Really!
The author of the book I - erm - reviewed in the previous post. He stole six photos from an elderly relative.
You'll be relieved to hear the book no longer graces our shelves.
That'll teach him.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Book review
I've just been reading a rather old (1988) self-published guide to tracing family history that I found on our library shelves. I was going to suggest that the librarian remove it, but thought I should give it a quick read in case it turned out to be local or have some other point of unique interest.
Well, firstly if you're not researching in Sunderland 20 years ago, I don't think it's particularly helpful. Some sections are misleading and one or two items are incorrect. (Plus he writes contractions as ca'nt and do'nt every single time). Then I got to the bits about BMDs and, while I'm all for saving money, if he's lucky enough to have found churches where they record DOB on baptism entries and that sort of thing, but...
He writes that he doesn't see the point in obtaining Death certs, as finding out what your ancestors died of is just too upsetting. And he calls himself a family historian, not a genealogist! What's more telling out of all the information we collect than what you get on a death cert?
Date of death leads to othre records - burial, cemeteries, newspaper obituaries and death / funeral notices, wills, death duty entries etc. Informant is often suggestive about family relationships and aoften a quick way to find out who a daughter married. Address (or informant) may well be that of a hospital, asylum or workhouse - again, this leads to more records. And cause of death - well, finding that your ancestor died of Phthisis may not be cheerful, but it often specifies length of illness as well - what a picture (unhappy or otherwise) you suddenly have of your ancestor's last years. And of course, if it turns out to be anything that requires a coroner's report, you've struck ancestral gold.
That book is not going back on the shelves now!! (I do have this sort of power, but I try to wield it for good and not evil).
I won't mention the name of the book as it was a self-published one from 20 years ago and said author may well have revised his view, or be the subject of a death certificate himself now, so it seems unkind.
Honestly, though.
Well, firstly if you're not researching in Sunderland 20 years ago, I don't think it's particularly helpful. Some sections are misleading and one or two items are incorrect. (Plus he writes contractions as ca'nt and do'nt every single time). Then I got to the bits about BMDs and, while I'm all for saving money, if he's lucky enough to have found churches where they record DOB on baptism entries and that sort of thing, but...
He writes that he doesn't see the point in obtaining Death certs, as finding out what your ancestors died of is just too upsetting. And he calls himself a family historian, not a genealogist! What's more telling out of all the information we collect than what you get on a death cert?
Date of death leads to othre records - burial, cemeteries, newspaper obituaries and death / funeral notices, wills, death duty entries etc. Informant is often suggestive about family relationships and aoften a quick way to find out who a daughter married. Address (or informant) may well be that of a hospital, asylum or workhouse - again, this leads to more records. And cause of death - well, finding that your ancestor died of Phthisis may not be cheerful, but it often specifies length of illness as well - what a picture (unhappy or otherwise) you suddenly have of your ancestor's last years. And of course, if it turns out to be anything that requires a coroner's report, you've struck ancestral gold.
That book is not going back on the shelves now!! (I do have this sort of power, but I try to wield it for good and not evil).
I won't mention the name of the book as it was a self-published one from 20 years ago and said author may well have revised his view, or be the subject of a death certificate himself now, so it seems unkind.
Honestly, though.
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Joseph Family
So, you ask, what did I actually find out back in August? (Yes, it has taken me nearly 2 months to write it up. I know. I'm sorry.)
Well, basically the Josephs of Glais had a miserable 19th C. I'm sure they must have had some happy moments, but I'm beginning to wonder.
Griffith Joseph married Ann Thomas in 1830 in Llansamlet, but they lived in the tiny village of Glais, further up the hill, where they had a farm. They rented property, moving from Cefn y Garth, Drumma(u) to Garth Fach and had several children - Rachel, Thomas, William, David, Ann and Sarah.
Well, basically the Josephs of Glais had a miserable 19th C. I'm sure they must have had some happy moments, but I'm beginning to wonder.
Griffith Joseph married Ann Thomas in 1830 in Llansamlet, but they lived in the tiny village of Glais, further up the hill, where they had a farm. They rented property, moving from Cefn y Garth, Drumma(u) to Garth Fach and had several children - Rachel, Thomas, William, David, Ann and Sarah.
(Garth Fach Farm)
Thomas, the eldest son, inherited the farm and lived there until his death in 1892. He never married. Rachel, I needed to investigate, also William, as both of them disappeared from censuses. David drowned, aged 7. Ann had an illegitmate son, Morgan Lewis Joseph (my great-great-grandfather) in 1863, leaving him at the farm with her parents while she continued working as a servant, eventually marrying a cattle drover Thomas Thomas in 1866 and having about 11 other children - no room for poor Morgan.
In the middle of all this, Griffith Joseph was suffering from Parkinsons - one reason they may have been forced to halve the size of their acreage and Sarah, the youngest, lost her husband, leaving her a widow with two young daughters.
I'd have thought that was enough trouble for one family, but no. During my research, I found a burial for William in 1850 and for Rachel in 1878. William died of Phthisis, aged 16, while Rachel, after all these unhappy events, hanged herself.
