The Symons family: Part two- The Wandering Symons

Today’s post continues the story of the Symons family of Somerset brickmakers. Last time we found out how everything began, with William Symons of Stogursey who joined Thomas Colthurst to form Colthurst, Symons & Co. in 1857. We also discovered how the Bridgwater area was perfect for brick and tile making due to an abundance of raw materials. This instalment follows William’s eldest son (also named William) on his journey.

William Symons junior

From what I have discovered about William junior, he seems to have been quite a transient person. Unlike other ancestors I have found who settled and stayed in the same area for a great deal of their lives, William moved around a lot. He began life in Bridgwater and was baptised there on the 07 March 1827 at St. Mary’s Church.[1] As a 14 year old, he lived with his parents William and Ann and siblings James, John, Clifford and Ellen in Hamp, near Bridgwater.[2] But three years later (1844) is when things get a bit more interesting. 1844 is the birth year of William junior’s eldest son, confusingly also called William! The interesting thing is that William did not marry wife Sophia until 1849.[3] If you do the maths on this, then it shows that William was 17 in 1844, which would have been below the age he was allowed to marry without parental consent. It seems he had an illegitimate child with Sophia and she baptised the child under her name of ‘Duddridge.’[4] This William’s birth certificate is however, filed under Symons. Sophia Dudridge is named as the mother, but William Symons is named as the father. As Sophia is only named by her maiden name this indicates that they were likely unmarried at the time.[5]

Family Tree for William Symons junior (1827-1911). © Shersca Genealogy, 2020.

The legislation requiring both parents of an illegitimate child to be present at the registration didn’t come in until 1874, so William may or may not have given his consent to be named. Perhaps though, this did show the couple’s intentions as they did marry later. This William seemed to live with his grandparents (Sophia’s parents) and not his parents.[6] [7] This illegitimacy would have been fairly scandalous at the time- who knows, perhaps it had a bearing on William senior's involvement (or lack of) in his father’s brickmaking business. Maybe he had another career in mind, as on both his first son’s birth certificate and his marriage certificate, he says that he is a baker.

William's next move

Who knows, perhaps the stigma was so great that this was the reason that William had moved to Neath, near Swansea in Wales by 1851. His wife Sophia and their next son James were with him and William was recorded as being a brickmaker. There are of course, other reasons why William could have gone to Wales. He may have tried to find work- there were various brickworks in Neath and the surrounding areas.[8] It is unclear how he became a brickmaker (maybe baking wasn’t working out for him), but perhaps unsurprising because of the growing popularity of the trade in the area where he grew up.

Perhaps you might think that William settled down in Wales after joining a Welsh brickmaker? No he did not. His son John was born back in Bridgwater (abt. 1852) and his daughters Mary Ann and Clara were born in North Petherton in abt. 1853 and 1855 respectively. Then yet again, the family were off in 1861 and were living in Eaton Hastings in Berkshire.[9] William’s occupation is pretty vague and only says ‘contractor,’ but by this time, his father was involved with Colthurst, Symons & Co. Perhaps William was sent to investigate business opportunities in the area? According to the Eaton Hastings entry in the Victoria County History, there are disused clay-pits in the vicinity and clay is what you need to make bricks.[10]

The brickyard manager

 Part of promotional material for Colthurst, Symons & Co, showing their brickyards. Passed down through my family.

The next chapter in William’s history is the one which has interested me most because it sees the entry of a particular house. This house is called Midway House and it is located in Burnham on Sea, Somerset. Midway House becomes an important part of the story of my ancestors, but only makes a fleeting appearance in William’s story. He, his wife Sophia and children John, Mary Ann and Clara lived there in 1871, but had left by 1875.[11] This time around, William is the manager of a brickyard and this speaks to the purpose of the house he lived in. The residents of Midway House are inextricably linked with the purpose of the land around the house. Each head of household that I have found on the UK census records was recorded as a brickyard manager, most likely for the adjoining brickworks owned by Colthurst, Symons & Co.^[12] The next occupant appeared in 1875,[13] but more about him next time.

Meanwhile, William had moved again, but into Bridgwater this time. Perhaps he moved closer to the main hub of the family business. Sadly, his address can be found on his wife Sophia’s death certificate. She died on the 28 June 1876, at 48 Wellington Road, Bridgwater.[14] I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for William and his family, especially as Sophia was only 49. It seems that she died from liver and kidney problems and excess fluid in the kidneys (dropsy). At this time William was still a tile manufacturer, but perhaps Sophia’s death prompted the complete change in occupation and yet another move.

The Gloucester years

William’s second marriage took place on the 18 July 1878 to Charlotte Ford (neé Smith) at the Register Office in the Aston District of Warwickshire.[15] Both had been married before and seemingly lost spouses to premature deaths. But yet again, does William settle in Warwickshire? No, he moves with Charlotte and the children from her previous marriage to Gloucestershire. Even more surprising, is the fact that he becomes a publican! He was a merchant and Inn Keeper of the Goat Inn on Llanthony Road, South Hamlet, Gloucester.[16] There may have been more to this move that it being purely random. In the previous post, remember that William’s younger brother John was living in South Hamlet in 1861.[17] But even this change of William’s doesn’t seem to last long. From 1891 until his death, William seems to be moving around Gloucester and ‘living on his own means’ with no discernible occupation. 1891 sees him living at 17 Weston Road,[18] 1901 at 2 Tudor Street (but as a boarder not a head of household)[19] and 1911 at 104 Linden Road with daughters Mary Ann (Marian) and Clara.[20]

The address at Weston Road was unfortunately where William’s second wife, Charlotte died on the 20 July 1895 from heart disease and associated syncope.[21] She was only 67. William himself died on the 29 August 1911 at 104 Linden Road, aged 84. It is perhaps some comfort to see that his daughter Clara was present when he died.[22]

Conclusions

William is a very obvious case to remind us that our ancestors could have moved around much more than we think. There are ten years between each census entry after all. A lot can happen in that time, especially as movement became easier in the 19^th century. William’s story does give me the impression of someone who had not quite found where they belonged in life. With several changes of occupation and many changes of location over the years, perhaps William was struggling to find his place. Although we may never know for sure.

