Sunday 7 July 2013

Storytelling Sunday ~ an unassuming box x

Hello Sunday and welcome to July's edition of Storytelling Sunday, yes it's July and that means there are only 5 more Storytelling Sundays til Xmas. Or put another way 5 more months until my birthday! Yuck.

Anyway here we are in July and celebrating 7 months of fabulous tale telling about our precious things courtesy of Sian.


This months I was to tell you a tale. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

If you into the wardrobe in my bedroom, nestled beneath the coats and dresses you will find this unassuming box. It didn't cost very much I bought it because it was pretty and biggish, but what it holds is more precious than money, and in fact it is priceless. For within this box are the papers, photos, writings and research I have completed over the past 15 years looking into my family's history. Shall we open the box and see what's inside?



First let me explain how I came to start this task. For my dad's 60th birthday, I decided I wanted to make him a pedigree family tree, this is basically children, parents, grandparents and so on for one side of your family. I knew I wanted it be in calligraphy to hang on the wall. I thought it would be easy ~ well we all know thought did don't we? I began by seeking my mum's help to tell me stories about dad and his family. Having no surviving grandparents on my Dad's side though I was pretty much running blind and it wasn't until the day of my dad's birthday that certain pieces of the family jigsaw began to come together. If you want to retain the knowledge of your family for future generations then I beg you to record it all and talk to your elder relatives and family!

I was lucky enough to have the birth, marriage and death certificates of my dad's parents and so I could glean some information from those, I also had some very old family photographs which helped me too. I spent many hours in local record offices, requesting certificates from The Registrar, I travelled up North to Hartlepool and spent hours on the Internet. I was also lucky enough to find a relative who had looked into their family history and had a family tree of sorts, although now there are more places on the Internet some of those pieces are incorrect. I also spent ages on The Church of Latter Day Saints IGI site looking for family members.

                                                

My great-grandparents William and Annie in approx 1906.


I can tell you the story of how I discovered my Great Grandfather William Henry Jones served with the South Wales Borderers and then the Royal Engineers from a lovely man in a medal shop in Romsey when I showed him a family photograph. I can show you photo of him in his uniform


                             


 and also at the Front in France.............


                          

I am very lucky to be able to show you his attestation papers, most were destroyed by the bombing in WW2  and the death certificate therein telling him his daughter had died of diphtheria.

                           


                           




                           


 I can tell you a cordwainer is a guilded shoemaker. I can tell you my ancestors in County Durham were seafarers and fishermen and they possibly hung a monkey thinking he was a French spy. I can tell you my Great Grandfather died of injuries from steam engine exploding because I have the newspaper describing his final moments.

                                          

I can show you the census returns for my family some back to 1851.
I can tell you how my Great Aunt Elsie emigrated to Canada with her husband and brother-in-law. How those brothers then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force to fight in WW1 and how my Great Uncle died at Passchendale but his brother survived. I can even tell you the colour of their eyes and what tattoos they had because the Canadian records of their service are free online. I can also tell their son founded an orchestra in Winnipeg.

                                 


                                              

However, what I cannot tell you is where my Great grandparents are buried in Cheltenham because they were both buried as paupers and after so many years someone else was buried on top of them. I can tell you roughly where they are but not exactly.

I cannot tell you much about my Great grandfather William Henry Jones' family because it is such a common name in Cheltenham at that time it will take alot of research to figure out the correct man. So I cannot tell you whether he siblings or where they came from. I cannot tell you what it felt like to fight in WW1 or to find out that way that your child had died.  I cannot tell what their real lives were like, how they lived, parented, what they enjoyed or looked forward to. These are the things I wish I did know because it would make the two-dimensional images I have truly three-dimensional and vista vision for me. All the pictures and papers I have only give me snippet of their lives, but not THEIR LIVES.

People often ask me why I blog and scrapbook. Well this is why................

to make my life and my story three dimensional not just the facts of a life but what my REAL LIVE LIFE was and remember it.



