Week 16 (Apr. 15-21): Step

The prompt for Week 16 is Step, and it brings to mind the complexity of step families.

Family relationships are not always straightforward.  Especially in small communities, people could be connected in multiple ways, with several intermarriages within the local families.  In my own more recent  tree, I have an aunt and a great aunt who married brothers.  This made the two women not only aunt and niece, but also sisters-in-law.

While years ago divorce and subsequent remarriage was not as common as it is today, often the loss of a spouse resulted in the remarriage of the surviving partner, often for economic necessity.  A widowed woman, especially one with young children, needed the income of a husband as there were few opportunities for women to earn an independent living.  Similarly, a man whose wife has died, perhaps in childbirth, would often remarry quickly in order for his children to have a mother to care for them while he worked.  Given the higher mortality rates of women in childbirth, I have several men who married multiple times, having children with 2 or more different wives.  While this happened with women also, in my own tree at least it is not so common.

Probably the most complex Step relationship I have is that of Thomas May, my 3xGreat Grandfather.  Thomas married a total of 4 times, losing his first three wives in childbirth.  Each time, he remarried within a year of his spouse's death.  It is his 4th wife, Susannah Balls (nee Hart), where the relationships become truly convoluted.  Susannah's daughter (also Susannah) was married to Thomas's second son William.  So Thomas became not only father-in-law but also step-father to Susannah Jr, and his new wife Susannah became mother-in-law and step-mother to William.

Complex Step-families indeed!

Week 15 (Apr. 8-14): School Days

Education for their children was always a priority for my parents.  Neither of them were able to pursue their own educational opportunities, so both were determined their daughters would have the best education possible and establish good careers.

Reading to each other was always something we simply just did in our household.  Stories on a lazy Sunday morning, a book under our pillows at night to read quietly if we woke up early, regular visits to the local library, all were treasured parts of my childhood.

School was taken seriously and my parents regularly attended parent/teacher nights, attended school events and helped out where they could.  Time and space was devoted to homework and study.  The school community was a big part of our lives.

Both my parents left school for economic reasons.  My mother finished her education a few weeks short of her Year 9 Matriculation when her father’s health deteriorated and she had to find work to help keep the family afloat.  My father similarly had his school days cut short in order to start earning a living and help out the family.  Storied of their school days were few.

Cleaning out the family home after my parents passed away gave me new insights into their school days.  Tucked away on an old shoebox in the linen cupboard, I found a box of photos and papers which included all my mother’s school grade photos.  Dated 1935, I found an old school certificate of my father’s for coming second in a relay race.  A photo of my father and some of his siblings in the pony trap driving themselves to school was also in the box.  Precious memories of my parents’ distant school days.

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Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue: 

• Parish registers online Discover where to find parish registers for every region of the UK
• Agricultural shows How agricultural show records can help you find your ancestors
• Reader story My ancestors survived a massacre by Border Reivers
• Victorian crime and punishment What happened to criminal ancestors in the 19th century?
• Surnames Trace the history of your family name online
• Devonshire ancestry How to trace your family history in the county
• And more...
  

 

Week 14 (Apr. 1-7): Favorite Recipe

I have commented before on the family recipe book, primarily created by my sister.  One of the more fun jobs while we were cleaning out the family home was emptying out Mum's recipe drawer.  While the drawer contained a few proper cooking books, and some complete magazines, it was primarily a combination of loose snippets torn or photocopied from old magazines and books, and hand-written recipes from who-knows-where.  Many had notes written on them - things like substitutions of ingredients and notes on who particularly liked the dish.  There were also a number of recipes written out by others and given to Mum - by several different friends and relatives, judging by the assorted handwriting.  She even had a little A5 folder with hand-written favourites stored inside.

Included in that recipe drawer were the details of so many dishes we remembered from our childhoods - some with fondness and some with a shudder!  My sister and I spent an entire afternoon sorting through these scraps of paper, reading them out to each other and sharing our memories.  Yes, there really WAS a recipe for Dixon Street Chicken!  Do you remember Mum's spaghetti and mince casserole?  We also covered a few memorable kitchen disasters, like the time I set fire to the kitchen cooking toast - the pop-up toaster didn't pop and I had stuck my nose in a book, and didn't notice the flames climbing up the kitchen wall.  I have since been forbidden to touch printed material while cooking.  Then there was the time Dad put some eggs on to boil and got distracted by an unfinished project in the garden.  By the time he came inside the pot had long boiled dry and almost burned through the bottom - who knew exploding eggs could travel so far?

