2020 52anc. Wk 9: Rose Hannah HAYNES (1874-1958)

Rose Hannah HAYNES, one of my paternal great grandmothers, was born on the 20th December 1874, the daughter of George HAYNES and Caroline HARRIS.  At the time, the family were living at 16 Henry Street, St Mary, Cardiff, Glamorganshire.

By the time of the 1881 census, the family were living in Bromyard, Herefordshire - which is where both of Rose Hannah's parents had been born.  What they were doing in Cardiff at the time of her birth is currently unknown and mobility is always an interesting subject, so I'll try researching that when I consider her parents as a couple.

These are the 1881 census details:
[Class: RG11; Piece: 2601; Folio: 30; Page: 11;]
Bromyard, Herefordshire
Brick Clamp

Geo. Haynes, Head, Mar, 25, Ag Labourer, Herefordshire Bromyard

Caroline Haynes, Wife, Mar, 27, Herefordshire Bromyard

Rosannah Haynes, Daur, 6, Scholar, Cardiff

Albert Haynes, Son, 4, Herefordshire Bromyard

George Haynes, Son, 3, Herefordshire Bromyard

Emma Haynes, Daur, 1, Herefordshire Bromyard

So it is clear the family moved back to Bromyard relatively soon after Rose Hannah's birth and a baptism entry for "Rosanna Haynes", with the parents George and Caroline, took place in Bromyard on the 8 Nov 1875, so it is possibly safe to assume they had moved back by then.

Further siblings arrived in the years before the next census and I imagine Rose Hannah helped around the house and with her younger siblings. However, by 1891 she is out at work, as a domestic servant:

1891 census
[Class: RG12; Piece: 2070; Folio: 30; Page: 4; ]
Much Cowarne, Herefordshire, England
Leighton Court
(The DENT family, a farmer, with his wife and six children aged between 13 - 19)
Rose HAYNES, Serv, S, 19, General Servant Domestic, Wales Cardiff

I haven't just assumed that this is the correct entry, especially given the couple of years discrepancy on her age.  However, whilst searching on Ancestry for Ros* Haynes, +/-5 years of her birth year, and no birth place specified, does produce a number of results, none of them look likely to be an entry for "my" Rose Hannah in 1891, nor is there any person in the other years', or database, results, who could be this one in 1891.  So, at the moment, my conclusion is that either she had added a few years to her age, or there was just a mistake in recording it.  There are some other age variations across the various records for the family, which I shall look into in the future.

Her parents and siblings are still living at Brick Clamp in Bromyard in 1891:

[Class: RG12; Piece: 2069; Folio: 26; Page: 9;]
Brick Clamp, Bromyard
George Haynes, Head, M, 35, General Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Caroline Haynes, Wife, M, 38, Machinist, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Albert Haynes, Son, S, 16, Agricultural Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
George Haynes, Son, 14, Agricultural Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Emily Haynes, Daur, 13, Scholar, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Henry Haynes, Son, 8,  Scholar, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Ann Haynes, Daur, 5, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Jane Haynes, Daur, 3, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Ernest Haynes, Son, 2, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Florence Haynes, Daur, 7mo, Herefordshire, Bromyard

Rose Hannah HAYNES married George THOMAS in the Bromyard parish church, on the 25th December 1895.  Their married life, and descendants, will be the topic for my next post.

2020 Week 7: 52 Ancestors - and their descendants. John PARRY & Rosina PREECE

One of the lessons I learnt quite quickly, when I began using DNA as a tool for researching my family history, was that I couldn't limit my research in the way that my parents had.

For my father, his goal was to trace the direct lines back. Yes, he would use information about any siblings if it helped him to identify the 'right' line, but those siblings were never a focus in his research.

My mother was more interested in family life.  How many siblings did her ancestor have? What was life like for the family growing up?  And how did that mother cope with ten children?  (Answer, as supplied by the aunt with ten children - "It's all right, after the first couple, the oldest bring up the rest" )

Now that I am making use of DNA results in the research process, I realised that the people who make up our DNA match lists (if genuine, genealogical matches, which they might not always be) have to be descendants of our ancestors, ie in order to trace our connection, it is not enough to just know who the siblings of our ancestors were, sometimes we might have to follow them down through several generations in order to arrive at our DNA matches.

