a new cutting from one of these plants and potted it for a friend.  And so the heirloom hares-foot fern continues the be 'handed down', hopefully for many years to come.

What items do you have tucked away in odd corners that you hope to 'hand down' to the next generation??  Do your children or grandchildren know the stories behind those treasures you have stored away??  If they don't, chances are they will dismiss those items as junk and they will be lost.  If your children don't know the story behind Great Aunt Mary's tea set - or even that the tea set in the shed was Great Aunt Mary's and not something you picked up on a whim at a jumble sale - then they will have no reason to keep it, value it, and ultimately pass it - and its story - on to another generation.

Week 48 (Nov. 25-Dec. 1): Very Funny

Throughout my childhood, my parents were fond of telling stories about their lives and our early years on the sheep station 'Para'.  I loved hearing those stories, and in my late teens started writing them down and checking facts where I could - it is how I got started in family history.  So I thought immediately of several stories in response to the prompt 'Very Funny' this week.

Animals were always a big part of Dad’s life and throughout my childhood a succession of cats, dogs and other animals filled our home.  Dad loved them all, and was particularly close to our cat Lucy, the last pet in our household before Dad's death.  

Lucy was 18.5 years old when she died, and in the last yearss of her life was frequently referred to as the geriatric attack cat.  When my little dog Kiera had died aged 15 a few years previously, Lucy took over her guard dog duties, a task she clearly took very seriously.  Many was the time I looked out our back windows to see Dad walking around his garden, his faithful hound … err cat … at his heels.  As if she understood his failing eyesight, she was always about a metre behind, never in front, never under his feet.  And woe betide any stranger who came near HER DADDY while Lucy was on guard.

I happened to be home the day, a few months before Lucy and then Dad passed away, when an electricity meter reader came to the house.  Dad was asleep on his couch on the front verandah, his cat at his side.  Inside the house I heard a strange voice yell and shot out, to find the meter man retreated off the veranda, Lucy with tail like a bottle brush squarely between him and HER DADDY, and Dad still blissfully asleep.  

Standing on the stones in out driveway, blood trickling down his arm, the man told me what had happened. As he entered the gate and approached the verandah, Lucy woke, sat up and hissed.   When he kept coming she jumped off the couch, fluffed herself up and started to growl.  When he stepped onto the veranda, she flew him, biting, clawing and yowling.  The man quickly retreated, and that's when I came out.  There Lucy stayed, firmly between this stranger and HER DADDY, determined he was not getting any nearer.

In the end I held her while the man edged past, quickly read the meter, and retreated again.  "I’m wary of the dogs," he told me, "but I’ve never been attacked by a cat before!"  Fortunately he saw the funny side, as she had drawn blood and I had visions of her being taken away in kitty sized handcuffs!

Over the next few weeks I relayed the story of the geriatric attack cat several times, and was quite taken aback by the number of other visitors who responded that Lucy had warned them off as well.  Friends, our gardener, delivery people, the lady from the chemist delivering Dad's medicines - everyone commented to me that Dad often never woke up as they went about their business, but that cat watched every move they made!  And fortunately everyone found it 'Very Funny'!

Week 47 (Nov. 18-Nov. 24): Random Number

I was a bit baffled about this week's prompt of 'Random Number' before it was suggested picking a random number between 1 and 100 and blogging about the corresponding person in my family tree.  So I asked a friend to pick a number for me, and it led me to John Thompson Argent, my paternal great great grandfather.

 

John Thompson Argent was born on 3 November 1819 in West Bergholt, Essex, England and baptised 10 December 1819 at St Mary's Church.  His father was also named John Thompson Argent, and his mother was Amy, nee Watts.

John became a corn miller like his father, and he married Emma Noble 29 October 1846 in the nearby city of Colchester.  Emma was born 6 July 1824 in Brightlingsea, some 11 miles from West Bergholt.  The couple lived at Newbridge Mill (pictured below) in West Bergholt (1851-1891 censuses) where their 5 children were all born.

 

The couple's five children - John Thompson Argent (1848 - 1907), Emma Noble Argent (1849 - 1935), Ada Emily Argent (1851 - 1929), Constance Minna Argent (1857 - 1929) and Isabella Mary Argent (1858 - 1936).

