17^th SEPTEMBER

ELIZABETH MANSELL

Today commemorates the birth of my paternal G-G-Aunt, Elizabeth MANSELL who was born in Ketley Shropshire on 17^th September 1837. Elizabeth was the second of the nine children born to my G-G grandparents William and Eliza (ARCHER) MANSELL

At the age of 20 Elizabeth married William CHALLINOR a puddler in the iron works in Ketley. Both made their mark & were married after Banns at the parish church in Wellington.

Over the next dozen years they had 6 children: Henry (1859), Mary (1861), William (1863), Thomas (1865), James (1867) and Anne (1869). All the sons followed their father into the iron works while Mary became a dressmaker and Anne married.  

Elizabeth’s husband William died in Ketley in July 1876. By the time the 1891 census was taken Elizabeth had moved north to Stockton-on-Tees and was living with son William, now 28 and daughter 21 year old Ann. Elizabeth also had a boarder, Shropshire born William Moore, who married daughter Ann later in 1891.They lived in Thorpe Street; a popular address for a number of Mansell families who had all made the move at various times between the 1861 and 1881 census. . I’m keen to see if I can determine who was the Mansell trail blazer in the shift from Shropshire to County Durham.

Elizabeth died in Stockton on 18/8/1899 – possibly at 10 Byron Street

12^th SEPTEMBER

CHARLOTTE GALE

My maternal Great-Great Aunt Charlotte was born in Bride Street Islington on this day in 1868. The eighth of 11 children of William and Sarah GALE, Charlotte lived to the great age of 83 and on the way she outlived two husbands with whom she had 10 children.

 Many thanks for the photographs and much of this information goes to a distant cousin, Mark, who is a direct descendant of Charlotte.

When Charlotte was born in the spring of 1868 her father William was working as a labourer after having been in the merchant navy for the previous two decades. While Charlotte was not born into poverty, the Gale household would have struggled to make ends meet on William’s wages and I have written in more detail on this household in an earlier post.

Charlotte’s first husband was Harry ZIEBARTH, a German born Cooper nearly 10 years her senior. How they met is something we will probably never know for sure but there may be a clue in the fact that Charlotte’s mother Sarah BALDOCK came from a family of brewers. Charlotte and Harry married on 14^th July 1889 at St John the Baptist in Hoxton; the same church where her parents wed.

Together Charlotte and Harry had two sons and two daughters; William Henry (also known as Harry) in 1890, Charles in 1892, Francis Hilda Maud in 1894 and finally May Victoria (Mavis) in 1897. Sadly Francis only survived her first year before dying in 1895. Tragically May never knew her father as she was born only four months after the death of Harry.

Charlotte was widowed for three years before she married her second husband, Edward WARNER with whom she had five more children; Edward (1901), Arthur (1903), Horace (1906), Frederick (1908) and Doris Lily (1910).

Edward, Charlotte and Doris WARNER 1914

Married in Hackney on 4^th June 1900, Charlotte and Edward had 34 years of marriage before Charlotte was again widowed.

Charlotte passed away in December 1951.

 9^TH SEPTEMBER

PERCY EDWIN GALE AND JESSIE MACKENZIE

Happy Anniversary to my grandparents, Jessie and Percy. I have mentioned before about the fact that they married twice, in 1916 and then again in 1918 and today marks the anniversary of their first (secret) wedding held at the Anglican St Marylebone Church in London.

10^TH SEPTEMBER

MATERNAL GREAT-GREAT UNCLE JAMES BALDOCK

There is not much to say about James. He was the youngest of 9 children of William BALDOCK and Charlotte PATTMAN and was born in Islington in 1845. His elder sister Sarah Ann was my maternal G-G-Grandmother. 

8^th SEPTEMBER

PATERNAL GREAT-GREAT-GREAT UNCLE DAVID

David Small was born on September 8, 1827, in Forgandenny, Perthshire.  He was the second of the 11 children born to and David Small and Margaret Niven.

It appears that initially David followed in his fathers footsteps and worked as an agricultural labourer as on the 1851 census he is one of six farm workers at Balmanno Bothy. By his marriage four years later however, he is a railway guard. Interestingly, one of the other labourers at the Bothy, James McFarlane, has also joined the railways by 1861. For the next 10 years at least, David works on the railways in Dundee.

