Love him or hate him, the Census Enumerator is one of those unknown faces who crosses your path, almost on a daily basis, whilst you research your Family History and someone you just can’t live without!   But who was this mysterious character that could make you yelp with delight one minute, then cry with frustration the next. The role of the Census Enumerator for many of us, is something that you maybe wouldn’t give much consideration to, unless you were stuck with a census brick wall to knock down. But by understanding his role a bit more, it might help you to unlock a mystery or two and might even help you demolish your own brick wall.

The first census was held in England and Wales in 1801 and this was taken in every County and was just a basic national headcount. In some parishes, if you are lucky, there are some unofficial lists of inhabitants, but as this was not an official undertaking, surviving records are sparse. It was not until 1841, that a full countrywide census was taken and the names of all the occupants of every household were recorded. The 1841 census and subsequent censuses, were administered in census districts which were based on the registration districts used in the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages. Each census district was sub-divided into enumeration districts and each enumeration district contained approximately 200 households, or an equivalent area, that the average enumerator could be expected to get round in a single day. 

The enumerators were selected for their local knowledge, intelligence, education, reliability and respectability. The role of the enumerator was to deliver to each household a Householder’s Schedule, with written instructions on how the form was to be completed. The head of the household was required, by law, to complete the form on the Sunday night of the census, detailing all those persons who were sleeping in the house that night. Night-workers who were away working, but would be returning to the household that morning to sleep, were also to be listed. Special forms were supplied for asylums, hospitals, schools and similar institutions with over 100 occupants. The enumerator returned the following day and collected the Householder’s Schedule and they checked the contents for discrepancies and clarified anything they did not understand, or helped the householder to complete the Schedule, for example if they could not read or write.
Once all the Householder’s Schedules were collected, the enumerator entered all the particulars in the Census Enumerator’s Book and it is these books that we regularly search on sites such as Ancestry and FindMypast. Both sets of documents were then submitted for checking and examination by the district registrar before they were sent to the Census Office in the General Register Office in London. There they were again checked, and with a few exceptions for the 1841 – 1901 census, the Householders’ Schedules were then destroyed. The exception being the 1911 census Householders’ Schedules, which have been retained. 
​
The data provided was then analysed and recorded in a series of tables as a final Census report. We sometimes forget that the population Census was actually taken for a reason and that it wasn’t actually intended to be used for genealogy purposes! The information taken during the census was used by the Government to plan public funded services including healthcare, housing, education and transport.  Under the Hundred Year rule, the data was and still is inaccessible to the general public for 100 years, but after that, it becomes a treasure trove for anyone tracing their family tree. 
There was also specific definitions that the Enumerator’s had to adhere, for example:
​

• A household is defined as: “One person living alone, or a group of people (who do not have to be related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or  dining area”.
• A householder is defined as:
• “A person who usually lives at this address and, on their own or with someone else: owns or rents the accommodation, and/or pays the household bills and expenses”

So how can understanding the role help you find that elusive ancestor of yours?

Whilst it’s fantastic that all the Census records are now available online, taking things into context is vital when studying the lives of our ancestors. It’s far to easy to grab the image that you were searching for, add those details to your tree and move onto the next one. If you can, time permitting, you should always look at your ancestors neighbours, look at neighboring streets on the pages either side, were there any common occupations amongst them? What were the living conditions like, are we talking about a cramped two up, two down terraced house, or maybe a more middle class suburban life? Ask yourself these questions and you can quickly learn about the social context in which your ancestors lived. Are we in a rural location with agricultural labourers a plenty? By posing these questions and using the information from the adjacent pages of the census, you can quite quickly get a “feel” for the life that your ancestor was leading. I always check the first and last pages of a registration district schedule as well, sometimes you might find some additional notes made by the enumerator at the time, which can give you a real insight into the task he was undertaking and the area that your ancestor lived. Take time to understand the abbreviations used in the schedules, MS = Male Servant., FS = Female Servant and IND = Independent means are just a few examples. Also the definition of a border is different to that of a lodger, so you will gain more from your results if you understand the roles and terminology.  I urge you next time to walk the whole route with the enumerator, follow the whole schedule, ideally whilst looking at a relevant map.

A large quantity of maps are available to view online at the National Library of Scotland website. NLS Website It’s by comparing the two side by side, that you get a much more rounded view of the place your ancestor lived and the role of the enumerator itself.
​
If you understand more about the role of the enumerator itself, it can also help you understand how easily your ancestor might have slipped through the net. Although in reality, not many actually did slip through the net, it’s more a case of transcription errors and people turning up in the places that you didn’t expect. On a ship for example, in a hospital, institution, or workhouse, where in many cases individuals were only listed by their initials. A lot of the times, the accuracy and the amount of effort that went into the finished article, that we search online, depended on the integrity of the individual enumerators in the area that you are researching. Local accents will always sway what is finally recorded, in a similar way to the early parish registers’s, an enumerator could only write what he thought he heard, if the head of the household could not read or write. So bear in mind local dialect and accents when carrying out your searches. A reason for a missing ancestor from a census return could be varied, but the most likely explanation is that they are there, but you just can’t find them, but that’s whole different story.

Not all Census Enumerator’s were ‘happy with their lot’, some were extremely disgruntled about many aspects of the job, but most were unhappy about what they got paid, given the level of responsibility they were undertaking and also to a lesser extent, the risk they were taking. Walking the back streets of Victorian London for example wasn’t for the feint-hearted! Professional Researcher and Author David Annal gives an excellent example of this in his excellent book: 
Census The Family Historian’s Guide Published by The National Archives link available below
Census The Family Historian’s Guide
​
There there are many great examples, but I have chosen this particular entry for Mortlake in 1871 and this is viewable on the major websites and can be found at the start of the enumerator’s schedule.
“Very badly paid. I think if Government Officials had to do it, they would be paid treble the amount”

Let me finish with this one……………
A Census Enumerator approached the house of Mrs Karen Mills. After asking her a series of questions and taking down her replies, he asked her age. She chuckled bashfully and replied, “have you asked the Hills family next door?” “No” was his confused reply. ” I’m about as old as them” she told the Enumerator.
The next week she went to check her updated details and she saw this
Name: Karen Mills
Age : As old as the hills
Be careful of what you say………..
Further reading why not try Peter Christian and David Annal’s Census: The Family Historian’s Guide and Emma Jolly’s Tracing Your Ancestors Using the Census (Pen & Sword) both packed with lots of helpful information and books that every aspiring Family History Researcher should have in their collection.

​​Old business records and account ledgers may not always be welcome reminders of times past for everyone, but for the historian, what's not to love? Sandwiched between the salaries, rent, and vehicle HP are the stories of people – business owners, their associates, employees, suppliers, customers, and even on occasion, the people who went before. Changes in the economic and political environment, social customs and logistics are reflected in numbers with notes pencilled in the margin. The history of land, buildings, streets, villages and cities lie buried behind the unwritten words on the page. Passport visas tell of exotic travel as do condolences written in foreign hands. The disruption caused by War – friend become foe, identity cards, letters and communications from far-flung places, hospital beds and the ‘Ministry’.  Hidden amongst the mundane are snippets of daily family life, important dates and events. Business records really can be the forgotten heroes of family history.

​​It was Susan Smith, a farmer and researcher from Darlington who, in telling the story of her findings amongst the pages of an old family ledger, reminded me of the rich pickings business accounts can be! First though, here is Susan’s story .