Stay tuned for part three of the Symons story, with the addition of the Peirces and a certain house in Burnham on Sea!

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

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[1] Baptisms (PR) England. Bridgwater (St. Mary), Somerset. 07 March 1827. SYMONS, William. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1531-1812. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[2] Census. 1841. England. Hamp, Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: HO107/971. FL 48. BN 2. ED 4. p. 39. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[3] Marriages (CR) England. Register Office, Axbridge Union, Somerset. 04 April 1849. SYMONS, William and DUDRIDGE, Sophia. Entry no. 158.

[4] Baptisms (PR) England. Bridgwater (St. Mary), Somerset. 22 September 1844. DUDDRIDGE, William. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[5] Births (CR) England. Hamp, Bridgwater, Somerset. 31 July 1844. SYMONS, William. Entry no. 445.

[6] Census. 1841. England. Hamp, Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: HO107/1925. FL 118. ED 1d. p. 51. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[7] Census. 1861. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG9/1624. FL 18. SN 156. ED 1. p. 30. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[8] Jenkins, Phil. The Brickworks of West Glamorgan: Neath and the Nedd Valley. http://www.industrialgwent.co.uk/g41-westglam/index.htm#neath : accessed 07 July 2020.

[9] Census. 1861. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG9/728. FL 86. SN 22. ED 5c. p. 17. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[10] [Author unknown] (1924) 'Eaton Hastings.' In: Page, William, and Ditchfield, P. H. eds. A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4. London: Victoria County History. pp. 528-531. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp528-531 : accessed 07 July 2020.

[11] Census. 1871. England. Burnham, Somerset. PN: RG10/2457. FL 27. SN 58. ED 9. p. 11. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2018.

[12] Murless, Brian J. (2000) Somerset Brick & Tile Manufacturers: A Brief History & Gazetteer. [Place unknown]: Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society. p. 12.

[13] Directories. England. (1875) The Post Office Directory of Somersetshire. London: Kelly And Co. p. 345.

[14] Deaths (CR) England. Bridgwater, Somerset. 20 June 1876. SYMONS, Sophia. Entry no. 123.

[15] Marriages (CR) England. Register Office, Aston District, Warwickshire. 18 July 1878. SYMONS, William and FORD, Charlotte. Entry no. 63.

[16] Census. 1881. England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershre. PN: RG11/2536. FL 41. ED 9. p. 24. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[17] Census. 1861. England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. PN: RG9/1767. FL 109. SN 97. ED 7. p. 19. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[18] Census. 1891. England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. PN: RG12/2016. FL 4. ED 11. p. 2. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[19] Census. 1901. England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. PN: RG13/2431. FL 195. SN 141. ED 33. p. 23. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[20] Census. 1911. England. Gloucester Southern, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, 325. PN: RG14/15304. ED 10. SN 169. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 07 July 2020.

[21] Deaths (CR) England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. 20 July 1895. SYMONS, Charlotte. Entry no. 334.

[22] Deaths (CR) England. Gloucester Southern, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. 29 August 1911. SYMONS, William. Entry no. 123.

The Symons family: Part one- Humble beginnings

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about my Somerset Brickmaking family. This has been a long time in coming but I am very excited to share this with you all now.

In a previous post about family heirlooms, I talked about a family tapestry and a roof tile that I was given. Both of these heirlooms come from (or relate to) the Symons family of Bridgwater, Somerset and their descendants. This story begins with the story of a family, but soon becomes the story of a business and a house as well.

The very beginning...

This story starts on the 26 December 1805 with the baptism of William Symons, at St. Andrew’s church in Stogursey, Somerset.[1] He was the final and ninth child of James Symons and his wife Hannah. It is very possible that his father James died in 1807, when William was only two years old.[2] I have not yet tracked down all of William’s siblings, but it is quite likely that Hannah then had many of her children left to look after. It may have been that William’s early life was quite hard with the death of his father and the death of the family’s main provider. I can’t wait to get back into the Somerset Heritage Centre to try to discover more about William and his parents! Stogursey itself was not only rural, but local place names contain allusions to the use of clay (‘Claypits’), sand (‘Sandpits’) and brickmaking. There was a field named ‘Brick Yard’ in the nearby hamlet of Knighton.[3] This may or may not have been an area in which James Symons worked, but it was certainly an important theme in his son’s future.

Jumping forward a few years, William married Ann Cook on the 09 January 1826 at St. Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol.[4] Banns were also recorded at St. Mary, Bridgwater for the couple in August of 1825.[5] Over the years, they had eight children: William, James, John, Mary Ann, Clifford, Ellen, Adelaide and Orlando. The last two sadly died very young. It also seems that William was not involved in the Brickmaking trade straight away, as the 1841 census records his occupation as that of an agricultural labourer living in Hamp, near Bridgwater.[6] By 1851, William has moved with his family to the nearby settlement of Huntworth, but is now the master of a brickyard.[7] Slater’s Directory of Somerset for 1852-1853 records three separate brick and tile makers in Bridgwater: Browne & Co. (The Quay), John B Hammill (Saltland Cottage) and John Sealy (The Quay).[8] It is possible that William worked for one of these three before creating his own company with Thomas Colthurst in 1857.[9]

 Family tree for William Symons (1805-1876) © Shersca Genealogy 2020.