It is most likely that David worked for the Edinburgh & Northern Railway Company as this ran from Buntisland (where David was living at the time of his marriage) through branch lines to Dundee and Perth. Established in 1845 this Company became part of the North British railway in 1862.

David married Jane Whittet at the Bridge of Earn near Dron on the 26^th December 1856. Jane was the eldest of 6 children of shoemaker, Charles Whittet who came from quite an interesting family. The surname is not particularly common & is concentrated around Dundee and Perth and the family were very active in the formation of the early Church of Scotland.

David and Jane lived for most of their married life in Dundee. They raised two sons and two daughters; first at 34 William Street and then after David left the railway they moved to 11 Baffin Street. David died of cancer here on 8^th December 1892.

MATERNAL GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER MARY BROWN

Another birthday today is that of Mary Brown who was born in Stewarton Ayrshire on this day in 1818. Mary was the fourth of 8 children of Mathew Brown, a mason and his wife Mary King. On December 3 1836 Mary married Stewart Smith who was a local stone cutter. They had eight children in 19 years, their eldest being my G-G-G-Grandmother Janet Cochrane Smith.

PATERNAL AUNTIE MADGE & UNCLE HORACE

Today is also the wedding anniversary of my Dad’s eldest sister Margaret (Madge) and Horace Johnson who married in Stockton on Tees in 1928

1st SEPTEMBER 

 JOHN RONALD MACKENZIE

Today commemorates the birth of my maternal grandfather, John Ronald MACKENZIE. Born in Fodderty Scotland on 1st September 1859 he was the third of five children of Ronald MACKENZIE and Janet (Jesse) INNES. When I told John’s story earlier (14th February) I mentioned that I was waiting for a copy of his Will and as I have now received this I’ll share what I have found here.

When John died in hospital on 14th February 1945 his Will was almost exactly 10 years old. This had been drawn up on 19th February 1935; several years after the death of his second wife Florence in 1931 and when all 5 of his children were still alive. Interestingly there was only one beneficiary of his estate.

At some time during the decade before his death John moved from his home in Welling to the Petts Wood home of his married daughter Mabel Tardiff and it is this daughter who inherited everything.

By 1945 Mabel had been married to solicitor Frederick Graham Charles Tardif for 20 years and had several children. Mabel’s younger sister Irene had been married for over 10 years and lived not far away in Welling with her husband Reginald Short. Of the three children of John’s first marriage, the two eldest were William and Ronald and I know they had been estranged from their father for many years. The youngest from this first family was my grandmother Jessie who was also well settled with her own family at the time.

So why was Mabel the sole beneficiary? Possibly simply because she had provided her father with a home in the years before he died. It may be that he had provided his other children with financial bequests during his life. It may be they benefitted when he sold his home and moved in with Mabel. We may never know.

Here is a copy of the Will –

The gross value of John’s estate was £107-14-9 which converts to about AU$8500 today.

AUGUST IN A NUTSHELL

Oh dear. I said it wouldn't happen again and it has. Another entire month in catch-up. Here's August from 1792 to 1918...enjoy!

3rd AUGUST

This day marks the wedding anniversary of maternal grandparents, Percy and Jessie GALE. No ordinary wedding anniversary but the anniversary of their second wedding; the one at which I think they “officially” came out as a married couple. As mentioned earlier (back in 2009) I have not been able to find out for sure why they married in 1916 and then again on this day in 1918, and probably never will.

This second wedding was conducted at St Clement Danes Parish Church in London. Built in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren, this famous church was completely gutted during the Blitz and evidence of WW2 bombing is still in evidence on the outer walls. It was restored in 1958 at which time it was adapted to serve as the Central Church of the Royal Air Force. St Clement is the patron saint of mariners

St Clement Danes - about the turn of the century http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/226/language/en-CA/For-God-and-Country--St-Clement-Danes--the-RAF-Chapel.aspx

4th AUGUST

This date marks the birth of my maternal Great-Great Uncle Donald MACKENZIE. Born in 1856 in Fodderty, Ross & Cromarty, he was the first son and second child of the five children born to Ronald MACKENZIE and Janet INNES.