After my grandfather, George Herbert Stephenson, died in 1986 I inherited his old account books and papers which accumulated over a lifetime involved in haulage and farming in and around Piercebridge, County Durham. The biggest treasure of all was his earliest account ledger, covering the 1920’s period when the brothers were haulage contractors. ​

​As I run my fingers across the cover of this ledger I can feel the same bumps and grooves that my grandfather would have felt; the scuffs at the edges of the book cover, the lovely ornate embossing around the edges of the oxblood-coloured leather encasing the corners and spine. Its fusty smell betrays its age. His entries a tangible connection to those who went before.  He would have opened this ledger every day to record the comings and goings of the business. Filling it with the social history we family history enthusiasts crave.

Today, in my minds-eye I can see him sitting at his desk, pencil in hand and licking the point of the lead before writing an entry. The picture below is of the last pages in this ledger, entitled ‘This Page for local news only.’

​The first entry in these pages  at the top of page 169 simply states   “Mother Died Dec 19th 1921“.

​I was hit with a wave of sadness upon reading this, how would my grandfather have been feeling when he sat to write those words? You see to me, this entry seemed devoid of feeling - just a statement of fact on a page amongst the other local news and business of the day, such as:-

• 2 load manure for school
• Bought Grainger horse £15
• Roand cow calved.​

At the time of his mother’s death my grandfather would have been 24 years old but his youngest brother Stanley, only 13. 'Mother' refers to my great grandmother Florence Mary Stephenson. (nee Wilson).  Perhaps the reason for my grandfather’s seemingly emotionless ledger entry can be found in a newspaper report the day after her death.

ENDS

​Business records are often brimming with snippets recalling events in personal lives as well as charting the history of a company. Way back in April 2014, I delved into the company archives of Naylor Hewitt Ltd., later Connolly Shaw Fruit Brokers.   Like Susan, amongst the ‘variegated’ selection of business papers in an old black tin box belonging to Richard (Dick) Hewitt my maternal grandfather, are carbon copies of family announcements.  ​

There are letters of congratulations on the birth of a child (himself in 1908) and letters of condolence in both English and Spanish on the sudden death of his mother in September 1960.  Through the memories of those whose lives she touched, the letters provide insights into the character and personality of the lady under the big Edwardian hats! 

​​There are more arrivals, passings and ‘joinings together’ in faded fuzzy ink, typed on fragile tissue paper.  From the births and marriage notices of his children to the death notice for his own relative named Florence.  His aunt, Annie Florence (Florrie) Dryden - Benson nee Hewitt who died at Platts Lane, Hampstead in 1950.

​The snippets of social history and private lives lie juxtaposed with prices of ‘New York Pippins’, ‘Duke of Wellington’s’, ‘Naples Lemons’ and broccoli. The names, Senior Garcia, Knill, White, Keeling and Bulman.  ‘Five baskets of tomatoes’ and Fyffes who were ‘sending bananas tonight that are scarce and dear’ to arrive in Newcastle before breakfast.  ​

​​Hotel bills provide further evidence of James Hewitt’s travels. Tea, aerated water and lemonade suggest an abstemious lifestyle.  Or, perhaps not wanting to pay London prices, he travelled with supplies tucked away in his luggage. The telegrams portray an efficient businessman who bestowed a good deal of love and a great many kisses on his family from a distance.

His little red pocketbook from the 1870s records the trading with growers and wholesalers. Vegetables, fruit and flowers sourced from around the world were shipped into Newcastle by steamship and train.  The cashbook from the 1880s reflects the changing face of logistics.  Rent for stabling, clipping of horses and straw in place of garaging, servicing and fuel for vehicles today.  ​

​Time passed and the ‘bairns’ joined the business.  Then, in 1914, trade and associated transport were disrupted by War. Young men sent to the front, the losses, sometimes personal, of those who did not return were felt keenly at home.  ​

​Names, addresses and ages of those who remained, listed and posted in clear public view by order of the government.  The human side of the business on display.

​Trading restrictions enforced and friends mistakenly caught betwixt jealous informers and zealous bureaucracy. The folders of letters tell of loyalties and friendships forged during this period that lasted generations. Shortages and salvage incentives reflect the hardships and the horrors of war. The public urged to cut back; nothing was to be wasted. Even fruit stones were salvaged to combat poison gas at the front. The poster’s message is strong and clear.  ​

​​A ledger covering the period is yet to give up its secrets.  To date, the contents remain hidden behind the security of a brass Brahma lock that has long since lost its key.

​​Documents record post-War business expansion and a merger with Connolly Shaw Ltd. The acquisition in 1927 of the Old Dispensary at 14 Nelson Street in the heart of Newcastle’s iconic Grainger Town soon followed.  It was a significant purchase of a building with human history at its heart. The history of the Dispensary, however, predates its time at 14 Nelson Street.

​In 1929 Connolly Shaw Ltd was among the six founding members of the London Fruit Exchange in Spitalfields, London.  ​

​The exchange closed for business in 1991 and the building has been the subject of redevelopment in recent years.  Its distinctive frontage at 1 - 10 Brushfield Street has, however, been retained. ​

​Another World War

​​The expansion of the 20s was followed by the global depression of the 1930s.  But there is little evidence retained from the latter period in the Black Box.  Before heading towards, the next collection of documents bears testimony to the disruption of WW2.  Letters from Spain with the stamps of Franco, Forces Airmail from the Egyptian desert, both franked by the Censor are filed alongside an unusual Red Cross Telegram.

​A telegram from Buenos Airies reading ‘Cordially with you on Victory Day’ and a newspaper cutting of rebuilding at Hull rounds off the second period of global conflict.  There is also quantity of documents relating to the relocation of premises, markets and re-development of Newcastle City Centre and a mountain of records that could yield some interesting economic data.  But the collection culminates with cards and letters bearing ‘best wishes for a long and happy retirement’.  The final piece of correspondence is dated 25th June 1974.  It is my grandfather’s resignation as Director of the company with effect from the end of the month.  ​

​His black tin box contains 100 years of history of the fruit trade and encompasses three generations of the same family.  Skimming through the contents is a vibrant journey alongside interesting people and thought-provoking places.  I feel I now know them a bit better for it,  but I can’t help the odd pang of nostalgia for a past I never knew!   ​

​Historic England, 14 Nelson Street
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1024812?section=official-listing

English Heritage, Newcastle's Grainger Town An Urban Renaissance, London, 2003.  (84 page pdf downloadable publication about the history of Grainger Town and recent conservation project.)
​https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/newcastles-grainger-town/newcastles-grainger-town/

​​Spitalfields Life, At The Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1937
​https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/01/11/at-the-fruit-wool-exchange-1937-x/ (Some wonderful articles on this website!)

The problem that I find with labels, whether you give them to yourself or you are given them, is that they can actually be slightly misleading. My original tongue-in-cheek title that I gave myself, at the start of the blog; ‘Enthusiastic Amateur’, although only meant as fun, can actually have a negative impact on how people might view you. The word amateur can imply either a lack of experience or level of expertise and can also suggest a lack of quality. I am sure many of the amateurs amongst us, including myself, would feel slightly aggrieved at being thought of in that way. So, therefore, the name that we give ourselves can potentially be more significant than we actually realise. You could also consider at what point and what level of experience do you consider it reasonable to give yourself a “Title”.

