My capabilities, education and current experience.
Proficiency (in other words…. Finding Stuff!)
It is important to the soul, I believe, to know one’s roots and origins. Having worked on family history for over 30 years and having gained a professional qualification in genealogy during that time, it has been my great pleasure to help people discover their own beginnings and introduce them to ancestors they knew nothing of. Many clients have told me they knew nothing about their families, apart from the people in their childhood. Who do I look like? Was my great grandfather a war hero? Am I related to Royalty? Where did my family originate? How many times have you looked at your son or daughter (or other family member) for example, and said to yourself “Oh, he walks just like my father, he has the same gait” or, “Goodness, my 10 year old granddaughter looks exactly the same as my mother at that age” – it’s no coincidence, she’s inherited a big chunk of your mother’s genetic make-up – and exactly the same process applies going back through the generations. People don’t fade away, they leave their mark on us. These traits are handed down, gifts to us from the deep and distant past. It is incredibly fascinating to help dig up these bones and try to put meat on the skeleton! And that is my “proficiency” – I am told I’m very good at doing just that – finding stuff! Working for over 40 years in research has also helped me in many ways. I’m regarded as an “industry expert” in my profession (glass) – and that comes mainly from experience, knowing where to find what’s needed, and applying it.
Regarding family histories, I don’t simply make up a list of names with dates and places – I search for the hidden files that are not necessarily on the everyday use main websites and try to find out about your ancestor and their life. I have found incredibly detailed accounts of lives from the past using local archive information deep within the parish chest. One of my favourite files are Settlement Certificates. Back in the 1600s under the “Poor Law” system, if a family wanted to move to a new village say just 10 miles away, they had to apply to the local parish for “Settlement”. This meant if the church elders at the new parish didn’t want you in their village for whatever reason (for example, they may think you could be a burden to the church in the future if you fall ill and there’s no one left to feed your 10 children) so could reject your application and you could not move there. If you did, and the elders found out, they would physically put you and your family on a cart and take you back to your place of origin. I have come across cases where people have been removed from Sheffield and taken back to Ireland because they moved without obtaining the necessary permission! The York Cause Papers are an incredible read. These are very detailed court cases overseen by the Church Courts from the 1300s to the 1850s and what you find in there is a real eye-opener. Many people look back at the past through rose-coloured spectacles – but I’ve come to learn that you need to take these off when reading some of the cases in this database – there were many criminals around then – just as there are today! Plus, deviant behaviour, stalking, adultery and cruelty. However, it wasn’t all bad, there was also humour and kindness, thankfully. I suppose what I’m saying is people are people and as far as I can see (apart from technology) they haven’t changed much over the centuries! There are good and bad – and that’s always been the case.
It is my privilege to take a peek into some of these lives. I have outlined below some abstracts of a few cases I have dealt with recently, to give you a bit of an insight into how I work. I hope you enjoy the read – and if you have any questions about anything, please drop me an email. Even if I can’t help, I should be able to point you in the right direction.
A Biblical Mess
A lady called around to my home one day asking if I could help her with a family bible, and other documents. The documents were littered with names, dates and places and although she knew each one was a family member, she had no idea where they all fitted in. She left her documents with me and over the next week or so I began by creating a spreadsheet of every person mentioned (there were many!). I added in the date and the place and with the help of the traditional websites went through the names one by one – eventually putting everyone in the right place – and leaving her with a direct line back through her ancestry. During my investigations, I also came across some very sad scenarios – it was obvious the family had been split at some stage with a pair of warring brothers – one side receiving all the worldly goods that had been accumulated over the years in the family business and another side being left nothing – one poor chap lost his life as a result leaving a pregnant wife and other children. When looking at family histories, one must realise there will be sadness and gladness unfolding at various times. That’s life as the saying goes – but don’t let it detract you from the wonderful achievements you may also come across. The lady came to pick up her Bible and was delighted with the family tree I had put together – but she was astonished by the detail I’d been able to uncover.