Which is why, as well as posting about my direct ancestors in this series, after each couple, I will include a post about their other children and any generations beyond that, that I know about - subject to any privacy considerations regarding living people, of course.

For close generations, as in the case of my great grandparents, John PARRY & Rosina Louisa PREECE, we hit the privacy limit quite quickly.

John and Rosina had two children, my grandfather, Donald, and his sister, Rosina Jane, who was always known as "Aunty Joan" by my Dad's generation. Sadly, their mother Rosina Louisa died after giving birth to Rosina Joan and so it is unlikely I will ever find any records showing the whole family together.  John also died quite young so the children, aged 13 and 14, were sent to live with separate relatives.

But, despite such beginnings, the known descendants of John and Rosina have numbered over eighty five people, spread across four generations. They aren't all living any more but, even so, I think that's an impressive legacy, from such a short marriage.

A few of the descendants of John and Rosina have taken DNA tests and show up as matches to me at the levels which would be expected for such close relatives.  It is very useful having such relatives in the DNA databases, as they make it possible to narrow down which lines of my ancestry any shared matches are likely to connect to:

 

How DNA tested close relatives can help in identifying connections to shared DNA matches

2020 52Anc. Wk 6: Rosina Louisa PREECE (1882 - 1905)

Bridge Cottage, Mordiford, Herefordshire. (1901 census location)

One of the reasons for taking up the "52 ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge in the way that I am doing it - effectively "auditing" the information I have on each person - is to finally make some headway with the "Do-over" that I started in 2015.  I have a lot of documents and files relating to my family history, but many of them were produced, or obtained, by my parents, rather than by me.  So the Do-Over is a good opportunity for me to "start again" from myself, to ensure my research is on a proper footing, and that everything is recorded properly. It is also a way for me to get to 'know' my ancestors, as well for me to add any additional information now available since my parents did their research.

This process of going through everything is bringing to my attention information that I had missed when just looking at Dad's family tree file. 

Rosina Louisa PREECE, my Dad's paternal grandmother, was born 18 January 1882, in Park Street, Hereford.  Her parents were Charles PREECE, a draper, and Jane, formerly TAYLOR.

I had not realised that Rosina's birth was actually registered with the names "Rosa Louisa", although later documentation, (two census records, her marriage certificate, her two children's birth certificates, and her death certificate) all refer to her as Rosina.

Something else I had not noticed - the birth was registered on the 4th March 1882, over six weeks after the event.

The informant for the birth registration was a Susan NICHOLAS, who lived in Conningsby Street, and who is described as having been present at the birth.   When I first saw who registered the birth, I just wondered, was Susan a friend or a relative?  To be trusted to register the event, I suspected she was more than just a casual acquaintance - but then again, it did seem odd that she might have made a mistake about the name.

Once I noticed how long it had taken for the birth to be registered, I wondered if I had got this wrong. Perhaps it is more likely that Susan was a local woman who regularly attended women during childbirth - effectively an untrained midwife.  It was the responsibility of someone present to register the birth and, if Susan was acting as a midwife and she then passed on to the Registrar a list of babies she'd attended in this "semi official" capacity, that might make more sense regarding the late registration and the name discrepancy.

A Susan Nicholas does appear in Hereford in the 1871 - 1891 censuses, although not living in Coningsby Street.  She's the wife of a Joseph Nicholas, who was a sawyer.  There's no occupation shown for Susan, but that's probably not unsurprising, since midwifery wasn't legally recognised until 1902.

I wonder if it's possible to check whether there are many other children whose births were registered by Susan?

But back to Rosina....

Rosina was the second known child of Charles and Jane, the first being William Charles PREECE, who was born in Hereford in 1870.  Since there are almost twelve years between the births of the two children, one wonders at the family circumstances - the father, Charles, is present with Jane in the 1871 census but, in the 1881 census, Jane is the head of the household in Park St., working as a laundress but still shown as being married.

