Are you connected to the GOATER, KING or PINK families from the Isle of Wight?

I found a fantastic old wedding photograph, as below, on eBay this week which had lots of fascinating information written on the back, which would hopefully enable me to research it further – therefore how could I resist it!!

The writing on the reverse, as below, states that the photograph shows:

Mum and Dad’s Wedding Group – Elizabeth ANN GOATER to Thomas Frederick KING on 18th April 1902 written by Elise May PINK (Daughter)

Also in the wedding group are Dad’s two sisters, Mum’s brother in the centre and Dad’s Brother in Law is the other man.

Elsie May PINK is the wife of Wilfrid John PINK and mother of Sylvia Ann PINK

Surely with all this super information I could find enough further records to reunite this beautiful old photograph with a family member!!

Elizabeth Ann GOATER was born in the September quarter of 1881 and her birth was registered in the Isle of Wight Registration District – the 1891 census, as below, shows her aged aged 9 living in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight with her father Henry GOATER aged 45, her mother Ellen aged 32 and siblings George aged 13, Kate aged 7, Frank aged 5, Alice aged 3 and Ellen aged 1.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 897; Folio: 111; Page: 25; GSU roll: 6096007 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census

This means that George or Frank must be Mum’s brother shown in the wedding group photograph – in 1902 George would have been aged 24 and Frank aged 16, so I think it most likely to be George GOATER.

Thomas Frederick KING was born in the June quarter of 1881 also on the Isle of Wight and the 1891 census, as below, shows him aged 10 living with his father William KING aged 40, his mother Ellen aged 49 and siblings George aged 14, John aged 12, Florence aged 7 and May aged 4.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 897; Folio: 23; Page: 8; GSU roll: 6096007 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census

Florence and May must be Dad’s two sisters shown in the wedding group and they would have been aged 18 and 15 in 1902.

The 1911 census, as below, shows Thomas Frederick KING aged 30 living with his wife Elizabeth Ann KING aged 30 and children Wilfred George aged 8, Reginald John aged 8, Lilian Ellen aged 5 and Elsie May aged 4 – also staying with them was Dad’s brother John Isaac KING AGED 32. The family were living at the Causeway Cottages in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight – here is some more information and history of Freshwater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater,_Isle_of_Wight

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 5776; Schedule Number: 52 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

The daughter Elsie May KING shown in this census would be Elsie May PINK who wrote all the information on the reverse of the wedding group photograph – Elsie May KING married Wilfrid John PINK on 30th October 1937 in Redhill in Surrey, as per the marriage register entry below.

Source Citation: Surrey History Centre; Woking, Surrey; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P49/100/1/15 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937

Sadly I have discovered that the Groom in the photograph Thomas Frederick KING died in the October quarter of 1926 on the Isle of Wight aged only 45 – his wife Elizabeth Ann KING nee GOATER died aged 77 in the July quarter of 1958 with her death registered in the Southampton Registration District.

It would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old wedding photograph so if you have a family connection to the GOATER, KING or PINK families please send me an email or drop me a message as I would love to hear from you.

Many thanks

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Continuation: Great Grandmother Edith Rosa SINCLAIR research and links to the BOYS and POULETT families

Back in 2017 I wrote two blog posts about smashing my own ‘Brick Wall’ into my missing Great Grandmother Edith Rosa SINCLAIR and the connections I had finally made into her mother Clara Martha BOYS and her family – however I had been unable to make any links to the SINCLAIR surname.

Previous blog post link https://charnwoodgenealogy.wordpress.com/2017/01/14/update-have-i-finally-smashed-my-own-brick-wall-missing-great-grandmother/

Edith Rosa SINCLAIR my Great Grandmother and my Grandmother Doris Edith Crisp SINCLAIR

I took an Ancestry DNA test in the hope that this might provide some additional information and help me to discover more about these links – however although I have had many DNA links all the confirmed ones so far have been through my father’s LAST and DIX lines and my mother’s Polish BIALOSIEWICZ family.

Therefore I have been drawn back into the paper records again to reexamine all the information I already had and to see if any new documents have appeared in the meantime.

