What was my grandfather doing in Greenwich?

My grandfather, Charles Percy GASSON (1910-1992), spent some of the early years of his life in the London Borough of Greenwich.

That statement doesn’t really do justice to the mystery and challenges that this presents. For someone who was born, married and died in Sussex (and if asked would have almost certainly have called Sussex his home), how and why did he end up going to school in Greenwich.

The answer is probably tied in with the actions of his ‘parent or guardian’. I hate to use the term ‘parent or guardian’ but because he was illegitimate it probably best sums up the number of different people who could have been responsible for him at the time.

• His mother (May GASSON).
• His father (Charles William GEERING).
• His ‘adopted’ parents (Horace and Margaret DUNFORD). Margaret was his mother’s sister.
• His aunt and uncle (George and Mary Elizabeth RICHARDSON). Mary Elizabeth was his mother’s sister.
• Any one of his eleven other aunts or uncles.

So far my research has failed to find evidence that any of the above people had any connection with Greenwich. I have very little evidence about his time in Greenwich, basically a letter from his headmaster in Greenwich and an entry in his school admission record from Lewes, Sussex.

What I am left with is a gap between when he left school in Lewes, Sussex on the 2nd November 1917, with the reason “went to London“, and when he married in Keymer, Sussex on the 5th December 1936, at which time he was living in Burgess Hill, Sussex.

The letter from his former headmaster indicates that he had been at Morden Terrace (B.) School, Lewisham Road, Greenwich for six years until he left on the 23rd July 1924. I know almost nothing about the Morden Terrace School, except that it was destroyed by enemy bombing during the blitz, supposedly destroying all the records in the process.

It has been suggested that the ‘B’ might stand for Boarding, and that raises even more questions. Who paid for him to attend a boarding school? Was he paid for by a charity?

After leaving school at the age of thirteen in 1924 did he head straight back for Sussex or did he remain in London? There are twelve years until he surfaces in Burgess Hill for his marriage in 1936, where was he during those years?

My first step is going to have to be to find out more about Morden Terrace School. If it was a boarding or charity school then that will radically affect where I go next. Otherwise I need to try and find a ‘parent or guardian’ who was living in Greenwich, which is going to be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

South Downs Way: Exton to Winchester

Today I completed the final section of the South Downs Way, from Exton to Winchester (both in Hampshire). It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision last night, and it meant another early start and a marathon bus journey to get home.

The weather started rather grey and overcast, with a forecast of rain, but I was still in my shorts and short-sleeve shirt (and an umbrella in my rucksack). I did wonder whether I had got it wrong, but once I started walking it became clear that although the sun was not visible it was still a going to be a warm day.

I spent a little longer than I had planned in Exton, mainly at the church (pictured below), St. Peter and St. Paul, which was open and is a delightful church. There were several baptisms, marriages and burials of my ancestors that took place at that church and it was good to see it in detail at last.

I hurried off from Exton, trying to make up for the time I had spent in the church, heading in a north-westerly direction up Beacon Hill. The first half a mile or so was a gentle rolling landscape and I could almost see my ancestors working on these fields 150 years ago. Then things got steep and the thoughts of my ancestors turned to thoughts of mountain goats.

The view from the top was worth the climb, even in the gloom and haze there were quite spectacular views to the south and west. Also there was a trig point there as well, which made it really worthwhile. From Beacon Hill the South Downs Way continues in the same roughly north-westerly direction, and to be honest the path became a little dull again.

The views were very limited, often blocked by hedgerows either side of the track. The only thing that kept me going was trying to catch up with and stay ahead of a couple of groups of walkers, who had also got off the bus at Exton. My dalliance at the church had allowed them to get ahead of me, but it was a great motivator to try and catch up with them.

The path started to open up a bit more after the halfway point and also it started to rain, fortunately it was nothing more than a few spots, although the skies threatened more. Within an hour or so the clouds started to break up, there was more blue sky than cloud.

The views at Cheesefoot Head were quite spectacular, and before long the city of Winchester came into view, then promptly disappeared as I rounded the side of the hill, but at least I could now see where I was heading, albeit still more than a couple of miles away.

As I descended towards Winchester I checked my watch and decided I could fit in a visit to Chilcomb church. I couldn’t remember exactly which one it was, but one of my MITCHELL relatives was baptised here, and I felt that I ought to get a photo otherwise I would probably never get around to visiting it again. It is such a delightful little church, I was really glad I took time out to visit, there are stunning views of Winchester from the churchyard.

The final couple of miles from Chilcomb to Winchester were not particularly interesting, the entry in the city is across a footbridge over the motorway, and then about a mile along pavements into the heart of the city. The final stretch is along the side of the River Itchen, which was quite nice, but it seems all traces of the South Downs Way had disappeared from the city.

Despite my brief efforts, I couldn’t find any sign marking the end of the South Downs Way, the statue of King Alfred has apparently been adopted as the end (or start) of the route, but having walked the 12 miles from Exton (and over 100 miles from Eastbourne over the last couple of months) I had hoped to find some official indication that I had reached the end.

I must confess the path did bring me into a different part of the city, one which I hadn’t seen before because it is at the opposite end of the city from the Hampshire Record Office, and it was a much nicer part of the city, and somewhere I would like to come back to and explore further.

Then came the question of getting home. There were two options, bus or train. I had been hoping I would get to Winchester in time to get the bus, because I have been wanting to get the bus home from Winchester for over six months now, so I made my way to the bus station.