The Growth of an Industry

The Bridgwater area became renowned for making bricks and tiles in the 19^th century. The industry had grown popular both due to the natural deposits of clay in the River Parrett^[10] and the invention of more cost-effective production techniques.^[11] The growth of the rail network in Somerset meant that bricks and tiles could be transported out of the area.^[12] This led to a myriad of companies plying their trade throughout what is now the Sedgemoor district. One of these companies was Colthurst, Symons & Co., which owned at least seven brick and tile works around the Bridgwater area at the height of their production.^[13]

Up until William’s death in 1876, he lived in various residences in Bridgwater, re-marrying after the death of his wife Ann in 1868.[14] Confusingly, his second wife was called Annie[15] and they had a daughter named Hannah Nancy Symons (b. 1872).[16] William died on the 03 January 1876 in Bridgwater and by this time was a merchant.[17] That is quite a step up from agricultural labourer! His son Clifford was one of the executors of his will and from Census records, William’s sons James, John and Clifford were all involved in the brick and tile making business in some capacity.

William's sons

James was a potter, first in Bishop’s Hull[18] and then at the Symons Brickyard in Bristol Road, Bridgwater.[19] By 1871, he was living in Castle Villa, Castle Fields and had graduated to Brickyard Manager.[20] Ten years later, he was residing at 6, Symons Buildings and the foreman of a brickworks.[21]

The next brother, John, happened to be living in Bishop’s Hull next door to brother James in 1851. He was a Brick and Tile Merchant. There seems to be a bit of a connection in the family to South Hamlet in Gloucester, as John (a brickmaker) was living there in 1861.[22] The other connection is with his older brother William, but more about that next time. John had moved to North Petherton (Crossway House) to run the Tile Works there by 1871[23] and moved again by 1881, into Bridgwater.[24] He lived on Salmon Lane (later Salmon Parade) and was again the manager of a brick works. He lived at no. 16 until his death in 1917.[25]

Youngest brother Clifford was also a brick merchant and lived in Bridgwater for most of the Census records found.[26] [27]

William senior’s other children William and Mary Ann will be the subjects of other posts. That leaves Ellen. Now Ellen wasn’t really involved in the business (being a daughter and not a son) and her husband was not involved either. I would like to mention Ellen and her husband though, because her husband’s will has a very interesting paragraph which gives an indication of the state of the family relationships.

 The Colthurst, Symons & Co. roof tile that was given
to me by a fellow historian. © Shersca Genealogy, 2020

A curious statement

Ellen’s husband was James Cook[28] and the couple had moved from Bridgwater to Weston Super Mare by 1901.[29] From James’ will,[30] it seems that not only was he a solicitor, but a former Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk for Bridgwater. He asks that a stained glass window be provided by his trustees in the Eastern Wall of the South Chapel of St. Mary’s Church in Bridgwater. There was to be a brass plaque underneath declaring that “This window was given by James Cook J P and for nine years Town Clerk of Bridgwater in memory of his parents.” He also gave an oil painting of himself to the Corporation of Bridgwater and a photograph of himself in his official Town Clerk robes.

This certainly gives an indication of James’ status and also the status of Ellen’s family, in the fact that they married at all. But as the saying goes, you can’t choose your family. It certainly seems that James loved his wife, but not her family. In his will, he says, ‘…I am not indebted to the extent of one shilling to any Member of the Symons family some of whom have treated me badly for many years…’ I haven’t yet acquired all of the wills for the family- there were so many children in each generation that it will be quite a task. Perhaps they will make just as interesting reading!

The Symons Brickmaking dynasty had quite humble origins, but seemed to hit upon the right business, in the right place, at the right time. It was very much a family affair and continued to be for about the next 100 years. Next time, the transient life of William senior’s eldest son William…

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

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[1] Baptisms (PR) England. Stogursey, Somerset. 26 December 1805. SYMONS, William. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[2] Burials (PR) England. Stogursey, Somerset. 15 June 1807. SYMONS, James. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[3] Baggs, A. P. and Siraut, M. C. (1992) 'Stogursey.' In: Dunning, R. W. and Elrington, C. R. eds. A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6, Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and Neighbouring Parishes). London: Victoria County History. pp. 130-136. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol6/pp130-136 : accessed 06 July 2020.

[4] Marriages (PR) England. St. Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol. 09 January 1826. SYMONS, William and COOK, Ann. Collection: Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[5] Marriage Banns (PR) England. St. Mary, Bridgwater, Somerset. 07, 14, 21 August 1825. SYMONS, William and COOK, Ann. Collection: Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[6] Census. 1841. England. Hamp, Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: HO107/971. FL 48. BN 2. ED 4. p. 39. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[7] Census. 1851. England. Huntworth Basan, North Petherton, Somerset. PN: HO107/1924. FL 278. SN 73. ED 6c. p. 19. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2020.

[8] Directories. England. (1852-1853)               

Slater's Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of the counties of Berkshire, Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and South Wales, 1852-53. Manchester and London: Isaac Slater. p. 52 [761] https://cdm16445.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/100626/rec/7 : accessed 06 July 2020.

[9] Tweedie, Andrew. Colthurst, Symons and Co. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Colthurst,_Symons_and_Co : accessed 06 July 2020.

[10] Smedley, B. (1986) The Bridgwater Brickyard Strike of 1896. [Unknown]: Sheep Worrying Books. p. 7.

[11] Porter, E. (c.1970) Bridgwater Industries Past and Present. Bridgwater: Porter. p. 15.

[12] Burnham-on-sea.com. Burnham-on-sea History Pages. http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/history.shtml : accessed 05 February 2018.

[13] Capture Highbridge. BRICK AND TILE PRODUCTION. https://capturehighbridge.wordpress.com/industry/brick-and-tile-production/ : accessed 05 February 2018.

[14] Deaths index (CR) England & Wales. RD: Axbridge, Somerset. 3^rd Q., 1868. SYMONS, Ann. Vol. 5c. p. 368. http://www.freebmd.org.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[15] Marriages (CR) England. Congregational Chapel, Bridgwater, Somerset. 16 August 1869. SYMONS, William and BOWDEN, Annie. Entry no. 62.