On my Great Grandmother Edith Rosa SINCLAIR’s birth certificate in 1881 her father was named as William Henry SINCLAIR a Lamp maker and her mother as Clara Martha SINCLAIR formerly BOYS – their address was shown as 3 Garden Row in Kennington Park Road in Lambeth – as already mentioned in my earlier blog post I had also found a half-sister for Edith called Alice Clara BOYS whose father was named as William Henry POULETT a Gentleman and her mother as Clara Martha BOYS and she was living at the same address 3 Garden Row, Kennington Park Road in Lambeth.

Edith Rosa SINCLAIR birth certificate 5th November 1881 father William Henry SINCLAIR

Alice Clara BOYS birth certificate 20th July 1868 father William Henry POULETT

These two daughters were born born thirteen years apart but both father’s has the same christian names William Henry – was this just a coincidence and I could find no evidence of a marriage of Clara Martha BOYS to a William Henry SINCLAIR between 1868 and 1881.

I then decided to investigate the name William Henry POULETT further, although as I know not a direct ancestor of mine, the fact that his occupation was a Gentleman would hopefully narrow down the research.

The only William Henry POULETT that I could find to possibly match came as a bit of a shock as he was an Earl and Peer of the Realm born about 1827 and who died in 1899 aged 72 – he married three times and had several children by his wives, however I could find non evidence of Clara Martha BOYS having worked for him using the census records.

On the 1871 census Clara was aged 25 and working as a Mantle Maker living with her mother Martha BOYS a Laundress and her two year old daughter Alice Clara living at 3 Garden Row – did Clara know William Henry POULETT.

William Henry POULETT had married his second wife Emma Sophia JOHNSON in July 1871 not long after his first wife Elizabeth Lavinia NEWMAN had died – his second wife Emma died in 1876 and he married for a third time in 1879 to Rosa MELVILLE – had he some how known Clara in 1867 to conceive Alice and would her mother have put her father’s name in full if she had not been certain it was him!!

I ordered the Will for William Henry POULETT after he died in 1899 to see if it held any additional clues, but unfortunately as expected it did not and I then decided to look at the old newspapers online.

I found two very interesting articles, as below, about the POULETT Peerage in 1899 and the headline on one was POULETT Earldom – Organ Grinder as Claimant – this referred to William Henry POULETT’s son William Turnour Thomas POULETT by his first wife whose legitimacy was in dispute – it would therefore seem that during his life and after his death there was lots of analysis of his wives and children.

Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper – Sunday 29th January 1899

Graphic – Saturday 4th February 1899

I cannot prove that there is a definite link to the POULETT family and as my DNA will not be a match in any way, I will probably never know, but it is a fascinating story and would be amazing to have family links to nobility somewhere in the family tree!!

If any new evidence does come to light I will post a new update accordingly.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

A random photo find on eBay turned out to have links to a Suffolk World War 1 project

Like my good friend Lynn from https://lynnswaffles.com who blogs about the old photographs that she finds and researches, I have very much missed visiting Postcard Fairs, Flea Markets, Charity Shops etc. during the lock down this year, so I have taken to looking on eBay more for any interesting old postcards or photographs that might have a name or clue to help me identify and research them further.

A recent lovely find was this old photograph, as below, of a smart young man with the name Francis (possibly J) PARKER written on the front with the date 13th October 1906 – unfortunately there were no clues to the location or a Photographers name.

By studying the photograph closer and seeing his moustache I assumed that he must be aged in his late teens to giving an approximate birth year range of 1886 to 1891 – I therefore looked for all Francis PARKER births within that period with a middle name beginning with J. I found a few and without a photograph location it was difficult to know which one might match.

I then decided on a different research track considering his age that he might have been involved in World War 1 – I searched the Commonwealth War Graves website and Ancestry, but again there were too many Francis PARKER’s to be sure without a location.

My next step was to do a random google search of the name Francis J PARKER and see what might turn up using the middle names John, Joseph, James etc.- on trying Francis James PARKER a match came up a listing on the Ipswich War Memorial website – https://www.ipswichwarmemorial.co.uk/francis-james-parker/

This is a War Memorial project I have been in contact with before when I sent them some old photograph postcards of the Ipswich War Memorial through the years – on examining the entry for Francis James PARKER I could see that he was born in 1890 in Ipswich in Suffolk, which would possibly fit with my date range above and that he had been killed in action on 15th July 1916 aged only 26.