6th AUGUST

On this day in 1900 my paternal grandparents married in Stockton-on-Tees. Ivor James MANSELL was a 24 year old Stockton born clerk; the eldest of 7 children of iron worker George MANSELL and Wales-born Eliza Ann LLEWELLYN. My grandmother, 20 year old Margaret SMALL, was one of 12 children of Scottish boiler maker Peter SMALL and Yorkshire born Margaret STEVENSON.

Exactly six months after their wedding, Ivor and Meggie welcomed their first child, a girl Margaret Lillian – my Auntie Madge. They had another 5 girls (Ivy Florence, Charlotte, Millicent, Coralinda and Rhoda) and 3 boys (Mornington, Ivor James and Peter) before their last child, my father, was born in 1919.

The family spent most of their life in the Stockton and Norton-on-Tees area through various levels of fortune. Throughout their marriage Ivor worked as a bookie, or turf commission agent and I believe his first son, Mornington, was named after the famous jockey Mornington Cannon. Ivor also worked for his builder brother in law, John SMITH as a watchman on building sites and at some stage, Ivor and Meggie also ran a small shop, possibly on Thorpe Street in Stockton .

After almost 60 years of marriage, Margaret passed away in October 1956. Ivor died just three years later. They are buried together in Thornaby Cemetery.

13th AUGUST

William Hamilton MACKENZIE was my maternal Great Uncle and he was born on this date in 1888 in London. William was the middle child of Scottish parents, John Ronald MACKENZIE and Annie Wilson HAMILTON.

William married Ellen YATES in 1929 and they had three children. He died of influenza in 1943.

14th AUGUST

Three paternal ancestors share this date.

In 1844 my Great-Great Aunt Mary MANSELL was born. Mary was the fifth of nine children to William MANSELL and Elizabeth ARCHER of Ketley in Shropshire. Sadly Mary died at the age of 2 on 9th December 1846.

On this day in 1850 my Great Grandmother Eliza Ann LLEWELLYN was born to Thomas and Eliza LLEWELLYN of Whitchurch near Cardiff.
BIRTH
She was the youngest of their six children and their only daughter. At some time between the 1861 and 1871 census the family moved to Stockton-on-Tees and this is where Eliza was to meet her future husband. Eliza married widower George MANSELL at the Stockton Registry Office on 17th May 1874. They had 7 children before Eliza died at the relatively young age of 49, just 4 years after her husband.

Also on this date was William James MANSELL; my first cousin once removed who was born in 1868. William was the son of my Great-Grandfather George MANSELL and his first wife Elizabeth OGRAM.  When William was only 2 years old his mother died giving birth to a daughter who sadly did not survive. When his father remarried in 1874 (to Eliza Ann LLEWELLYN – see above) William was raised by his grandparents William and Elizabeth MANSELL. He lived with them until his marriage in 1890 to Jane BELL with whom he had 8 children. William died in 1953.

16th AUGUST

In 1915 my maternal first cousin once removed was born in Blackpool. John Ronald MACKENZIE was the son of my violinist Great Uncle Ronald MACKENZIE and his wife, the opera singer Annie WALKER.  John died in 2002 in London.

19th AUGUST

On this date we travel all the way back to 1792 to my paternal Great Great Great Aunt Euphemia NIVEN. All I know of Euphemia is that she was the second child born to William NIVEN and Jean EDWARD of Forteviot in Perthshire.
BIRTH

28th AUGUST

My maternal Great Great Great Great Aunt Ann BROWN was born on this day in 1825. Ann was the seventh child of Mathew BROWN, mason, and Mary KING who lived in Stewarton Ayreshire.

JULY IN A NUTSHELL

Well, once again I am playing catch-ups and as it’s nearly the end of July I thought I’d do the whole month in one hit! I really must be better organised for August.

6^th JULY

There are two distant ancestors to commemorate on this day; one maternal and one paternal.

In 1817 my G-G-G-Uncle George MANSELL was born to George and Mary (nee LEES) MANSELL. He was the third of their five children. Apart from his baptism in Ketley, Shropshire I have no further details. 

This day is also linked to my maternal line. In 1823 my G-G-G-G-Aunt Jean BROWN was baptised in Stewarton, Scotland; the sixth of eight children born to Matthew and Mary (nee KING) BROWN.

