#52 Ancestors Week 27: Free Census I am way behind in my project for #52 ancestors in 52 weeks, however, I figure that I can spread them out and pick and choose which topics fit my theme for when I … Continue reading Census through the Ages
#52 Ancestors: Week 23 – Bridge. It is delightful to have Genealogist friends and collaborators, who cannot resist the challenge of a search and discover mission; collaborative research works well as a bridge between the known and the unknown. Yesterday’s … Continue reading Post Script: the marriage certificates revealed
#52 Ancestors: Week 20 – Cousin Bait Each time I peel back the layers of mystery surrounding the life of an ancestor, mine or others, I see a story emerging; a chance to bring that ancestor into the limelight for a moment in time. Treasures abound in the Aladdin’s cave that is family history – they beckon and call and demand my attention. A lost diary here; a forgotten memoir there; an old tattered photo; or uncovered documentary evidence of people, place and time. These are the story starters for me; the facts and the evidence from my ancestors’ lives. … Continue reading History shrouded in mystery!
Memories of Dad, Cecil Henry Allery 1900 in London, UK The turn of the century was an interesting time in the United Kingdom, when huge changes were taking place. The parish of Richmond in Surrey had a population of about 20,000 people, had excellent transport links to London (trains, trams and omnibuses) and was emerging as a sought after residential and commercial location. Residents were kept informed by no less than four local newspapers:- the Thames Valley Times was published each Wednesday and the Chiswick Times on Fridays. The Richmond & Twickenham Times and the Richmond Herald appeared on Saturdays. Richmond … Continue reading Cecil Allery: 1900-1985
Grandmother Mary Jane Robinson: her impact on me! Mary Jane was a woman of mystery to me. She had left this earth before I could know her – I don’t count the 9 short years I was on this earth at the same time. As a 4 year old I had no real sense of belonging and with a world shattered by war, there were huge upheavals in my family – we emigrated to Australia in 1949. By May 1954 she had died at Surrey, Northern – a fact revealed to us by mail in our new home in Victoria. … Continue reading Multiple Births: Edwardian style
Imagine her surprise when she listened to the reading of the will of her late father! As the eldest of the clan Rosina thought she would receive a substantial financial legacy, but she did not expect to be given the four properties at 46, 48, 50 and 52 Elton Road, Norbiton, Kingston-on-Thames. Tears of joy were her first response! She then looked into her step-mother’s shining eyes and sat up a little more formally in the leather chair in the study at 196 Commercial Road, Peckham. She was attending the formal ceremony of reading the will of her late father … Continue reading Revisiting Ancestors : Jemima and the Will
Great Grandmother Jemima became a second wife for my great grandfather Samuel John Allery in 1884. At the age of 32 she took on the task of parenting the 5 children from his previous marriage to Mary Ann Hall, and during her 30’s and 40’s gave birth to six boys of her own. Just two years between each of them, her band of young men were her greatest legacy. Her boys all lived to a great age, served their country in the first World War and built their own businesses and dynasties. This story is about two significant periods of … Continue reading Great Grandmother Jemima: Freedom of the city
– a Balancing Act During my journey to the hospital to see Winnie in January 1984, Dad retold the story of the birth of my brothers in Britain during the Blitz. I listened intently to this family story! Dad was … Continue reading Child Birth in the Blitz: 1940
Delivering the mail “List to me while I tell you Of the Spaniard that blighted my life”! Cecil was in a good mood and he hummed the rest of his favourite song, a song he used when he was about … Continue reading Memories: 1984
History repeats itself! “Behind that old mirror, in the sitting room!” Win said. “No-one would look there; besides the room is hardly every used”. “It that’s what you want, my dear, we can hide it there until the weekend”, Cecil replied. … Continue reading The Angell Inheritance: 1924
William Adrian Allery, my late great uncle, spent many hours and pounds in searching for his ancestral link to the Angell Estate. William was a Master Tailor with money to spare for his genealogy searches, much to the dismay of his immediate family. He had at last found evidence of the marriage of Elizabeth Benadict Angell to his 8 times great grandfather, Samuel Allery. The news of his find was all over the newspapers of the time and has intrigued me for years as I follow in his footsteps. It was the discovery of an entry in an old parish register … Continue reading William
Searching for Angells: facts and fiction When William Adrian Allery was born in June 1845 in London, his father, William, was 28 and his mother, Mary, was 26. He was one of the few surviving children of William and Mary. He married Mary Ann Sampson and they had two children together. He was a master Tailor and the family historian. He believed he had solved the riddle to the family fortune in 1924. He acted upon his evidence of ancestry and seized a dwelling in Brixton, part of the Angell Estate, demanding that the resident pay their rent to him, the … Continue reading Angell and Allery
Writing in Progress 
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