In the 1891 census, Rosina and her mother, Jane, now widowed, appear in Norton, Radnorshire.  The address is "The Laundry", but the enumeration schedule number is 26A, with number 26 being described as "Gardener's Cottage".  Based on the enumerator's marks, as well as this numbering, I suspect the cottage and laundry were the same property. The building appears to have been part of the Boultibrooke estate of the Jones-Brydges family and, since Jane's occupation is given as a domestic laundress, it seems likely she was working for that family.

By 1901, the family are living in Bridge Cottage, Mordiford, Herefordshire.  In the census for that year, as well as Rosina Louisa, aged 19, and her mother Jane Elizabeth, there is a child, Ethel Kate PREECE, aged four, who is described as a daughter to Jane.  However, since Ethel Kate was born in Abertillery, Monmouthshire, she is more likely to be one of the daughters of Jane and Charles' son, William Charles PREECE and would be the grandchild of Jane.

Rosina married John PARRY, at the parish church in Mordiford, on the 16th April 1903.  John was 37, Rosina was 21.  Her father, Charles PREECE, is not shown as deceased on the certificate but, from the 1891 and 1901 census entries, where her mother is shown as widowed, it appears he was (or certainly was nowhere to be seen!) The witnesses were her brother, William Charles PREECE, and John's brother-in-law, Thomas Daniel SMALLMAN.

John and Rosina had two children, one of which was my grandfather, Donald.  Sadly, Rosina died after giving birth to her second child, a daughter, her death caused by "flooding collapse" two hours after the delivery, followed by cardiac failure 16 days later.  She was just 23 years old. 

John PARRY was with her when she died.  One can only imagine the impact the death of his young wife would have had on him. 

I'm sure many of you have similar tragedies in your family history.  How lucky we are these days, to have our modern medical care, which reduces the numbers of such incidents.





Sources
1871 census: (Rosina's parents, Charles & Jane, with brother, William Charles, staying with Jane's parents, William and Mary TAYLOR) Class: RG10; Piece: 2699; Folio: 60; Page: 39;
1881 census : (Rosina's mother, Jane, and brother, plus visitor/boarders) RG11; Piece: 2594; Folio: 83; Page: 41;
1891 census: Class: RG12; Piece: 4581; Folio: 18; Page: 5;
1901 census: Class: RG13; Piece: 2478; Folio: 60; Page: 4;

Census entries for a possible Susan NICHOLAS:
1871 (Green St, St Owen, Hereford) Class: RG10; Piece: 2698; Folio: 66; Page: 39;
1881 (Gaol St, St Owen, Hereford) Class: RG11; Piece: 2595; Folio: 85; Page: 6; G
1891 (Hunts Cottage, All Saints, Hereford) Class: RG12; Piece: 2061; Folio: 94; Page: 7;


First Midwives Act 1902 - https://memoriesofnursing.uk/articles/midwifery-in-britain-in-the-twentieth-century
Enumerators marks:  A single diagonal line is used between households, or families, within the same building, and double diagonal lines are used between buildings.

2020 52Anc. Wk 5: John Parry (1865 - 1918)

The theme for Week 5 of the 2020 '52 ancestors in 52 weeks' was "So Far Away" and, because I am now moving on to ancestors that I didn't know personally, that seems applicable as, historically, they are so far away from me!

This post is about John PARRY, my great grandfather.  Since he died in 1918, when his son, my grandfather Donald, was only 14, none of my father's generation knew John either, so there are very few stories passed down about him and what I know is being reconstructed from the records.

John was born on the 3rd September 1865, in Glynfach, Breconshire, according to the birth certificate, although his birthplace is often recorded in census records as "Capel-y-ffin".  He was the second son of Thomas PARRY and Sarah, formerly JONES.  His siblings were Thomas, Elizabeth, and Lewis.

The first census John appears in is 1871, when the family is living in Llanelen, Monmouthshire.  Sadly, John's mother, Sarah, and his brother, Lewis, had already passed away and the family were living with John's grandmother, Anna PARRY (frequently recorded as "Hannah" but not in this census).  John's uncle, James PARRY, aged 23, was also living there.

In 1881, John is living with his grandparents, William and Hannah JONES, in Tyndrain, Glynfach, Breconshire, where he is recorded as a Farmer's son, working with his grandfather.