The most amazing thing was that at the bottom of his entry there was a copy of a newspaper report about his death that had a photograph and on closer scrutiny the hair line and moustache appeared to match with the old photograph I had found on eBay.

I immediately contacted Helen at the Ipswich War Memorial project and asked if she though my photograph matched – she replied saying that she had shown it to a colleague and they both believed it was a match to their Francis James PARKER and was delighted to see the lovely old photograph of him.

I also asked Lynn to have a look for me and she agreed that their was a match too which was very much appreciated.

Francis James PARKER is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France and on my next visit I will be looking for his name and remembering him.

I have now reunited the photograph with Helen and the Ipswich War Memorial project for them to add to their research and website in due course – it is a fantastic project and please check out their website to see the matching photograph of Francis James PARKER and find out more information about him and his family and also to check out all their other names and research – https://www.ipswichwarmemorial.co.uk/francis-james-parker/

It is a great outcome that I am absolutely thrilled about!!

Mnay thanks

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Are you connected to the GOODGAME, DIXON, LAWRENCE or ABBOTT families from Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire?

Another recent lovely of photograph postcard find was this one below which usefully had names and a date written on the reverse – it shows the marriage of Bert GOODGAME on 13th June 1925.

I quickly found the marriage record registered in the Hitchin in Hertfordshire Registration District in the April quarter of 1925 which confirmed the groom’s name as Herbert H GOODGAME and the bride’s name as Lilian I LAWRENCE.

Using the groom’s name first I found the birth registration for Herbert Henry GOODGAME in the July quarter of 1900 in the Amersham in Buckinghamshire Registration District.

The 1901 census, as below, shows Herbert H GOODGAME aged 8 months having been born in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire living with his parents Emanuel aged 26 and Alice M GOODGAME aged 22 – Emanuel GOODGAME married Alice Miriam DIXON in the July quarter of 1899 again in the Amersham in Buckinghamshire Registration District.

Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 1177; Folio: 109; Page: 28 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census

Ten years later the 1911 census, as below, shows the GOODGAME family living in the High Street in Amersham in Buckinghamshire and Herbert now aged 10 has two sisters called Bertha Susie GOODGAME aged 10 and Marjorie Edith GOODGAME aged 4. Also staying with the family in 1911 was Emanuel’s sister Susan Elizabeth GOODGAME aged 34. Emanuel’s occupation is shown as Post Office Telegraphic Communications.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 7803; Schedule Number: 39 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

Next I found a Naval record, as below, for Herbert Henry GOODGAME which confirmed his date of birth as 5th July 1900 and showed that he joined up aged 17 on 26th July 1917 and served on ships including Powerful and Collingwood.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services; Class: ADM 188; Piece: 797 Source Information: Ancestry.com. UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services, 1848-1939

Turning to Herbert’s wife Lilian I LAWRENCE I found that her birth was registered as Lilian Irene LAWRENCE in the January quarter of 1902 in Hitchin in Hertfordshire Registration District.

The 1911 census, as below, shows Lilian aged 9 living with her parents George aged 36 and Lilian Maude LAWRENCE aged 30 together with siblings George Arthur LAWRENCE aged 11, Dorothy Mabel LAWRENCE aged 7, Winifred May LAWRENCE aged 6 and Walter Ernest LAWRENCE aged 3 – they were living at 6 Bearton Road in Hitchin and George’s occupation is shown as a Branch Manager for a Tea Company.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 7592; Schedule Number: 388 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census 

George LAWRENCE married Lilian Maude ABBOTT in the October quarter of 1898 in the West Ham in Essex Registration District.

The next record I found was the 1939 World War 2 Register, as below, showing Herbert Henry GOODGAME living at 65 Kitsbury Road in Berkhampstead with his wife Lilian and a daughter ANN V GOODGAME.

Source Citation: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1600C Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register

I next discovered a Passenger List, as below, dated 19th October 1960 showing Herbert Henry and Lilian Irene GOODGAME returning from a trip to the USA.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 1463 Source Information: Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960

Herbert Henry GOODGAME died on the 2nd February 1977 in Tring in Hertfordshire and Lilian Irene GOODGAME nee LAWRENCE died aged 79 in the October quarter of 1981 in the Dacorum in Hertfordshire Registration District.

If you have a connection to the GOODGAME, DIXON, LAWRENCE or ABBOTT families please send me a message as it would be great to reunite this lovely old wedding photograph with a family member if possible.