Food, cooking and mealtimes are such an important part of our families, and so often discounted.  What was your favourite home-cooked meal as a child?  Do you have the recipe, and do you ever cook it for yourself as an adult??  Do you remember any cooking disasters - either your own or that of another family member?  Having them written down with all our memories and stories attached to each recipe is something I treasure, and such a simple thing to create.  If you a looking for a Family History project, maybe a family recipe book is something to consider.

 

#52Ancestors  

Really Useful Podcast Series 3, Episode 3

Episode 3 of the new series of the Really Useful Podcast is out now! The episode discusses the historical migration of people within Britain, including the kind of movements you might find in your family tree, and how we can research migrating ancestors.

 
The episode is described on the web page :

"People in the past moved about a lot more than we might think. In this episode our guests discuss the historical migration of people within Britain, including the kind of movements you might find in your family tree, what this can tell us and how we can research migrating ancestors.

Joe is joined by Janet Few, historical researcher, writer, speaker and President of the Family History Federation;  Jane Hough, amateur genealogist and blogger and Gill Thomas, professional family historian specialising in Welsh records and chair of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives."

New Titles on Trove

The titles below have recently been digitised and made available in Trove. Note that the year range listed for each title is an indication of what's currently available in Trove, and not always the full year range the item was published.

New Victorian Titles

• Benalla Standard (1932-1940) 
• Essendon and Flemington Chronicle (1882-1894)
• Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (1888-1900) 
• Essendon Gazette (1900-1905) 
• Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (1905-1913) 
• Gippsland Farmers' and Glengarry, Toongabbie and Cowwarr Journal (1923)  
• Hampden Guardian and Western Province Advertiser (1871-1872; 1874-1877) 
• Healesville Guardian and Yarra Glen Guardian (1900) 
• Journal: Glengarry, Toongabbie and Cowwarr journal (1923-1929)
• Lawloit Times (1910-1929)
• Ouyen Mail and Central Mallee Advertiser (1911-1913)
• Ouyen Mail (1919-1930)
• The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954; 1956)
• Sunraysia Daily (1937-1942) 
• Western Press and Camperdown, Colac, Mortlake and Terang Representative (1866-1867; 1870)
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Lake Rowan, Tungamah and Mulwala News (1882) 
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Mulwala News (1882-1892, 1894-1897) 
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Southern Riverina Advertiser (1897-1905, 1920-1927)

Week 13 (Mar. 25-31): Worship

Religion has played a major role in the lives of our ancestors, and how they chose to worship had the potential to impact their lives in many different ways.  The church, faith and religion were central to the lives of so many, and had the potential to impact where people lived, how they earned a living, who they married, even whether they could own land or work in certain professions.

My 3xGreat grandparents Carl Friedrich (Frederick) and Susetta Beseler made the momentous decision to leave their homeland and emigrate to Australia.  Large numbers of Germans emigrated to Australia and the United States, mainly for economic and religious reasons. Many emigrants were of the Lutheran faith.

The Lutheran Church in Australia had begun in 1838 with the arrival of about 500 migrants from Prussia, led by their Pastor, August Kavel. They were sponsored personally by George Fife Angas of the South Australian Company, who had taken pity on their religious plight and the persecution they were facing in Prussia and other areas of the Germanic Federation.

In Essex, England, the Fordham All Saints church was originally built in approximately 1340 and restored in 1861.  In 1965 it was designated a Grade 1 listed building.  It was my father's family church for many generations and their home was only a short walk away.

As in many small villages, the Church was at the centre of village life.  Many of the records I have for my family centre around the church - baptisms, weddings, funerals, Sunday School, fundraising and poor relief - and several such events were not only to be found in the church records but also reported in local newspapers, such as the funeral above.

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