[16] Births index (CR) England & Wales. RD: Bridgwater, Somerset. 3^rd Q., 1872. SYMONS, Hannah. Vol. 5c. p. 411. http://www.freebmd.org.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[17] Testamentary records. England. 02 February 1876. SYMONS, William. Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the grants of probate. p. 285. Collection: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[18] Census. 1851. England. Bishop’s Hull, Taunton, Somerset. PN: HO107/1923. FL 189. SN 55. ED 2b. p. 16. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[19] Census. 1861. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG9/1625. FL 27. SN 269. ED 9. p. 47. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[20] Census. 1871. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG10/2387. FL 28. SN 276. ED 9. p. 48. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[21] Census. 1881. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG11/2375. FL 47. ED 9. p. 30. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[22] Census. 1861. England. South Hamlet, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. PN: RG9/1767. FL 109. SN 97. ED 7. p. 19. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[23] Census. 1871. England. North Petherton, Somerset. PN: RG10/2381. FL 22. SN 81. ED 2. p. 16. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[24] Census. 1881. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG11/2375. FL 107. ED 11. p. 26. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[25] Testamentary records. England. 12 January 1918. SYMONS, John Rodamond. Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the grants of probate. p. 415. Collection: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[26] Census. 1871. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG10/2385. FL 82. SN 116. ED 3. p. 21. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[27] Census. 1891. England. Bridgwater, Somerset. PN: RG12/1883. FL 97. ED 6. p. 21. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[28] Marriages (CR) England. Christ Church Chapel, Bridgwater, Somerset. 15 April 1858. COOK, James and SYMONS, Ellen. Entry no. 188.

[29] Census. 1901. England. Weston Super Mare, Somerset. PN: RG13/2326. FL 54. SN 10. ED 21. p. 2. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 09 July 2020.

[30] Testamentary records. England. 14 March 1912. COOK, James. Will. Found in family documents held by Rhiannon Lloyd.

Searching for a Stourton connection…

Stourton Church, Wiltshire: The resting place
of members of the Stourton family.

Today’s post is one I have been planning for a little while now, but have only now got around to writing. A few weeks ago, I mentioned an online resource in one of my posts relating to the coronavirus pandemic. This resource was the History of Parliament Online. Today I will be going into more detail about the site and how it has helped me in my own research for an elusive link to a Medieval Somerset family.

 

Most of my ancestors, in whatever county, seem to have been fairly ordinary. Where occupations are recorded, they were generally agricultural labourers. If you think about how rural Somerset and the other South-Western counties are in comparison to others, then that kind of makes sense. The further back in time you travel, the number of people that are recorded, gets smaller. As you travel before the introduction of parish baptisms, marriages and burials in 1538 (at the earliest), the percentage of the population being record becomes more limited. Generally speaking, you will only find those who held land of some sort. Manorial records may give details of people lower down the social ladder- more on those another time.

History of Parliament Online

There are many resources which can tell you more about your ‘landed’ ancestors, but one that I found particularly interesting recently was History of Parliament Online. I mentioned in my previous post that it includes biographical details about Members of Parliament, but it does much more than that. It is an online extension of a research project called The History of Parliament. It is funded largely by the Houses of Parliament and employs a team of historians to research the history of parliamentary politics in England and later, Britain.

Some volumes have already been published and the first one covers the years 1386-1421. The project is not yet complete and there is still more research to be done for much of 15^th, 17^th and 19^th centuries. You can find more detail about the project and the years already covered in the ‘About’ section of the website. The good thing is that the years already in print can be found on the website. The website is easy enough to search for a particular person, constituency or parliament and each article is fully referenced. This is of course, very important to us genealogists, as well as to historians. It means that the articles on the website have a higher degree of credibility and you can then go and look at the documents used yourself.

Useful biographies

So how has History of Parliament Online helped me? Well, I have been tracing back a line which originated with the Symons family (my Somerset brickyard managers). Travelling further back took them through a mixture of male and female lines (Saunders, then Siddenham/Sydenham) to Stourton. I am still trying to confirm the connection (if there is one) between the Sydenhams of Lydeard St. Lawrence (Somerset) and the Stourton family who were land holders in the county and played a part in county and country politics too.

In my quest to find out more information about the Stourtons (in the hope it would lead me to a link), I came upon some biographies about some of the male members of the family on History of Parliament Online. They were all from the earliest group of records (1386-1421). There may well be more to find in the future as the rest of the 15^th century is still being researched.

John Stourton of Preston Plucknett

What used to be the site of Preston Plucknett
Manor- a familiar place to John Stourton.

The first Stourton found was John Stourton of Preston Plucknett, who died in 1438.¹ His entry on History of Parliament Online first gives the constituency he served as a Member of Parliament and the dates: Somerset, between 1419-1421, 1423, 1426, 1429 and 1435. It then gives an account of his family and education, the offices he held and then a detailed biography, followed by notes and references. The most important details for my family history are firstly the relationship details. The article tells me that he was the younger son of John Stourton of Stourton in Wiltshire and his mother was Alice, his father’s second wife. It also tells me that he was the half brother of William Stourton (the subject of another of the articles found). The names of John’s three wives are recorded and where known, their parentage, vital dates and possible marriage dates.

John’s biography section gives a lot more detail about his life. It seems he was a lawyer, working mostly with his half-brother William. Details are recorded about his work for Royal Commissions and the family’s relationship to the church. The wonderful thing about the article, is that it does not just talk about John, but his siblings, the marriages of his daughters and the subsequent marriages of his wife after John’s death. This helps to connect female ancestral lines, which are more difficult to research the further back in time that you go; male ancestors appeared in records a great deal more.

The details that can be filled in about John’s life are brilliant for any genealogist and give a sense of the man that you might not get for other ancestors of the same period. An entry like this is only as good as the sources available though. If a landed ancestor did not do anything of note, then they may not have been recorded in the same variety of records as John Stourton. Sometimes, an ancestor is only as important as the status of their family. As John’s biography notes, it seems that the Stourton family were held in some regard already by the time that John came along. I have come across various articles and histories about the family.

