Who Do You Think You Are? – Jason Donovan

Last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Jason Donovan was an enjoyable and interesting programme, but not outstanding. For me this series has so far lacked any really memorable (for the right reason) episodes.

I was a little surprised to find Jason Donovan on the UK version of the show rather than the Australian version, but that didn’t really matter as I was keen to learn a bit more about Australian family history. Whilst we learnt quite a bit about convicts (was anyone really surprised that he had at least one convict ancestor?), I would have liked to learnt more about everyday records, like those of birth, marriage and death.

That being said the stories uncovered were interesting, focusing mainly on three individuals, the two earliest ancestors being different sides of the same coin, convict and guard. It was the second of these, William Cox, that provided the most interesting story, travelling to Australia with his family and ending up as a pioneer paving the way for the growth of the Australian nation.

I was a bit confused by the preview of programme which said that they uncovered a miscarriage of justice, sure the punishment of transportation was harsh, but there was no indication why this should be seen as inappropriate for the time or any irregularities in the trial.

This episode did produce my favourite line of the series so far, when Jason told his first cousin once removed that he had been “too interested in myself for too long”. I don’t think it is just Jason that feels this, I think many people at one time or another realise this is case and wants to find out more about where they came from.

Picture Postcard Parade: St. Peter’s Church, Brighton

This fine looking church is St. Peter’s Church, Brighton, Sussex. This is the church where my 2x great grandparents Henry BATEMAN and Dorothy Isabella KINGHORN married on the 9th November 1881, and probably had their son baptised here the following year.

There are virtually no clues as to the publisher or age of this card, there is only the number 1973 on the front which is definitely not the year of publication, because the back of the card (shown below) is undivided which suggests a date prior to 1902.

St. Peter’s Church is a relatively modern church and still forms a prominent landmark in Brighton. It is great to have a personal connection to this wonderful building, which I have passed so many times on my way into and out of Brighton.

Personal Genealogy Update: Week 35

I am feeling much better about my genealogy this week, I did actually sit down and get on with some family history last week. The previous week had been severely lacking in family history, but last week I actually got down to completing some of the task I had set myself.

The BATEMAN certificates have been processed and I now have some more work to do next time I am in Brighton and the East Sussex Record Office. I hadn’t intended to start any detailed work on the English side of the BATEMAN family, but they seem to have taken over from the Australian side at the moment.

I wrote about ordering copies of four wills, this represents a short-term investment of time and money, because it is going to take a few weeks for them to arrive, and once they do it is going to give me some work to do that I can complete relatively easily from home, but will probably open up many more avenues of research.

I am not sure what I will be working on this week, at the moment there doesn’t appear any clear plan in place, I just work on what appeals to me at the time. I have the opportunity in three weeks time to visit an archive, so I need to start work on deciding which one to visit and what research to do (yes, it will take me three weeks to decide).

I seem to have been a bit distracted this week on a couple of other projects, not family history as such, but certainly history related, no doubt I will get around to writing about them eventually. I seem to be building up a long list of things to write about, but I don’t know when I will find the time to actually write them.

Capital Ring: South Greenford to Preston Road

After a break of a couple of weeks (probably too much of a break if truth be known) I was back up in London with my friend Chris walking another section of the Capital Ring More accurately it was about one and a half sections, finishing the previous section off, completing one whole section and starting the next.

Today’s route was largely along residential streets and as such was a bit disappointing, there were however a few highlights which made it worthwhile. The first of these was following another section of the Grand Union Canal, unfortunately it was quite a short stretch, but it did make me think again about walking to Birmingham one day.

For me the best bit of the walk today was the climb up Horsenden Hill and the views at the top. We were lucky with the weather today, and despite a bit of cloud the views were quite excellent, probably the best of route so far. The picture below shows the view looking west.

As an added bonus, at the top of the hill was a trig point, a lovely grey painted (apparently anti-graffiti paint) block of concrete used in mapping the country. It was a few metres away from the path and I couldn’t resist paying it a visit and getting some photos.

Whilst I enjoy visiting trig points it is always much better when you just happen to come across one in the course of a walk, although it can be rather frustrating to find out afterwards that you have been somewhere near a trig point but didn’t actually spot it at the time, like in Richmond Park.

Today’s walk was rather more hilly than previous sections, Horsenden Hill was the only real green hill of the sort I am used to, but the other hills were evident in the place names (Sudbury Hill and Harrow on the Hill) and the sloping streets.

Harrow on the Hill is the home to the famous public school, and as we are just at the end of the summer holidays it wasn’t too busy. There are some nice looking buildings and impressive views across to the City of London to the south and to Wembley Stadium. The Capital Ring runs through the school’s playing fields heading east towards Northwick Park, home to a large hospital and golf course but not much else.

Satisfying my curiosity – ordering the wills of my ancestors

The recently released National Probate Calendar on Ancestry.co.uk has tempted me into ordering copies of four wills, three of which I wouldn’t have even thought about ordering for a long time, the other one I probably would have ordered in the near future.

I don’t think any of these four wills are actually going to solve any particular research problems, but they should hopefully satisfy my curiosity.

• John FAIRS (my 3x great-grandfather) of Henfield, Sussex who died in November 1915. John FAIRS was an agricultural labourer and if the cross on his daughter’s wedding certificate is anything to go by he was not well educated. So why was his estate valued at over £982? Where had this wealth come from?
• William TROWER (my 4x great-grandfather) of Henfield, Sussex who died in January 1875. William TROWER was a farmer, almost the last of several generations to farm and live at Harwoods Farm in Henfield. I will be interested to see if the TROWER family were still owners of the farm.
• Henry HEMSLEY (my 3x great-grandfather) of Blackboys, Sussex who died in January 1914. Henry HEMSLEY was the licensee and owner of the Gun Inn, and the attached farm. This is the will I would probably have ordered quite soon, in the process of trying to find out everything I can about the inn.
• Henry WRIGHT (my 3x great-grandfather) of Alton, Hampshire who died in August 1895. Henry WRIGHT was originally known as Henry SHORNDEN and he moved from Kent to Hampshire for some reason, I don’t really expect find answers as to why he changed his named and moved to Kent, but I would like to find out as much as I can about his life.

If nothing else these wills are going to give me plenty of work to do as I process this lot, but it is also going to force me to get my act together when it comes to recording all the details in my database, in fact it might be worth starting now and deciding how all the information should be recorded.

Whilst I am waiting for them to arrive I should probably also write a post on how to order copies of wills, and how easy it is if you live in the UK and have a cheque book, otherwise things start getting a little more difficult.