Looking for relatives of the HENDRY family from Crimplesham in Norfolk!

A few months ago I bought a bundle of sixteen old Memorial cards from a Postcard Fair in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and thought they would be interesting to research in due course and to feature in blog posts.

It is only this week that I have had the time to look at them in more detail and I have found that one of them remembering Charlotte Elizabeth HENDRY who fell asleep on 7th September 1930 aged 71, also has the original newspaper report from her funeral at Crimplesham Church in Norfolk folded up neatly inside.

This report is fascinating as it includes thee names of all the mourners, including many family members and is a great resource for family research – it also gives some lovely personal information about Charlotte and her life, as follows:

Miss Charlotte Elizabeth HENDRY who passed away in her 72nd year – Of a quiet and unassuming temperament, the deceased lady was nevertheless an ardent churchwoman, and for many years, until illness prevented her, she was a regular teacher in the Sunday school. She could always be relied upon to give assistance in the social affairs of the village …….

Charlotte Elizabeth HENDRY was born on the 11th December 1858 in Wimbotsham Parish in Norfolk and her baptism record from 17th July 1859 names her parents as Henry Thomas HENDRY and Martha ALLFLATT.

Therefore after discovering this information I was thrilled to find that the Memorial cards for Charlotte’s parents Henry HENDRY who died on 8th September 1900 and Martha HENDRY who died on 8th April 1906 are also among the cards that I purchased.

Charlotte, Henry and Martha HENDRY are all interred in the cemetery at Crimplesham in Norfolk and it would be great to find relatives of the family who may be interested in being reunited with these family heirlooms.

Also among the Memorial cards are the names George HENDRY who died on 9th February 1889 and Elizabeth Everett HENDRY who died on 7th March 1933 and is interred in North Road Cemetery in Southend on Sea, where I live. From some initial research Elizabeth Everett HENDRY’s maiden name was HARROD and she married Willie HENDRY in Maldon Essex Registration District in the September quarter of 1899.

The other cards feature different surnames, which could also be related to the wider HENDRY family, but without compiling a full family tree at this stage I have not made those connections as yet.

Therefore if anyone has a proven connection or link to the HENDRY family from Crimplesham in Norfolk, I would be delighted to hear from you and hopefully these lovely old cards can be reunited with the HENDRY family history archive!

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Advertisements

Smashing School photograph with lots of handwritten names – possibly in the West Ham area of Essex?

Another great recent old photograph postcard find was a lovely image of young men and women obviously taken at a School, as the teacher / headmaster is clearly wearing his gown in the front middle row and some of the young men are wearing very smart blazers.

The other super find was that most of the fifteen people shown in the photograph had handwritten their names on the back – would these names be enough to identify some of them and possibly the school and also date the photograph?

The surnames on the back included ROGERS, BELLAMY, MASSEY, DANCER, HANDS, RIDOUT, CLEMENTS and BEGGS and fortunately many of them had more than one initial.

The first name that stood out to me was what looked like S J A DANCER and I quickly found a Stanley John Albert DANCER born in the October quarter of 1897 in the West Ham Registration District of Essex – the 1911 census showed him, as below, aged 13 and a School Boy living at 4 Courtenay Road in Leytonstone.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 9626; Schedule Number: 416 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

The name under DANCER looked like H A THOMAS and I found a Harry A THOMAS born about 1898 again in the West Ham area and who on the 1911 census, again as below, was aged 13 and a School Boy living at 14 Ross Road, Abbey Lane in Stratford in Essex.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 9342; Schedule Number: 194 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

Are these discoveries the correct connection to the photograph and was the School located in the West Ham area of Essex?

I still have more names to identify, but if anyone possibly recognises any of these surnames, the faces in the photograph or possibly knows where the School could have been located it would be fantastic to hear from you.

I have found three family trees on Ancestry with Stanley John Albert DANCER so I have messaged them to see if they recognise any faces or possibly his handwriting and I will keep you updated

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

 

Caught on camera – the LINDLEY family in mourning

Another recent fascinating old photograph find was an image of a family in mourning around a grave and tending flowers, which once again someone had kindly written names on the back of.

The photograph shows Charles LINDLEY and his three children Richard Henry Noel, Evangeline and Louisa at the grave of Catherine LINDLEY.

Initial research shows that Catherine LINDLEY was the wife of Charles and the motehr of Richard, Evangeline and Louisa and sadly she died in the October quarter of 1877 aged 64 in the Hackney Registration District in London.

I have found the LINDLEY family on the 1861 census, as below,  which shows Charles aged 45, Catherine aged 48, Louisa aged 17, Richard aged 9 and and Eva (Evangeline) aged 8 and they were living in Chorlton upon Medlock in Lancashire.

Source Citation: Class: RG 9; Piece: 2884; Folio: 56; Page: 16; GSU roll: 543044 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census 

More research is needed to discover more about the LINDLEY family, but I have found this old photograph absolutely mesmerizing and in time would like to find where the grave was located and visit to see if it is till in place after all these years.

I will update in due course, but in the meantime as always if anyone has a family connection to the LINDLEY family please make contact, as it would be great to reunite it if possible!

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Are you related to the MARTIN’s from MERRIOTT in Somerset?

One of my most recent lovely old family photograph finds was this super picture of a mother with her four sons, on the back of which someone had kindly written the family names:

R J H MARTIN, W W MARTIN, D G MARTIN, Mrs Flora MARTIN, A R MARTIN at Higher Street Merriott

This was fantastic information to get my research started and I quickly found the family on the 1911 census, as below, living at Higher Street in Merriott in the district of Crewkerne in Somerset.