​The results were quite revealing. The two most common replies were indeed ‘Family Historian’ and Genealogist and there was a noticeable difference between the replies from UK ‘Genies’ compared to my American friends. It does appear that there is a divide of opinion across the pond. It might well be a cultural difference in language? I would love to hear your views on the subject.

In my view, a ‘Family Historian’ is someone that researches people, places, cultures, heritage and the context of where and when our ancestors lived. Whereas a Genealogist implies somebody who just researches pedigree’s (family tree’s), of course, I am sure that some of you will disagree with this.

There were certainly lots of variations of both these terms, some humorous and others, just a subtle variation of the original two; Here are just a few examples of the alternatives;

Genealogy Geek, Collector of Stories, Family Researcher, Historical Researcher, Story Teller, Armchair Genealogist, Story Keeper, Family History Keeper, to name but a few.

So, has my own opinion changed from my original thoughts? Whilst I am still very much ‘enthusiastic’ and I am still not a ‘professional’, I have opted to change my title to ‘Story Teller’, which best describes what I am trying to achieve, but Family Historian also ‘fits’ rather nicely. Does any of this really matter and is it really that important? Yes, if you hope to make a living at Genealogy or Family History, but less so if you are a hobbyist, such as myself.

If you have your own thoughts, I would really love to hear from you and maybe you call yourself something entirely different. Over the years, I have also affectionately referred to myself as ‘The Happy Reaper’ because of my obsession with trying to find the final resting places of as many of my Ancestors as I can, but that’s an entirely different story.

Just for fun, I have created a few new titles for you all to enjoy. Maybe you fit into one of these categories instead?
​

• Tree Harvester – Someone who collects and ‘hoovers up’ trees and people from anyone’s tree they find on our favourite Genealogy website, probably has a tree that contains over 50, 000 names on it.
• Cut and Paste King – Someone who thinks in Genealogical terms that GPS means Global Positioning System. Somebody that is quite happy to cut and paste any relative facts from someone else’s tree and thinks that as far as verifying the details are concerned, they are happy that “it must be a fact, because I saw it online”.
• The Magpie – Who hasn’t been attracted by that ‘Bright Shiny Genealogical Object’? We all have to a certain degree, but it takes strong willpower and discipline not to spend all day, every day, chasing ‘Fools Gold’.
• The Ethnicity Expert – Takes a DNA test purely for the Ethnicity Estimate and frustratingly for you and me, has no interest in Family History or building a family tree. Never replies to a DNA message.
• The Surfer – Spends many days aimlessly flitting around our favourite websites with no structure or method and repeats the same searches again and again and again……

• The Archiphobe – Someone that thinks that all records are online and has never left the comfort of their armchair, very dismissive of others who suggest that there are ‘other records available’.
• The Finisher – Someone who has obviously ‘finished’ their family tree and cannot understand why the rest of us are lagging behind.

So which one are you?………………

Susie Douglas at Borders Ancestry

​​As Christmas and New Year festivities for some have been curtailed for the second year in a row my thoughts drifted to the time of the seventeenth century when celebrating Christmas was outlawed in 1643.  The period 1638 to 1660 was a turbulent time of Civil Wars that

​It was also a time of religious reforms that sought further distance from the Roman Catholic Church.  The traditional festivities associated with the 12 days of Christmas fell out of favour as the Protestant faith replaced Catholicism on both sides of the Border.  The trappings that accompanied certain religious feast days particularly Christmas were deemed unbiblical, ‘popish’ and ‘a time of wasteful and immoral behaviour’.  The Puritan Parliament in England passed an ordinance on 19th December 1643 ​

​The festive period is steeped in traditions drawn or adapted from bygone eras reaching back deep into prehistory. ​

​Some traditions are highly symbolic, but one is downright bonkers!  Have you ever wondered why, after a delicious meal washed down with a goodly amount of Christmas ‘spirit’, we pull crackers, wear paper crowns and tell appalling jokes?  Well, crackers also owe their origins to ages past and the tradition of ‘Misrule’, itself based on the Roman Feast of Saturnalia.

​​Particularly popular in the time of the Medieval Manor and Tudor Courts, the ‘Lord of Misrule’ (in Scotland the ‘Abbot of Unreason’) was appointed from the surfs or peasantry to preside over Christmas festivities.  His ‘rule’  turned the usual social order on its head so that fools became Lords or Kings and vice versa.  It involved colourful pageantry, drunkenness and associated revelry but its popularity began to wane during the protestant reign of Elizabeth I.  The rise of the Puritan movement in the seventeenth century saw Misrule abolished altogether along with other Christmas activities such as dancing, drinking, non-religious plays and singing carols.

​Even after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 when Christmas festivities re-emerged, the ‘Lord of Misrule’, deemed too disruptive, remained banned.  It was soon forgotten altogether until it re-emerged in the guise of a cardboard tube with a ‘banger’ invented by Tom Smith in 1847.  Over the years the contents of the cracker have changed from sweets and trinkets to include the terrible jokes and paper crowns we know today as a nostalgic salute to the ‘Lord of Misrule’.

​​When it comes to banning Christmas, however, Scotland has an 80-year head start.   Although the English Reformation began in circa 1527 with Henry VIII’s break from Rome, the religious reforms of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, although slightly later, were more far-reaching.   The first meeting of the General Assembly, the supreme court of the Church of Scotland was held in 1560.  Some vestiges of the old Christmas traditions survived, for a short time at least, as records of the Palace of Holyrood bear witness.

​​A formal outright ban, however, was lurking on the horizon.

​​In other words, ‘The Christmas holiday and associated festivities are cancelled for the foreseeable future.’  So, it would seem the Puritan Parliament of 1643 was playing catch-up with its neighbours north of the Border.  The Restoration in 1660 saw the ban on Christmas overturned in England, but Scotland did not follow suit.  ‘While part of each act was repealed in 1686 and 1712 respectively, the Church of Scotland continued to discourage ‘Yule’ celebrations.’   Although Christmas became a Bank Holiday in Scotland under Lubbock’s Bank Holiday Act of 1871, shops and businesses were under no obligation to close.  Here, Hogmanay continued to be the focus of mid-winter festivities.  Christmas remained suppressed by the Church until the pressure of commercialism and economics prevailed in the period post-WWII.  The unravelling of Scotland’s Christmas story continues in the NRS Blog of 2018.

​The period of administration following the execution of the King in 1649 was the first attempt at uniting the nations of England, Scotland and Ireland under one government and creating a tolerant national protestant church.   The Civil Wars and associated hostilities were a bloody time that witnessed a huge loss of life – estimated to have been as much as 7% of the population.  The National Archives online learning resources contain interesting documents from the period (including the affects on lives of women) and the BCW Project is essential reading for anyone interested in the prominent people, places and politics during this fascinating period in history.   For a glimpse at daily life of ordinary folk in the seventeenth century, ‘Sex, Lice and Chamber Pots in Pepys' London’ on the BBC History website provides a light-hearted look!  For a longer and more absorbing post-Christmas read, the historical novel ‘An Instance of the Fingerpost’ by Iain Pears, comes highly recommended!  Although fictitious and set in Oxford after the Restoration in 1663, many of the characters are actual historical figures and the preceding Cromwellian period is never far away.