Plus, my relatives told me to look at the Cambrian online index and it looks as though Thomas attacked some woman at Glais. So now, not only do I have more misery for the Josephs, but I have two articles I should have been looking for in Swansea. I am desperate to know more about why poor Rachel committed suicide - it was a complete shock to find that on the death certificate.
On the positive side, I did discover Griffith's baptism in 1797 and that of his siblings (all girls). He was the son of a William Joseph.
However, this was where I discovered that a lot of Welsh parish registers don't bother to record the mother before the 19th C. In Wales. With all those common surnames where you need all the help you can get, they didn't think the mother's name was useful? Surely even then they would have found it helpful to differentiate between Thomas Thomas who was married to Ann, Thomas Thomas who was married to Mary etc etc. Sexist 18th C Welsh vicars!
I tried looking for Ann Thomas (I know her brother's name and age and that they were both supposed to be born in Cadoxton.). Maybe some examination of the proper registers and other parish material will give me clues, but at the moment it's a case of pick an ancestor! I have to be realistic and acknowledge that there's a possibility I might not get any further with any of my Thomas lines.
Of course, I really should have gone to the archives in Glamorgan and not the NLW, but I know that now.
Swansea Central Library
During my travels, I went here to have a look at newspapers and maybe even go to the Archives (they're both at Swansea Civic Centre).
It was terrible weather, so at least it was a dry place to drag my friend off to. However, despite not going to the archives and not discovering anything useful in the papers, I had fun. I read local history books and turned bright green at the beautiful, beautiful public library.
I am a librarian, don't forget. It had been recently opened, using space in the Civic Centre and all in accordance with Embervision (I don't think I can even begin to explain that to those of you who aren't librarians). Just let's say it was about as perfect as a public library gets. With a view from huge windows, out over Swansea Bay.
Admittedly, it was a dreadful day, but you could still see what a gorgeous view it was.
I am still green over it and if I'd had my camera, I'd have been taking photos to show back to colleagues in my authority.
It was terrible weather, so at least it was a dry place to drag my friend off to. However, despite not going to the archives and not discovering anything useful in the papers, I had fun. I read local history books and turned bright green at the beautiful, beautiful public library.
I am a librarian, don't forget. It had been recently opened, using space in the Civic Centre and all in accordance with Embervision (I don't think I can even begin to explain that to those of you who aren't librarians). Just let's say it was about as perfect as a public library gets. With a view from huge windows, out over Swansea Bay.
Admittedly, it was a dreadful day, but you could still see what a gorgeous view it was.
I am still green over it and if I'd had my camera, I'd have been taking photos to show back to colleagues in my authority.
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Random Findings
I'm still sitting on my Welsh research, but then it does keep on growing here and there, so bear with me.
However, I went to the National Library of Wales with my friend Gillian, who may just be a bigger bookworm than me (it's a close run thing) and when I'd done what I could with my tree, I found her still waiting for books she'd ordered.
So, naturally, I had to order some, too.
I ordered a book on the history of Customs and Excise, as I was curious as to how useful it might be for adding details to the life of my ancestor William Childs Forster (for his misadventures, see an earlier post).
It was useful and a book I'll have to get through Inter Library Loans, but for the meantime, I learnt one important piece of information - at the time when William joined the Excise service it was heading for its peak, with several Customs duties having been swapped over to Excise. There was a waiting list of around 300 people wanting to become Excise officers, so they only let in people who were relatives of current officers.
Interesting, eh? For one thing, it strengthens the likelihood of Henry Forster being William's brother (or other relative) and for another, it means that someone, presumably of a previous generation, got William his post. But who, that's the question? I don't know whether I can find out or not, but it may be the only way I'll get backwards on this difficult line. I shall be keeping my eyes peeled when I finally get the chance to go back to TNA.
Oh, and then I ordered up the 'wrong' Book of Barnstaple and flicked through it, only to find a picture of my Grandad, Albert Jewitt, with his colleagues in the print room of the North Devon Journal-Herald. I squeaked. Quietly, of course...
And that was only the accidental research.
However, I went to the National Library of Wales with my friend Gillian, who may just be a bigger bookworm than me (it's a close run thing) and when I'd done what I could with my tree, I found her still waiting for books she'd ordered.
So, naturally, I had to order some, too.
I ordered a book on the history of Customs and Excise, as I was curious as to how useful it might be for adding details to the life of my ancestor William Childs Forster (for his misadventures, see an earlier post).
It was useful and a book I'll have to get through Inter Library Loans, but for the meantime, I learnt one important piece of information - at the time when William joined the Excise service it was heading for its peak, with several Customs duties having been swapped over to Excise. There was a waiting list of around 300 people wanting to become Excise officers, so they only let in people who were relatives of current officers.
Interesting, eh? For one thing, it strengthens the likelihood of Henry Forster being William's brother (or other relative) and for another, it means that someone, presumably of a previous generation, got William his post. But who, that's the question? I don't know whether I can find out or not, but it may be the only way I'll get backwards on this difficult line. I shall be keeping my eyes peeled when I finally get the chance to go back to TNA.
Oh, and then I ordered up the 'wrong' Book of Barnstaple and flicked through it, only to find a picture of my Grandad, Albert Jewitt, with his colleagues in the print room of the North Devon Journal-Herald. I squeaked. Quietly, of course...
And that was only the accidental research.
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