In 1911 we can see head of house as Flora MARTIN aged 49 and married, whose occupation is a Poultry Rearer and with her are her sons Ralph aged 13, Donald aged 12 and Reginald aged 8 – there is no sign of their father on this document and sadly it states that although Flora had had five children, one had died.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 14375; Schedule Number: 153 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

Going back ten years and looking at the 1901 census, again as below, I found the MARTIN family living in Lydiard Tregoze in Wiltshire – Head of house was William H MARTIN aged 37 with Flora his wife aged 40 and children Walter William aged 7, Vera Ellen aged 5, Reginald James M aged 3 and Donald George aged 2.

Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 1911; Folio: 145; Page: 27 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census

Sadly from this document we can deduce that Flora’s daughter Vera Ellen MARTIN was the child who had died and I have found her death registration in the same quarter as the 1901 census, which shows that she died aged 5 in the Cricklade Registration District.

The 1911 census showed that Flora MARTIN had been married for 21 years and I have found her marriage record, as below, on 4th November 1890 in Wingfield in Wiltshire –  William Henry MARTIN aged 27 occupation Farmer married Flora MANFIELD aged 29.

Source Citation: Dorset History Centre; Dorchester, England; Reference: PE/BDW: RE 2/1 – 5, 3/1-4 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921

As we know William Henry and Flora MARTIN had five children, the four boys being shown in the old photograph with their mother – the full names and years of birth for three of them are as follows:

Walter William MARTIN January quarter 1897 Eton Registration District

Reginald James Manfield MARTIN October quarter 1897 Marylebone Registration District

Donald George MARTIN January quarter 1899 Brentford Registration District

However the mystery at the moment is A R MARTIN named on the photograph whop must be Ralph on the 1911 census, but who is not shown on the 1901 census record – so far I can find no A R MARTIN birth with mother MANFIELD to match, so more research is needed!

I have also found William Henry MARTIN on the 1911 census and sadly he was a Patient in an Asylum and living away from his family.

I now need to investigate the MARTIN family in more detail. but if you believe you have a connection to them please make contact, as it would be great to reunite this lovely old photograph with a  family archive if possible!

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

 

With Mr & Mrs A R ABRAM’s Compliments

I recently found this lovely old wedding photographic postcard taken by Opie Ltd in Redruth in Cornwall and, as you already know, I love these old images, but I was fascinated by this one because of the fact the gentleman is wearing medals and there was a message on the back saying …With Mr & Mrs R A ABRAM’s compliments, so could I discover more…….

I found the most likely marriage to be between Alexander R ABRAM and Dorothy KORB in the July quarter of 1928 in the Penzance Registration District, which fitted with the Redruth photographer.

I then found a birth registration for an Alexander Robert ABRAM in the July quarter of 1896 in the West Ham Registration District and his baptism record from Tower Hamlets dated 22nd July 1896 shows his parents names as Robert and Matilda ABRAM.

Sadly by the 1901 census, as below, his mother Matilda was already a widow, aged 39, with her occupation shown as a Confectioner – the family were living at 132 East India Road in Poplar and Alexander, now shown as Robert, also had a sister named Matilda.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 354; Folio: 36; Page: 5

By the 1911 census Alexander / Robert was aged 14 working as a Messenger Boy and his mother was remarried and now had the name Matilda ASPINELL – the family were now living at 10 Trinity Street in Canning Town in Essex.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 9504; Schedule Number: 321

Military records showed that Alexander Robert ABRAM was awarded campaign medals after WW1 for his service as a merchant Seaman and these must be the medals that he is so proudly wearing in his wedding photograph in 1928.

Alexander Robert ABRAM died in December 1978 in Chelmsford in Essex.

Turning now to his wife Dorothy KORB I found her on the 1911 census, aged 7, giving a birth year of about 1904 and she was living with her mother Elizabeth and siblings Enid, William and George living at 3 Keigwin in Pendeen in Cornwall.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 14087; Schedule Number: 189

I then found Alexander Robert and Dorothy ABRAM in the 1939 WW2 Registers living at Devon House in Anglesey in Wales, where Alexander’s occupation is shown as working for Trinity as a Lighthouse Keeper – this meant that he was working at South Stack Lighthouse and there is more information here Trinity Lighthouses

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register Source Citation: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/7516C

I need to investigate further to see if there are any records of Alexander’s time at the Lighthouse and I will update in due course – however in the meantime I have searched family trees on Ancestry and I have found two trees with links to Alexander and Dorothy ABRAM, so I have messaged the owners to see if they would be interested in the photograph, so again I will keep you updated.

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

 

Lest we Forget…the unknown faces of WW1

With Sunday 11th November 2018 fast approaching marking the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 remembrance is very much in everyone’s mind this week and I wanted to share some of my collection of postcards showing the unknown faces from that conflict and take some time to think about and remember them all – did they come home to family and friends or were they sadly killed in action, unfortunately we will never know……..

LEST WE FORGET……

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM…

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia,com

Beautiful colour tinted old postcards

As you all know I love my old postcards and was really pleased to find these beautiful coloured tinted ones amongst a recent bundle of old cards that I purchased and thought it would be lovely to share them with you all!!

Simon LAST

Charnwood Genealogy

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com