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Topics - Karen McDonald

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The Common Room / How can I find the "Where am I?" threads?!

« on: Thursday 02 June 22 11:06 BST (UK) »

Hi,

I have been trying to find the unsolved "Where am I?" threads (mainly old houses) but with no luck.

Can someone point me in the right direction, please?

Whilst looking for something completely different, I found a photo that reminds me of a tudor-style house that we were all puzzling over for years...but I can't find that thread any more.

Ta very much,
Karen

Ireland / Feohanagh - pronunciation, please!

« on: Friday 18 February 22 12:23 GMT (UK) »

Hi everybody,

I'm an Essex girl (OK, a bit old to be a girl now

) living in a village in Northern Germany.

Our neighbours a couple of houses away are farming folk, and their teenage daughter has managed to arrange a 5-week working visit to a farm in Co. Limerick. The name of the place is Feohanagh.

Can some kind soul please tell me how this is properly pronounced?

Many thanks indeed!

All the best,
Karen

Technical Help / WhatsApp - My number keeps getting blocked

« on: Saturday 10 April 21 21:20 BST (UK) »

Hello all,

This old dinosaur would be very grateful for a little help.

A few months back, I finally gave in and bought a Smartphone. I actually only wanted to use it to photograph our beautiful dog when we were out & about, and to have a decent mobile in case something happened underway.

But then lots of people started piling on the pressure to use WhatsApp, and about 2 weeks ago, I capitulated.

I have to be honest: It is fun. When it works. The problem is, every other day, on average, I turn on my mobile and a window pops up, telling me my number is no longer authorised for use on WhatsApp.
I have, apparently, either used another 'phone (not true - one is more than enough for me...) or I have contravened the WhatsApp regulations (also not true - unless swapping recipes and dog & cat photos is in contravention of WA rules...).

I am told to verify my number. Most times, this does not work. The system tells me I have been blocked and should contact Support, stating my telephone number in international format.

What then happens is that the system reads the telephone number and sends an automated reply, saying sorry for the confusion, we classified you as a rule-breaker. Verify your number, and everything will be hunky-dory. But verification rarely works - the window just pops up again, saying my number has been blocked.

So then I de-install WA and then download it again from Google Play Store. It then works again.

I have no other option but to download it from the Store, so I can only hope that this is correct.

I have now written a long mail to WhatsApp - the first reply was a useless automated one, so I copy & pasted my original mail,plus a bit, and sent it back to them - and have received a short reply, saying an employee will look into it for me.

I don't hold out much hope, but you never know.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem? (Certainly not amongst my family and friends, as I keep being told...

)
Does anyone have any suggestions? (Other than capitulating and just forgetting all about WA...)

Thanks very much!
Karen

Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Need help with signature on painting

« on: Saturday 08 December 18 12:30 GMT (UK) »

Hi everybody,

Normally I try and help other people in this section, but today I have a question of my own.

In 1985, my then husband and I bought a painting from a gallery in Rayleigh, Essex. There were a number of similar paintings from the same artist in the gallery, mainly masses of blue with old ships.

It's a matter of taste, but I really liked the painting.

It came with me into my second marriage, but we haven't seen it hanging for a few years - it's been up on top of a wardrobe for a long time.

Just recently I took it down and looked at it. For the first time, it occurred to me that I have no idea who painted it. So I googled what I thought I could see and came up with...zilch. OK, a photographer, and an artist who produces works which are very different from "my ships".

I have looked on the Internet and can't find a gallery on the main road through Rayleigh. OK, it was 33 years ago...

So I can't call them.

Here is the signature:

What I see is Hohing. Which is a pretty unusual name. The name definitely ends in "g". After the "g", there is a little dot/flourish on the canvas - it is not another letter. I thought I'd better point that out, as the photos are not brilliant and it might look as though there is another letter after the "g".

From experience I know that Google & Co. can function differently in different countries, so maybe I'm not getting all the possibilities showing here.

Any ideas?

I look forward to your replies & suggestions!

Best regards,
Karen

Yorkshire (West Riding) / sheffieldhistory.co.uk

« on: Sunday 05 November 17 12:17 GMT (UK) »

Hi everyone,

Is anybody here on sheffieldhistory.co.uk?

I have been trying to register there in the hope of finding something which might help in my "Rose Peck" search.

However, the website tells me that my application must be approved. This was several days ago and I have not received a reply. I tried writing to the website, but again, no answer.

There are new threads and answers on the website, so it is definitely still active.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Karen

Family History Beginners Board / Looking for Rose Peck and/or descendants

« on: Thursday 14 September 17 14:09 BST (UK) »

Hello and sorry that this is VERY vague..!

I am trying to find a PECK family who had a farm during the Second World War on which at least one German prisoner of war was given work. Mrs Peck's first name was ROSE.

