Grandfather, Joseph Corthorn, far right, outside the pumping station Victoria Embankment Nottingham 1940s

@Oldstuff2: Grandfather, Joseph Corthorn of the AFS far right in Nottingham during WW2. The picture is taken outside the pumping station on Victoria Embankment. The pumping station is no longer there but in the background can be seen the statue of Sir Robert Clifton which remains to this day. #firefighters #fireman #blitz #ww2 http://twitter.com/Oldstuff2/status/605688560902107137/photo/1 Shared via TweetCaster

Uncle Bert Carey early 1920s Nottingham

@Oldstuff2: Great uncle Bert Carey, standing left, at a lorry show in Nottingham early 1920s, possibly Victoria Embankment or the Forest Recreation Ground. #Boots #Nottingham #transport http://twitter.com/Oldstuff2/status/605689782488985600/photo/1 Shared via TweetCaster

South African Estate Papers arrive

I have now received the Estate Papers of Charles Frederick Ronald Moore and his father Henry Moore. Charles emigrated to South Africa with his family at the age of 2. His father worked for one of the big gold mining companies at the time.

Rose Cheetham2

I have finally found the record of Rose Cheetham's outward journey to Canada in 1927. She made the journey with her daughter, Ethel, and her husband. Another daughter, Edith, was already in Canada. Her son, Horace, followed some months later.

My search for Gertrude Annie Lacey

I have been searching for a few years now for the daughter of my great aunt and her husband, Gertrude Annie and Ebenezer Moses LACEY. I knew from various sources that they had emigrated to South Africa in the early 1920s and that they had both died there in 1940 and 1944 respectively.
On one Gertrude's visits to England, however, she was accompanied by a daughter, also called Gertrude Annie, aged 14. Also on Ebenezer's Estate Papers from South Africa he left some of his money to a Gertrude Annie MOORE, wife of Ronald MOORE. I had worked out her birth year as being around 1915 and so proceeded to look for her birth in England around this time. I knew Gertrude and Ebenezer were married in Camberwell but could find no record there. I searched baptisms in Gertrude's home County, Nottinghamshire and Ebenezer's in Buckinghamshire but still no luck.
Could she have been born in South Africa? I could find no record.
I read Ebenezer's Estate Papers again. Even more puzzling was the fact that he had stated that he had no surviving children. So had Gertrude Annie died at a young age, and if so, where?
This puzzle carried on for a couple of years, with me regularly checking records both here and in South Africa but to no avail. Then last week I had a moment of serendipity.
I had joined a South African genealogy group on Facebook and at the same time Ancestry was running one of it's free weekends for all UK records.
I had posted a request for help in finding information relating to the family and the whereabouts of young Gertrude Annie.
After a few messages concerning Gertrude and Ebenezer and their immigration I started to look through some of the old records I have for them. One came to my attention for an outbound journey that Gertrude had made in 1921. I noticed that a few lines above her entry was another traveller giving the same address in Camberwell. It turned out to be a Gertrude Annie GRAINGER
Who was Gertrude Annie GRAINGER? She was the daughter of  Gertrude's sister, Edith.
Edith ELLIS had married George William GRAINGER in 1910 but unfortunately George was killed in action in 1918. Edith had married again in 1919 to Arthur BOWLING.
I will probably never find out why, but poor little Gertrude, then aged 3, was taken to South Africa to start a new life. Did she ever see her family again? She did come back, we now know, listed as Gertrude's daughter and not her niece, but did she have any contact with her mother?
Helen Riding of the South African genealogy Facebook group found evidence of a marriage between Gertrude Annie Grainger and Charles Frederick Ronald MOORE thus proving the reason for Ebenezer leaving some of his money to Gertrude Annie MOORE and her family.
Later the marriage entry for them was found by Ellen Stanton, also of the group, in the Familysearch records for the Parish Church of St Augustine. Orange Grove, Johannesburg South Africa.
Also mentioned in Ebenezer's will were two children, Mary Gertrude and Edward MOORE. I have managed to find a baptism at the same church for Mary Gertrude in 1943 but have yet to find one for Edward, although we did find that he was born in 1947 from a later ship's register for a journey to England in 1950.Two years later, however, he did not travel with the family when they made another journey.
I am currently trying to find out what happened to the family after 1952, the last journey I have for them travelling back to South Africa.
Thanks to Helen Riding and Ellen Stanton of the South African Genealogy group on Facebook.