I've struggled to identify John in the 1891 census.  However, my Dad did think that, at some stage, John travelled across to America as a cattle man.  It is possible that this explains my inability to find him in this census, and "John Parry" is just too common a name for me to identify him amongst records such as passenger lists etc, at the moment.

However, by 1901, John is living in Holmer, Hereford, with his occupation as a "Cattle Dealer".  He is still single but living with him is his sister-in-law, Mary PARRY, and her three children, Eleanor, Elizabeth, and Walter.  Although Mary is recorded as married, unbeknown to them, she had been widowed by then.  John's brother, Thomas, had been killed in July 1900 in South Africa, during the Boer War.

John married Rosina Louisa PREECE, on the 16 April 1903, in Mordiford, Herefordshire.  Their first child, Donald, was born in Mordiford, their second, Rosina Jane, in Cornewall Street, Hereford.

Sadly, Rosina died having given birth to their second child and John was left to bring up the two children on his own, no doubt with assistance from friends and relatives.

One of Amy Johnson Crow's prompts for this week's topic was "Maybe you found an ancestor far from where you expected?".  And, yes, I think John's 1911 census entry fits that description, although not because of distance - but because he is in Hereford Gaol!

That certainly was far away from the situation I expected him to be in, as a widowed father of two, in employment as a cattle dealer (and no, there's no hints of "rustling"!)

I am still piecing together the full story of his stay in prison, so I am not going to write more about that at the moment.  But just to say, for now, that I imagine nine months in prison must have had quite an impact on John and his two young children who, at that time, were aged just seven and five.

However, I know from Poll Books for 1910 and 1912 that John Parry was living at 104 Widemarsh Street, Hereford, both before and after his time in prison.  This is the address where his children were boarding in 1911, so clearly a level of stability was maintained for them while their father was absent.  The description of the rooms occupied shows "Bedroom, first floor, sitting room, ground floor, furnished". 

The Landlord (or, at least, the person to whom the rent was paid), was a Charles OLDACRE.  Charles Edward OLDACRE is also the Head in the 1911 census, living in the property with his wife and three children of their own.  There are also another two adult boarders.  Charles is occupied in "horse dealing" and one of the other boarders is a "stock dealer".

The photograph below is not of the relevant house, but just one I took in 2011.  At the time, I didn't have all the details I do now about John's addresses, but I knew that 'Widemarsh Street' was an address my Dad had mentioned, so it seemed like a good idea to photograph the sign showing the name.

A corner of Widemarsh Street, Hereford, photographed in 2011

John passed away on the 21st November 1918, aged just 53.  His address at the time was 18 Newmarket Street, Hereford, and the informant was an M A FRANCIS, described as a step-niece, who was present at the death. 

The causes of death were given as "morbis cordis" and "syncope".  My Dad obtained the certificate and appears to have asked what the causes meant since, stored with the death certificate, is a response stating that morbis cordis is heart failure, and that this would have been the most likely term to put if John had died as a result of a general weakness following 'flu'.  The syncope means 'fainting' - although, as the respondent says "I never knew it was fatal!"

Whether John had suffered from the flu of 1918, or whether there were other factors which caused his death at such an age, I will probably never know.  Following his death, I believe the two children were sent to live with other relatives, Rosina possibly in Hereford but later in London, and Donald to the Rowlestone area of Herefordshire.

I don't know exactly what John's occupation as a cattle dealer involved - but writing this reminded me of the shows my family visited when I was young so I thought I would end with a cattle photograph, probably taken in the early 1960s, more than likely at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern.

Cattle parade, photographed approx. 1965

1871 census: Class: RG10; Piece: 5311; Folio: 28; Page: 9; 
1881 census: Class: RG11; Piece: 5470; Folio: 71; Page: 1
1901 census: Class: RG13; Piece: 2482; Folio: 90; Page: 32
1911 census: Class: RG14; Piece: 15712; Schedule Number: 215

2020 52Anc. Wk 4: Maud Emily Alice DOWDING

Let me introduce you to my grandmother, Maud Emily Alice DOWDING.  This photograph of her was taken in 1915, when she was aged 19.