Is it worth it?

For the biographies of William Stourton (John’s brother)² and his son (also named John),³ the level of detail is similar. Familial relationships are given, details of occupations, land and contents of wills can also be seen. It makes the website well worth looking at if you have a landed ancestor. If there is a possibility that he (and in this time-period, men are certainly more likely) was an MP, then he might appear on the website. Even if you don’t know whether he was an MP or not, I think it is still worth checking History of Parliament online. It is a very small undertaking for a potentially large reward.

Unfortunately for me, I am still searching and trying to verify my connection to the Stourton family. My problem area lies just outside of the years available on History of Parliament Online. Time to look at other records and resources!

References:

1. Roskell, J. S., Clark, L. and Rawcliffe, C., eds. (1993) ‘STOURTON, John I (d.1438), of Preston Plucknett, Som.’ in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421. Martlesham: Boydell and Brewer. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/stourton-john-i-1438#footnoteref1_k8tsh2i : accessed 10 June 2019.
2. Roskell, J. S. and Kightly, Charles. (1993) ‘STOURTON, William (d.1413), of Stourton, Wilts.’ in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421. Martlesham: Boydell and Brewer. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/stourton-william-1413 : accessed 10 June 2019.
3. Richmond and Woodger, L. S. (1993) ‘STOURTON, John II (1400-1462), of Stourton, Wilts.’ in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421. Martlesham: Boydell and Brewer. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/stourton-john-ii-1400-62 : accessed 10 June 2019.

 

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

Their surname was what?!

Have you ever come across a surname in the course of your family history research which made you look twice? The kind of surname that belongs in a comedy sketch? Many people throughout history have changed their names. Perhaps because their name isn’t interesting enough, perhaps because their work wouldn’t be considered if they used their real name. Reg Dwight, the Brontë sisters and even J.K. Rowling are all examples. But, sometimes names are changed accidentally. Maybe a person’s handwriting was not very clear, or maybe modern sensibilities and experiences correct the name instead. Well, I have found seven generations of one particular surname in my family that has fallen victim to just such an unwitting change.

An 'interesting' name

As I have written before, many of my ancestors come from Somerset in England (see my other blog post on the subject). I have ancestors in the county on both my maternal and paternal side. A little while ago, I inherited some research from a relative for some Somerset ancestors on my maternal side. It has taken a little while to sort through it all, but recently I have been looking further at the Toogood family. They came from the Burnham, Huntspill and Wedmore area of Somerset (not far from Bridgwater). There were some notable members of the family from the Victorian period, namely local brickwork owners and managers. Their story would need a whole other post!

But this story begins in Wedmore with the marriage of James Toogood and Elizabeth Cock on 05 April 1785. Can you see where I’m going with this? The name Elizabeth Cock is not exactly one that is commonly talked about. It sounds more like something out of a Two Ronnies sketch! But Elizabeth Cock was her name and she did marry James Toogood. They went on to have at least nine children, including my 4 x great-grandfather, George Toogood (abt. 1787, Huntspill-1846, Wedmore).

Elizabeth was the daughter of James Cock (b. abt. 1716, Wedmore) and Joan Fisher (abt. 1735, Wedmore-abt. 1775, Wedmore). She had 6 siblings: Mary, Jane, James, Mary, Josias and Elizabeth. Out of those siblings, only James survived into adulthood. He would make another interesting project one day, to see whether his line has survived into modern times.

Pedigree tree for Elizabeth Cock (1764-1824).

Elizabeth's ancestors

Working backwards then from James Cock senior (all events were from Wedmore), his parents were John Cock (abt. 1657-abt. 1730) and Mary Pethoram (abt. 1679-abt. 1745), John’s parents were John Cock (abt. 1631-abt. 1710) and Mary Bushe, the next generation was John Cock (b. abt. 1601) and possibly Anna Poole, this John’s parents were Nicholas Cock (b. abt. 1562) and Alice (no surname was recorded for her upon her marriage to Nicholas in 1598) and finally, Nicholas’ father was John Cock. He may have been born in around 1530 and possibly died in 1574, in Wedmore.

Now, you may think that the name ‘Cock’ would be fairly straightforward to find in the records I used. You would be mistaken. Most of the entries regarding the Cock family outlined above, were not found as ‘Cock.’ They were in fact, found under the name ‘Cook’ instead. Some I did find under ‘Cocke,’ but most were found under ‘Cook.’ The question is why? Was this surname a victim of modern sensibilities or was it simply a case of difficult handwriting?

What does it mean?

Let’s begin with the meaning of the surname ‘Cock.’ According to the Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames,¹ the surname ‘Cock’ did not mean what some modern people would think it means. Quoting from the dictionary, ‘Cock’ came from ‘the pertness or swagger of the bearer.’ Essentially, someone who we would now call ‘cocky.’ Some of the early examples of the name given also come from Somerset (although the spellings do differ slightly- ‘Cok’). This would be an example of the surname developing from a person’s personal character, as opposed to other surnames which can be locational, occupational, patronymic, matronymic or a person’s physical characteristics.² The other meaning of ‘Cock’ in this dictionary, comes from a local name- here called a ‘sign-name’ with the example of ‘at the Cock.’ So, neither possibility for the origin of the name has anything to do with the slang that we are familiar with.

How was it written?

This handwriting example from one of my Toogood
ancestors illustrates the problem- not the easiest to read!