Mnay thanks

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Are you related to Arthur Bruce JAMIESON born in 1878 from Hampstead in London?

A recent old photograph find on eBay was this lovely image of a young boy dressed in tartan taken at the Debenham Photographic Studio at 158 Regent Street in London which had a handwritten name and date on the reverse – once it arrived in the post I started my investigations accordingly!!

Arthur Bruce JAMIESON was born in the January quarter of 1878 in the Hampstead Registration District and this fitted with the age of one year and eleven months written on the reverse of the photograph.

I found Arthur Bruce JAMIESON on the 1881 census, as below, aged three years living with his parents Henry JAMIESON aged 35 and Emma JAMIESON aged 30 and two brothers Henry Gordon JAMIESON aged four and Percy Somerville JAMIESON aged three. The family were living at 41 Hampstead Hill Gardens in London.

Henry JAMIESON was born in Edinburgh in Scotland and Emma JAMIESON was born in Quebec in Canada – using this information I found the marriage of Henry JAMIESON to Emma GORDON on 8th July 1874 in Stoke Newington in Hackney, London.

Source Citation: Class: RG11; Piece: 168; Folio: 40; Page: 22; GSU roll: 1341036 Source Information: Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1881 England Census

I then found the JAMIESON family on the 1891 census, again as below, still living in Hampstead in London with another son called Alexander G JAMIESON who was aged 7.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 107; Folio: 106; Page: 7; GSU roll: 6095217 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census 

In 1901 Arthur Bruce JAMIESON was aged 23 and on the census for that year he is shown as a Visitor. with the occupation of a Timber Agents Clerk, as below:

Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 122; Folio: 138; Page: 50 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census

As of yet I have been unable to find Arthur on the 1911 census, but I have found that he sadly died on the 8th April 1931 aged only 53 and his Probate record is shown below:

Source Information: Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 

This lovely old photograph of Arthur shows links his Scottish ancestry through his tartan outfit and if you have a family connection to the JAMIESON or GORDON families please send me a message, as it would be great to reunite this old photograph with family member if possible.

Thank you

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Do you have a family connection to Elizabeth Mary BRYANT born in 1909 in Bethnal Green in London?

I recently found this very tiny old Carte De Viste photograph that has the name Elizabeth Mary BRYANT and a date of birth 7th May 1909 written on the back – surely I will able to trace and research her family and possibly reunite this beautiful old image.

The first document that I found was a World War 1 Service record, as below, that included Elizabeth Mary BRYANT born 7th May 1909 as one of the children of Soldier William BRYANT aged 40 – the other family members are Elizabeth BRYANT nee HACKETT his wife who he married on the 23rd December 1900 and children Ivy May BRYANT born on 13th May 1902, William Leslie BRYANT born on 24th December 1904, David Alfred BRYANT born 18th December 1906 and Stanley Harold BRYANT born 10th June 1912.

The family address is given as 52 James Street in Bethnal Green in London on enlistment in 1916 and a later address in 1919 is shown as Fairview Cottage, Lower Park Road, Nevendon, Wickford in Essex.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920

Source Information: Ancestry.com. UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920

I the quickly found the 1911 census record for the BRYANT family living at 52 James Street in Bethnal Green in London, as below:

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 1403 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census 

I then found the marriage certificate for William BRYANT to Elizabeth HACKETT on 23rd December 1900, again as below:

Source Citation: General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 4a; Page: 2162 Source Information: Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005

I then found a baptism record for Elizabeth Mary BRYANT, as below, on 31st May 1909:

Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p72/jn/007 Source Information: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917

Elizabeth Mary BRYANT married George D BROWN in the Billericay in Essex Registration District in the July quater of 1934.

Do you have a family connection to the BRYANT, HACKETT or BROWN families – if you do please send me a message as I would love to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a family member of possible?

Thank you

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

Are you related to the GUTTERIDGE family from Gravesend in Kent?

A lovely old photograph find a while back had very helpful writing on the back and stated that it was of Edith Mary GUTTERIDGE who was born 2nd April 1869 and that the photograph had been taken in May 1871 – the Photographer was Thomas MONK from Gravesend in Kent.

