RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Worcestershire => Topic started by: ali607 on Thursday 25 September 08 14:33 BST (UK)
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Hi, I have acquired a book about a woman called Martha Harber who lived in Alvechurch. It was written c.1904 in her memory just after she died - she was 87 and had lived a long but humble and extraordinary existence. The book describes her life, events and also the village of Alvechurch and how it and the people changed throughout the 19th century. She describes her friends and neighbours - one of whom was my gggg grandad - and particular 'odd' charachters in the village. Even the elderly folk in the poorhouse are mentioned by name who would otherwise be long forgotten about.
It is only very short - you can read it in an hour or so - and i dont intend to sell it or give it away - as it is a lovely reference to my gggg grandad and the place where my family originated, however i thought it would be nice if i could share it with someone who is researching marthas line (she herself didnt have children - but one of her siblings descendants perhaps). It includes a picture of the humble lady herself along with many anecdotes and memories - it would a be a lovely thing to have if you are researching the Harber family.
If no one replies to this, someone in the chatroom suggested we could open this as a rootschat project for rootschatters to find Marthas descendants...
Anyway, we'll see what respone we get!
Thanks
Alison
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Hi Alison,
it sounds charming and i would be interested , i used to work in Alvechurch, my pets vet is in Alveschurch and a close firend of mine has roots in Alvechurch.
i would not mind a dabble in finding out about Martha ,
Best wishes
Debz
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PS i would love to read it.... :)
Debz
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If you go to this site there is a ref to Martha from the Historical Society' ( about halfway down page)
www.bsoc.co.uk/March2000.pdf
Had a quick look for family trees with Martha on them. Nothing was obvious at first glance. It is lovely she has not been forgotten. Copies of the book are available possibly still, they are mentioned on site.
Trish
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That was a lovely read and photos too :)
i did have a look at martha's census returns ...it's still a nice little village even tho it's changed.
My cat hates going tho... Alvechurch means vaccinations ;D
Debz
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Its worse for me ;D
I have 4 cats :) :)
I looked up censuses too.
Trish
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Here is Martha, taken late nineteenth century:
Alison
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ah, what a sweetie....doesn't she look lovely Alison....
i sometimes go to the butchers in Alvechurch , in the row of houses where martha was servant.
beautiful photo.
Debz
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i would post some images of the book but i dont want to do that in case of copyright etc (although i dont think it was ever published as such - theres no publisher in it and its just a paper booklet). Has anyone got anywhere with tracing her family?
Alison
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hi alison
I haven't traced her besides a few C returns but i will that would be my pleasure to have a root around -
Dj
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Have found numerous siblings i believe but Martha's christening is recorded as 30 jan 1820 ?
parents John and Mary
what do you think about her date of chr ?
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yes thats def her - she was born in 1817 but with an uncommon surname like harber its hardly going to be anybody else -i know her mum was known as molly -so yes thats correct too
Alison
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SO FAR....possibilities
father - john
mother- Mary .....
marriage 3rd march 1810 alvechurch ..the only HARBER marriage at Alvechurch that period of time
mary BRADLEY married John Harber
john frederick harber born 25 march 1810 !! christened 29th march 1810 ::)
George chr 28/5/1816
Sarah chr 23/7/1811
Mary chr 26/3/1815
mary Bradley born Dau of William and Betty 9 may 1779 alvechurch
cannot find birth for John Harber
William Bradley married Betty nash 1778 alvechurch
Debz
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me again ;D...more possibilities
it seems that Sarah married a Thomas Aston in Alvechurch 29 dec 1834 ...cannot find any census
john Harber is a farmer in 1841 at the Parsonnage in Alvechurch.
mary Harber (mother) is in Almshouses in 1851 61 and 41
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wow well done! i wish I had time to research this myself but am going away today. Yes Mary (Molly) was in almshouses in 1854 with my gggg grandad John Fulford. the almshouses are still there today. She was born about 1773 -she was 81 in 1854 according to the book.
I know plenty about Martha's life from reading the book - what would be good is if we could trace it down through the generations to living descednats through her siblings
Alison
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i could not find the Astons but i'll persevere :)
Debz
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Hello. I am new to this site. I have been trying to trace the Finch family from Worcestershire and my g grandfathers name was John Fredrick Harber Finch, so I searched on Harber and found this message and all the good work done. My gg grandmother was Mary Harber born 1815 who went on eventually to marry William Finch. So I was very interested in all the information. Do you think I can still buy the book from the Historical Society?
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Hi - I was the original poster in this thread - yes most certainly they still have copies, they will probably just give you a copy. It's only a tiny tiny book with a paper cover, but I found it a fascinating read. I think it was published in the first decade of the 20th century or so.
Just give the Historical Society a ring - if you need a contact number I probably still have it somewhere - but im sure they will have a website or something.
Good luck
Alison
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Hi. I realise this thread is very old now but it's worth a shot. I believe this to be my relative, Mother or Aunt of my great great Grandfather Joseph William Harber born march 5 1891 in Worcestershire. I would very much love to know anything and everything.
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Hi there!
I have returned to family research after 12 years and see your post!
I hav a copy of the book about Martha Harber...I got it from Alvechurch village family history group?? I am going back probably 13 years and have no idea how to contact them but I DO know they had lots of copies and they gave me one willingly. I'm sure I have it to hand somewhere if you have any questions??
Alison x