@Oggy Red Yes it can be a fascinating hobby – and at times a very frustrating one! Many times (in pre-internet genealogy days) I have got up at dawn, driven hundreds of miles to a distant record office, spent all day there, only to find what I wanted just as they were shutting for the day! But it is such a privilege to be able to handle the old records, some on untrimmed whole hides of vellum, complete with holes where the beast was infected with the grub of a warble fly, and one a home-made ancient parish register, with covers fashioned from 2 rough-hewn planks of wood. You don’t get that connection with the past from a computer screen.
I have been very fortunate as far as my father’s family is concerned, because I have inherited some 19th century letters written by my leather working great-grandfather Sam and his brother Ted (ancestor of the cousin mentioned in my o/p) back to their parents in Bermondsey when they were working in Germany and then in Yorkshire.
The German letters not only talk about the differences in housing, entertainment, & lack of adulteration of food & drink, but also of an industrial dispute and of being in Dresden at the time of the Austro-Prussian war. Letters from Yorkshire speak of pawn tickets, poverty, chronic illness, making clothes for the children from 2nd hand garments, and the children speaking “so broad” as they pick up the local Leeds accent.
One gem is where Sam speculated that the baby his wife Emma was expecting will be a boy “as I took more pains in the manufacture of it”!!!
Exactly, N01R4M. Great stories, you get a feel for what it was like. And to handle the artefacts from a distant age - this is what helps bring it all back to life for you.
My great grandfather was illegitimate. All anyone knew was that he came from 'good stock'.
Digging around it turns out he was the son of a Tory MP who was also a baron. Unfortunately the baroncy (?) ended with him because he never had a son... Except he did of course and I should be third in line.
I've always wondered whether it would be approaching his legitimate family as it is now to find out more about the man but whether they would think I'm a money grabber and whether they could still sue me. Until then I will rely in his Wikipedia page.
Comments
Yes it can be a fascinating hobby – and at times a very frustrating one! Many times (in pre-internet genealogy days) I have got up at dawn, driven hundreds of miles to a distant record office, spent all day there, only to find what I wanted just as they were shutting for the day! But it is such a privilege to be able to handle the old records, some on untrimmed whole hides of vellum, complete with holes where the beast was infected with the grub of a warble fly, and one a home-made ancient parish register, with covers fashioned from 2 rough-hewn planks of wood. You don’t get that connection with the past from a computer screen.
I have been very fortunate as far as my father’s family is concerned, because I have inherited some 19th century letters written by my leather working great-grandfather Sam and his brother Ted (ancestor of the cousin mentioned in my o/p) back to their parents in Bermondsey when they were working in Germany and then in Yorkshire.
The German letters not only talk about the differences in housing, entertainment, & lack of adulteration of food & drink, but also of an industrial dispute and of being in Dresden at the time of the Austro-Prussian war. Letters from Yorkshire speak of pawn tickets, poverty, chronic illness, making clothes for the children from 2nd hand garments, and the children speaking “so broad” as they pick up the local Leeds accent.
One gem is where Sam speculated that the baby his wife Emma was expecting will be a boy “as I took more pains in the manufacture of it”!!!
My great grandfather was illegitimate. All anyone knew was that he came from 'good stock'.
Digging around it turns out he was the son of a Tory MP who was also a baron. Unfortunately the baroncy (?) ended with him because he never had a son... Except he did of course and I should be third in line.
I've always wondered whether it would be approaching his legitimate family as it is now to find out more about the man but whether they would think I'm a money grabber and whether they could still sue me. Until then I will rely in his Wikipedia page.