​The National Archives: Christmas is Cancelled, What were Cromwell’s main political and religious aims for the Commonwealth 1650-1660?
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/christmas-is-cancelled/
The National Archives: Women and the English Civil Wars, How did these conflicts affect their lives?
 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/women-english-civil-wars/
The BCW Project, British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate 1638 – 1660
http://bcw-project.org/
BBC History,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/
BBC History, (Extracts from the diary of Samuel Pepys explained)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/pepys_gallery.shtml
An Instance of the Fingerpost (Readers Guide Only)
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/348324/an-instance-of-the-fingerpost-by-iain-pears/9781573227957/readers-guide/

​[1] BCW Project, British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate 1638 – 1660 http://bcw-project.org/
[2] Historic England, Did Oliver Cromwell really ban Christmas? 
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/heritage-highlights/did-oliver-cromwell-really-ban-christmas/
[3] English Heritage takes a tour of ‘Christmas’ through the ages starting 5000 years ago with the Neolithic
​ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-christmas/
​[4] Christmas at the Palace of Holyroodhouse 
https://www.royal.uk/christmas-palace-holyroodhouse
[5] National Records of Scotland, Christmas Banned in Scotland
https://blog.nrscotland.gov.uk/2018/12/10/christmas-banned-in-scotland/

​That’s what Mother suddenly came out with one day about 3 years ago.
It certainly came as a surprise to me!  I had previously had a passing interest in my family history and an Ancestry.co.uk subscription on and off for a few years, but the thought of Mother taking a DNA test was a daunting yet curious and exciting prospect.
 
It all came about when a distant relative contacted Mother out of the blue, asking her if she would agree to take an Ancestry DNA test as they were exploring the paternity of someone in their own family history.  Mother was his closest living relative (or not as it turned out!).

My Mother’s family history research began when her own Mother died in 1998 and she received a bundle of papers to sort through.  In amongst the various old passports, driving licences, Cooperative Stamp Books and pension paraphernalia was her Fathers Birth Certificate.  
 
And something was missing.
 
The story Mother had grown up with was that her father, Stanley McDermott, was the youngest of  nine children and his parents were Thomas and Susan McDermott of Bradbury, County Durham. 
 
But these names were not written on his birth certificate!

​Once Mothers DNA results appeared on her Ancestry account  my curiosity sprang to life and I had to begin to investigate who Mother’s  biological Grandfather actually was.  Initially, I was faced with a huge list of her relatives, there were more than 17000 of them and we didn’t recognise ANY of their names.  So the process of finding out who all these people sharing DNA with my Mother were began.  Since then family history has become an obsession! 

*****

​We would love to make this slot a regular feature, so do send us the story of how you caught the #familyhistory bug.  Please email​ your 500 to 750 words and a couple of pics to the team and we shall share them with the #AncestryHour followers!

Susie Douglas of Borders Ancestry considers some sources when the voices of agricultural workers can be found.

​

January 1 [1833]
'Here my friends, we are just entered again upon another New Year!!!
Struggling against debts, taxes, tithes and feudal impositions, these are trying things.' ​

​​The above extract dated 1st January 1833, is the opening line from the diary of William Brewis, a farmer of Throphill Hall Farm, Mitford. It covers 17 years from 1833 until his death in 1850. It reflects upon the concerns, economic and political of the time that faced farmers in rural Northumberland and beyond

​​There is much to learn about rural life of the period from diaries such as these which provide vital social commentary. And it was not all doom and gloom! There are family celebrations, fairs, festivals and other occasions of social and sporting events. William's political persuasion and his views on local, national and even international matters are never in doubt. Despite being his personal account, it is packed full of other people. He even had plenty to say about some of my own ancestors who happened to be his relatives too!

​This month's blog addresses a point raised amongst the fantastic feedback to 'Eight Easy Ways to create compelling Ancestral Life Stories'. Most ancestors will not have left diaries, letters, or had books written about them so how is it possible to learn more of their journeys? ​

​Voices from the past are everywhere, often hidden in plain sight. It's a case of knowing where to look and thinking 'outside the box'. They appear in books, old documents, newspapers, oral recordings, and in other people's diaries such as Williams. Farmers aside, a large percentage of the population was employed in agriculture as Hinds, Shepherds and Labourers.  Huge numbers of people lived a transient life as they moved from farm to farm, often on an annual basis. ​

​This provision of a female outworker as part of the Hind's 'Bond' or employment contract was peculiar to Northumberland, the eastern Scottish Borders and the Lothians. Author Dinah Iredale's guest blog of February 2014, provides an excellent overview of this practice. Her book 'Bondagers: The History of Women Farmworkers in Northumberland and South East Scotland' is an excellent source of information and references. Many of the quotations within this blog come from within its pages. Particularly the chapters covering Flitting, Hirings and workers' accommodation. ​

​​Before the Flitting and Hiring, came the 'Speaking', where the farmer and hinds would discuss a potential extension of his contract for another year. The Hind was under no obligation to accept an offer and had the right to move and find another situation.

​'Flitting Day' in Northumberland was the 12th May. (In the Scottish Borders and Lothians it was the 26th May which sometimes caused logistical issues.) Although referred to as 'The May' it bore no resemblance to festivities held elsewhere. Hastings Neville in 1909 recalls the scene as '… roads morning to evening thronged with carts piled high with the furniture and bedding of a large proportion of our population.' He further recalls ' the furniture in one cart piled to a dangerous height, with the grandfather clock lying lengthwise and risking its life on the top. In the second cart are the women and children seated on the bedding, caring for the caged canary and the cherished pelargonium which grew at the cottage window…'[2]

​There are mixed accounts over the 'flitting'. Some look back with affectionate nostalgia at what must have been quite an upheaval to undertake every year. ​

​Another lady recalls 'the cat would be the first thing to be 'packed' on flittin morning, in case it disappeared during the flurry'.[4]

​The 'flit' was so ingrained in some that even in old age they persisted with the annual move. One chap of 80 employed at East Bolton in 1910 when asked if he would stay replied, ' I've nivver been ony mair than a year in ony place an' I'm no 'gain tae begin in my old age.'[5]  And another, on finally deciding to stay put, asked the farmer 'if he might have a couple of carts for a short time … Just to ta' take the furniture a bit doon the road.'[6]

​​​Others seem relieved to see the back of it.

​​Older family members living with the next generation were also involved in the 'flit'. There are tales of 'Granny' passing away the previous night, but due to the shortage of time, being bundled in with the furniture to be dealt with on arrival at the other end!

​Very often the vacated cottage would receive its new occupants later the same day. Leaving the vacated cottage clean and tidy with coals and kindling ready for the incoming tenants to light a fire seems to have been an unwritten code. That was if the fire grate had not gone on the cart too, as was usual in earlier periods. ​

​There are many accounts of the accommodation provided for farmworkers, some foul and some fair. It is generally accepted that before the nineteenth-century reforms, the state of housing throughout Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and Lothians was generally poor. Some accounts dating from the twentieth century are not pretty reading either. W.S. Gilly D.D., Vicar of Norham (1831) and Canon of Durham drew attention to the poor conditions of labourers' cottages and campaigned for changes. He refers to the cottages as 'miserable hovels', where 'the walls look as if they will scarcely hold together' and 'the thatch yawning to admit wind and wet'. His book 'The Peasantry of the Border: An Appeal on Their Behalf' contains some useful background information.

​In 1805 George Culley and John Bailey noted in a report that they had seen some significant housing improvements. That '…those [buildings] erected of later years are better adapted to the various purposes wanted on extensive farms and improved cultivation…' . Whereas their predecessors were 'very shabby and ill-contrived.'[8] (Those built from the mid-eighteenth century onwards often followed the same pattern of my own home. A long row of stone cottages, (6), of two rooms roughly 5m x 4m with a single door and two windows. There was a separate row of buildings housing the pigsty and the 'netty'.)

