In search of the family

BRANCHING OUT. This week/month I am writing about how branching out, helped me obtain an image of 2x Great Grandfather. My father was an only child and his parents seperated early in his life, leaving his mother embittered throughout her life.  I am sorry to repeat myself here, if you have read my other blog posts where I have mentioned this, but my father really didn't talk about his family and childhood very much. I can hear him now, brushing away any queries, describing them as 'a rum lot.' Talking and meeting with various cousins over the years has helped me understand more about the dynamics within the family. Discovering these cousins, I had obtained images of my grandfather, his parents and of course the wider family. Amongst family photo's I discovered pictures of my father as a child with his mother, his grandmother (my 2x Great Grandmother) on the occassion of her second marriage,but there was a gap - my 2x Great Grandfather:  WILLIAM RICHARD PITTS. I have pre...

  CURIOSITY On reading this weeks theme, my initial thought was that 'curiosity' was a fundamental part of my 'family history,' journey. The stories I have uncovered all stem from personal curiosity, or in my case, 'dog with a bone-itis' to find out more. A list of dates for births, deaths and marriages are all very well, but my interest is trying to establish how these people lived. So which of my ancestors or their wider families is the subject of this weeks post. Well, so many of those 'interesting' ancestors have already been written about, but a few days ago I thought, I wonder if anything has been added on-line about..... ? So this is her story. STELLA CECILIA RUST 1874-1908 Stella was the youngest child of Thomas Parker Rust, a General Medical Practitioner (G.P), and his wife Mary Muir Rust nee Randolph. Whilst she and her siblings were born in London, where her father was working as a surgeon, in later years in partnership with his father in law,...

  RUTH SHAW 1884-1918. Although my intention is to follow the 12 Ancestors in 12 Months version of these themes, I intend to dip in and out of the weekly prompts, when a suitable theme matches an ancestor I have a story for. In 2021, I chose a photograph of my adoptive Grandad's  mother, grandmother, aunt and 2 sisters, 3 generations of women. 52 Ancestors, 52 weeks Week 4 Favourite photo (mypynthdev.blogspot.com) However whilst sorting through my Mum's wardrobe, we found a photograph of her adoptive Grandmother, Ruth Howe, nee Shaw, whilst I would still consider the May women as my favourite photo, this was indeed genealogy treasure. Ruth was one of nine children born to William Shaw, a coal miner and his wife Rosannah nee Heathcock, both of Netherton nr Dudley in the West Midlands. She was born on 2nd April 1885 (National School Admission Register). In 1895, her mother died and Ruth left school education in May of that year, aged 11. by the 1901 census, a 16 year old Ruth is...

  FOUNDATIONS My initial thought when I saw this week/months theme was wouldn't it be great if I had ancestoral links to the late 60's UK soul band, The Foundations. I couldn't name one of their songs but the name lingered in my memory. But no, there are no links there. I then thought about foundation stones, many can be found within Methodist Churches, but I cannot think of anyone within my family that could have such a memorial stone, although my Great Grandfather is said to have started a church in London in the 1880s. But to be honest with you, for this weeks theme I was always going to write about: PHILIP JAY of Cavendish & Long Melford Suffolk 1780 - 1841 who was involved in the manufacture of foundation garments in the early 1800's. Philip was a Stay- Manufacturer. Philip was the eldest son, of those surviving infancy, of Samuel & Mary nee Barnard. He was one of 14 children, although at least 4 of those did not survive to see their first birthday. Philip ...