As Ancestral Wales itself is a not for profit site, I’d like to feature some local artists /photographers in the hope of promoting local work.  I’m not sure if this is a feasible request or not – I will give full credit, but the image must be your own.  I would be willing to have copyright protected images.

Please contact me at admin@ancestralwales.com  if you are interested in promoting your artistic works through Ancestral Wales.

Thanks!

 Here’s what they have to say about this first phase of the records:

“Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk has today published online for the first time parish records held by the City of Westminster Archives Centre.

The Westminster Collection comprises fully searchable transcripts and scanned images of the parish registers dating back over 400-years.

The 3 million records cover the period 1538-1945 and come from over 50 Westminster churches including St Anne, Soho, St Clement Danes, St George Hanover Square, St James Westminster, St Margaret Westminster, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary-le-Strand and St Paul Covent Garden.

Some of the fascinating documents now available online detail the wedding of Theodore Roosevelt, the former US President, in 1886; the marriage of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel; and the marriage of poet Percy Shelley.

Debra Chatfield, a family historian at findmypast.co.uk, said: “The Westminster Collection is one of the largest regional parish record collections we have ever published online and contains some truly wonderful gems.

“Family historians or people looking into their past, wherever they are in the world, can now search this historical goldmine and uncover the fascinating stories of their London ancestors. There is plenty of intrigue in the records to pique the interest of social historians too.”

Adrian Autton, Archives Manager at Westminster Archives commented: “The launch of the Westminster Collection is of huge significance and makes Westminster records fully accessible to a global audience. This resource will be of immense value to anyone whose ancestors lived in Westminster and to anyone wishing to study the rich heritage of this truly great city.”

The new Westminster Collection at findmypast.co.uk joins a growing resource of official parish records from local archives, including Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, Manchester City Council and Plymouth and West Devon Records Office, with many more in the pipeline, due to go live in the coming months. In addition, over 40 million parish records from family history societies can be found at findmypast.co.uk in partnership with the Federation of Family History Societies.

The Westminster Collection is available on all of findmypast’s international sites as part of a World Subscription.”

I’m always so very grateful to be able to access collections such as these, that are made available to genealogists.

When I was waiting for a ride home from work a couple of months ago, I began surfing the internet, as always looking for interesting Welsh websites to add to Ancestral Wales.

I ran across the Ceredigion County War Memorial website.  I began searching through the memorials in the towns and villages that I am familiar with and noticed reference to Thomas Jones, son of Thomas and Mary Jones of Maldwyn House, Talybont.  I realized that this was my great grandmother’s brother and explained why I hadn’t been able to find much out about him.   The article went on to say that “Thomas was killed during heavy hand to hand fighting within Mametz Wood on 11 July 1916. He was 24 years old, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.”   Thomas served with 15th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, known as the Carmarthen Pals.  A little bit of research pulled up a book called Carmarthen Pals:  A history of the 15^th (Service) Battalion The Welsh Regiment, 1914-1919, written by Steven John who is also the website founder. Luckily I was able to purchase a copy of the book  here.   Of course I ordered it right away and have been enjoying a moving and fascinating read about the battalion.  A little bit more research pulled up his military records on the ancestry.co.uk database.

Thomas’ sister Mary Jane and one of her daughters

This young farm worker was 23 years and 11 months when he enlisted on March 18, 1915, just 5 foot 4 inches tall. He appears to have died from a shell wound to his right shoulder. One of the most poignant sections of his military records for me were his mother’s signature on April 22, 1920 accepting his medal and his private property, listed as; 2 discs, 1 purse, cigarette case, photos, letters, leather bag. Were the photos and letters of his family?  Did he have a girlfriend who was waiting for him to come home?  My poor great, great grandmother lost her son in 1916, her daughter (my great grandmother) in 1917 and her young grandaughter in 1912.

Thomas Fitton, was born in 1882 was single and a painter – 5 foot 8 inches tall and 140 pounds when he enlisted in the 22^nd Service Battalion, Manchester Regiment – The Manchester Pals.  He was living in Oldham, Lancashire with his brother Edmund.  Thomas enlisted Feb 25, 1916 and embarked from Folkstone to Boulogne. He received shrapnel wounds to both his legs in 1916 and was admitted to hospital.  Although his injuries were considered serious, he recovered enough to be sent back to war.  However, he sadly died of a chest wound, 3 July 1918 and is buried in Cavaletto British Cemetery in Italy.

