Week 18 (Apr. 29-May 5): Love and Marriage

This week’s theme of ‘Love and Marriage’ closely echoes, for me, the previous theme of ‘Step’.

Throughout history, love and marriage has never been straightforward.  Marriage was often a necessary transaction which had little to do with love, and more to do with economics, bloodlines and necessity.

Frequently the death of a spouse had life-changing consequences for the family left behind.  A woman, the death of her husband could mean the loss of his income and protection.  A widow could be left virtually destitute, with little or no inheritance of her own, struggling to raise children without means to find employment to support them.  Remarriage could be an economic necessity, especially if she did not have family nearby who were willing – and financially able – to support or take in her and her children.

For a man, the loss of a wife could also be difficult.  Becoming a widower could leave him with young children he would struggle to look after, especially if he had to keep working.  Perhaps a spinster or widowed sister or cousin might be available to step in and help, or he might have the funds to hire a housekeeper and nanny.  Again, a swift remarriage could be a necessity to provide someone to care for the house and children while he was working.

Such marriage and remarriage could result in very tangled family lines.  In last week’s Step I wrote about my 3xGreat Grandfather Thomas May, who married 4 times, with his final wife being the widowed mother-in-law of one of his daughters.  A complex relationship in my family tree.

Another complex relationship was that of my Aunt, Mavis Pummeroy, and Aunt Thelma Clark.  Mavis, born in 1924, married Ernest Horton on the 15^th of September 1947.  Her Aunt Thelma, born in 1914, had married Clarence Horton, Ernest’s brother, on the 6^th of April 1935.  Thus these two women were not only aunt and niece, but also sisters-in-law.  Love and marriage could create complex relationships indeed!

On the Record at the National Archives

Latest episode of On the Record just dropped! 

'Pauper Voices' brings together findings from a major research project into the lives of the poor, 1834 - 1900. Hear unique testimony from a group whose voices are often absent from history.

 
The podcasts is described by the site "It's often impossible to find direct accounts of poor people in the historical record, especially the further back you look. But an extraordinary collection containing thousands of letters written by people in poverty between 1834 and 1900 provides an insight into their lives.  In this episode, Chloe Lee speaks to specialist Paul Carter about letters held by The National Archives which were addressed to the Poor Law Board, the British central poor law authority. Together they use these accounts to glimpse into the factories, the workhouses and slums in which so many vulnerable people lived out their lives.  This podcast is based on the research In Their Own Write, a major AHRC-funded project, running from 2018 to 2021, which uses letters from paupers and other poor people, and associated manuscript material such as petitions, sworn statements and advocate letters (those written on behalf of paupers) to investigate the lives of the poor between 1834 and 1900. The Project was led by Professor Steve King (Nottingham Trent University) and Dr Paul Carter, (The National Archives).

This series of podcasts is brought to you by the National Archives UK.

Anzac Day

Week 17 (Apr. 22-28): War

Russell Nicholas Clark, WW2

The prompt for Week 17 is War, and as the world watches the devastation of war in Ukraine and in Israel ans Palestine, the tragic reality of war is right in front of our eyes.  Living in Australia, so relatively isolated and seeing so little major conflict strike our shores, it truly hits home how fortunate we have been.

 

My family was extremely lucky, in both world wars and other conflicts, to have most of those who served not only come home, but come home fairly unscathed.  One second cousin was killed in France in World War 1 ; one uncle died in the Merchant Navy in World War 2.  All the other relatives who served – my father, uncles and great-uncles and more recently several cousins - returned safely to their loved ones.  While they all had to live with the memories of the conflicts, they were mostly uninjured by their experiences and able to rebuild their civilian lives. 

Leonard Clark, WW2

 

So many others were not so fortunate.  Numerous Australian families endured the loss of loved ones on foreign soil, or the return of family members forever scarred by their service.  So many who returned faced a lifetime of ruined health or years of recovery and rehabilitation.  My family has been lucky indeed.

 

ANZAC has very much become a part of our national vocabulary.  Many of the people who lived though that campaign were ordinary volunteers, just as Australia’s current veterans were ordinary volunteers.  They put their daily lives on hold to serve and protect us all, most with very little clear idea of just what they were volunteering for.  Even as a young child I was taught the significance of ANZAC Day, attended services, and spent my pocket money on ANZAC Day badges, many of which I still have in a container at home, which I still add to annually.

Ernest Green, WW2 postcard from Egypt

Through the National Archives of Australia I have downloaded several family WW1 records and ordered those from WW2 -  the NAA has indexed and digitised Boer War and World War 1 dossiers, which you can search and view online for free. World War II dossiers have been indexed but will only be digitised if a family member has requested it.  Other websites include Discovering Anzacs Whichallows you to add your stories and images, and the Australian War Memorial, which has databases like the WW1 Embarkation Rolls and WW1 Red Cross files.  Researching  newspaper reports in Trove has also been a gold mine, with news of enlistments, farewells, news from the front, even a few letters home were published in local papers.

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 :  

• How’s it going, genealogy-wise?!
• RootsTech roundup 2024
• Mapping the Development of a Place Through Time
• How Should We Deal With Our family secrets?
• Family History of the AI Era
• Bogus Coats of Arms
• Pull -out & keep bow-tie chart
• DNA TEST comparison guide
• The Ulster Historical Foundation
• Stranger than Fiction : you can’t believe everything you read in the papers
• Photo corner
• Your Questions Answered
• Diary Dates
• Your letters 
• And more...

 

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.

#52Ancestors