Remembered

As this is a time for rememberence I thought I would list some of the members of my family tree who died during the Great War.

86449 Pte Lewis George Ellis KIA 4th November 1918 Sambre Canal Sebourg France
31385 Pte George William Grainger KIA 4th November 1918 Sambre Canal Sebourg France both of 9th Battalion Sherwood Foresters

Cheetham

I'm off to the archives tomorrow to try and solve the origins of the CHEETHAM family. So far I've traced them to Whatton in the Vale. Here's the thing, I have an ancestor whose father and mother were Joseph and Mary CHEETHAM of Nottingham. There are several Joseph and Mary CHEETHAMS any of which could be a candidate. Somehow I have got to winkle out the right couple.
I'm going to search the Electoral Registers for the WW1 years to see if the Alfred CHAPLIN I have in my tree ever lived on Gregory Boulevard. If he di it will link him to the John CHAPLIN I have found in Grantham, and thus solve a 100 year family mystery.
Still have one lost child of my Great grandmother to find. I found from the 1911 census that she had two children that were born and then died before my grandfather was born. I managed to find one of them, Arthur, born and died in 1904 baptised at St Nicholas Nottingham. I am going to recheck the register again in case I have missed something.

Wills and Probate

After finding 5 family members on the National Probate Calenders on Ancestry UK I have ordered them in the hope that they might enable me to further some of the investigations I am following at the moment.

One in particular, I am hoping, will provide a link to my lost great grandfather, John Quarrel Chaplin. I have found a John Chaplin on the WW1 Pension Records living and dying in Grantham after the war had ended. His next of kin was Alfred Chaplin living at Gregory Boulevard Nottingham. Both Johns were born in Bermondsey, as were both Alfreds. Both Johns had a brother Alfred, who lived in Nottingham. Both Johns were born within a couple of years. So far so good, but I want to find more evidence, thus ordering the will. I am hoping there might be a few more names I recognise which might bring it all together.

Also ordered copies of papers from the University concerning Francis Cheetham of Flintham Nottinghamshire, my 4xgreat grandfather. These will show me which land in Flintham they owned and later sold to the Thoroton Hildyard family who lived at Flintham Hall.

Family History

I have finally managed to add my family history research to the oldmeadows web site. It's only in its basic form at the moment but I hope to fine tune it in due course.

Several visits to the archives and new information available on ancestry uk has enabled me to add a few more people to the family tree.

I've just ordered 5 wills from the probate office, one of which I hope will help me to finally discover what happened to my great grandfather, John Quarrell Chaplin.

John was never spoke of in the family after his split from my great grandmother but I think I may have traced him now. I just need to find positive proof of the link that I am 99% sure of.

Using information from the Manuscripts and Special Collections Department at Nottingham University I have discovered that a direct ancestor was a landowner in the village of Flintam, Nottinghamshire.

I have ordered copies of the documents and hope to have all the information within a few weeks.

Went to a Paleaography workshop at Nottinghamshire Archives earlier this week. An hour well spent. I would have liked it to have been a little longer though.

The story of Mary Yale has not developed any further for the time being. I hope to continue the research in to her family soon.

Thanks to a message on Facebook from Jeff Beeson, I was able to pass on the location of the plaque from Turney Brothers with the names of the workers killed in the Boer War. For those interested the plaque is at the Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall, along with several other items rescued from the old building.