She was born on the 7th September 1896, the fourth of seven children to Charles Henry DOWDING and Minnie Louisa HARRISON.  Her siblings were Charles Christopher George, Horace Charles, Minnie Ellen, Glencoe Roberts, Ethel Sophia, and Rose Harriet.  Five of the children, including Maud, were christened at Saint Anne's, Westminster, Middlesex, England, in Maud's case, on the 27 Sep 1896.  The other two children were christened in Lambeth.

I don't know much about Maud's childhood or upbringing.  Although I have not found school details for her, she signed her own name on her marriage certificate, and as a witness for the marriage of at least one of her siblings, so she clearly had some level of education.  But, in 1901, neither of the two children at home (Charles aged 8, and Maud, recorded as "Emilie", aged 4) were shown as being at school - but then nor were any children on nearby schedules, so perhaps the enumerator only noted occupations.

From my mother's accounts of her own upbringing, Maud didn't appear to value education very much - at least, not for a girl - as Nana didn't seem very bothered about sending Mum to school on time!  My grandfather worked nights, delivering newspapers, and it appears Maud often kept my mother up in the evenings for company and then they didn't get up early in the morning, so as not to disturb Grandad.

As a result, in order to avoid being told off for being late, Mum would then skive the rest of the morning school, frequently just playing in the park, and turn up for the afternoon session instead - assuming, of course, that when she went home for lunch, Maud actually had some food in and didn't need to go to the shops first.

If that was the case, well, that was a whole day off school!

In 1911, Maud, aged 15, is shown as working in a "Tobaca Factory".  It seems likely she remained at the same factory until her marriage to John William Frederick ALLEN in 1926, since she is described on her marriage certificate as a "Tobacco stripper", and the family were still living at 27 Pratt Street, Lambeth, where they had been in 1911.

Maud and John on their wedding day in 1926

Once married, John and Maud moved out to a council house in Dagenham and, five years later, my mother was born.  I think the following picture, with 'Jack', the family dog, would have been taken at around that time.

Maud passed away on the 12th March 1971.

Sources
Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line].
Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917 [database on-line]
1901 Class: RG13; Piece: 101; Folio: 7; Page: 6
1911 Class: RG14; Piece: 1965

2020 52Anc. Wk 3: John William Frederick ALLEN (or was it John Frederick William ALLEN?)

This post is about my grandfather, John William Frederick ALLEN.  There's so much to record about the ancestors we actually knew, and I am already behind with the "52 ancestors in 52 weeks" so I am going to keep this fairly short and just introduce the key facts.  I am sure I shall be returning to John many times!

John William Frederick ALLEN, with 'Jack'

John was born on 17 February 1892, in Bethnal Green, London.

He was the second of four children to John Prosser ALLEN jnr and Caroline NAYLOR.  His siblings were Amelia Bessie, Albert Edward and Robert.

Their names caused some confusion for my mother, when she first began her family history research.  Amelia had always been "Aunty May", and her uncles had always been referred to as "Bert" and "Bob".  It might seem obvious now which is which but, when starting from the shortened versions, especially "Bert", which can represent several names, the early research was not easy.

And, of course, they are all common first names.  Combined with a fairly common surname, as well, identifying the correct civil registration entries was quite a problem for Mum - in fact, it is only since the advent of the GRO's own online indexes, with the inclusion of mother's maiden names before 1911, that I have finally managed to identify Albert's birth registration.

Even my mother's Dad's name caused her an issue when she was younger - it was discovered that, whilst he always seemed to be known as "John William Frederick" and that is what is on my grandparents' marriage certificate, his birth certificate actually shows his name as "John Frederick William".

Thinking that this might mean the marriage was not legal, I gather Mum asked, "Does that make me a b......?"

She told me that comment earned her a "clip round the ear"!

We all have our own perspectives on other people, based on our experiences.  To me, my grandfather was a happy man - in all the photographs, he seems to be smiling and having a good time.  I have memories of him and others together in my grandparents' house, larking around on an out of tune piano, (frequently singing a song that involved “more beer”!)

He passed away in 1967, when I was still a child.