The Strict Military Man
There was a knock on my door one day and when I opened it an elderly lady stood there and burst into tears! I had no idea who this was and asked: “What on earth is the matter?” – asking her to come in while I put the kettle on. “I just had to come around and thank you personally?” she replied. “What for?” I asked, bemused…….”You did a family history package for me that my granddaughter ordered as a Christmas present – and upon reading that I wanted to say thank you as I now know why my granddad was like he was!” – she went on to explain how she was brought up by her grandfather and he was so very strict with her, coming across very stern and dictatorial. He never seemed to show her any kindness and she often thought of him as cruel as she grew up. She eventually realised he was like that because he must have cared about her and did all he could to protect her – but human kindness was missing from her young life. What she didn’t know was the details of his earlier life. He had run away from home at a young age and joined the army, lying about his age. He was brought up in many ways by the army! He had a talent for boxing and became an Army boxing champion before and after WWI – until wartime injuries took away both his boxing and military career when he was discharged through ill health. As a result, he suffered severe depression and spent many weeks hospitalised over a period of years. He also had a reputation in his neighbourhood as being a troublemaker, as several newspaper clippings confirmed, ending up with a “minor” criminal record. Although, when you read the circumstances of each case it seemed mostly, he could not stand insubordination – especially from those he deemed were out to cause trouble. He had a local reputation of being a defender rather than a disrupter. The lady on my doorstep knew nothing about this but said to her it explained everything. We sat for an hour or two talking about him – and it was my great pleasure to be able to bring this to her attention. She went away with a much deeper understanding of why he was so strict with her, and how he loved her.
What a Difference an “R” Makes!
Whilst compiling a family history for a client I appeared to strike a dead end in that I could not trace her ancestor after 1871. Having checked, and double checked the registers and indexes I could not see that he had died. John Compton had been born in 1840 in Wiltshire. He had married Mary Wells in 1863 in Somerset and they went on to have 3 children. He appeared on the 1871 census with his wife and 3 children but after then there was nothing. The children all grew up and went their separate ways, and his wife Mary stayed in the village they’d lived in until her death in 1890 – but John had simply disappeared……or had he? I’m a big believer in Sherlock Holmes’ theory that “If you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, what remains is the truth” – so I continued my search and found a man with almost the same credentials in the 1881 census – same age, born in the same place (Illsley, Wiltshire), with the same occupation – the only difference being an extra letter in his surname, Crompton (instead of Compton). The only conclusion I could draw was that John Compton had sailed across the Bristol Channel (from Somerset) and made a new life for himself in Monmouthshire where he’d married Mary Davies (whose father was a landlord) and had a further 5 children! Even though there were severe punishments for Bigamy, it occurred much more often than people think as in those days as it was almost impossible to arrange a divorce. When I looked further at the two marriage records (Mary Wells and Mary Davies) John’s details were exactly the same, including the name of their father. There were far too many “coincidences” for the answer to be anything other than the man was indeed a bigamist.
Whatever Happened to Dorothy
This is my own case. My mother had an aunt she loved, Dorothy. However, Dorothy disappeared from her life when mum was a young girl of about 7 years. She never discovered why. For years she would mumble to herself “I wonder what happened?” – and one day while we were enjoying a quiet cuppa I asked her what she knew about Dorothy. “I only know she married a man from the Dutch East Indies and went to live on his tea plantation.” Mum didn’t even know the name of the man Dorothy had married. I decided to go to work on this and started with the marriage index. It didn’t take long to discover that Dorothy had indeed married a Dutchman in 1921 but then the trail went cold. I could not find her or her husband in any records or on any BMD index, indicating they did indeed leave the country.