The bus journey home is an epic journey, and one that cuts through my Hampshire ancestral homeland. From Winchester the bus goes to Alton (home of the WRIGHT family) and then on to Guildford, Surrey. The journey takes about an hour and forty minutes, and as well as Alton it passes through Alresford, Hampshire which is home to my MITCHELL roots.

Racing through the Hampshire countryside on the top deck of the double-decker bus was a perfect way to end the day, especially as when we neared Ropley we passed alongside the Mid Hants Railway and were treated to the sight of one of their preserved steam trains heading for Alton.

From Guildford, Surrey it was another hour by bus to Horsham, Sussex where I was finally able to get on a bus that would take me home. For some people four hours on buses would be torture, but for me it was just a perfect way to end another little adventure in my life.

London Lives 1690 to 1800 – a great new resource

London Lives 1690 to 1800 – Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis is a great new online database which according to the website "includes over 240,000 manuscript and printed pages from eight London archives and is supplemented by fifteen datasets created by other projects. It provides access to historical records containing over 3.35 million name instances".

I heard about this new database on the Today programme this morning, although it took me a while to actually find the website earlier today that I was wondering if I had dreamed it. It was well worth seeking out the website, I have only scratched the surface of the website but it provides a great example of a digitisation project and how to bring together many resources focusing on the same subject.

London Lives brings together "a wide range of primary sources about eighteenth-century London, with a particular focus on plebeian Londoners." It provides registered users with the facilities to "link together records relating to the same individual, and to compile biographies of the best documented individuals."

Sadly I haven’t traced any of my ancestors back to eighteenth century London yet, but it was fascinating to have a look around the website and browse the records. The website helpfully provides a  Copyright and Citation Guide, which should be useful for family historians, and an in-depth section of Historical Background which itself includes a section of Research Guides.

Even if you don’t find ancestors amongst the documents, there is plenty of other material to keep you occupied for hours. If you do find you ancestors amongst the documents the historical background and research guides will help you interpret what you have found.

London Lives was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and implemented by the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Sheffield and the Higher Education Digitisation Service at the University of Hertfordshire.

Personal Genealogy Update: Week 26

Time for another confession, I really struggled last week to actually do any genealogy. I blame two things for this:

1. The warm summer evenings, perfect for walking or sitting in the garden doing nothing.
2. I can’t decide what to do next.

I need to stop beating myself up for not doing any family history, but I really feel that I should be doing some research, but haven’t been able to pinpoint what I want to do.

I did a bit of work around the MITCHELLs and Exton, Hampshire but I just couldn’t get enthused about it, which disappoints me. I fear all that time organising files and folders has spoilt my appetite for research.

I do have plan though for kick-starting my research, and that is in part because of the Capital Ring walk on Saturday. I have given myself a challenge, to find out why my grandfather was at school in the London Borough of Greenwich between 1917 and 1924, and when did he come back to Sussex after he finished school.

I will explain more about this challenge later, but for now I think I have settled on three projects to concentrate on, which is more than enough for the time being, and allows me some flexibility to take on other bits and pieces as they turn up.

The three projects are:

1. Finish off my research into the GEERINGs of Hailsham, Sussex.
2. Investigate and write about the life of William Joseph Henry BATEMAN of Victoria, Australia.
3. Find out why my grandfather Charles Percy GASSON was in Greenwich, London.

Findmypast.co.uk free access – my world cup warm-up

Could tomorrow be our last chance for free access to Findmypast.co.uk? I wouldn’t dream of making a prediction on the outcome of England’s match tomorrow, but I need to make sure I get the most out of the free 90 minutes.

The last time England played I was on my way back from walking part of the South Downs Way, and by the time I got home I didn’t really have the energy and wasn’t really prepared for my 90 minutes and so most of it was wasted. This time I need to be better prepared, it could be my last chance for another four years!

I have a subscription to the 1911 census (which will soon run out, but that is another issue I need to consider) so I can ignore that. I have been through the indexes for the Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records and I don’t think there is anyone there that I need yet, although I could do a bit more searching on some of my surnames and places just in case they turn out to be related in the future.

Although I have access to Ancestry.co.uk there are a few people I haven’t been able to find in their indexes. I might stand a better chance with different set of indexes, it is certain worth a try.

Similarly, whilst Ancestry have GRO birth, marriage and death indexes up to 2005, findmypast has the indexes up to 2006. It is probably worth searching the births, marriages and deaths for that extra year?

Now I am off to have another look around the findmypast website. Which other collections have I forgotten that I should be checking?

• Passenger lists leaving UK 1890-1960 – were released several years ago now, is there anyone that might be in those lists that I have forgotten? Did any of my relations that left the country (or their descendants) ever come back to visit? On a similar track, I don’t think I have ever checked for passport applications, perhaps now would be a good time to have a look and see what is in that database.
• Parish Records Collection 1538-2005 – findmypast have a large collection of parish register transcription, formerly on the Family History Online website and provided in association with the Federation of Family History Societies. Who might be lurking in those records? It could be worth looking again as my research has moved on since the closure of Family History Online.
• Index to death duty registers 1796-1903 – I have never really looked at these death duty registers, so now would be a good time to have a poke around in these records to see what is included in them rather than just looking for my relations.

If you are not already registered then make sure you get along to their website and register by midnight tonight (26th June). You can find full details on their website, and don’t be blinded by the 1911 census and Chelsea Pensioners Records, there are plenty of other record types that could reveal far more interesting details about your family (the divorce indexes are another example).