11^th JULY

In 1816 Jean’s elder sister Marion was baptised in Stewarton. As another Marion was baptised to this couple in 1821 it is possible that today’s Marion did not survive infancy although I have yet to confirm this.

This day is also the birthday of my paternal Great-Grandfather Peter SMALL.

 Peter was born in 1850 in Dunbarney, Perthshire to David and Margaret (nee NIVEN) SMALL. One of 11 children, Peter had 8 brothers and 2 sisters although it is unlikely that all survived childhood.

By the age of 21, Peter had already left Scotland for England and was lodging in a house on Starkey Street in Stockton-on-Tees and was working as a boilersmith. He would remain in the steel industry all his life.

Just a few years later, Peter married my Great-Grandmother Margaret STEVENSON at the parish church in Richmond, Yorkshire. Their witness, Francis Stevenson was Margaret’s elder brother. 

Peter and Margaret spent all their married life in Stockton on Tees, moving around from house to house. They had 10 children, losing only 2 in infancy.   

Peter died in 1918 and his widow survived him by nearly three decades. Margaret died in 1946.

14^th JULY

In 1782, my paternal G-G-G-G-Uncle, Richard SKELTON was born. He was the third of eight children born to John and Mary (nee PASCALL) SKELTON of Preston-on-the-Weald-Moors in Shropshire. I never get tired of that place-name!

This is also the birth date of my paternal G-G-Grandmother Margaret NIVEN. Born in Forteviot, Perthshire in 1805 she was the eighth of nine children – 6 boys and 3 girls - to William and Jean (nee EDWARD) NIVEN. 

At the age of 20, Margaret married David SMALL and they had 11 children together.

17^th JULY

My paternal Great-Great-Great-Grandfather George MANSELL was born on 17^th June 1791 in Wellington, Shropshire. I believe his parents were George and Elizabeth but I have yet to corroborate this information.

George was a labourer who spent all his life in the Ketley/Wellington area of Shropshire. He ventured into Wrockwardine in 1812 when he married Mary LEES on 29^th June that year but they soon settled back in New Town Wellington where all their five (known) children were born.

George died on 30^th October 1846 and was buried at All Saints Ketley on 4^th November. There is actually a monumental inscription on the grave which reads:

                “Sacred to the memory of George Mansell who died 31/10/1846 in the 55 year of his age.           Also James son of the above who died 6/11/1846 age 19”

Also on this day is the anniversary of the marriage of maternal Great-Great-Grandparents William Cunningham Bontine HAMILTON and Janet Cochrane SMITH. They married in Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire in 1855 when William was 23 and Janet was only 18. Their first child, daughter Janet, was born 5 months after the wedding so it’s easy to see why she may have married so young. 

Port Glasgow where the family lived was very poor. Houses were small and crowded, sanitation was very basic and with a baby born almost every two years, times were tough for the family. William was a joiner and later a machinist at the shipyards while Janet worked as a dressmaker to help make ends meet. In total they had 11 children but almost all died in infancy and all of these died from consumption. Their sixth child, Annie Wilson, was my Great-Grandmother and she too succumbed to consumption was she was only 32. The only other children who survived into adulthood were William (born 1873) and Stuart (born 1876), both of whom moved to London as young adults.

William CB died at the age of 53 on 21 June 1885 “after 2 months illness of consumption”. His widow Janet then moved to London to live with son William and his family. She died there in 1902 and was buried at the West Ham Cemetery Newham on 12 September 1902.

19^th JULY

Maternal Great-Great-Grandmother Janet (or Jessie) INNES was born on this day in Dingwall in 1833 and was baptised in the Parish Church 11 days later. 

When she was 20 years old, Janet married Ronald MACKENZIE, a farm labourer, in the Parish Church  Contin on 28^th March 1854. Ronald and Janet had five children; Margaret (1854), Donald (1856), John Ronald (1859-1945), Mary Ann (1862) and Janet (1867).

After the death of her husband in 1887 Janet when to live with her daughter Margaret where she stayed until her death on 27^th August 1895.

