In search of the family

  Having already written about both pairs of my paternal blood GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. I decided to look at my ancestors who reached a 'great age'.  Although there is no-one who has reached 100, there are several who have reached their 90's. My adoptive Grandmother died aged 96. I am eternally grateful to her doctor who identified 'old age' as the cause of death, with heart failure as a secondary cause. For me, there is something reassurring when you see 'old age' as it implies a life lived rather than disease endured. My Great Grandfather's second wife reached the age of 98, but I am focusing on my 2x Great Grandmother ANN DEANEY nee DEAN , who reached the age of 99. * Note the surname Deaney is often interchanged with the name Daney and documents may be found under either spelling. For the purpose of this blog and ease of reading all sunames are identified as Deaney. ANN DEAN 1855-1954    Ann was the 2nd of 10 children and eldest daughter of William ...

Music is a constant feature in my family history and there are a number of suitable people that I could write about, not least my father, who won a scholorship to the Royal College of Music, London at the age of 11. My paternal Great Grandparents were all members of the Salvation Army so many of them and their children were members of their local Salvation Army band. But for this weeks 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks I am going to write up my 2x Great Grandfather Thomas Pitts. As many of us in the UK discover, our mid 19th century ancestors are Agricultural Labourers or Ag Labs. So we follow them through their descendants baptismal records and the census returns. If we are lucky we may discover them in the local Newspaper, maybe winning a ploughing cup or perhaps being convicted of poaching as they try to put food on their families table. But I am fortunate enough to have an ancestor who over the years has featured more and more online for his social pastime of being a member of the Sherborne...

This is the story of my Great Grandparents, who experienced so much loss within their lives, not least the death of 4 sons before reaching adulthood and ultimately their marriage to each other. WILLIAM RICHARD PITTS , the eldest son of Thomas and Esther Pitts of Sherborne Gloucestershire, b. 11 Sept 1876 married ELIZA DEANEY , the daughter of Frank and Ann Deaney nee Dean of Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire b. 5 April 1878. From the agricultural rural areas of English countryside by 1900,William  had found his way to London, probably to obtain work. On thE 4th August 1900 William and Eliza were married at Eliza's local parish church in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Little Missenden Church British History Online                                                                               ...

  FORTUNE I would love to have a ‘wise woman’ or a ‘7 th child of a 7 th child’ with some sensory leanings within my ancestry, but as far as I know I don’t. As for Fortune favouring the brave, again I am unaware of such a person in the family. Therefore, I am having to fall back onto monetary ‘fortune.’ So, off the top of my I can recall at least 4 or 5 people, who’s fortune at the time of their death would equate to multiple millionaires today. One of whom is a woman and as such deserves her own post within my wider blog under the label ‘All the Single Ladies.’ I have found it a worthwhile pastime following these ladies and their stories, definitely not the archetypal Spinster women left at home to look after their elderly parents, although some of that may have been involved along the way. But I am going to focus on one of 2 Henry Pyes within my Ancestry, Henry Pye of Boughton Malherbe, Kent and later Burgess Hill, Sussex, and Henry Pye of Hoo, uncle and nephew, both am...

  5 x GREAT GRANDFATHER THOMAS PYE YEOMAN OF BREDGAR  OR  ADMIRAL SIR THOMAS PYE?   My 2x Great Grandfather was George Pye (1819-1855), his eldest brother being  Thomas Pye  of Wrinsted, Kent. My 3x Great Grandfather was  Thomas Pye  of Charing, Kent. (1787-1833) spouse Maria Cromp(e) nee Weeks My 4x Great Grandfather was  Thomas Pye  of Bredgar, Kent. (1753-1824) spouse Jane Hudson My 5x Great Grandfather was  Thomas Pye  of Bredgar , Kent. (?-1786) spouse Susannah Spencer It is probable that  Thomas Pye  of Lynsted, Kent, was his father, however at present I have been unable to authenticate this assertion. As you can see there are a lot of Thomas Pye’s, but then with family naming patterns there are significant others in and around the area, the sons of brothers, so sifting through the various Thomas’ within the Kent area is a long job. Muddying the waters is  Admiral Sir Thomas Pye  s...