John Thompson Argent died 22 January 1894 at his home in West Bergholt and was buried at St Mary's Church, the same church as his baptism, alongside his wife Emma who had died in 1880.

John's youngest daughter Isabella married Walter Proctor Green of Manor Farm, Fordham in 1879.  Their only son, my grandfather Frank, would emigrate to Australia in 1907.

Week 46 (Nov. 11-Nov. 17): Cultural Tradition

Many families have any number of cultural traditions they follow faithfully.  No matter where your family comes from, there will be traditions you will follow.  Some are specific to a particular area or nationality, some are religious, others are created within families and handed down.

Traditions govern much of our daily existence whether we’re aware of them or not. For example, we begin our mornings with some sort of ritual that gets us ready for the day, usually ending with (or involving) breakfast. Millions of people worldwide perform the sacred ritual of preparing coffee, without which, for me, life simply cannot exist. And many holidays are secretly devoted to surviving beloved family traditions so as not to disappoint 'the Family'.

I have previously blogged about Christmas, when my family always observed a traditional gathering.  For me today, Christmas means putting the tree up and decorating the house, cooking turkey and roasting veggies, mince pies and Christmas cake laid on.  Brightly wrapped presents are tucked under the Christmas tree to be opened (one by one with everyone present watching, to prolong the Christmas morning fun).  Some of my Christmas traditions have changed over time.  Tinsel does not feature in my decorations any more after the year my tinsel-obsessed cat caused a rather expensive Christmas day visit to the family vet.  The same cat has also resulted in the rule that my Christmas Tree is put up undecorated for a week until he has lost interest in it.

Halloween in Australia is a rapidly growing tradition, with a growing number of houses in my area decorating and being visited by neighborhood children.  Back when I was younger it was much less popular, and I never went 'trick or treating' as a child back then.

With no young children in my close family, the traditional Easter Egg Hunt no longer features in my life - although I will admit the odd chocolate egg still finds its way into my shopping trolley each year.  Watching the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal remains a feature of my Easter holiday.

Why do we continue to observe these traditions?  Why do I still cook a hot Christmas dinner in the often 40 degree heat of an Australian summer?  But that’s the beauty of tradition. It doesn’t need to be logical or make sense. It just needs to be done. In an increasingly unpredictable world, tradition offers a sense of stability. Tradition.

Week 45 (Nov. 4-Nov. 10): Colorful

The theme for Week 45 is 'Colorful' and I started thinking about all the more colorful ancestors in my tree, and then came across the wonderful hand colored image of my father in his Australian Air Force uniform and promptly became sidetracked. 

This treasure was only discovered when the removalists were loading up my furniture to take to my new house when I sold the old family home back in 2017.  This colored print of my father was taken from a photograph from when he enlisted in the Air Force, during World War 2.  

It is hand colored on cardboard - and had spent who-knows-how-long lying behind a wardrobe in my parents bedroom.  Neither my sister or I can recall ever seeing it, although we are both familiar with the photo from which it is taken (below), and how or when it was created I have no idea.

My next project is to investigate restoring the colored image and having it framed.  I even have the spot for it picked out in my study!

Week 44 (Oct. 28-Nov. 3): Challenging

The prompt for Week 44 is "Challenging", which pretty much describes most aspects of family history research at times.  How to pick just one area upon which to focus?

One aspect of research I find truly challenging is the amount of misinformation and inaccurate research I find out there.  Incorrectly transcribed records, inaccurate original records, outright lies, and poor research skills can cause all sorts of problems for the unwary.

Online trees on any website I find can be full of errors, many of which are perpetuated by other researchers simply copying the incorrect information without  trying to verify it - even without noticing that the information is impossible!

Some of the impossibilities to keep in mind :

• Children cannot be born before their parents. 
• Children cannot be born to a mother who is 6 years old.  Or 94 years old. 
• Children are highly unlikely to be born to a father who is 89 years old.  While this MAY be biologically possible, it is unlikely and deserves a bit of fact checking.
• A child cannot be christened 4 months before they are born. 
• A woman cannot marry 3 years after she has died.
• A man cannot enlist in the army 5 years after he has died.
• Full siblings cannot be born 4 months apart.
• Travel takes time, especially before the age of the airplane.  In 1883 a child could not be born in England and christened in Australia 5 days later.
  

I have seen all of these, and more, in online family trees.  And trying to contact the tree owner to get their errors corrected?  Challenging indeed! 