20^th JULY

Another wedding anniversary today. Caroline BALDOCK was the younger sister of my maternal Great-Great-Grandmother Sarah. She was born in 1835 and married William Barwick on this day in 1851 at the Parish Church Hackney.

22^nd JULY

Another maternal Great-Great Aunt was born on this day. Janet MACKENZIE was the youngest sister of my Great-Great Grandfather John Ronald MACKENZIE and she was baptised in Lochbroom, Ross-shire in 1867.

23rd JULY

Andrew SMALL was my paternal Great-Great-Uncle and he was baptised on this day in 1847 in Dunbarney, Perthshire. One of 11 children of David and Margaret (nee NIVEN) SMALL he was the older brother of my Great-Great-Grandfather Peter.

24^th JULY

My maternal G-G-G-G-Uncle Mathew BROWN was born in Stewarton, Ayreshire on this day in 1831. One of 8 children he was the youngest brother of my G-G-G-Grandmother Mary and the youngest of eight children of Mathew and Mary (nee KING) BROWN,

27^TH JULY

Stuart HAMILTON was my maternal Great-Great-Uncle who was born in 1876. He was the youngest of the 11 children to William Cunningham Buntine  and Janet Cochrane HAMILTON.

30^th JULY

My paternal Great-Great-Uncle Andrew NIVEN was baptised on this day in 1807.  The youngest of 9 children of William and Jean (nee EDWARD) NIVEN of Forteviot, Perthshire, Andrew was the youngest sibling of my Great-Great-Grandmother Margaret.

Also on this day we celebrate the birth of my paternal Great-Great-Uncle John SMALL. Born in Dunbarney Perthshire in 1839 he was the older brother to my Great-Great-Grandfather Peter SMALL.

31^st JULY

The final entry for July celebrates a wedding. On this day in 1825 in Dunning Perthshire, my paternal Great-Great-Grandfather David SMALL married Margaret NIVEN. David was an agricultural labourer who can be found on the 1841 census working on the Kilgraston Estate in Dunbarney and in 1851 the family are living in Brickhill Cottages with their six children 

David and Margaret had 11 children in total; James (1825), David (1827), William (1829), Jane (1831), Euphemia (1834), Andrew (1836), John (1839), Thomas (1841), Andrew (1847), Alexander (1849) and finally Peter in 1850.

David died in 1866 and although Margaret must have passed away prior to this, I have found no record yet of her death.

27^th JUNE

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

My maternal Great-great Uncle Alexander was born on this day in 1870. Like almost all of his siblings, poor Alexander did not live long. Alexander died of consumption on 21^st August 1875.

MARTHA MANSELL

My paternal Great-great Aunt Martha was also born on this day. Martha was the 8^th of nine children of William and Elizabeth (nee ARCHER) MANSELL and she was born in Ketley, Shropshire in 1852. Interestingly, later in life Martha married David LLEWELLYN; the elder brother of Eliza Ann who married my Great-grandfather George MANSELL – Martha’s elder brother.

29^TH JUNE - GEORGE MANSELL AND MARY LEES

Paternal Great-great-great-Grandparents George and Mary were married on this day in Wrockwardine in 1812. George was a labourer from Wellington and he and Mary spent all their married life in Ketley. They had 5 children; two girls and three boys. The eldest of these boys was my Great-great-grandfather William.

George is rare among my ancestors because not only was he given a gravestone, but I have a transcript of the monumental inscription:

“Sacred to the memory of George Mansell who died 31/10/1846 in the 55 year of his age. Also James son of the above who died 6/11/1846 age 19”

21^st JUNE – DONALD MACKENZIE & MARY MCLENNAN

On the 21^st June 1823 my maternal G-G-G-G-Grandparents were married at the parish church in Urray, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland. Donald was an agricultural labourer from Urray and was 30 years old when he married Mary; a 21 year old from nearby Fodderty.

Donald and Mary had 6 children; William (1824), Alexander (1826), G-G-G-Grandfather Ronald (1830 – see story 19^th May), Janet (1833) and Helen (1840).

I have only been able to find this family on the 1841 census where they are listed as living at “Moy” where Donald is an agricultural labourer. Moy can be found just south-west of Loch Ussie which is west of Dingwall.

