Tuesday, February 14, 2017

A BIT OF GENEALOGY TODAY

When Gregg retired a few years ago, he had more time to get into our genealogy, not only his own but mine too.  We had a dear old friend who had been doing this for years, and he had encouraged us when we expressed our interest. There were already family members on Gregg's side who had done extensive research but none on mine.  Finding those long, unknown people who were related to me, has been a wonderful journey thanks to Gregg's diligence and enthusiasm.  He has enjoyed discovering them as much as I have.


These are the Perry sisters.  We only have information about one, Mary Elizabeth Perry who went by the name Polly, and I am not sure which one she.  She is my Great-Grandfather's first cousin's wife!  She was born in Enville, Staffordshire, England in 1891 and lived until 1970.  Like a light bulb that went off in the back of my mind, I remembered my father talking about Aunty Polly, but I am not sure if he was talking about an Aunty Polly on his side of the family or mother's side.  Polly's father was Francis and her mother was Eliza Louisa Preece.  There was also a brother named Arthur.  At least one of her parents lived in Sallop, Shropshire



She married George Archer Turley in Wolverhampton, in September 1916.  George was born in 1886.  We don't know what year he passed away.  I am curious about this photo with the trophies, a master gardener perhaps?  

He probably could tell you that England suffered from an oppressive heat that ravaged the whole country, from July through to September 1911, and that Edward VII was crowned in 1902.
In October 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union was formed to campaign for women's suffrage.  It was founded by six women, two of whom, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, soon became the most prominent.

There is a great timeline on British history at this link.

An added thought, if you want to connect with your grandparents, ask them "What was it like when you were a little boy Granddad?"  And remember what they say. I never knew my Mum's Dad as he passed away long before I was born. My Grandad, my Dad's father (or Nandad as we used to call him) was a rather scary fellow to me as a little girl, very Victorian in his way of thinking - children should be seen and not heard. But if only I had asked the right questions, I could maybe have connected, as I surely know the right questions now.  When we are young we think we have all the time in the world for such things, and might not even have the interest as we do when we get older.  Truth be told the clock is ticking and one day you will wish you had asked those questions.





34 comments:

  1. So many people are doing this, now that there is help available. I think it is wonderful! Had these been your pictures, or did you just acquire them in your searches? They are truly priceless! Yes, I grew up in the age of "children should be seen and not heard". I know my grandfather came over here from England as a cook on a tramp steamer.

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    1. Hi Ginny, These are photos we found on Ancestry.com when researching our family. How wonderful to know how your grandfather came over from England. Information like this is a treasure for our families to learn.

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  2. I love these old photos even when I don't know the people in them. There is so much information out there now.

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    1. There is a lot of info out there. Our descendants are going to know more about us than ever before :)

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  3. always it is interesting to know own roots

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  4. How lovely to think of your elders! So lovely that you have some of their figures and their portraits to remember, some aspects from their lives, even slightly...

    So nice to try to find your genealogy, a wonderful journey for your soul, indeed...
    Best regards and a great week!

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    1. Thank you Alexa, and I wish the same for you :)

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  5. I know some background to ancestors, but the further back you go, the less information tends to be there.

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    1. It can be difficult and there is an awful lot of cross-referencing, but it is like getting a gift when you discover something new.

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  6. I love hearing about your family...I love hearing anyone's family history. I do not know why I did not ask my mom more...I liked hearing it. But her nor my dad either talked about their childhood. Not like I do. I was not close to any or my grandparents...only remember seeing my dad's dad two or three times, the grandfather on my mom's side died long before I was born. And her mom was alive, but only saw her once or maybe twice a year...and she just didn't have anything to say to me. And I was too little to ask her anything.

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    1. Thanks Rose, it is not always as straight forward as asking a few questions. I enjoy hearing about other families too.

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  7. Yes, ask grandparents but also don't forget your parents. Lots of times they think we know stuff but it's something we never heard of. I wish I'd asked my Dad more questions.