So it was only when I was older, speaking to Mum about her experiences growing up, that I learnt about other aspects of his life and possibly why there might have been more to the "more beer" song.

Grandad fought in the 1st World War.  He had actually enlisted before the war, in 1909 and served with the Colours for three years before being transferred to the Reserve.  He was then mobilised and served again from 1914 - 1919.  For some reason, he was recalled to the Colours again in 1921 and served for another five months. 

At some stage, he met his first wife, although he didn't marry her until their son was almost four.  Sadly, she died in 1918, of TB, barely nine months after the wedding.  John was serving in Salonika at the time - Mum believed he did try to get home, but was told by his officer "there's no point, she'll be dead by the time you get there".  And when he asked what would happen to his son, he was reportedly told not to worry - he'd be put into an orphanage!

Fortunately, John's son was not put into an orphanage, but looked after by John's parents - but would it be any surprise if Grandad felt bitter towards those in charge?

I don't know when John met my grandmother, Maud Emily Alice DOWDING, but they were married in 1926.  My mother was their only child.  She's passed on a few stories of her childhood, being brought up by 'older' parents, and effectively as an only child, since her half brother was seventeen years older than her.  But they can wait until another time.

John William Frederick ALLEN with his daughter.

52 Ancestors Week 1: Fresh Start(s)

Soon after our children were born, we gave my parents one of those Grandparents books - you probably know the sort of book I mean, containing questions about their lives, as children, growing up, and on into middle age.  After each question, there's a blank space, which they are supposed to fill in with lots of interesting detail about the times that we, as their children, have no experience or recollection of (after all, parents are often 'old', or even deceased, by the time we think of asking such questions.)

I remember my disappointment, after my father passed away, when I discovered that the blank spaces were all still blank (even though he had been a family historian!) 

Fortunately for me, there are records and artefacts that shed light on a few of the things they did.  For example, my Mother recorded all of addresses she'd lived in, in her bible.  My Dad also had made use of the end of a kitbag, in order to record the places he'd been stationed at:

I used the details from the kitbag to plot a couple of maps - first of the European detail:

And then to show further afield as well:

Looking at Mum's bible, I can see that, from the time my brother was born, my family lived in eleven different UK addresses, and two (relatively) permanent addresses in Singapore, as well as four temporary guest houses whilst travelling to and from Singapore.

We probably didn't travel as much as some service families but, even so, that's a lot of "Fresh Starts" that had to be made, with new surroundings, new schools, new friends etc. 

But I wouldn't want to change any of it!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2 - Favourite Photo

(I think I'm going to be interpreting the week numbers loosely in this series!)

Week 2's prompt was "Favorite Photo." -  Tell the story of the people, place, and event in a favourite photo. Where did the photo come from? Who has the original now? How did you get a copy of it?

It's difficult to choose one favourite photograph, amongst all the thousands I have but, in keeping with my aim of working through my ancestors systematically this year, I've chosen this one:

These are my paternal grandparents, Donald PARRY and Elsie THOMAS.  The photograph was taken at a party to celebrate a special wedding anniversary.  It's the first in a series of photographs that gradually expand through the family, to include their children, children's spouses, grandchildren and then, finally, everyone who was at the party.  Including the piano player who, according to a story told to me years later, just happened to be someone in the pub at the time who was able to play the piano!

I don't think there is one 'original' print of the photograph - all of the main family members had copies.

In this post, I'm focusing on my grandfather, who was born on 3rd February 1904, in Mordiford, Herefordshire, the son of John PARRY and Rosina Louisa, formerly PREECE.  Donald was baptised on 17 April 1904 - I was rather surprised when I first found that baptism entry on the British Vital Records cds, as it was less than 100 years old at the time.  But thanks to that surprise, which led me to enthusiastically show the entry to my mother, and then randomly decide to search for one of her "brick wall" ancestors, we solved that brick wall of hers!  (I'll save the details of who that was, for when I tell that ancestor's story.)

Donald had one sister, Rosina Jane, who was born in Hereford on 5th April 1905.  Sadly, their mother, Rosina Louisa, passed away sixteen days after giving birth to her daughter.