The POW in question was Emil Lautenbach, born in 1913 in Hamburg.
He was taken prisoner in France, seriously wounded with bullet wounds to the chest/stomach. He was later transported to England, where he worked on a farm owned by the Peck family.

The family treated him extremely well. They even insisted on having his much younger brother Gustav (the lad was around 12 years old) sent to them after the war, so that they could care for him for a while and provide him with enough to eat.

The Lautenbach family were so grateful to the Pecks that Emil and his wife named their daughter Birgit Rose, born 1948, in honour of Mrs Peck.
They even pronounce "Rose" in the English way, instead of the German "Rosa".

I have lived in Germany for 30 years. We moved last year and Birgit is now our landlady - and an absolutely wonderful person. I don't know if it is the fact that she now has a Brit living next door

, but she would love to find out more about the Peck family.

Her father and uncle are both deceased and no family records, photos, etc. exist from that time. Birgit does not know how to start looking, so I suggested that I try to help.

I realise that our "information" is extremely sparse, but maybe it rings a bell with someone. Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt (hope dies last), as the Germans say.

I would be extremely grateful for any information whatsoever, however insignificant it may seem.

Many thanks in advance,
Karen

Technical Help / Computer is (sometimes) so sloooowwww...

« on: Friday 01 September 06 10:21 BST (UK) »

Hi everybody.

We've got a 'pooter problem...

We have broadband (DSL), use Win XP Home, and have always had Norton Anti-Virus installed. I installed the 2006 software a couple of months ago, and everything was running fine.

In the last 10 days or so, however, the computer seems to become suddenly much slower once it has been running for a while. My hubby wanted to bid for something on eBay last night. He had surfed for about an hour, then left the computer on (we have flat-rate) whilst waiting for the article to approach its end, about another hour. When he went back to bid, the computer was burbling away as if it were downloading updates. It was so slow, that it took several minutes top respond to each mouseclick, and Christian was unable to bid. Not a happy bunny.

The 'pooter has done this a lot recently. It always seems to happen when it has been running for a couple of hours or more. I don't surf for that long during the day, so I don't know if it's an evening thing.

Does anyone have any ideas? I suspect Norton may have something to do with it, but I have very little idea about these things.

If we power the computer down (takes a while, too!) then start it up again, it's fine, back to its normal quick self.

I don't understand...

Any suggestions welcome!

Regards from Braunschweig,
Karen

Aberdeenshire Lookup Requests / Marriage in Aberdeen, McDonald / Slesser

« on: Wednesday 22 February 06 09:47 GMT (UK) »

I'm stuck!

Can anybody point me in the right direction?!!!

My GGGG-Grandmother was Elizabeth Slesser (sometimes written Slessor), born about 1791, died 1874 in St. Nicholas, Aberdeen.

Elizabeth married John McDonald and they had at least 2 kiddies, George (abt. 1830) and Margret.

Elizabeth and John married in 1818/1819, but we can't find their marriage!

My brother has managed to obtain a copy of the document recording the 1st. reading of the Banns. It is a copy from the Old Parochial Register, Parish of Tyrie, County of Aberdeen.

The Banns were read on November 8th., 1818. ("Proclaimed John McDonald in the parish of Fraserburgh and Elizabeth Slesser in this parish for the 1st. time.")

I believe that Liz' parents were John Slesser/Slessor and Elizabeth Simpson, born abt. 1770, but I'm not 100% sure.

If anybody could help me further, I would be extremely grateful!

Many thanks from chilly Germany,
Karen McD.

London & Middlesex Completed Lookup Requests / HAGON family in Poplar / Enfield / Chelmsford

« on: Friday 06 January 06 18:49 GMT (UK) »

Hi all. Hope nobody minds me putting this under both London and Essex...

Anybody out there have these Hagons in their tree?!

William Hagon, blacksmith, born ca. 1817 in Chelmsford
and his wife
Mary Ann Hagon, born Mitchell ca. 1815 in Cornwall.

Mary was my 4G-Grandmother. She married James McGregor, a Scot who was a policeman in Kent, in Islington in 1846. James died around the mid-1850's and Mary married William Hagon in Chelmsford in 1857.

In the 1871 census they were living in Enfield.

I am trying to find the birth details for Mary, but there were a lot of Mary Mitchells in Cornwall at that time! The census entries all say just Cornwall, with the exception of one, which shows a town name which nobody can 100% decipher...! (Already tried the Cornwall board.)

If I could find her death records, maybe I could solve the mystery. I have found a death entry for Poplar in 1892 for a Mary Hagon aged 76, which would tie in. There is also a death record for a William Hagon in Poplar in 1903, aged 87, which is also a good possibility.

Beofre I start chasing red herrings, I'd love to hear from anyone who has Hagons in their tree. It's not the most common of names, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Regards from Germany,
Karen