Rose Cheetham

Just discovered from the British Newspaper Archive that one of my ancestors, Rose Cheetham, was dicovered floating in the canal at Nottingham after attempting suicide by cutting her throat. Luckily she was spotted by a passing policeman and taken to hospital. Unluckily, after spending a few weeks in the General Hospital she was in court on a charge of attempted suicide.
On her first appearance she was remanded by the magistrates, but I can find no further information about the case.

The weekend

I've just finished downloading all the WWI documents I can find on Ancestry that are relevant to my family history. Some of their UK WWI records have been free this weekend as part of a campaign to commemorate Remembrance Day.
I already have some of them, but now I have them all in the same file on one computer. I must remember to back them up to another drive, of course.
I did the same with the 1911 census while that was free last month. If you are on a budget, like me, it pays to  look out for these special offers on all the family history sites. It does mean that you have to register on the sites, but it's free.
Anyone who uses Google Chrome for there Ancestry searches, as I do, might be interested in an extension that is available. Called Ancestry Family Search Extension 2.5. The blurb on the web page says"This extension takes the vital information from an Ancestry Family Tree person page and searches FamilySearch.org using those details. (An Ancestry subscription is required to view other people’s Ancestry Family Trees.)
The extension can be found at the Chrome Web Store.

Lest We Forget.....

On 4th November 1918, just 8 days before the end of World War 1, 204439 Private Lewis George Ellis and his best man and brother-in-law, 31385 Private George William Grainger, both of 9th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, were killed in Action at the Battle of The Sambre.
Both men are buried at the St Roch Communal Cemetery at Valenciennes in France.

My thanks to Stephen Morse for taking the photographs and placing the crosses for me


Also remembered, my grandfather, 1917 Private James Ellis Royal Guernsey Light Infantry who survived the war.
2619350 Guardsman Lewis George Ellis 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards died 18th April 1944 aged 30 who is buried at Leabrooks Cemetery Alfreton Derbyshire. From the records at the Grenadier Guards barracks it would seem that Lewis wasn't killed in action but died in hospital in England.

Both Lewis's are commemorated on the War Memorial at St Thomas's Church Somercotes Derbyshire.

Missing Cheetham

Further to my finding the death of Robert CHEETHAM in the St Mary's Nottingham Parish Registers, living at a place just known as Coppice, I am now looking for the death of his wife Ellen. I have found one of their sons, John, living nearby, on the 1841 and 1851 census but no sign of Ellen.
I am assuming she would be living in the same area as Robert but she may have pre-deceased him. (I have checked St Mary's from 1810 up to Robert's death in 1838).

I would be keen to hear from anyone who has any information about DUNKIRK FARM in Lenton Nottinghamshire. The CHEETHAM family were farming here from the very early 1800s up until the death of Frances CHEETHAM in 1881, when the land was sold for building development.

I plan to check the British Newspaper Archives as soon as I have a weekend to spare. I want to see what other information I can find about my families on there. Last time I searched was quite fruitful, although once again, the CHEETHAM entries are more prolific than the ELLIS's

I have recently bought a book entitled "The Dictionary of Slang" so as a bit of entertainment does anyone
know the meanings of these old slang words. All are English
bluey-cracking (mid 19C)
botanical excursion (mid 19C)
couch a hogshead (mid 16-early 19C)
curby hocks (mid 19C-1900s)
fake a pin (early 19C UK underworld)

Answers next post

It's been a long time since I made an entry in my blog but that doesn't mean that I haven't been carrying on with my research. At the moment I am concentrating on the CHEETHAM side of the family as they seem to have left more of a footprint in history.
I have now discovered that they were simultaneously farming land in Orston, Flintham, Lenton, Whatton and also in the St Anns area. Some of this land they owned, some of it they were tennants.
I know that they sold some land in Flintham to Thomas Blackborne Thoroton Hildyard for £900 in 1867. By that time I think the CHEETHAM's were no longer farming in Flintham. 
By 1881, and the death of Frances CHEETHAM, wife of William at Dunkirk Farm in Lenton the family's connection with farming was all but finished, although the family continued in the Lenton area until only recently.
I would be interested to hear from anyone connected to the family and may be able to provide any more information.