One can only imagine what Donald's early life must have been like, having lost his mother so young.  Or how their father coped with the two infants, whilst also trying to earn a living.  I suspect other members of the family may have helped out, but actual evidence for what happened is in short supply.  Perhaps there were 'non-family' carers involved - there has to be some explanation for the anomalies I found in the local school records.  On the 3rd February 1908, Donald was admitted into All Saints Infants School but the school registers show his father's name as Donald Martin Parry, rather than as John, and Donald himself is recorded as Donald in one register and Albert Donald in another.

Although his sister was over a year younger than Donald, she is admitted to the infants school just three months after Donald, in May 1908.  Was this as a result of a difficult home situation?

There are errors in her school admission entry, as well, with the father's name recorded as Donald Martin again and her birth date entered as the 19th April, rather than the 5th.  She is also named Jane, rather than Rosina - but I do know she was called 'Joan' throughout her later life, so potentially this is not an error, but the name used for her from infancy.

One of my aims of following the 52ancestors series is to help me organise and record the information I currently have on my family.  But it also serves to indicate where more research is required. And clearly there is a need to investigate these errors in the school records further, if possible, so I have added an item to my Research Log, to look for any school log books which might reference the family and clarify the details on the admission registers.

I don't have any major concerns about the errors though, as the address for the entries, 104 Widemarsh Street, ties in with where Donald and 'Jane' appear in the 1911 census, with their names as per their birth certificates:

However, the 1911 census provided me with a mystery, which you might have noticed - where is their father, John PARRY?

He wasn't actually difficult to find.  What was more difficult was identifying why he was where he was - since he was in Hereford Gaol!

I'll save the full story (or as much as I currently know of it) for when I write about John.  But, just to avoid too much suspense, he was jailed on the 24 March 1911, by the Sheriff's Court, for 'Contempt of Court'.  And he wasn't released until the 9th December 1911.

Donald remained at the infants school until March 1912, when he transferred to the 'senior school'. Since he was only aged 8, I assume the 'senior school' was what we would now call a Junior School.  It was possibly "St Owens Council School" as, in 1914, Donald was awarded a prize from there, for regular attendance:

The book was Treasure Island and Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson (and purchased from C.E.Brunwell, Bookseller, Broad Street, Hereford, according to a little sticker in the back). I wonder if these tales of adventures inspired Donald, who later set off on travels of his own.

I currently don't have any further information about the family until 1918 - in November of that year, Donald and Rosina's father, John, passed away, aged 53.  It must have been a very difficult year for them, as their grandfather, Thomas PARRY, had also died in the February.  I don't know what level of contact Donald had, had with his grandfather, but it is possible that Thomas had been living with John and his family in the months prior to Thomas's death, although he actually died elsewhere. (This is based on the address given on Thomas's probate entry.)

What happened to Donald and Rosina after their father, John, died?

As far as I can gather, Rosina was looked after by an aunt and Donald was sent to stay with (and potentially work for) other relatives.  Almost five years later, in September 1923, Donald obtained the Grant of Administration for his father, whose effects were £30 14s 3d.  Then, in April 1924, he emigrated to Canada, in the company of a Rowland Thomas LEWIS.  We believe the two of them were on an agricultural scheme, but the arrangements are unclear - according to the Form 30a, Donald had paid his own fare across.

I haven't yet discovered when Donald returned to the UK, but he was here by February 1927, when he married Elsie May THOMAS.  Donald and Elsie lived for a while in Hanbury, Worcestershire, where they appear in the 1939 register. Later they moved to Herefordshire and then down to Cornwall, before eventually moving back to Herefordshire, and finally Worcestershire.

Donald and Elsie were able to come to my wedding.  We saw them in the months following that, when they chose some of the wedding photographs that they wished to have copies of. Sadly, Donald passed away before we had a chance to give them the copies.  I remember leaving the photographs with one of my aunts, after Donald's funeral, for her to give to Elsie at a more appropriate time.

It was one of their last 'days out' together.

Writing this has made me aware of how much information there is about my closest ancestors that still needs to be compiled properly - including any recollections of Donald and Elsie that those of us still alive might have.  The further back we go, the less detail we are likely to find out about our ancestors - so I think it's important that we record as much as we can about those we did know, and pass that information on to the generations to come.