20^th JUNE – ANN and ALEXANDER STEWART HAMILTON

Twins Ann and Alexander were born on 20^th June 1861 in Glen Bridge near Port Glasgow. Ann was the eldest by 20 minutes and they were the 4^th and 5^th children of my maternal G-G-Grandparents William Cunningham Bontine and Janet Cochrane (nee SMITH) HAMILTON.

Sadly, Ann died 17 days later and Alexander followed 2 days after his sister. Their cause of death was listed as “weakness of constitution

19^th JUNE – WILLIAM HAMILTON MACKENZIE & ELLEN YATES

On this day in 1929, my maternal Great-Uncle William Hamilton MACKENZIE married Ellen YATES at St Alfege Church in Greenwich. He was the brother of my grandmother, Jessie MACKENZIE and was 41 years old when he married.

William and Ellen had 3 children; Alexander (1930), Alan (1932-2008) and Joan May. I have exchanged several emails with Alexander & this is what he tells me about his father William:

                           “The reason I have so few memories of dad was that dad would leave home for work before we got up in a morning and we would be in bed before he arrived home at night. Then at the outbreak of the war in 1939 my mother packed us three children off to stay with her mother in  Pontefract, Yorkshire. My brother Alan and I stayed with my grand parents until April 1943 and in all that time I never saw my father. In May 1943 Dad got a bad cold which developed in to Pneumonia and he died on 11th May 1943. I vaguely remember Granddad John came to the funeral and some weeks later mother took us to his home at Shooters Hill Plumstead, but after that we never heard from them again.”

17^th JUNE – WILLIAM BALDOCK & CHARLOTTE PATTMAN

My maternal Great-Great-Great-Grandparents, William BALDOCK and Charlotte PATTMAN were married on 17^th June 1822 in the Parish Church in Frindsbury Kent.

William and Charlotte had 9 children over the course of 20 years. William (1825), Mary (1828), Charlotte (1830) G-G-Grandma Sarah Ann (1832), Caroline (1835), Edward (1837) and John (1839) were all born in Kent. The final two children, Eliza Ann (1842) and James (1845) were born in Islington.

It is interesting that on each of the census returns for 1841 to 1861, William lists his occupation as labourer. Each of his childrens birth certificates also cite this as his occupation. However, as each child married they claim that their father was a brewer. Quite possibly William worked as a labourer for a brewer; we may never know.

I have been sent a photograph by an ancestor of Edward (born 1837) and I was told it is of William and Charlotte. As William died in 1870 it must have been taken close to the end of his life. The photo shows William and Charlotte with their daughter Eliza Ann (born 1842)

8^th JUNE – JOHN WILSON AND MARY SIMPSON

On the 8^th June 1798 my maternal G-G-G-G-Grandparents John WILSON, a weaver, and Mary SIMPSON were married in Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire Scotland. I am descended from their daughter Ann, born in 1800. 

7^th JUNE – WILLIAM GALE

A very brief entry today. Great-Great Uncle William GALE was born on this day in 1855. The second of 11 children of William and Sarah (nee BALDOCK) GALE he was born in Holloway and baptized 10 years later at St Mary Islington.  I have found him on the 1861 and 1871 censuses living with his parents and siblings but from then the trail is still to be investigated. 

4^th JUNE – ROBERT HAMILTON

Today is the birthday of my maternal Great-Great-Uncle from Kilmalcolm in Renfrewshire Scotland. He was born in 1823 to Alexander and Ann (nee WILSON) HAMILTON and was the elder brother of my G-G-Grandfather William Cunningham Bontine HAMILTON.

Robert was a shoemaker who was married on 21 June 1851 to Margaret LYNCH in Largs Ayreshire. I do not know if this couple had any children together but Robert was left a widower when Margaret died in 1867. The following year he married Agnes SMITH in Port Glasgow and they had a daughter, Agnes Paul.

Robert died in 1898 of bulbar paralysis; a progressive motor neuron disorder. He was 75 years old. 

1^st JUNE

PERCY EDWIN GALE

My maternal grandfather, Percy Edwin GALE was born on 1^st June 1886 in Aldershot. He was the eldest child of Edwin and Louisa (nee KENNETT) GALE and like his father, he was a military man.