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.

Busy week ahead

I've had an email from a lady who thinks she could be related to two of the children in the Victorian Album I have put on the website. I have emailed her copies of the two pictures and I am awaiting her reply.
There have been over a thousand visitors to the site since it was updated last month. I am now working on the Family History pages with a view to getting them online sometime next month.
I have sent in a contribution to next months Evening Post Bygones. The edition will be about Nottingham's old schools, so I have sent in a few of my memories and a few photographs from the family collection.
There is still no sign of the Memorial Plaque from the old Turney Brothers building, although the article in question has now been written and put on the web. I don't know if the lady writing the article is still searching for it or not.

Web site update

I have been working on the old Meadows web site for the past week or so. I have now got to the stage where the main site will be ready in a couple of days. The extras will take a little longer to sort out but hopefully by the end of the month it will be finished.

One brick wall gone

Now that Ancestry uk have got most of the WW1 records on I have found out even more about James and Lewis George Ellis. I think I might even have found out what happened to John Chaplin, my great grandfather on my grandmother's side of the family. It needs a bit more research yet, however.
The research in to the lunatic, Mary Yale, is coming on apace. I've had some research done for me in Leeds, which has helped a great deal and helped me with some of the family members.
Quite by accident I have found the whole of Mary's family tree on Google Books. In a book called "The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal" I entered a search for Samuel Fenton the Leeds merchant and linen manufacturer, having an idea that he could be related to Mary Yale (ie her grandfather.)
Lo and behold, the whole family, including Mary's brother, William, who emigrated to South America in 1826.
I always had suspitions that Mary belonged to an influencial family, but here was the proof, and she was actually part, albeit minor, of the Royal bloodline.
I have been redundant now for 6 months, failing to find a job in the field I want to move in to. I have now decided that I will work self employed doing family history research for people in countries that make it hard for them to get to repositories in Nottinghamshire. More on that later

The brick wall is a bit shaky

Since I last added to this blog quite a bit has happened. Firstly I was made redundant in September which has given me a bit of time to do some tidying up of all the information I have.
Recently the Ancestry UK site has added more WW1 soldiers to the database. I have found an extra 11 pages of information about my grandfathers service that I didn't have. This is prior to his time in the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry.
From what I can gather from the papers he was one of the young men that lied about their age when they enlisted. He gave his age as 19 years and 3 months when he enlisted 2 Oct 1915 when in fact he wasn't born until 28 Oct 1898 which means he was only just 16.
I also think I may have found out what happened to my grandmothers father. It seems that nobody in the family ever spoke about him after he seperated ffom his wife whilst my grandmother was only a year or so old.
I have found a soldier in the records with the same name, birth year, birthplace and also with a brother of matching name and age and living in the same area. This, however, is not enough information to match them up and the papers offer no further details.
This man is listed as previously serving in the Grenadier Guards so they are my next avenue of research. The record of all their men are kept in the Regimental Archives, so I have sent an initial enquiry and am awaiting an answer.
Resarch in to the lunatic Mary Yale is continuing as I have now paid for some research to be done in London ( chancery records ) to find out when and how she was considered to be a lunatic.
I am now also available to carry out family history research in the Nottinghamshire area so if you have any that needs doing, especially if you live out of the country and doing it yourself isn't financially viable, please visit the "research" page on my website at www.theoldmeadows.site90.net or email me at nottsfamilies@talktalk.net with your details

Quandries

Found a few more ELLIS ancestors in London and Nottingham so I'll put them on Ancestry UK sometime today.
Not done any more on the Mary Yale story yet. Still looking at how to best add the family tree to the oldmeadows site. I want to make it easy for people to follow.

Holiday or will it be?

I have just finished work for the week and have one or two little projects that I want to get started and a few more that I want to finish.
I have heard from the researcher re- Mary Yale and intend to go ahead with that project as soon as possible.
Family history wise I intend to visit Flintham sometime this week to see if I can photograph the graves of the Cheethams in the churchyard there. These are the ancestors I am furthest back with at the moment.
I want to start an ebay page to buy and sell old documents and letters (another of my interests) which I might also incorporate into the oldmeadows web site. I might also include old photographs and albums etc.