​​An interesting snippet on the state of a vacated cottage appears in Walter White's book 'Northumberland and the Border':

​​And another quoted from a first-hand account:

​Other commentators note that, 'in the poorest dwellings the division between man and beast was only a low wooden partition. It was reckoned to be beneficial to 'let the coo see the fire'.[11]

​This is no isolated comment as there are frequent references to man and beast sharing a roof with little to separate them. When trying to connect with ancestors, it is helpful to list the things they did NOT own or even have access to. By today's standards toilets and running water were non-existent. In the words of Jean Willis of Alnwick in the 1920s and 1930s, 'the water tap [standpipe] served seven families and was a good distance from the house…. The netty was outside and … the wooden seat had two holes, a high one and a low one for a child.' (I remember the old disused 'double seater' outside the farmhouse at Longhoughton, but don't recollect a difference in the height of the seat!) Jean continues, 'The one netty had to serve three families ( about 15 people). It was no use if you were in a hurry and someone else was in. There was no sink to wash your hands after.'[12]

​​It was not all grey, grim and smelly, though, as when 'put to rights' it was possible to make the cottages into a surprisingly comfortable and colourful home. As noted by the Rev Gilly as he describes the dresser with its 'large blue dishes and plates, some of Staffordshire ware, and other of Delf, intermixed with old china or porcelain tea-pots, cups and saucers…' and a 'handsome clock in the tall case and a chest of drawers'. He also remarks that there are books in most households with family bible taking pride of place. All this once past the cow that greeted him immediately inside the door!

​Standards of accommodation mattered, and a Hind was not above asking his prospective employer 'What sort of cottages have you?' before accepting a position.[13] At the Hirings in the late-nineteenth early twentieth century, another man's view was, 'family came first' and that 'a good house was worth £1 a week in the wage.'[14]

​These were often large gatherings where workers would be well turned out, sometimes wearing an emblem of their trade, such as a tuft of wool, whipcord, or a sprig of hawthorn in their hats. In 1827, Alexander Somerville, hoping to be hired as a Carter, also put a piece of straw in his mouth to show he was looking for a position. ​

​The Hirings were criticised as demeaning for those looking for work. In 1913 the general secretary of the Scottish Farm Servants Union noted '…the farmers went through the men pretty much the same way as they did their cattle.' With another lady remarking that 'my old aunt was a bondager. She said they used to stand on the cobbles at Alnwick and the farmers used to look them up and down as if they were horses.[15]

​​An extract from the recollections of John Clay of Kerchesters, Sprouston and later Chicago suggests that some farmers also found the Hirings, an uncomfortable experience.

​As the Hirings were also an occasion for folk to gather, it was a boom time for irregular marriages and socialising. Others went for this entertainment such as two girls who went to the hirings 'for sport'. 'The girls go the hirings and like it. They wear their best clothes and their white veils and bonnets. They often look a lump better than the gentry, for they look fresher like.'[16]

​​There was also the inevitable element of drunkenness and disorderly behaviour. In 1875 at the March Hirings at Alnwick, Thomas Waite employed by John Smith of Longhoughton became involved in a brawl in which a policeman lost his life. (Later found to have been due to a heart attack rather than the ensuing riot.)

Looking deeper into the lives of agricultural ancestors makes for a fascinating study. Uprooting family and belongings, sometimes on an annual basis may sound unsettling by modern standards. But voices from the past often speak fondly of the event. The crowded cottage with little privacy, no 'facilities' and a cow in the back room is beyond the comprehension of today's demands of at least one toilet per resident backside. But the past often tells of a warmth, colour and family unity absent in the present. Far from lost or even unrecorded, numerous sources contain the voices of rural men and women from the past. It is perhaps a case of tuning the modern ear to the correct frequency so they can be heard. ​

​[1] W. S Gilly D.D. 'The Peasantry of the Border: An Appeal on Their Behalf' 2nd Edition, London, 1842
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/NexK1GL4XWAC?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUo-eX6efzAhUllIsKHUMUB1MQ7_IDegQIBxAD
​[2] Rev. Hastings M Neville, ‘A Corner in the North: Yesterday and Today with Border Folk’, 1909
[3] Ian MacDougall, Bondagers. Eight Scots Women Farm Workers,
Tuckwell Press, 2000. Mary King b. 1905 describing a flitting circa 1916. Cited in Dinah Iredale 'Bondagers'
​[4] Barbara W Robertson, 'Family Life: Border Farm Workers in the Early Decades of the Twentieth Century', Scottish Life and Society. The Individual and Community Life, John Donald, Edinburgh, 2005. Cited in Dinah Iredale, 'Bondagers'.
[5] Bolton Parish Description, Scottish Women's Rural Institute, 1974. Cited in Dinah Iredale's  'Bondagers'
[6] Ellingham Women's Institute, Collectanea. Scraps of English Folklore, XI, 1904.
​ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1925.9718328
[7] The Scotsman, Wednesday 5 July 1978. Liz Taylor interview with Mary Rutherford formerly of Mellerstain.
​[8] John Bailey and George Culley, 'General View of the Agriculture of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland.' 1805. Available through Google Books
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/General_View_of_the_Agriculture_of_the_C.html?id=A3ZbAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y
​[9] Walter White, Northumberland and the Border, London, 1859. Available through Archive.org. 
https://archive.org/details/northumberlanda00whitgoog/page/n7/mode/2up?view=theater
​[10] Rosalie E Bosanquet, 'In the Troublesome Times' 1929. Second-hand copies are readily available to purchase online.
​[11] Ian and Kathleen Whyte, 'The Changing Scottish Landscape 1500 – 1800', 1991. Cited in Dinah Iredale 'The Bondagers'.
​[12] Dinah Iredale, ‘Bondagers: The History of Women Farmworkers in Northumberland and South East Scotland’ 2nd Edition, Berwick, 2011. p. 105.
[13] Henley, 'Employment of Children, Young Persons and Women in Agriculture' Royal Commission on Labour, HMSO, 1867.
[14] Minnie Bell, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. Cited by Dinah Iredale.
​[15] Katrina Porteous, 'The Bonny Fisher Lad', People's History Series Ltd, 2004. May Douglas, cited in Dinah Iredale's 'Bondagers'. 
​[16] Arthur Wilson Fox, 'The Agricultural Labourer: Report upon The Poor Law Union of Glendale' (Northumberland), Royal Commission on Labour, HMSO, 1893. Cited in Dinah Iredale’s, 'Bondagers'

Dinah Iredale, 'Farming History - The Forgotten Workers' 
https://www.facebook.com/TheBondagers/ ​

​David R Stead, ‘The mobility of English tenant farmers, c. 1700–1850’ 
https://bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/51n2a4.pdf

​John Grey of Dilston, Berwick, 1841.  A View of the Past and Present State of Agriculture in Northumberland and Details of Experiments with Various Manures.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2kdiAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rachel Bellerby of Family Tree magazine reflects on saying goodbye to an ancestor who was never hers, due to a long-ago error that some of us might also have made…
 
Sarah Palmer, born in Keighley, West Yorkshire in 1835. I’d found her via her marriage to my 3 x great-grandfather and discovered her date of birth from census records. She was the brick wall I just couldn’t break down and she was my 3 x great-grandmother. Or so I thought.
 