Week 43 (Oct. 21-27): Lost Contact

During my family history research I have often reflected on the enormous step taken by my ancestors when they migrated to Australia.  Various branches came from England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany, all seeking a new life and leaving behind family, friends and their old homes.

None of my migrating ancestors would ever see those they left behind again.

For whatever their reasons, my original Australian immigrant ancestors made a huge leap of faith to leave their homelands and travel to a distant country, most with little chance of returning to their homeland if their new lives proved less than they hoped.  Settling into a new country is not easy. Immigrants have to adapt to an unfamiliar environment and lifestyle, while maintaining aspects of their previous culture and way of life.

Even maintaining contact could be difficult, or close to impossible.  Not all my ancestors were literate.  How do you maintain contact with family on the other side of the world before telephones and international calls, when the only real way to communicate was by letter?  Not only could it take months for a letter to make its way across the seas, such letters also cost money to post.  Then there would be a wait, possibly for several more months, for a reply to arrive.

There was more difficulty to overcome if either party (or both) lacked reading and writing skills.  In the 1800s when most of my family lines arrived in Australia, literacy levels were low, especially among the poorer classes.  Not all my ancestors who emigrated could read and write, and frequently those left behind in the 'old country' lacked literacy skills themselves.  Perhaps they could have sought assistance in writing to loves ones and reading their replies, but this would have been another cost to pay.  Little wonder so many lost contact.

Week 42 (Oct. 14-20): Full House

The prompt 'Full House' immediately makes me think of the many large families in my family tree, and how many people were often packed into small houses.  In past generations, large families were quite common, with not only numerous children but also extended family often sharing a home.  

While some of my ancestors were fortunate enough to have sizeable homes, those of poorer working class backgrounds often lived in smaller houses of only a few rooms, or even a single room for the whole family.  Children shared beds, and in poorer conditions the whole family would have slept huddled together.  Space was limited and conditions poor.

For my father, the second youngest of 10 children, all of whom survived to adulthood, it was a full house indeed.  Often the family lived in small farmhouses, with only a few rooms.  They moved several times during my father's childhood, but none of the homes the family occupied would be called spacious.

While the eldest children had generally left home by the time the youngest were born, it was still a full house indeed.

Week 41 (Oct. 7-13): Most

The prompt for Week 41 is 'Most', and Like last week's theme of 'Least' it is a prompt that is open to interpretation.  The most children in one family?  The most spouses to one individual?  Most likely to succeed (or fail)?  Most confusing family relationship?

In the end I have chosen a combination of most spouses and most confusing relationship, both titles would have to belong to Thomas May, my 3xGreat Grandfather.  Thomas married a total of 5 times, losing several wives in childbirth.

Thomas May was born 20 September 1762 in West Mersea, Essex and was baptised 16 October 1762 at the church of St Peter and St Paul.  He died on 27 February 1843 in West Mersea and was buried on 7 March 1843.  He outlived all 5 wives.

Wife 1 – Elizabeth Godwin
Born 1763 Thorrington, Essex
Married 27 March 1787 Thorrington, Essex
Died 25 August 1790 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Thomas, Edward

Wife 2 – Sarah Sadler
Born 1775 West Mersea, Essex
Married 1792 West Mersea, Essex
Died 7 January 1799 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Betsey (Elizabeth), Sarah, Hannah, John Tickell

Wife 3 – Henrietta Stevens
Born Unknown
Married 12 May 1801 St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey
Died 2 May 1812 West Mersea
Children – Henry John, Mary

Wife 4 – Susannah Balls Green
Born 7 June 1770 West Bergholt, Essex
Married 10 November 1818 Fordham, Essex
Died 11 February 1828 West Mersea, Essex
Children - Nil

Wife 5 – Mary Ann Pullen
Born 13 October 1791 West Mersea, Essex
Married 9 August 1829 West Mersea, Essex
Died 1838 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Edward, Sophia Mary Ann

It is his 4th wife, Susannah Green (nee Balls), where the relationships become truly convoluted.  Susannah's son Isaac (from her first husband John Green) was married to Thomas's eldest daughter Betsy (Elizabeth).  So Thomas became not only father-in-law but also step-father to Isaac, and his new wife Susannah became mother-in-law and step-mother to Betsy.