What about the handwriting used to write the name? Could this have been the reason for the transcription error? The further back in time you travel, the more you notice the changes to people’s handwriting. Although each individual has their own unique hand, various time periods develop styles that are wide-spread and can be recognised. There would not be space to go into the complexities of different hands here, but generally after 1500 Secretary hand was common, until that gave way to Italic hand around the 18^th century onwards. This is close to the way we form letters today.³

The problem for the name ‘Cock,’ is that the letter ‘c’ is often mistaken for an ‘o.’ That is when you get ‘Cook’ instead. The other name I have come across is ‘Cork’ instead of ‘Cock,’ especially in some of the earlier records. This is because the ‘c’ in these cases looks a lot like the letter ‘r.’ If a person transcribing a record is not so familiar with these idiosyncrasies, then you get transcription errors. Spotting the differences in handwriting does take practice though and it is always helpful to have some good reference samples on hand.

And finally...

Obviously, I still have a lot of work left to do on the Cock family. Many of the couples were married by licence, which may give an indication of their wealth. Or, it may be that it was a particularly common occurrence in the area. In any case, they seem like an interesting family to research further. I have my own ideas, but I’ll let you make up your own mind as to the reason why the surname was changed. Was it simply mis-transcribed, or was it deemed too impolite, even if this was unwitting?

The point here though, is that when we come across a name in a record, we should always keep an open mind! It may not be quite what you think.

References:

1. Bardsley, Charles Wareing. (1901) 'Cock.' In: A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames with Special American Instances. New York: Oxford University Press Warehouse. p. 189. https://archive.org/details/adictionaryengl01bardgoog/page/n208/mode/2up : accessed 23 April 2020.
2. Ibid., pp. 1-36.
3. Marshall, Hilary. (2010) Palaeography for Family and Local Historians. [unknown place]: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. p. 23.

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

Not your average heirloom...

With all the time spent at home recently, I have finally got around to a few things on my family history to-do list. I may have mentioned before that my great-aunt left me some of her genealogy research and I am finally getting to grips with sorting through that. She was researching for years before I was even born, so you can imagine the amount of information she collected! This has prompted a bit of a re-organisation of my own research and bits and pieces I have collected over the years.

In amongst all of the paper, notes and documents, are a few more unusual heirlooms. Genealogists and family historians are used to dealing with photographs, certificates, birthday books and the like. But what about the other, less run of the mill objects? How do you preserve those and what exactly do you do with them? Let me explain what I mean.

A Tapestry...

My family tapestry: Joseph presenting his Father to Pharaoh.

In one of my recent posts, I spoke about an Australian relative who made contact with me. I discovered that she had a tapestry in her family that had been passed down through the generations to her. This was quite a discovery, because there is also a tapestry in my family that had been passed down through my maternal grandfather and his mother’s family. After some digging around, I found that the subject of our tapestry is ‘Joseph presenting his father to Pharaoh.’ A further discovery was the will of the ancestor who made the tapestries. I found this in the research that my great-aunt did, all those years ago.

This will was made by Mary Ann Peirce (neé Symons), who died on 04 April 1915, in Bridgwater, Somerset (England). She was the daughter of William Symons of the brick makers, Colthurst and Symons. Her husband William Elstone Peirce was the brickyard manager for the company’s yard in Burnham on Sea. Mary’s will contains some details regarding money and property, but the most interesting thing is the part that sets out the process for dividing her ‘needlework pictures.’ So technically, what I have inherited is not a tapestry in the classical sense of the word as it was not made using a loom. We have always just called it a tapestry.

...or seven!

It turns out that not only did Mary produce my family 'tapestry' and the one in the family of my Australian relative, but she produced seven pictures altogether! She left one to each of her children. The will names them as follows: ‘Weighing the Deer,’ ‘Boaz and Ruth,’ ‘Robert Burns and the Highland Girl,’ ‘Leah and Rachel,’ ‘Pilate washing his hands,’ ‘Joseph being sold to the Ishaelmites [Ishmaelites],’ and ‘Joseph presenting his Father to Pharaoh.’ I cannot say what the dimensions for all of these pictures are, but they are described as being ‘large.’ The amount of work that went into them must have been staggering. There is a family legend in my branch of the family, that says that Mary was helped by one or more of her daughters. We may never know whether that was true, or whether Mary made them all herself. Whatever happened, I count myself incredibly lucky to have an heirloom like that in the family.

Now, as the will says, these pictures are certainly not small! I remember ours hanging in my grandparent’s lounge when I was younger. It was almost floor to ceiling and took up a quarter of one wall. So what do you do with something like that? Currently, it’s with my aunt as hers is the only house which has the space. I’m not entirely sure that she is joking when she says that she is putting it in her will that either me or one of my two cousins must have it.

Textile preservation

Another consideration is how to keep my heirloom in good condition. I’m no conservationist, but sitting it in full sunlight would be no good at all. Then there is humidity, damp and the danger of it being set upon by creatures. The National Archives (NARA) in Washington, D.C., has an interesting post on their website about the maintenance of antique textiles. It was written a few years ago now, but does advise on the major issues for textiles: light, temperature, humidity, insects. There is also some advice on handling, storage, displaying and cleaning.

My family 'tapestry' is in the best place we can find, somewhere cool, not damp and relatively dark. In the future, we may have to think about how to store it if there is no wall to put it on. I think I will take the article’s advice though, and not clean the piece of work. Right now it is not strictly necessary and it might do more harm than good (unless in the hands of a professional).

And some other things...

The Lily

The Lily that came from a cutting of a plant in my
ancestor's home, at Burnham on Sea.

So what else have I found hiding in the items I have collected? There are a few more heirlooms that come from Mary Ann Peirce’s branch of the family. I mentioned that her husband was the manager of the Colthurst and Symons brickyard in Burnham on Sea. Mary’s family lived in what was likely the brickyard manager’s house for at least 100 years. A cousin of my mum’s remembers visiting the house when she was a child and the house is still standing now. This same cousin gave my mum a cutting of a lily a few years ago. It turns out that this lily came from a cutting taken from a lily that used to grow in the house at Burnham on Sea. Not a conventional heirloom, but what is essentially the same plant now grows in my mum’s garden.

