A Wedding in the News

During my binge on researching old newspapers, I recently came across a report on the wedding of my great aunt, Constance Green, to Cyril Webb in 1909.

The wedding was, but all accounts, quite a major local event in the small village where Constance's father was one of the major local landholders.

The amount of detail recorded in the local newspaper is astonishing.

There a complete list of the bridal party and a detailed description of the bride's and bridemaids' clothes.

Details of the service are included, even with the details of who had decorated the church for the occasion.

The article then goes on to cover the reception that followed the wedding at the bride's home, along with the details of the newlywed's departure for their honeymoon.

There is even a description of the bride's travelling clothes.

The festivities continued after the couple's departure with Constance's parents hosting about 60 people, including employees, the choir and church band along with family members, to a supper on the lawn behind their home.

Finally, there is the list of wedding presents.  Silver, dishes, photo frames, table cloths, the list goes on.  And on.  Every single gift the happy couple received is listed for all to see in the local paper, along with the name of the people who gave them.  Family, friends, neighbors.

Astonishing.  Now I just need to work out who all these people are and how many are related to the bride and groom.

Family Tree UK Magazine

The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Time travel, memories & family history
• Explore the effects of traumatic events on our ancestors
• Curiosity, creativity and genius at the heart of the National Trust’s 2023 plans
• Private collection of Antiques Roadshow expert Henry Sandon to go under the hammer
• Can you help to save Trove? Support a campaign to save the National Library of Australia’s Trove newspaper database, which is threatened with closure later this year
• 2.4 million RAF records available to search online
• New search service for those with French roots
• Audrey Collins: a tribute
• All Change : ancestor money & measurements
• Tips & Tactics to prove your Family Tree is correct
• Acquiring clothes in the pre- and early- industrial age
• Note-taking applications for Family History
• And more...
  

 

Recording Historic Times

Over the past few years we have seen many difficult times, and I recently had a discussion with several fellow Family Historians about how we should record our memories and reactions for the future, so that generations yet to come can see how their ancestors lived through several years of crisis.

Hard on the heels of 2 years of Covid lockdowns, 2022 saw my home area suffer the worst floods in living memory.  While my home itself was not impacted, many friends saw their homes flood, roads and highways were cut, access to services cut, shops closed and like many I came under an evacuation order.  

 From the back windows of the Library where I work, we watched to Murray River flood parkland, the water creeping closer.  The photo above was taken standing at the back of the building - note the levee in the background.  Over several days the water crept higher and we prepared the building for potential flooding. 

This second photo shows the levee to the rear of the first photo as the floodwater rises over the top, flooding the land beyond.  As the water rose the community came together to frantically sandbag homes and businesses, a wonderful show of community spirit in the face of a crisis.

These are memories that need to be recorded as part of our family history.  We have all lived through a global pandemic and lived through or witnessed a number of historic times.  Recording our memories of such major events should be a part of our family history records, for the generations that come after us.

So please, get writing your memories.

Family Histories Podcast Series 4

In the seventh and final episode of Series Four of The Family Histories Podcast, host Andrew meets professional genealogist and author, Simon Last, who tells us why he turned professional and set up shop, about his love for war memorials, his work with The Western Front Association, giving tours of war cemeteries, and how he traces the otherwise abandoned people on old postcards.

 

Simon has chosen to tell the Life Story of his Grandfather Tadeusz Bialosiewicz, the identity of whom he discovered over 20 years ago, as Simon’s mother was adopted in 1949 via the Thomas Coram foundling hospital.

After using some tried and tested research methods of writing a letter and using the telephone, Simon found himself unexpectedly picking up the phone and speaking to his Grandfather for the first time.

What follows is a fantastic story of an adoption reunion going well, and how Simon and his mother, joined her new-found father and his Polish family.

I have greatly enjoyed this series, and hope that it will continue soon with a series 5.