52 ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 1 - Start

"Let's start at the very beginning..."

Perhaps I am being a little unimaginative, but I'm going to take several of Amy's suggested starting points and make my first "52 ancestors" post about myself.  After all, we're always advised to begin our family history with ourselves, and I am the "Home Person" on my Ancestry public tree.

But then again, I am not actually one of my own ancestors - so I'm also going to include my parents in this post.  Although they are both deceased, it still seems too close to publish much online about them, from a privacy point of view, so covering all three of us at once means I can then move on to the more distant ancestors, knowing I have at least mentioned us all in the series.

For those who don't know, the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" is a series of weekly prompts, produced by Amy Johnson Crow, aimed at helping genealogists share their research about their ancestors.  I did consider taking part in the series some years ago, when I began the Genealogy Do-over. At the time, I'd recently acquired all of my parents' family history records and I was planning to work through them, starting with myself, in order to confirm, and add to, Mum and Dad's research.

Unfortunately, I got "bogged down" after about week 6 of the Do-over, and never started the actual "family history" tasks (although I learnt a lot about tools and techniques during those first few weeks, which definitely came in handy for some of the other activities I had going on then!)  You can find my 'Do-Over' posts earlier in this blog.  My more recent posts here (if you can call them "recent"!) have related to my DNA research.  Once again this is something that I find easy to get bogged down with, as DNA can rapidly become complicated, especially for those of us who are not particularly 'technologically minded' and who have to work hard at understanding what all the various tools can do. 

But one of the things I have learnt, in all the years since first taking a DNA test, is that family history is important!  DNA alone will not produce all the answers.  It needs to be combined with genealogy - so hopefully, this year will be the year when I really feel I demonstrate some proper "genetic genealogy"!

Anyway, back to my "start".

Obviously my parents were present - and they continued to be responsible for many of my "starts" in life. Particular memories for me include my first driving experiences - steering an old Bedford van, whilst sitting on Dad's lap (I couldn't reach the pedals!) and, as soon as I was legally old enough to drive, giving Mum a fright when I turned a corner rather abruptly, after she'd bravely allowed me to drive her car on a disused airfield.  Mum and Dad were both responsible for my enjoyment of gardening - I have many happy memories of visits to garden centres, and certain plants will forever be associated with particular experiences involving my parents.  They were also both responsible for my interest in photography, another of their joint hobbies.  A camera was passed down to me when I was merely six or seven and, again, specific memories are intrinsically linked with the two of them, such as photographing lightning in Singapore, and doing our own developing and printing at home.

Of course, the combination of these two hobbies does have its downside, as I now have thousands of photographs of flowers to deal with!

     

Mum was creative - I didn't inherit any of her musical skills but I like to think that some of her practical side has rubbed off on me, for general handicrafts and (potentially!) model making.  Dad was also practical but more studious. He was responsible for my interest in archaeology - I remember the two of us watching Mortimer Wheeler on television when I was a teenager.  Dad was also the one who began our family history research, back in the early 1980s. 

And he was the one who first mentioned DNA to me, around the year 2000, asking me if I knew anything about it. By then I had begun researching and was concentrating on our surname of Parry, since that was the one Dad had got stuck on and Mum and Dad were both working on all of the other branches.  One of my regrets is that my response was to say, no, I didn't know about DNA and didn't see how it could be used with a multiple origin surname like ours. 

If only I had asked what had he read and did he want to do it.......

Dad passed away within a year of that conversation.  Fortunately for me, seven years later, when I had finally learnt a bit about DNA, another male relative was willing to take a Y-DNA test.  But what a missed opportunity, to have been in there right in the early days of genetic genealogy.  Who knows what situation my DNA surname research would have been in now if I had acted differently?

But there's no point looking back at what might have been.  I'm what's known as a "RAF BRAT", so am fairly used to moving on without allowing regrets to build up.  And I am so grateful for the wealth of experiences my parents gave me, and for the treasures I still have to explore, within their research, as I begin this year's journey to increase my knowledge about all of my ancestors.

 
References
Amy Johnson Crow - https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/