Cavaletto British Cemetary, Italy

The following effects were on his person when he died; a religious book, disc, photo, wallet and 2 titles.  Under this list, a note; “Please note that the above mentioned articles are the joint property of all the late soldier’s brothers.”  This letter was sent to Ernest Mills Fitton, his brother.  He left to mourn his brothers Edmund, Ernest, James and William (my grandfather).  Poignant in this case was his 3 days punishment for being unshaven at the 7:30 a.m. parade, with the words (died of wounds) under it.

William, brother of Thomas

Although I don’t have a photograph of Thomas Fitton, I do have this photo of his brother - my grandfather William, his wife Mary and their eldest son William.  Their son - my Dad -  was named Thomas, after this young soldier.

Every Remembrance Day, I have so many family members to honour – some were fortunate enough to come home and others such as the two Thomas’ did not.

In the words of Laurence Binyon…

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor do the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Interestingly enough the other course is Genetics and Genealogy which is fascinating stuff, but because I’ve taken advantage of the Ancestry.com special offer for a DNA test, I’m hoping it will help me understand more.  I mailed the test off yesterday and I’m very excited, but I also realize that it will likely take a long time to get results.

Lastly, welcome aboard the genealogy train to  my daughter, One Little Apple, Far From the Tree.  It’s wonderful to be able to finally share my passion with someone who ‘gets’ it.  I’m also looking forward tremendously to working together on some projects!

Anyone who knows my family, knows that we have a new ‘baby’ in our lives.  Annie is a four-legged, rescued Heinz 57 variety.  I ran into this quote the other day made for a dog really, but also reminded me that I need to:

“Live every day, like someone left the gate open!”

I feel rejuvenated, inspired and eager to get back to rooting out my roots.

]]> http://ancestralwales.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=384 0 http://ancestralwales.com/blog/?p=347 http://ancestralwales.com/blog/?p=347#comments Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:06:11 +0000 AncestralWales http://ancestralwales.com/blog/?p=347 I love the freshness of the new year.  It reminds me of going back to school, with new pencils, rulers, pens and  best of all a fresh new lined writing book with no mistakes, corrections or red lines crossed through my words.  Must try harder, must be neater, must pay attention, must write between the lines.

Lovely thing about being older is that I don’t have to write between the lines!!  I can throw that ruler away, stray outside the lines -  I can even draw my own and use the red pen to create my own words.  Besides, as family historians we know we must constantly look outside the lines in order to move ahead with our research.

Bring out that fresh new genealogy writing book this year, but buy one without any lines and see where it leads you….

In my new writing book this year and written in red pen is:

1. Me – I have a dream, but I would like to move it ahead from just the dream.  Because it’s my dream, I seem to allow it to get pushed down the list, but my goal this year is to keep it at the top.
2. Order amongst the chaos!!  I cannot continue to save genealogy as paper, so I need to work on a digital remedy
3. My own genealogy research.

I’ve purposefully kept my list short (not easy….but short!).

Dream big and write and research outside the lines.

~~and a very Happy New Year to you all!

Today I learned:

• How important saving my work in as many different formats and places as I can manage.
• Blogging  – not just about writing blogs, but learning how to find ,use and mine information out of blogs.
• How to squeeze /interrogate my records and think outside of the box when using them.
• Social Networking.  What can I say, but I’m already on board, hooked and absolutely love the benefits of many Social Network activities (next I need to learn how to work all these new things into my schedule and still have a life with my family)
• I also learned more about organization and conservation from someone who thinks it’s ok *gasps* to break books apart and copy them.   Please note that as someone who has worked in a library for over 25 years, this absolutely horrified me and made sense all at the same time.
• About my Genes!  Can my family history research help to save lives?

The by-product of this conference was that I met a lot of lovely people who will become friends,  heard wonderful family stories, shared tips and tricks and topped off the whole day with a marvelous dinner.

What more could a Genealogist want?

Many many thanks to Thomas MacEntee, Dick Eastman and Lyn Meehan for their inspiration today.  It is truly appreciated!

I’m also aware how lucky I am to be living in this age of computers and online access, because many of these surprises arrive that way.  I’m also lucky because I have a very easy life compared to many of my ancestors.  Technology and machines have made my life a very easy one, from doing laundry to cooking and more.  However I’m not convinced that they save me time…….especially the one I’m using to write this post!!