On quick investigation I found Edith Mary GUTTERIDGE on the 1871 census, as below, aged 2 living in Gravesend in Kent with her parents Matthew aged 44 and Mary aged 33 and siblings Charles aged 4 and Herbert aged 3. Her father Matthew’s occupation was a School Master and he was born in Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire and his wife Mary was born in Reading in Berkshire.

Source Citation: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 891; Folio: 46; Page: 31; GSU roll: 823483 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census

Her parents Matthew GUTTERIDGE  and Mary Jane WILLIAMS had married in the September quarter of 1864 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire Registration District.

By the 1891 census, as below, Edith was aged 21 and working as a Governess in Braintree in Essex.

Source Citation: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 1426; Folio: 8; Page: 8; GSU roll: 6096536 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census

The 1911 census, as below, shows her aged 42 as a visitor staying in Leatherhead in Surrey with Mary Edith MARSH and her occupation is still shown as a Governess.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 2969; Schedule Number: 286 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

By 1939 the register, as below, shows she was living in Sevenoaks in Kent and her occupation was shown as a Private Teacher retired – living with her was Mary E MARSH the lady she had been staying with in 1911.

Source Citation: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1844D Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register

Edith Mary GUTTERIDGE never married and died in the October quarter of 1953 aged 85 and her death was registered in the Folkestone in Kent Registration District – I have also found the cemetery register, as below, which shows she died on 5th November and was buried on 7th November in Hawkinge Cemetery in Kent, Her final address is shown as 26 Grimston Gardens in Folkestone.

Source Citation: Shepway District Council; Folkstone, Kent, England; Shepway Burial Registers Source Information: Ancestry.com. England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016

I have also investigated Edith’s siblings further and there full names were:

Charles Bayley GUTTERIDGE born in 1866, Herbert Farmer GUTTERIDGE born in 1867, Hugh Edward GUTTERIDGE born in 1872, Mabel Ellen GUTTERIDGE born in 1873,  Marian Enid GUTTERIDGE born in 1876 and Arthur Arnold GUTTERIDGE born in 1878,

Therefore hopefully there are descendants of these siblings out there and it would be great to reunite this old photograph of Edith Mary GUTTERIDGE with them if possible – if you have a family link please send me an email.

Many thanks

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

 

You never think it’s going to happen to you – old family photograph find!!

Well what an amazing start to my Saturday morning!!

As you know I blog about old photographs and postcards that I have found and researched hoping to reunite them with a family member if possible and I now also have several friends who do this too,

These friends regularly post on social media including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc. and I always check their latest postings to share and retweet – therefore imagine my delight this morning when on checking my lovely friend @LynnsWPics Twitter feed to see the following post:

I immediately had goosebumps as the old wedding photograph taken in Suffolk was of own LAST family and showed my Great Aunt and Uncle Augustus (Gussy) and Rose WARNER nee LAST when they married at St Michaels Church in Framlingham in Suffolk on the 14th December 1935.

I immediately contacted Lynn who told me she had never found a photograph belonging to someone she knew before and she was amazed like me and she very kindly gave me permission to share the photograph with you all.

The wedding was unusual and made the local newspapers as it was a double wedding of two sisters Rose and Violet LAST marrying two brother Augustus and Albert WARNER and I have the following newspaper article and other photographs from the wedding.

It just goes to show that although you always think it will never happen to you it does and I now know well the feeling that the relatives I have reunited old photographs and postcards with must feel!!

Many thanks @LynnsWPics you have really made my day!!

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Do you have CREED’s from Norfolk or WILDSMITH’s from Warwickshire in your family tree?

A lovely old photograph I found on my travels in London in 2018 was of a young man with the name Stanley Norman CREED 13 years written at the bottom.

It is such a good clear photograph I decided to buy it to research later – during the current lock-down I have discovered it again and have now decided to see what I can discover about the CREED family.

I quickly found that Norman Stanley CREED’s birth was registered in the October to November quarter of 1902 in the Hendon Registration District in Middlesex and his baptism took place on the 17th November 1907 when he was aged 5 and his date of birth was confirmed as 14th August 1902.