To cut a long story short, I expanded the search. At the time I was looking, 1998, the only website online was Rootsweb (the forerunner of Family Search). Whilst searching the indexes I found a woman with the same name (as the Dutchman Dorothy had married), the same year of birth, and born in the same place (Wales) as “our” Dorothy. This lady had lived in the USA for many years and sadly had died in 1977. I first believed this was a remarkable coincidence – but then my Sherlock head told me that there’s no such thing and I decided to carry on looking for more evidence. I next took a look at the US town where Dorothy lived and I send a random email to the local high school – my thoughts were perhaps Dorothy had children who went there and maybe some staff or students might know of them. I was astounded when a former pupil contacted me and confirmed I was on the right lines. This former pupil then told me she knew the address of Dorothy’s daughter. Eventually, I contacted her and she confirmed her mother really was mum’s missing aunt! She had lived with her husband and children on a beautiful tea plantation in the Dutch East Indies but when WWII broke out the family were told to get out of the country by any means possible so they packed all they could on a cart and made their escape. They didn’t get very far and were captured by the Japanese and sent to POW camps where they spent several years. Many things happened that can’t be repeated here, but the crux of the matter is I solved the mystery of Dorothy. It was such a sad shame that my mother died while this was in progress – but I hope the pair of them are reunited now.
[Note] This story was published recently by Family Tree: https://www.family-tree.co.uk/ – an excellent monthly magazine full of hints, tips and stories for anyone interested in genealogy.
Missing for nearly 100 Years!
In an office block in Stavanger, Norway, on the third floor of the stairwell there is an alcove housing an old sailing ship. No one ever looked at this ship, encased in glass, frozen in time, until a young man stopped in front of it while he tied his shoelace. He studied the ship and thought to himself what a remarkable piece of work it was. He then read the little plaque underneath which said it was a memorial to 14 men (and a child of 14 years – classed as a man at the time as he was employed on the ship). The ship had sunk in the English Channel in 1914. It had been hit by a missile from a German U-boat whilst ferrying a cargo of coal from S Wales over to Stavanger. The young man wondered who the young boy of 14 was and found his name on the list – Petter Jorgensen. Being a curious soul, (like me!) he decided to look into the case and asked me for help. I discovered there was a sad story surrounding Petter. He lived with his mother, father and siblings in Stavanger, where he was born but in 1912 his father Johan disappeared. Johan, I discovered, was a merchant seaman. In those days merchant seamen could turn up at the dock and sign onto any ship for work (up to the level by which they were qualified). Despite enquiries from his family, friends and neighbours, no one ever discovered what had happened to him……until now.
Looking at shipping lists, I discovered that Johan had taken work on a ship headed for New York. In New York, Johan had disembarked and gone to find some lodgings as he would be staying there a few days. At that point he disappeared. The ship sailed back to Stavanger without him and as he didn’t sign onto the ship, it seemed like he was never there – especially as he wasn’t familiar with any of his comrades, apart from a bit of banter now and again, so no one noticed he should have been sailing back with the crew. I then searched various US files relating to burials or accidents and it didn’t take too long to find him. The poor man had been taken ill in his lodgings and a doctor had been sent for. The doctor got him to a hospital, but sadly he died during the night. I was able to send for a copy of his death certificate which confirmed where he died and that the cause of death was tuberculosis. I also found the location of his burial. I sent all the details to the young man in Stavanger who was astonished by my find. So much so that he sent the story to a local newspaper and it was published. I could not believe it when a few days later he called me to say an old man had been in touch with him saying he was Petter’s cousin – and that the story had remained an unsolvable family mystery until now and he was so very grateful that the facts had come to light – he had tears in his eyes recalling how everyone in the family had tried to solve the mystery over the years but never could. It sends shivers down my spine and I am so very happy I was able to put this mystery to bed. At times it feels like some people can’t rest until they have their say. I daresay Johan’s family must at times have thought he’d deserted them. Perhaps there was something calling from this forgotten ship in the glass case that could only be heard by a passing young man who genuinely cared. Who knows?