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    1. A good point Red. I am glad I have the stories from my parents. I wish I had more but feel blessed for the ones I do have.

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  8. Makes me miss my favorite grandma. Although she can't tell me much because she had Alzheimer's. It's amazing when we discover things about our past though. Like we could feel that we're all really connected to each other.

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  9. I love the photo of George Archer Turley! I need to spend some more time on genealogy. There is more on the web all the time!

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    1. Me too Linda! And genealogy is getting easier and easier. Still a bit of detective work to be done though.

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  10. how lovely to search your blood relationships lost in the huge world!
    i belong to a village that was consist of 33 houses where all inhabitants were relative of each other. my grandfather[mom's father] was one of the pioneer of this village and most of my relatives live still there.

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    1. What an interesting family history you must have. Wonderful!

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  11. I do think more and more people are doing genealogy.
    I do have a few older family photographs and they are treasured.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Old family photos are treasures. Our descendants will know everything about us :)

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  12. What a wonderful project!

    How did he go about doing it?

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  13. I know quite a bit of my maternal grandparents, but very little of my paternal grandparents. And, next to nothing about my relatives in South and North Korea.

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    1. Good to know something of your maternal grandparents.

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  14. Hi Denise, what an interesting blog and well done to the both of you for the effort it has obviously taken in doing the research. What wonderful cups George Arthur Turley has won, but as you say it would be good to find out what for. All I am aware of about my family is my Father was born in Wales and my Mother in Ireland, so what chance do I stand??? All the best to you both. John

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    1. Hi John, thank you for the kind comments. My paternal grandmother's roots are in Wales, and we think maybe Ireland from another ancestor. Still investigating that one. All the best to you too John.

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    2. Its so much fun tracing family. Very time consuming. I have not worked on mine for a few years now. I got stuck on all 4 trees back in 1700s and the records came to an end. Things happened and I was not able to get back to it but some day soon I need to get everything organized . Enjoyed your post

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    3. I agree about the time consuming part. Though I am not the one who does it I know hubby has to take a break and recharge his batteries.

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  15. I bet he was in theh paper with trophies like that! You should try and see if you can find anything out. My family came from Ireland after living in England for about 15 years They worked in the mills in mASSACHUTES.

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    1. That's a great idea Kelleyn, I will pass that on to hubs. Very interesting about your family from Ireland ending up in Massachusetts. I have roots in Ireland also.

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  16. I didn't know when you got back to blogging after your break because I have been having issues, plus took a couple of long breaks myself because of the move, etc. I wanted to get a little caught up with you this morning! Good to see you are back. Loved reading the genealogy post. Mom started doing our family's history when our daughter was small, and she has worked long and hard on it...I joined in, and also started adding info on my hubby's family (which Mom did do some) and then my son-in-law's family. There's still a lot to do. I have tapes of my grandmother and great-aunt answering questions about their childhood that I made when I was a young teen. Mom has interviewed and documented stories about many of the older relatives. All that was priceless! Unfortunately my hubby's family were never taped or interviewed as one grandmother died three years before he was born, and he lost that grandfather when he was 15 and had never thought to get info from him. The other grandparents he was not close to. His mother gave me some info but had a cerebral hemmorage the year Russell and I got married, and her memory suffered after that. I did get a little from his Dad. Thank goodness for things like Ancestry. You can find out a LOT!

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    1. How very interesting Marie and thank you so much for taking the time to share this with me. Thank you for the sweet comments. It is always lovely to 'chat' with you. What treasures having all those tapes. Your Mom too, how brilliant that she started this genealogy research years ago. I should have added in my post that it's not always possible to ask parents and grandparents, or even other relatives. My sister and I were just starting to talk about family stories before she passed, as being older she remembered a lot more than I did. I am very blessed that Gregg took such an interest as he discovers someone new every day. Enjoy the rest of your week Marie.

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