Sarah was one of the ancestors on what was one of the easiest branches of my tree to trace. As a family history newbie 15 or 20 years ago, I’d shied away from the Irish branches of my tree (and there were quite a few), taking comfort in the fact that Sarah’s line was largely UK-based, in an area local to me and should, therefore, be easy to trace.
 
An unbreakable brick wall
 
Try as I might, though, I could never get beyond Sarah’s birth. I couldn’t find a record of her parents’ marriage, or see them on any census. The only records that might work were for families miles away from Keighley. Ancestry sent me record hints, offering related records from far and wide but none fitted. I think even at that early, inexperienced stage, I knew that something wasn’t right. And so, I left Sarah and carried on building my tree, learning new skills and connecting with other researchers. But something kept calling me back.
 
I was fond of Sarah Palmer. She was born just down the road from me. She was alive when the Bronte sisters were a few miles away in Haworth, she would have been about twelve when Charlotte Bronte published Jane Eyre. It was time to go right back to basics.
 
That long-ago mistake comes to light
 
So, it was back to the starting point and hopefully, with more experience behind me, I might be able to make progress. As it would turn out, the answer had been there all the time. Looking at the marriage details again, I realised that I’d never examined the original record. As a newbie, I’d been happy to accept the transcription I’d found at face value and had diligently copied the details down onto my tree. So now for a look at the original record and there it was – Sarah Milner. 
 
Even though the brick wall had come tumbling down before my eyes, I couldn’t help feeling a little sad. I’d lived with Sarah Palmer for so long she actually felt like a relative. Not this Sarah Milner. But of course, soon after came the rush of excitement that I’m sure many of us feel on finding a new ancestor – time to dive into the records, find her mother and father’s marriage, a new maiden name to discover, where are they on the censuses? So much to explore – and of course (blush) checking the original record each time. 
 
And so it was goodbye to the Palmers and hello to the Milners. It’s been lots of fun tracing the Milner line and in that exciting way that family trees tend to do, the Milners have led me down an exciting route. I’ve followed them to Georgian Manchester and on to a textile trader in Lower Saxony, Germany. My journey will go on. I do miss Sarah Palmer. Without knowing it, this Yorkshire lass from my own neck of the woods has led me on a record tracing adventure across the North Sea. Maybe she was never mine, but I won’t forget her.
 
(photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash)

Can you be defined by what your ancestors did or who your ancestors were?

This is probably a question that can equally be aimed at psychology students as well as Historians or Family Historians and one that is probably far more advanced than my level of education! Having said that, I do have my own thoughts and views on the subject, as I am sure you all have.

I would say that to a certain degree a lot of what shapes us today is inherited and part of our DNA, but not everything about us, comes from inherited DNA. We also learn from a young age from what we see and what we are surrounded by, a child will learn from a step-father equally as much as from a biological father. What we do learn and discover does not necessarily have to define us, we are all individual and unique and although we learn through both nature and nurture, there is also a certain amount of 'free spirit' within all of us. It is that 'free spirit' and ability to challenge what we know and what we accept, that makes us all different. The amount of 'free spirit' in each and every one of us will be different, even siblings can be vastly different in their make up.​

Life experiences also play a big part in shaping who we are today, both good and bad experiences will shape our thought processes, but again they do not have to define who we are today. These life experiences should help us with future decision making, although some people struggle to learn from past experiences. Your current life is, to a large extent, the result of your past actions, choices and experiences, but you don't have to be defined by them.

Our memories can also cloud our thought processes in both a positive and negative way. When I think about my childhood and the school holidays, for example, all I can remember are gloriously sunny days and playing out every day. The reality is of course that I am only remembering the good bits, we no doubt had just as many awful summers back then as we do today, but my selective memory only picks out the 'good bits'. Memories can also be heavily influenced by emotions, both good and bad, those emotions then become permanently attached to the memories. Our past shapes the person that we are today for the good and the not so good. How we view our past experiences both consciously and subconsciously will shape how we approach life today.

Therefore, can we be defined by what our ancestors did? 

You are not your past, nor are you your ancestors past. Your past does not define your future, but it certainly helps to shape it, either consciously or sub-consciously.

Nobody can predict the future and what it will bring. But, it is important to recognise that the only way you can plan for the future is by drawing on your memories of the past. Whether that includes your ancestral memories and the memories of your ancestors is still up for debate.

I don't have the answers to the original question, but I would be really interested to hear the thoughts of others, especially those who have real life experiences that they can say have defined their own lives.
​
My Dad sadly died when I was just 3 years old, I was too young to have any memories of him, do I think it shaped my future? Absolutely, of course it did. It totally changed my life, without me even realising it. I grew up with a completely different life to the one that I could have had. As I have grown older, that thought has filled my head all the time. The 'what-if's' and the moments that I have missed. Has that shaped my future, definitely it has, but so have many other things? We are all a mixture of a lot of things and what happens in our past will definitely be a part of who we are today, but not every part. We are defined and shaped by our past, our present and we also have the power to influence and make changes in the future. So, our past does shape our future, but it doesn't have to define who we are today.

This is the account of the Bombing of the Old Palace School in St. Leonard’s Street, Bow during WW2 and the sad loss of 32 Firemen and 2 Fire Women who were tragically killed during this raid. This is still today, the largest loss of Fire Brigade personnel, at one incident, in the History of the service. Tragically for me, one of those that lost their lives that night, was my Great Aunt, Winifred Alexandra Peters (nee Wootton).

​

(Winifred Alexandra Peters)


Prior to this bombing raid in the early hours of 20th April 1941, London was in the middle of its biggest bombing campaign of the entire war, from the German Luftwaffe, known as the Blitz. For eight months, from 7th September 1940 to May 11th 1941 London suffered almost continual nightly bombing, over a period of almost 37 weeks, the British capital was attacked 71 times.

The Old Palace School in Poplar in 1941 was an LCC Board School consisting of four stories, much like many of a similar design that remain today. During the Second World War, after the evacuation of London’s children, on the day that the Fire Service was mobilised, it became a sub-fire station, 24U under 24 Brunswick Road. In addition to providing dormitories and living space for the AFS, it was used to accommodate garages, stores, offices and the headquarters of local rescue squads. Being at the centre of much of the industry and dockland in the East End of London, the men who were based there would have been out every night, dealing with massive incendiary fires caused by enemy raids. The night of April 19th/20th was a Saturday and Hitler’s birthday. In celebration, Reichsmarschall Goering had launched an attack on London intended to be the heaviest so far. One thousand and twenty-six tons of high-explosives and a hundred and fifty-three thousand and ninety-six incendiaries are estimated to have been dropped on the capital that night. The sky was overcast and low cloud and drizzling rain made targets difficult to identify so that heavy bombing was scattered over a wide area. One thousand four-hundred fires were started.

By midnight the situation was bad enough in the area around Poplar and further east in West Ham and Walthamstow, for calls for assistance to be sent south of the river. Four crews from Beckenham were standing by at Woodside Fire Station, just outside Croydon. They were ordered to Station 24 Brunswick Road. Stopping briefly at West Norwood Fire Station on the way, they arrived at Brunswick Road, just after 1am and were given tea and biscuits before being directed to the Old Palace School to wait for further instruction. There, along with crews from Hackney and Homerton, the men from Beckenham were mustering in the playground, when at 1.53 am the school received a direct hit from a parachute mine. The bomb penetrated the roof of the school building and fell down the stair well, at the bottom of which, was the watch-room, where two auxiliary firewomen, Winifred Peters and Hilda Dupree, were on duty. They were killed instantly.  My Great Aunt, Winifred Peters was thirty-nine years old and married with three children, who had been evacuated at the time to Oxfordshire. Hilda Dupree was twenty-one years old and, as so often happened, would have been on leave that night had she not swapped duties with a friend who wanted to go to a dance.