I then discovered the BREED family on the 1911 census, as below, living at 11 Malden Road in Boreham Wood in Hertfordshire – Stanley CREED was aged 9 and living with his parents Thomas and Agnes CREED both aged 51 and his siblings Fred aged 14 and Queenie aged 12. Thomas was a Coachman and had been married to Agnes for 30 years and they had had eight children, 2 of who had died.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 7131; Schedule Number: 156 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

 Thomas CREED was born in Norfolk and Agnes in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire – using this information I found the marriage of Thomas CREED to Agnes WILDSMITH in the July to September quarter of 1882 in Warwick Registration District.

I then looked for more information about Stanley and could find nothing apart from a death record in the January quarter of 1916 in Downham Registration District in Norfolk – as his father Thomas had been born in Norfolk there was a link to this county.

Quickly I discovered that Stanley’s mother Agnes CREED nee WILDSMITH had died in the July quarter of 1912 aged 53 in Hertfordshire, so maybe Thomas had moved back to Norfolk to be closer to his family.

The sad thing is Stanley Norman CREED was aged 13 when he died and that is the age written on the old photograph I found – so is this a photograph of him taken when he was a bit younger and written on and kept as a memorial to him when he died aged only 13?

I have searched the old newspaper archives online to see if I can find any information about Stanley, but unfortunately nothing so far.

Therefore if anyone has a family li k to the CREED family from Norfolk or the WILDSMITH family from Warwickshire please send me a message as I would love to reunite this old photograph with a family member if possible.

I look forward to hearing from you….

Thank you

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Are you related to the BLANDFORD family from Risca in Monmouthshire, Wales?

A while back I found a lovely old photograph postcard, as below, of three boys, possibly brothers, with the names T BLANDFORD, Alf BLANDFORD and H BLANDFORD on the back and today decided to start trying to research it further.

I decided to set a Bank Holiday challenge on Twitter to see if anyone could make a family connection before I could and within minutes a Twitter follower Allie Nickell @alliethinks came back with the possible match of Thomas, Henry and Alfred BLANDFORD in Risca in Monmouthshire in the 1901 Census records born c.1880-1885 and they appeared to be the three eldest sons of Thomas and Ellen BLANDFORD.

After receiving this super information from Allie I studied the 1901 census record, as below, in more detail and could see that Thomas was aged 21, Henry was aged 18 and Alfred was aged 16, meaning that if this was a match to my old photograph it must have been taken before 1901 – their father Thomas BLANDFORD aged 44 was an Assurance Assistance Supervisor and their son Thomas was an Assurance Agent, whilst both Henry and Alfred were Coal Miners working underground.

Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 4964; Folio: 81; Page: 38 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 Wales Census

They also had other siblings including Nellie, James, Herbert, Phyllis and Mary.

I also found the BLANDFORD family on the 1911 census living at 11 Oak, The Cross Keys in Newport Mons in Wales and Thomas and Ellen had been married for 32 years and they had had ten children in total, seven of whom were still living – the male family members were all now shown as Coal Miners and Thomas was the only son from the old photograph shown living at home on this census.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 32014; Schedule Number: 91 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 Wales Census

 Thomas BLANDFORD senior married Ellen PARSONS in the January quarter of 1879 in the Newport Wales Registration District and Thomas was born in 1879, Henry in 1882 and Alfred in 1884.

I therefore wondered seeing the ages of the BLANDFORD brothers if any of them had been killed during World War 1, but thankfully they all survived and died in later life – however their brother James, born in 1889,  had a son called Ernest Arthur BLANDFORD who was sadly killed on 6th May 1944 during World War 2, which I found very poignant with the 75th Anniversary of V.E Day approaching tomorrow.

Ernest was the son of James and Minnie BLANDFORD and the husband of Edith Irene BLANDFORD (nee LEAMAN) and they had two daughters Edwina and Christine and a son called Colin.

Ernest served as a Lance Bombardier in the Royal Artillery with Service No. 14248182 – his funeral took place on 10th May 1944 and he was buried in Danygraig Cemetery in Risca in Monmouthshire – more information here Commonwealth War Graves Commission information

I also found more information about Risca in Monmouthshire and its history which can be read here Risca Monmouthshire

If anyone has a proven family link to the BLANDFORD family or any other old family photographs that could be used to compare to my photograph, it would be great to hear from you – please email me as if possible I would love to reunite this lovely old photograph with a family member if possible.

Many thanks and a big thank you to Allie Nickell for her very prompt reply and for setting the BLANDFORD research ball rolling………

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com