The Tile

Colthurst & Symons roof tile which was generously given
 to me by the speaker of a talk about the same subject.

Talking of brick and tile making, I went to a talk hosted by the North Sedgemoor Local History Group a few years ago. At the time, I was doing a bit of research into the family’s house in Burnham on Sea and the group presented a complete talk about brick and tile making in the area. The talk was incredibly interesting and gave me a lot of background on the industry. There were even some former employees present. I happened to mention to the speaker that I was a descendant of the Symons family and he presented me with a roof tile that had been made by the company. Whilst not strictly speaking a family heirloom, that roof tile was made by the company that had been owned by my ancestors.

The Veil

My paternal grandmother's veil, from her double wedding in 1960.

There is one other more unusual family heirloom that I have inherited. This one comes from the paternal side of my family. My dad never knew a great deal about his heritage, beyond his own grandparents or people within living memory. My family history journey has become his journey too. So it is wonderful to have an heirloom from his family, although it is not one that he would wear! I say this because the heirloom in question is his mother’s veil from her wedding. My grandmother had a joint wedding with her sister in 1960, of which I have a few photos. The veil itself is obviously quite delicate, so I don’t think I would ever be wearing it, but it is a lovely thing to have. At least I can follow similar guidance for storing it as with the tapestry.

Some of these heirlooms I had completely forgotten about until I was really thinking about what I had inherited from my ancestors. Sometimes they just become part of the furniture and you forget that they have a story to tell too.

So what unusual heirlooms do you have hiding at home?

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

Genealogy in the age of coronavirus- Part 4, Family Photographs.

An unknown child from Fanny and Lizzie's photo album,
taken in Yeovil. I don't know the child's identity, but I
love the outfit!

I have finally reached the final post in my series about genealogy in the age of coronavirus. So far, I have covered interviewing relatives and organising your research, some interesting online resources and sharing your research and writing your own history. In this final post, I will talk about a large group of the documents we inherit: family photographs.

Who is that?

I don’t know about you, but I have acquired a lot of photos. My mum is always photographing things wherever she goes, so we have many albums of family holidays and other events at home. Then there are my own photos and ones I have inherited from other family members. Photographs are an excellent way of documenting our lives, but there is often a problem. I’m sure you know the one I mean. Some of the photos you inherited have no name, no date and no place attached! When my grandmother passed away, I spent some time at my Aunt’s house scanning and sorting through various photos and documents.

I came across a wonderfully full photo album which had belonged to my gran’s spinster aunts, Fanny and Lizzie. The downside was that a large proportion of the photos it contained were completely unlabelled. Not even a name, let alone a date or a place. Now, there is no-one left who knows who these people are. This is a very common problem for genealogists and family historians and sometimes we have to accept that we may never identify who is in the photograph that we are looking at. Properly labelling my own and my family’s photographs is something that is near the top of my project list. It could take some time though, especially because of the number of photos that my mum takes!

What else can we learn?

Just because we may never be able to put a name to a photograph, doesn’t mean that we can’t learn other things instead. There are various books and authors that talk about how to distinguish different clothing fashions from different eras. A good book for family historians is Tracing Your Ancestors Through Family Photographs by Jayne Shrimpton. It is very comprehensive and talks about other things apart from fashion. There can be clues in the location of a photograph, the photographer, the type of photograph and many other things. The book even contains a section about inherited photo albums and clues that may be found in something as simple as the layout and order of the photographs themselves. That is certainly a section I need to revisit for Fanny and Lizzie’s album.
There are some other routes you can take to help identify your photographs. In a previous post, I wrote about using a Google Image search to help to identity mystery photographs. You can find that here, but I concluded that it may not be 100% successful. It depends on either people sharing photos from your family, having a famous relative and photos that match being on the internet in the first place. Still, you never know when your luck might be in.

Sarah Cole (neé Hawker) in her later years. This
is part of a group photo and may have been
taken at the wedding of one of her sons.

Compare-a-face

A fun application that may (or may not) help you identify who is in a photograph, is the ‘Compare-a-face’ service from FamilySearch. I recently stumbled upon this and have found it fun to compare my own photo to those of some of my ancestors. I have always thought that I get the shape of my face from my great-great-grandmother, Sarah Hawker (you can read more about her here) and her mother Mary Ann Rowsell. According to the service, there is only a 48% resemblance between me and Sarah. This did change depending on the photo of me that I used. One comparison raised that to 51%. I only looked 38% like my maternal grandmother and 51% and 45% like my dad and my mum, respectively. I don’t know who the other 4% belongs to!

With the changing percentages, this is not something that I would rely upon as being totally accurate. I’m sure that the accuracy depends on whatever algorithm is used to determine likeness. I haven’t been able to find anything on the FamilySearch website so far that explains how this works. Still, it is an amusing way to pass the time, especially with the amount of time we are spending at home.

Picture My Heritage

This also goes for another FamilySearch service, ‘Picture My Heritage.’ In this application, you take a photograph using your device camera and it is then superimposed upon a picture of someone in the national dress of your choice. For me, the website picked up that my surname was most common in England, Wales, America and Canada. These were the top choices for my solo ‘historical picture.’ The finished picture then adds in facts about the place you have chosen. You can also picture yourself in a variety of historic group pictures. The website asks you to choose a face and then the process is the same as with the individual photos. Some of the photographs you can choose from look suspiciously modern, just taken in black and white! Both of these sources are free, but you do need a FamilySearch account to access them.

MyHeritage 'In Color'

An unknown man from Fanny and Lizzie's
album, this time taken in Brecon.
I wonder what this would look like in colour?

A final online source which might be of interest to those with black and white photographs, is the MyHeritage In Color service. You do have to register for an account and it seems there are a limited number of photos that you can colourise for free. But you can upload black and white photographs and the service will put them into colour for you. Do read the FAQs, as they do say that it is all done by algorithm and the colours may not all be authentic. The examples they give are very varied, from all countries and backgrounds. The before and after shots clearly show the difference and give an idea of how your ancestors would have seen the scenes represented.