Parachute mines were originally developed from mines used at sea and later adapted for urban bombing. When released by the Luftwaffe over targets on land they drifted down to ground level detonating either by contact or detonation. Because they exploded above ground the blast from parachute mines caused particularly extensive damage, sometimes demolishing whole streets of houses and breaking windows as far as a mile away. The effect of the blast was also responsible for the deaths of many caught in its after effect, which sucked the air from the lungs causing suffocation. Most of the men waiting in the playground were caught in the blast from the bomb and already dead when, almost simultaneously, they were buried by the part of the school closest to where they were standing, that collapsed on top of them, and fire broke out in what was left of the building.

​

(Searching for the bodies begins)


By the morning the fire was out and the business of digging for the injured and dead had begun. First to be recovered were the women from the watch-room, including my Great Aunt, and their bodies were laid on stretchers on the pavement. David Carson, who served under Bow, being off duty and having heard rumour of the incident, went along as it was getting light, to see if he could help and there he saw them covered by blankets. Later that morning Hilda Dupree’s sister, Joyce, hoping to avoid the distress for her parents, was sent by her family to find out what she could about Hilda. Little more than a girl herself, in her mid-teens, she was confronted by what she described as complete devastation and confusion. Some of the men had also been recovered by the time she arrived and they were laid in a line in a space that had been cleared in the playground, ready to be identified. She remembered thinking that they looked “at peace”. She also noted that they ‘were smiling” which further emphasises the fact that most of them had died from the effects of blast, a grimace not unlike a smile, being an attempt to draw in breath. Hilda had been knitting a little blue child’s vest that she took to the station with her to work on when things were quiet. When Joyce finally found someone to ask about her sister, she was shown what was left of the blue vest and she was able to confirm that one of the women was almost certainly been Hilda.

​

(The Funeral of the Beckenhan Fireman)


Thirty-two firemen and two firewomen died at The Old Palace School, the largest number of Fire Brigade lives lost in a single incident, in peacetime or war.
​
Those that sadly lost their lives are as follows:

AFS Firewoman (Telephonist) Hilda Dupree – AFS London, aged 21, of Warwick Road, Walthamstow, Essex.

Firewoman Winifred Alexandra Peters – London Fire Brigade, aged 39, of Canton Street, Poplar, London

AFS Fireman Percy Charles Aitchison – AFS Beckenham, aged 27, of Copse Avenue, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Ronald Mark Bailey – AFS Beckenham, aged 25, of Links Road, Tooting.

AFS Fireman Alan Charles Barber – AFS Beckenham, aged 26, of Fairford Close, Shirley, Croydon, Surrey.

AFS Fireman Earnest Reginald Beadle – AFS Beckenham, aged 32, of Birkbeck Road, Beckenham.

AFS Fireman Kenneth John Bowles – AFS Beckenham, aged 30, of Beckenham Road, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman John Coleman Barrell – AFS London, aged 35, of North Street, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

AFS Fireman Patrick Joseph Campbell – AFS London, aged 24, of Bannister House, Homerton.

AFS Fireman Harry John Carden – AFS Beckenham, aged 29, of Mounthurst Road, Hayes, Bromley, Kent.

AFS Fireman Robert John Deans – AFS Beckenham, aged 28, of The Grove, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Frank James Endean – AFS Beckenham, aged 36, of Aviemore Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Cecil Farley – AFS Beckenham, aged 43, of Linden Leas, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman George John Joseph Hall – AFS Beckenham, aged 30, of Warwick Road, Anerley, Kent.

AFS Messenger Bertie James Frederick Harris – AFS London, aged 17, of Brabazon Street, Poplar, London

AFS Fireman Leslie Thomas Healey – AFS Beckenham, aged 32, of Greenview Avenue, Shirley, Surrey.

AFS Despatch Rider Ernest Herbert Henly - AFS London, aged 19, of Grange Cottage, Silver Street, Kinton Langley, Chippenham, Wiltshire.

AFS Fireman Sydney Bartholomew Jones – AFS London, aged 31, of Harrogate Road, Hackney.

AFS Fireman Albert Victor Kite – AFS Beckenham, aged 36, of Village Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman John Francis Mead– AFS London, aged 29, of Christie Road, Hackney.

AFS Fireman Vernon Joseph Middleditch – AFS London, aged 31, of Hunters Lane, Darlington, Co. Durham.

AFS Fireman Alfred Edward Minter – AFS Beckenham, aged 46, of Aylesford Avenue, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Norman Richard Charles Mountjoy – AFS Beckenham, aged 30, of Ash Grove, West Wickham, Kent

AFS Fireman Frederick George Parcell – AFS Beckenham, aged 32, of Love Lane, South Norwood, Surrey.

AFS Fireman Martin Charles Parfett – AFS Beckenham, aged 31, of Pickhurst Rise, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman William Charles Plant – AFS Beckenham, aged 26, of Sultan Street, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Cyril Bertram Porter – AFS London, aged 31, of Clinton Road, Forest Gate, Essex.

AFS Fireman William Thomas Rashbrook – AFS London, aged 36, of Chatsworth Road, Clapton.

AFS Leading Fireman Leonard Roots – AFS Beckenham, aged 31, of Avenue Court, Avenue Road, Anerley, Kent.

AFS Fireman Albert Alfred Saville – AFS London, aged 35, of Harrowgate Road, Hackney.

Station Officer Richard William Sinstadt – London Fire Brigade, aged 46, of Beccles Drive, Barking, Essex.

AFS Fireman Edgar William Vick – AFS London, aged 38, of Eden Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Leading Fireman Walter John Woodland – AFS Beckenham, aged 41, of Links Way, Eden Park, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Leading Fireman Herbert Charles Wotton – AFS Beckenham, aged 30, of Upper Elmers End Road, Beckenham, Kent.

This story remained unpublished because of Emergency Defence Regulations. The full details were finally uncovered six decades later by the Firemen Remembered charity which unveiled a memorial in April 1997, at Lansbury Lawrence Primary School, on the site of the old school destroyed 56 years before. The dedication ceremony took place on Saturday 19th April 1997 at The Old Palace School Site, St. Leonard’s Street, London. The Plaque was unveiled by Cyril Demarne OBE, the former Chief Fire Officer of West Ham Fire Brigade, in the presence of The Mayor of The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Councillor Albert Jacob, The Chair of The London Fire and Civil Defence Authority, Councillor Judith Josling, the families, colleagues and friends of those who died and representatives from The London Fire Brigade, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, Old Palace School and the local community.
“In memory of the 13 London firemen and women and 21 Beckenham firemen killed on the night of 19th April 1941 when a bomb destroyed the old school being used as a sub-fire station.”

​

(Taken at the 75th Anniversary)


They say that serendipity plays a part in Family History. Two weeks after my Great Aunt Winifred Alexandra Peters sadly lost her life here, my own Mother was born and she was named after her Aunt, “Winifred Alexandra Wootton”.