Percy enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers in Newcastle on 11^th July 1905 when he was just 19 year old. His enlistment papers show that he was 5ft 9 ¾ and weighed 138lbs, and he had brown hair and brown eyes.

From February 1906 to November 1913 he was stationed in India; probably in Sabathu where the 2^nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers had been stationed prior to the outbreak of WW1.

At the outbreak of war, Percy was with the 1^st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers which were based in Portsmouth. On 14^th August 1914 the 1^st Battalion landed in Le Havre and remained in France and Flanders for the duration of the war as part of the 9^th Brigade, 3^rd Division ending the war on 11 November 1918 at La Longueville.

 December 1915 saw Percy shipped back to Blighty where he remained until November 1916. I believe that this was the period he was hospitalised as a result of a gas attack. It was at the end of this period that he married Grandma Jessie MACKENZIE who was a nurse at the time. Family legend tells that Grandad was temporarily blinded as a result of the gas and he fell in love with Nurse Mackenzie’s voice as she tended to his wounds. When he regained his sight he saw how beautiful she was and asked her to be his wife. They married on 9^th September 1916 – for the first time.

From 15^th November 1916 Percy served with the 2^nd Battalion Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who were already serving in France as part of the 97^th Brigade, 32^nd Division. I don’t know for sure why he was transferred to this unit although it is probable that it was for reinforcement purposes. November 1916 was the end of the Battle of the Somme during which many Battalions suffered heavy casualties and soldiers were transferred to fill the many gaps until reinforcements could arrive.

By the 14^th June 1917, Percy was back with the Northumberland Fusiliers. During WW1 the Northumberland Fusiliers raised a total of 51 battalions and as a result of this amazing contribution the regiment was granted the title Royal, becoming the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.

Percy must have been sent back to England again late in the war as he and Jessie married again on 3^rd August 1918! Once again I rely on family legend for the reason for their second ceremony; of which there are two theories. One was that Jessie did not want to give up nursing while there was a war on and as a married woman she would not have been permitted to keep working. The second story is far more romantic. Jessie’s father, John MACKENZIE, did not approve of Percy as a suitable husband and so refused to give permission for them to marry in 1916, prompting Percy and Jessie to marry in secret. Only when John relented did they marry with his blessing in 1918. This story may have some credence to it as John is not a witness to their first marriage at Trinity Church St Marylebone but he is a signatory at their wedding in St Clement Danes Church in 1918.

Percy was discharged from the army in August 1928 but re-enlisted in the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Special Reserve Territorial Army as a Trooper in April 1934. He attended Annual training camps over the next few years and was ready for active duty again at the outbreak of WW2.

From January 1940 to May 1941 Percy served in Palestine as part of the 52^nd Training Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Grandad was finally discharged from the Army in October 1943 due to ill health. He was awarded the India General Service Medal 1908, the 1914 Star, British War Medal 1914-1918, Victory Medal 1914-1918 as well as Long Service and Good Conduct medals.

Grandad was a proud member of the Old Contemptibles. This name was coined by the members of the original British Expeditionary Force which crossed to France in August 1914 under the command of Sir John French. As large parts of the British Army were stationed in all corners of the Empire at the outbreak of war, this BEF was a relatively small fighting force; especially compared to the German Army. Apparently the Kaiser was particularly scathing in his assessment of the British Army calling it “General French’s contemptible little army” and so the name was adopted with pride.

The “Old Contemptibles” covered themselves in glory during the early days of the war when they took part in the Battle of Mons, the Retreat from Mons and the First Battle of Ypres. They were entitled to the 1914 Star; a medal reserved for those who fought in the first months of war.

After he retired Percy and Jessie managed a number of hotels, the George in Market Rasen and the Welland Inn in Spalding.  Percy died on 3^rd April 1955.

JOHN SKELTON AND MARY PASCALL

This date is also the anniversary of the marriage of my paternal G-G-G-G-grandparents, John SKELTON and Mary PASCALL. They were married in Shifnal in Shropshire and spent all their married life in the area. Their first three children, Mary, John and Richard were baptized in Preston-on-the-Weald-Moors and their final 5 children, Catherine (my G-G-G-Grandmother), Elizabeth, Fanny, William and Mary Ann were baptized in Wellington Shropshire. 