I did get a surprise last week though and I’d like to share it with you.  A gentleman sent me a photograph of a gravestone from a remote area in South Africa.  He wanted it to be available in case anyone might be searching for the person listed on the grave.  I was very moved by his thoughtfulness, the fact that he sent it to me via Ancestral Wales because “you never know who might be looking for family” was one of the coolest things that has happened since I launched the website, and so thanks for sending it!

It reads:  In Loving Memory of Ann Ellen beloved wife of Ellis Owen born in Carnarvon, Wales who departed this life at Pilgrim’s Rest Nov 1st 1897 aged 36 years. (Also their infant daughter).

If you have a connection to this family please feel free to contact me.  I haven’t posted the photo because it’s tagged with a different name than the person who sent it.

The photograph intrigued me and so I did a little bit of research, and found that the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941, shows that Ann Ellen Owen, wife of Ellis Owen had a will that was probated in 1898 and that Ellis Owen was a miner.

Pelgrimsrus (Pilgrim’s Rest) where Ann and Ellis lived is in Mpumalanga, South Africa and  was a gold rush town.  The cemetery where Ann is buried started during that time.  I can’t begin to imagine what kind of life people like Ann and others had, moving to remote areas of the world in search of a dream.  These days if we want to move around the world, we can look up just about any where we want to go on the internet, but I think it took much more courage to follow a dream as Ann and Ellis did.

I had a couple of delightful suprises these past few weeks.  I discovered a reference to Lewis Davies, my 3 x great grandfather in the index to press cuttings on the Ceredigion County Council website.  I also found reference to a newspaper article about my Clayton family in another article.  I sent an email asking how to go about obtaining the two articles, and the Aberystwyth Library kindly scanned and sent them to me.  My thanks indeed for doing that.  It is just so very very cool, to find something like this in a newspaper and I will be taking the time to follow up on the clues in the first article, which describes Lewis’ lengthy military career, under both the Duke of York and the Duke of Wellington.  One thing led to another and I found an article about the home he built in Aberystwyth.  Again I’m so grateful for the opportunity to view these articles online.  I would never know these details and be able to add to the story of my family in this way.

The article in Ceredigion:  Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society was written by Caroline Palmer.  It is absolutely filled to the brim with information on the house from wallpaper, to descriptions of the fireplaces purchased, and although Lewis died shortly after it was finished, his eldest son’s family lived there a long time.  They worked extensively on the house and the details in the article were such that I could almost picture it all in my mind.  There is a brief mention of my 2x great grandfather who was Lewis’ youngest son, and also plenty of dates to provide clues for further research.  As a brief aside, I’m certainly very glad that I wasn’t one of the poor tradespeople working on redesigning the home under Lewis’ grandson and his wife.  It does sound like they were quite difficult to deal with in terms of paying for any work done on the home!!

As I opened the pdf of the second article about the Clayton family, I was thrilled to see photographs attached to it.  It was an article about a relative who has written a book on the Clayton and Thomas families of Aberystwyth.  I had been in touch with her a little while ago and she had very kindly sent me a copy of the book.

The wonderful part about genealogy is that everytime I think I’ve reached a dead end, finds like these spur me on again.  It’s like a good cup of tea when you’re thirsty!!

Here are the two links I talked about today.  Even if you don’t have relatives in the articles, they are interesting to read, because they give a flavour of life as it was…

Ceredigion County Council Local History Resources: Press Cuttings Collection

Welsh Journals Online

Also if you have any certificates you’d like to add to the site.  This is an absolutely free service and one I’d love to get off the ground.  I think it could be helpful for researchers.

I must say thank you to a family member who sent me a lovely booklet about St. David’s Church in Tal-y-bont.  Imagine my suprise to see family members photos in it!!  Very exciting indeed.

If you have any extra certificates that you would like to add to the exchange, please contact me and I will post them for you.  I’m trying to keep this as simple as possible, so the guidelines are:

1. Ancestral Wales will post brief details of the stray certificate, e.g.  Marriage Certificate / JONES, Thomas/EVANS, Mary, Dolpandy, Llanbadarn Fawr Parish, April 2, 1877.

2. Email Ancestral Wales, if you see a document that is a potential match.

3. This is a free service and Ancestral Wales will provide your contact information to the owner of the certificate.

4.  At no time will any email address provided to Ancestral Wales be given to any outside party, other than those involved in exchanging a certificate.

5. If you have a certificate that you would like to have listed, please contact Ancestral Wales

All this being said - at the moment I only have one of my own certificates to offer.  So I need your help!!