By the time that peace was announced in Europe on 8th May 1945, Firefighters had pushed themselves to the limit to save London from destruction. More than 300 Fireman and Fire women, in the London Region, had lost their lives, in the battle and ten times as many were injured. Thirty-seven Firemen and one Firewoman were awarded the George Medal for their bravery and one Fireman was awarded the George Cross. In addition 11 King’s Police and Fire Service Medals were awarded, 3 OBE’s, 13 MBE’s and 118 BEM’s.
​
Despite their life-saving service, there was no memorial to commemorate the Firefighters wartime actions. Following a nationwide fund-raising campaign a memorial was commissioned to honour them. On the 4th May 1991 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother unveiled a statue outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Blitz Memorial.
It was decided in 1998 to make the memorial a national monument, that would commemorate not just the Firefighters who died in World War II, but the lives of all Firefighters throughout the United Kingdom, who were killed in the line of duty. The National Firefighters Memorial, as it was re-named, was moved from its original site in Old Change Court and and the names of all those killed in peacetime were added.

​

(Photographs of the National Firefighters Memorial were kindly provided by René & Peter van der Krogt, https://statues.vanderkrogt.net.)


A very special mention to my friends, Stephanie Maltman and Jan Briggs, for providing the additional information and the extra photographs, it’s very much appreciated.
Many thanks to the following website also and the additional help and support from Andrew Behan and Richenda Walford.


https://www.londonremembers.com


The next stage of this project is to try and trace any living descendants for all 34 Firefighters who sadly lost their life at this tragic incident and that's where you come in. If you would like to get involved and assist with this project then please email Paul Chiddicks 

A father’s name on a birth certificate, is that a fact?

The birth certificate itself is the ‘evidence’, anything stated on the certificate is then normally classed as a ‘fact’, including the birth date and the father’s name. But what if that information is, in fact incorrect?
How can we determine what is a fact, against what is fiction, against what is unknown, or what is a deliberate lie!
As genealogists, we search for the truth, we look for evidence to prove and disprove a theory, and we look at all the evidence before we reach a reasoned conclusion. But what if the facts are not correct? What happens if the facts that have been recorded are wrong?

Here are a two examples:

We could find a gap in the records themselves. A fact recorded in the local civil registration office, that is ‘missed off’ the returns to the General Register Office. We sometimes forget that there are two sets of BMD indexes. The first is the one created and kept at local level by the register office where your ancestor’s birth marriage or death was registered and the second is the national index, the General Register Office Index. The GRO Index is prone to copying errors and omissions. The records held at district register offices are more accurate than those held by the GRO because they have not been repeatedly copied. If a Birth took place towards the end of a quarter, it could take it over in to the next quarter’s registration and even into the following year if the birth was in December! So was Grandma born in 1908 or 1909?
​
We could find individuals incorrectly named and listed on Census returns. From 1841 to 1901 a pre-printed census schedule was left to be completed by each household. It was then collected by the enumerator who copied the information into an enumeration book. It is these enumeration books that we consult today online and on microfilm. If there was no one in the house who could read or write, the enumerator helped to record the information. Unfortunately, there can be mistakes in the records, as the enumerator would be transcribing the information from the original schedules and could be recording incorrect information from illiterate households, or the households themselves could, of course, be deliberately misleading the enumerator!

So how do we decide which facts are true and which facts are fiction? Sometimes it’s not that easy. For many different reasons, some of our Victorian Ancestors deliberately tried to avoid being found amongst the records. From bigamous marriages to brushes with the law, avoiding records was a way of life for some of our ancestors. When one of our ancestors intentionally wants to avoid being found, it becomes very difficult, 150 years later, to try and trace their steps, but not impossible.

Sometimes the ‘fact’ is only a ‘fact’ based on the balance of probability. Sometimes we can only find the person that we are looking for by ruling out all the other potential candidates and therefore only leaving us with one possible solution.
Is the name on a headstone, or the dates a fact? These can be notoriously incorrect. Remember the details on a lot of the certificates that we are familiar with, as genealogists is only as good as the informant who is passing those details to the Registrar. The chances are the informant will know the date of death, because it is likely to have been quite recent, but is the birth date necessarily correct on the death certificate?

From 1 April 1969, the form of the death certificate was changed with the addition of the date and place of birth of the deceased and, for married or widowed women, the maiden surname. These details can be enormously helpful, but only if they are correct!

Establishing a fact as being correct, is the essence of what we do, as genealogists. Great Grandad’s stories, which have been handed down, from generation to generation, will always have an element of truth to them; it’s our job to pick out and decipher the truth from the records. Yes, Great-Grandad did serve in WW1 and yes he did fight at the Somme, we have his Army records, medal cards, regiment diaries, so we can prove all this. Is his birth date on his attestation papers correct? Probably not; this date conflicts with all the other records that we have for him, so very likely, he lied about his age so that he could join the Army and serve his country. If we only had his Army Attestation papers and nothing else, we could have easily been looking for somebody who was indeed three years older and followed the wrong man entirely, easily done with common names.

It’s a question of evaluating all the facts together. A person is far more likely to remember the day they were born, it’s their birthday after all and something that they celebrate every year! They are far more likely to get the year of birth wrong and therefore their age wrong, especially on Census returns. Therefore we might assemble a birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, 1939 Register, numerous Census returns, plus Army papers, all for one individual, all with slightly different dates or ages. By placing all these documents together and looking at the evidence as a whole, we are far more likely to reach the correct conclusion.

As Genealogists we have a lot of ‘tools’ at our disposal to help us to reach our conclusions, we have the records that I have already spoken about, but we also potentially have physical objects at home that can help us to determine the facts. We might have Great Grandad’s war medals, Grandma’s Bible, or maybe some written notes and memoirs. Again, if we add these to the documentary evidence that we have gathered, we are far more likely to reach the correct conclusion.
So examine ALL the evidence before reaching your ‘reasoned conclusion’ and record your findings. That way you will ensure that you are following the correct person and just as importantly, those that follow you will be able to see the evidence of why you reached the conclusion that you did.

Going right back to the beginning, remember the first question that I asked?
“A father’s name on a birth certificate, is that a fact?”
You distinguish fact from fiction with:

• analysis of sources and informants
• correlation of evidence
• resolution of conflicts

 
If you have a father’s name on a birth certificate, that is some evidence, but could be wrong. If you have another source that provides the same father’s name to the same person, that is correlation, and it makes a stronger case. 

However, if the second source is, say, a family Bible entry probably created around the same time as birth, it is hard to know if this is an independent informant, since often the person providing information in a family bible would be the same person who might provide information to put on the birth certificate.  

If you can correlate information from independent sources, that makes it more certain that your hypothesis (e.g. about the father’s name) is correct. The more such sources, the stronger case.
The other things to consider are:

• the position/condition of the informant
• the nature of the sources

 
If the informant is known, and witnessed the event, but they were recounting when they were 90+ years old and the father had been dead many decades, you might worry that the informant’s memory has lapsed over the years.
If what you have is a transcription of a birth record, you might worry that someone had miscopied the name or misread the original handwriting. 

In summary: the strongest case is made using multiple, correlating original records made by known, independent informants.
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We can now of course, use DNA to prove this as a fact, but that’s a whole different story entirely!

Paul Chiddicks is an amateur genealogist who writes regularly for Family Tree Magazine as well as hosting his own column  'Dear Paul'. You can read more about his own interests and what he is up to on his own website
​​chiddicksfamilytree.com/about/