28^th MAY – MEMORIES OF MUM

This date is one that always makes me think of Mum. As it approached each year she would recite the names of family in England for whom she had to remember to buy birthday cards. It would usually go something like this: “Pat, of course; then there’s Peggy’s Margaret and Percy’s Glynnis and Margaret’s Stuart but I don’t bother sending a card to him”. What Mum didn’t know is that the 28^th May is also the anniversary of her G-G-Grandparents marriage.

Richard KENNETT and Louisa FOREMAN

            G-G-G-Grandparents Richard and Louisa were married in Lyminge, Kent on 28^th May 1825. I know very little about this couple and am only certain about two children born to them. A son, Richard, was baptised in Lyminge in 1826 and my G-G-Grandfather William who was baptised in 1827.

It is interesting that on their marriage the registers show that both Richard and Louisa were able to sign their own names. The same cannot be said of their son, G-G-Grandfather William who “made his mark” when he married Ann ELLENDER in 1853.

25^th MAY – ISABELLA HAMILTON

A sad and brief story today. The 25^th May 1865 was the birth day of my maternal Great-Great-Aunt Isabella. She was the 7^th child and 6^th daughter of William Cunningham Bontine and Janet (nee SMITH) HAMILTON and the older sister of my Great-Grandmother Annie Wilson HAMILTON.

Like six of her siblings, poor Isabella did not survive childhood. She died at just 8 months on 2^nd February 1866. Her death certificate provides the heartbreaking information that she had suffered scarlet fever for 16 days, the final 10 days enduring convulsions. 

19^th MAY - RONALD MACKENZIE

Happy 184^th birthday today to my maternal Great-Great-Grandfather, Ronald MACKENZIE. Born on the 19^th May 1830, Ronald was baptized at the parish Church in Urray on the 28^th May 1830.

  

The middle child of 5 children of agricultural labourer Donald MACKENZIE & his wife Mary (nee MCLENNAN), Ronald rose from humble beginnings to become a man of some substance.

My post back on the 28^th March covered the married life of Ronald and Janet (nee INNES). In this story I tracked his progress through the census returns from his beginnings as a farm labourer on the Coul of Fairburn Estate to his situation at the age of 50 where he was Manager of the Railway Hotel in Dingwall.

When Ronald passed away in October 1887 he was only 57 years old. It’s quite ironic that as a publican he died of liver and heart failure. The final official document I have for Ronald is his will in which he leaves quite specific bequests to his widow and children.

17^th MAY - GEORGE MANSELL & ELIZA ANN LLEWELLYN

Back on the 28^th April I wrote about the birth of an ancestor who had always interested me. Today is the anniversary of his second marriage to my G-Grandmother Eliza Ann LLEWELLYN.

George and Eliza married on 17^th May 1874 at the Stockton Registry Office. It was the second marriage for George whose first wife, Elizabeth OGRAM had died four years previously. The only surviving child of this marriage, William James, was being raised by his grandparents William and Elizabeth MANSELL.

A family story passed down to a second cousin in Stockton, Pam LEWIS, was that Eliza had fallen in love with George who was the foreman at the iron works where her father was employed. She apparently married him against her parents wishes and she and George had run away together to get married. I find this story unlikely. For a start, they would hardly have eloped to the nearest registry office. Secondly, Eliza’s older brother David had married George’s younger sister Martha only two years earlier so the families already knew each other.

The first of George and Eliza’s 7 children was born the year after they married; my grandfather Ivor James in October 1875. It was three years before their next child arrived; a daughter Eliza Ann; and then another daughter, Rhoda Louise, was born in 1879. This fledgeling family was enumerated in 1881 living on Thorpe Street where they would remain all their married life.

Ten years later and their family was almost complete with the arrival of three more children. George was still working at the mill and young Ivor had already entered the workforce. At this time, children from the age of 5 through to 13 received an elementary education and we see on this 1891 census that Eliza Ann had completed her school years but was not yet employed. Rhoda, George, Tom and Lillie (Lily) however, are still listed as scholars.

This was the last time the family was all documented in the same place. George and Eliza’s final child, Annie Maud was born the year after census and George died in 1895. He was buried at the Oxbridge Lane Cemetery in Stockton on 16^th December 1895.