Remember, with all online services you may need to think carefully before you upload any photographs. Read any terms and conditions, especially if you are unhappy about others accessing your own family photographs.

There is much more that can be said about family photographs. One aspect I haven’t been able to include here, is storage and preserving them for years to come. That is a whole other topic for another post!

For the time being though, enjoy the family photos that you have. They are certainly another project to add to my growing list….

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy

Genealogy in the age of coronavirus- Part 3, What do I do next?

Welcome to the third post of my genealogy and coronavirus series. Today’s topic considers what to do with all of the information we have gathered in our research and how we can share it with other people. As genealogists and family historians, our main focus is on the research we do. We love finding out new things about our ancestors and filling in their stories. Something we may not consider is what to do with all of the discoveries we make and sharing our research with others. How do we preserve our research for the future?

Writing a family history

These days, there are many different ways of sharing our research and a lot of these can be online or at least begun whilst at home:

• Articles
• Blog posts
• Family history websites
• Mini biographies
• Family history book

The one you choose does depend on what your overall aim would be and how comfortable you are writing. Each type may lend itself to a different style of writing. If you would like to share your research with the genealogical community and are hoping to be published, then an article might be the right choice. For a slightly more informal medium, perhaps a blog post would be more suitable. If you want to share your research with others who may be unknown relatives, then a website dedicated to a specific family name might be best. Some find that writing a full manuscript is the best way to record all of their research to date. You would need to assess how much time you have, what your end goal for writing is and also how comfortable you are with writing. A useful source that I have found is the book “Writing your family History” by Gill Blanchard. It gives a lot of advice from length and scope of your writing, to how to set about writing in the first place. There are of course, many other articles and books that give advice, some which can be found online. One that has some interesting writing tips is an entry in the FamilySearch blog from a of couple years ago.

Sharing family trees

My tapestry family heirloom: "Joseph presenting his father to Pharaoh."

Of course, if you are not looking to draw your research into a narrative, there are ways of sharing family trees only. Companies like Ancestry, FindMyPast, FamilySearch (and others) have facilities to share family trees online. I personally have used Ancestry in the past and have shared my tree both with current Ancestry members and other relatives through email. I have found relatives all the way across the world in Australia. The stories that have been passed down to them add extra information to the stories passed down to me. One of my Australian relatives then sent me a photograph of a tapestry that was passed down through her branch of the family. My branch also has a tapestry (of a different subject) that was made by the same ancestor as the Australian tapestry.

Something to consider with websites like these, is the level of privacy and security you get. It is a well-known fact that Ancestry allows members to elect to have a public or private tree. Bear in mind though, that according to the Ancestry terms and conditions, anything you post that is public on the website is automatically available for anyone to see and to use. Reading the terms and conditions of these sites is always a good idea, especially if you are intending to share family information. If you don’t agree, choose a different way to share. I never use an online based service for my clients. Instead I use an offline program. There are various computer programs now that can create and manage family trees. They can even produce an output that is easily transferable through email or printing and can be shared with other family members. Each one is different, so read any instructions or help articles if you have one already. If you don’t, have a good look at the ones available and choose the one that suits your family history needs best.

Write you own history

Something that we also forget when researching, is that we, ourselves, hold valuable information. How often have you wondered about the everyday things in an ancestor’s life- the little things that never make it into the records? The further back you go, the more difficult (sometimes impossible) it is to find that kind of information. I will never know whether some of my ancestors had pets or who their best friend was, or what hobbies they had (if they had time). When people move out of living memory, these everyday things that make us who we are, can vanish.

But we can help future generations to remember us in this way, where our ancestors haven’t been able to. Recently, I have started writing a mini-autobiography of my life so far. Not only will this give a fuller account of the everyday things for future generations, but it is a good task for when we are all needing to stay at home. It is to some extent, an extension of interviewing relatives (have a look at my first post in this series). The only difference is that you need to ask yourself questions. I mentioned when I wrote about interviewing relatives, that people find it easier to talk when they have something to focus on first. It is exactly the same if you think about writing your own story. Think about what you consider important- what would you want future generations to know about you? At the same time, you don’t necessarily have to include everything, down to the time you went to the dentist last week. Perhaps you might like to include pets, friends, schools and events that had a particular impact on your life.

As with interviewing relatives though, be aware that some things may be difficult to put down. Don’t push yourself, perhaps you might be able to come back to some things later on in your life. Although this is a good time for this kind of activity, many of us don’t have as much support as we usually would. So take care if you think you might touch upon anything that could have a detrimental impact right now. An extension of this idea would be to document life as it is right now, so that generations to come could get an idea of how their ancestor’s lives were impacted during the COVID-19 crisis. What things have changed from the way life usually progresses?

The children are the future

Photograph of family members who I wish I had learnt more about as a child.

Spending more time at home for some, means planning activities for their children too. Perhaps we don’t talk about involving children and young people in genealogy as much as we should. They will be the ones who remember us. The number of times I and even my parents, have wished we had the interest as children to ask relatives about their lives, is quite large. It seems to be quite common that people unfortunately only become interested, after the people with the answers are no longer with us. See another previous post for an interesting idea of how to involve children in genealogy. There are also various other blog posts and articles around at the moment which give some ideas about how to introduce children to genealogy and family history. You can find an good one on this topic here. It was written by a fellow genealogist and contains some thought-provoking ideas. Family Tree Magazine also has an interesting post with some further thoughts.

So, whether you decide to write your autobiography, your whole family history, or just share your family tree with relatives, now is a good time to do it. Even though we may not be sharing our research in person at the moment, the wonders of modern technology mean that we are at least still able to.

Copyright © 2020 Shersca Genealogy