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Hi folks

I'd appreciate someone helping me to work out what OH's g-g-grandmother was up to between 1891 and 1911, please 

Annie Elizabeth Strathdee married William Ogilvie, a chemist's assistant, 4 Feb 1880 at St Peter's South Kensington.

They had three children: Mary Ann, Maud and William.

William Ogilvie died 14 Dec 1888.

In the 1891 census, Annie is visiting the Kensington home of a William FENTON, who is a Chemist (RG12/30/142/25). (The children are with their Strathdee grandparents in Brompton).

In 1901, Annie seems to have remarried (although her husband is not home on census night) and her new surname is FELTON (RG13/51/35/17). Her daughter Maud and son William are with her, with the Ogilvie surname. 

I wondered whether there was any link between the Fenton and Felton names, and have found a listing for William FELTON under "Chemists and Druggists" in the 1895 London PO Directory. 

I also wondered whether the William Fenton she was visiting in 1891 had been widowed, and they got married, but in 1901 William Fenton is still married to his wife Emmeline (RG13/523/82/59).

In 1911, Annie is back to using the surname Ogilvie, and is living with her daughter Mary Ann (who married George Francis) and family at 9 South Street, Hammersmith.

Obviously I have checked FreeBMD, London marriages, FreeReg and the BMD indexes for a marriage between an Ogilvie (or a Strathdee) and a Felton, with no luck.

Any ideas, please?

Many thanks from a very wet NSW 

Prue

The importance of storage: Part 1

This is a handout I made for some Museum Studies students, which I thought might be helpful for Rootschatters   Please reply on topic if you have any questions.

What is “storage”?
•   Storage refers to any system used for keeping cultural materials.
•   It includes the storeroom or storage area as well as any packaging, housing or containers.

Why is it important?
•   Good storage is one of the most important aspects of keeping a collection safe.
•   Protects items from many of the agents of deterioration
•   Makes it easy to physical store items and therefore easier to find and retrieve them

What is “good storage”?
•   Storage that is appropriate for the type and potential use of an item.
•   Storage that comprises archival/museum/conservation quality materials/conditions.
•   Storage that provides protection from deterioration/damage.

Appropriate storage
•   Storage systems for any type of item should ideally consist of three layers: 
     1.  in direct contact with the item (e.g. a folder, wallet, wrapping)
     2.  surrounding the first layer – may contain one or more items (e.g. box, large folder)
     3.  containing the collection, or part of it (e.g. a cupboard or room)

Layer 1
•   The first layer in a storage system is a means of containing individual items, protecting them from each other and from too much handling, and identifying each item.
•   In the case of papers, pamphlets, archives etc. this may be a folder or wallet.
•   For 3D objects it may be tissue paper, cloth or a solid foam.

Layer 2
•   The second layer may contain one or more items within their individual packaging.  It will keep related items together, make them easier to store and handle, and protect them from handling damage, water, smoke, dirt, dust, insects and pests.
•   Usually a box or folder.
•   Should hold items still within the packaging, so they don’t move around and get damaged.

Layers 1 and 2, when used correctly together, provide an insulated microenvironment which means that it becomes less necessary for Layer 3 (the storage area) to be maintained at optimum levels.

Layer 3
•   The third layer is the storage area, whether this is one cupboard or a whole room.  It serves to keep the collection protected from the outside environment, and to have an organised place in which to store collection items so they can be located and kept easily and safely.

Continued in next message...Part 2!

If anyone has easy access to the "Catholic Records Index", I would be grateful if you could please look for a marriage supposed to have taken place on 6 September 1860, between Charles WARBY (aka WARLEY) and Mary Eden Anne HAYNES, at St Mary's, Picton.

There is some confusion as to whether the marriage actually occurred, as newspaper notices announced it, but they also (separately) state that the groom died on the day of the wedding.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers
Prue 

The term "ACID FREE" is not a reliable indicator of long-term stability. This is why:  the term is not a regulated one.  Anyone can say that anything is "acid free" and it is not checked by any regulating body. 

All the term "acid free" means in a reliable sense is that the product, when it left the manufacturer, was not of an acidic pH (i.e. below 7).  It does not mean that the product will not develop acidity as time goes by.  It is entirely possible that something called "acid free" will become acidic as it ages, due to what it is made from.

It's particularly frustrating when it is applied to plastics, where acidity is often not the concern.  The old standard PVC (polyvinyl chloride) releases chlorides and plasticisers which discolour and damage things like photos in their vicinity.  Acetates do release acid as they age, but again it's the plasticisers that are released as it ages that are the problem.

"Photo safe" is not a regulated term either, but it can be a better indicator of archival quality.

However, if the item has passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT) then it has been tested by an accredited facility and is certified safe to use as packaging or housing for photographic (and other) materials.

I hear the acid free thing all the time in my job as a paper and photograph conservator, and it irks me that it can be used by disreputable firms to mislead customers into thinking they are buying an appropriate product.

Hello all 

When you've finished enjoying Christmas and have an inkling to get back to Rootschat, would you please help me with my question about my 4xgreat-grandfather, William Morrish?

I am slowly finding out more about him, and today found a Freedom of the City of London Admission Paper for him, which states that he was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Girdlers in 1810.  At the time he was living in Copthall Court, off Throgmorton Street, near the Bank of England - he was still there in 1814 when he died.

His will gives no indication as to his occupation, but his son's marriage certificate states that he was a "gentleman" (I take that with a grain of salt) and his daughter's death certificate states that her occupation was "daughter of William Morrish, stockbroker".

Why would William have joined the Girdler's Company?  I looked at their website but apart from saying that girdles had gone out of fashion by this time, it wasn't much help as to what its members did around 1810.

Can anyone help, please?

Cheers
Prue