Friday Quick Tip

Ok then, here's this week's quick family history tip: books on local history can show you how your ancestors lived, and details on the places they would've seen in their day-to-day lives.

War Snippets

The Glamorgan Gazette from this day (14 May) ninety-nine years ago (1915,) has an account of fighting that supposedly comes from a socialist soldier in Northern France.

It says 'a cry and a murmur here and there...And when the victims of death are so uncannily still, then they speak the loudest...An attempt is made to count the dead. An impossible task. There lies a young officer, beautiful as a god...There he is lying, quiet and friendly. At home, perhaps, there is a faithful wife, a loving sweetheart, an old mother, weeping their eyes out. Who knows?...'

Who this man was may never be known, but his account seems truly heartfelt, and shows the humanity and reality of war.



Image Courtesy of dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Note on Craft and Family History

Hi, I know some people like to use their old family photos, letters, and postcards for scrapbooks, jewellery, etc., etc., but please, please, please if you are going to do this then use copies! You will never get the original back, and if you damage it you will have lost something precious. So bare that in mind and happy crafting (with copies!)

Friday Quick Tip

Ok, here's this week's quick genealogy tip: Details passed down by family members can be a great help, but aren't always 100% accurate - dates, places, etc., can often be changed slightly in the telling and the remembering.

War Snippets

This is one of the more unusual newspaper articles of world war one that I've come across:

The Abergavenny Chronicle of 18th February 1916 describes the sentencing of Horace Dennis Kingley at Folkestone Police court for supplying cocaine to soldiers. Horace was convicted on the evidence of Corporal Price of the 8th Canadian Battalion, and Captain Murray of the Canadian Army Medical Corps; Captain Murray asserted that the drug led to insanity, and that he knew of at least forty soldiers with an addiction.

Horace Dennis Kingley's defence was that he gave the cocaine away instead of selling it, and that 'He had taken it five or six years, and it made one most keen on what he was doing.'

Finding the Past

A little while ago I found this book - Through the Linn by Agnes Giburne - in an old cupboard. It may have been my mother's or my auntie's, but how they got it, nobody can remember. The book itself though, is far older than either of them (I have to point this out - they are not as old as this book! If I implied otherwise I'd be in big trouble.)

Ok, so there it is, in my hands, this slightly odd old book, and when I open it there's a label inside the front cover. The label tells me that the book was once owned by Annie Long, and that it was presented to her for attendance at Sunday school in the Cymmer and Porth parish of St. Paul's. For those who aren't familiar with the area, this is a Rhondda Church in Wales parish. Annie was nothing to do with my family, but my great-gran lived in the area and was always buying things from chapel second-hand sales (guess bargain hunting runs in the family,) so it's possible she picked it up that way. I haven't been able to find Annie Long (there are a couple of possibilities, but none I'm sure about,) in historical records, so if anyone out there knows about her please let me know. The book was presented to Annie on May 16th 1915, by Mr and Mrs E. S. Williams. As books would have not been cheap at the time, I certainly hope that she enjoyed it - she definitely took good care of it, because despite a few loose pages, it's still in one piece ninety-nine years later.



I have been able to track down some of the other people named on the label - William Hutchings, the Church's superintendent was a Railway Inspector who was loving at 107 Birchgrove, Porth, in 1911, and was originally from Bishop's Lydeard, Somerset. David A Collier, one of the treasurers, would have been one of two men (a father and son, David and David Arthur Collier,) who were also working in the railway industry - at a wagon works. Fellow treasurer Samuel Pugh would've been one of two men, both born in Shropshire. One was a miner living in Trebanog, just outside Porth and not far from Cymmer in 1911; the other was a carter of wine and spirits who lived on the same street as William Hutchings in 1911 - at 76 Birchgrove.


So, what is this book, Through the Linn? It's an evangelical, moral tale, that would've been seen as a way of teaching children right from wrong and the importance of faith in God. Very appropriate for a book presented by a Sunday school, but it would probably be seen as more than a little dour today. Agnes Giburne, who wrote the novel, was born in Belgaum Town, Bombay Presidency, India - presumably while her father, who lived into his 90s, was an East Indian Service Major. Eventually Agnes and father Charles moved to Eastbourne, Suffolk, where Agnes lived with her father until his death; in 1911 she is renting rooms, and living alone, at 2 The Avenue, Eastbourne. She herself lived from 1845 to 1939 (The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English.)

Still, it is a beautiful old book, with lovely illustrations, and one I'm happy I now own.

Friday Quick Tip

Hi - it's time for your second Friday Quick Tip. If you didn't see last week, this is where I provide a quick genealogy tip that may be helpful for someone new to family history, or someone who would just like a fresh perspective.

So, today's Friday Quick Tip: Don't always trust the online trees of other amateur genealogists - they may have made an error, so check their research carefully.