22 comments:

  1. great post, i love researching my family history too. glad i found your blog :)

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  2. I love this sort of thing! I am slowly working on a genealogy project and heritage scrapbook. Best of luck with your discoveries.
    Rinda

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  3. Got a shock when I saw the Article about Seaton Carew. That is just a few miles from me. Great when you find newspapers articles like that, it really helps put flesh on the bones. I love doing the family tree but have not had time for ages. Maybe in the summer x

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  4. That is a really great post Jo, and a real precious to have tucked into your wardrobe. Your words really resonate with me - I have shied away from writing down how I felt and still feel over the loss of my son - - but perhaps I should record it - you have given me much to ponder, thanks - I wish you continued success with your discoveries. J x

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  5. What you say is very true. There are so many photos I would love to know the story behind, but those memories and often the people's names are lost forever.

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  6. So very true - I'm glad you have the information you have but yes wouldn't the extra details add so much!

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  7. I failed to ask all the questions I have now before my parents passed away. My husband is the genealogist, and he frequently comes up with a photo hoping I'll be able to identify who's in it. And yes, it is a good reminder to get back to getting the stories and photos on paper! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. As a long time family historian - I started researching my husband's family way back in 1990 and my father handed me a cardboard box full of papers and told me that he was too old to search any more so now it was my turn...
    A lovely story!

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  9. I certainly wish I knew more about my family history.

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  10. Jo, this is like an episode of 'who do you think you are?' you have done so much research, I'm so impressed how far back you have managed to go. And what stories you have unearthed!

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  11. What a brilliant box to have. I am currently researching my family tree and get so excited when I find something new. It is like finding out a little more about yourself and I love that. It has also made me more determined to document my life through scrapbooking so that my nieces and nephews have something in the future :-)

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  12. I love everything about this! What a perfectly precious post..I hardly know where to start..you have brought your family right into my living room this sunny Sunday afternoon and I'm very glad of it. I don't think I'll be forgetting them any time soon..

    ..and what you say is so true. We need the scrapbooking to give us that extra dimension. I like to think that some relation of mine some time in the future will read what I've written and think to herself..so Sian thought that too, all those years ago..

    Thanks Jo

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  13. Gosh Jo you have put so much work into this. I am in awe and what a precious thing to have. Thank you for telling their story and in years to come your blog and your scrapbooking will tell yours.

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  14. Its obvious how hard you have worked to find all this information & how rewarding it has been x

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  15. Wow, we were lucky to have your great-grandfather on our soil. Thank you. That you're still talking about him and his accomplishments is the best tribute you can pay. May his name remain in the pages of history forever. xoxo from France

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  16. loved reading about the history of your family Jo and I agree that it is soo important to talk to the older members of the family whilst we still have them. Since knowing my dad's prognosis I have spent a lot of time listening to and writing down stories from his life and his childhood and looking at lots of old photos too.

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  17. This is a lovely post Jo, I loved reading about your family history :)

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  18. Jo I am in awe of your dogged determination which resulted in this fantastic record. Very addictive isn't it? I've done my basic family tree but it's putting them into LIFE that makes them real isn't it. I would love to know how to trace my ancestors in Ireland,I cannot find any info on the sites at all.

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  19. What a great post and story. Your research must have taken you ages! With so much of the information popping up in on-line databases you never know what else you might end up finding!

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  20. Wow, this is a great post and you had done an amazing job collecting all of that information x

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  21. What a wonderful post Jo! My oldest daughter just became interested in genealogy and is working on researching her heritage. It is amazing what comes to light once you get started!

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  22. What a wonderful post Jo. I love your statement about scrapbooking! It's truly amazing the things we find and find out when researching family trees. We just had the best find yet - we discovered my husband has a half-sister that we're now getting to know. And that's all because of sharing his tree on Ancestry.

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Hello and thank you so much for stopping by. It is always a pleasure to read the comments I receive and to meet new friends. I try and reply to comments on friend's blogs as much as possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Love Jo xxx