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Topics - Jaxyfone

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Hertfordshire / Two addresses for his mother.
« on: Thursday 07 August 14 21:36 BST (UK)  »
Have just received my late father in law's birth certificate. We knew he was born illegitimate in 1923 and had always believed he spent the first three years of his life in the London Orphan Asylum. However, it seems he was born at 60 Vicarage Road which, it transpires, was the Watford Union Workhouse. One mystery solved - it appears someone, somewhere along the way, had the name of the institution all wrong.

But in the 'name and maiden surname of mother' box, whilst there is no father named and his mother is listed as expected, it goes on to say she was 'a printing factory hand of 22 Birchfield Terrace, Watford' in the same box as her name. Would this be the address of her employer or a former residence address? And why would it be in this box?

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The Lighter Side / Doctors
« on: Friday 18 July 14 19:57 BST (UK)  »
Was anyone able to watch 'Doctors' this afternoon?

For those who didn't, it was a one-off special as part of the WW1 season. One of the characters, Howard, an ex-soldier, was finding out about his grandfather who had been reported missing presumed deserted during WW1 and was never seen again. Howard had found it hard to believe his grandfather, an honourable career soldier, would desert and had been trying to find out what happened. He had found the memoirs (on the internet) of an officer who had become separated from the remains of his unit, along with a Pakistani NCO. With the the help of a forensic pathologist, Howard and a descendant of the NCO were able to put together their ancestors' story and finally see them properly buried.

Ian Kelsey, the actor who plays Howard, also played Howard's grandfather. Very moving and very well done. If you can get it on BBC iPlayer, it's well worth watching.

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Berkshire / Martindale family
« on: Thursday 17 July 14 21:04 BST (UK)  »
My ancestor was a ladies maid to (presumably) Mrs Mary Martindale, wife of Warine Ben Hay Martindale. The address in the 1901 census is Haistwell (House?), Sunningdale, Berks. Does anyone have any idea where this property was or if it still stands?

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The Lighter Side / Which ancestor would you most like to meet?
« on: Monday 14 July 14 22:50 BST (UK)  »
Realising tonight that many people here use pictures of their ancestors in the profile pics, I decided to use one of mine and I chose the person who is probably my favourite ancestor. It's my great aunt, Phyllis, whom I never knew. I don't know very much about her except that she never married. I have several photos of her and this one is typical of them. There's one of her with her dog and another of her looking like a very glamorous Su Pollard. She looks like she was so much fun to know.

Does anyone else have a favourite ancestor they'd really like to meet?

5
The Common Room / Broadwoods
« on: Sunday 13 July 14 14:59 BST (UK)  »
Wondering if anyone has any information on the Broadwood family.

I have an ancestor who was a maid to Alfred and Julia Broadwood, St Aubyn's, Hove, Sussex. Alfred's father was Henry Broadwood, one-time Conservative MP for Bridgewater and owner of, as far as I can make out, a fairly substantial brewery business. I believe he was also a near relation to the Broadwoods of piano manufacturing fame. Alfred's mother, Frances Lowther, was the 'natural' (presumably illegitimate) daughter of William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale.

I'm trying to find out more about Alfred, and wondering whether or not he followed his father into business, and what became of him. Various censuses have him listed as "annuitant" or "living on his own means", which means he probably had some considerable funds from his family. He and his wife appear to have divorced around 1904. He may have joined the army at some point, too.

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The Lighter Side / It gets better
« on: Thursday 24 April 14 21:17 BST (UK)  »
When I started this family history stuff, I hoped - but didn't expect - to find some interesting/important people in my family. A great uncle was 'shot at dawn' and the sister of a direct ancestor married a mayor of Nuneaton, whose family claimed to have been descended from Edward IV (I take that one with a pinch of salt). They were pretty much of a muchness after that - agricultural labourers, mainly, with a couple of cattle rustlers and a few wheelwrights thrown in.

Then another name cropped up. Not a direct descendent, but again, a sister of one. Mackness is/was a common enough name in Huntingdonshire but I thought I might try going further back to see if there was an earlier, common ancestor. There was.

It turns out I'm sort of related to Frederick Abberline (he of Ripper Murders fame). His first wife, Martha Mackness, was my 2nd cousin, 4x removed. Her great grandmother, Sarah Broughton, was my 5x great grandmother.

No children, because Martha died of TB two months after her marriage to Frederick, but it's something to drop into an after-dinner conversation. :)

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One Name Studies: H to M / MACKNESS/MAKERNES/MAKURNIS
« on: Tuesday 26 February 13 19:07 GMT (UK)  »
Just wondering if anyone can throw any light on the possible origins of this name. The present day name is Mackness, of which there are (and have been for centuries) hundreds. Going back through time it becomes Mackerness, through Makernes and back to, in the 15th Century, Makurnis.

As far as I can make out we have no Scottish or Irish links on that side of the family. In fact, the earlier generations seem to have been settled in Finedon, Northants. Where could it possibly have originated if not Scotland/Ireland? And if it is one of the latter, why might the family have migrated to Northants?

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Northamptonshire / Kettering 'USD'
« on: Friday 22 February 13 21:52 GMT (UK)  »
My husband's grandfather has a birthplace address of Alexandra Street, Kettering, followed by the letters 'U.S.D'. Any idea what this stands for?

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The Common Room / Bigamous marriages
« on: Sunday 10 February 13 13:57 GMT (UK)  »
How can I find out any details of bigamous marriage? My grandfather married bigamously in secret and it's said he was court martialled and jailed for it as he was in the army at the time. I'm not sure about the court martial, although he did leave the army at about the same time. It's said he married in Bury, which I'm assuming to be Bury St Edmunds as he was discharged from Colchester. This was in the late 1930s/early 1940s. I have his army service and pay books from the time and other than some unexplained and undecipherable crossings-out of personal details, there is no record of anything untoward.

After he was found out, his real wife took him back and it was never referred to again, although she did her best to turn the family against him. The only member of the family who will talk about it is the youngest son of the family who was only nine years old at the time and barely remembers anything, except that granddad was only found out because my late dad saw him out walking on the park with his 'wife' and a baby in a pram. We have no names, only 'possibles' that I have gleaned from a short trawl of the Bury St Edmunds marriage indexes for that period. Our family name is Smith, just to make things even more difficult!

If I applied for his service records, would they tell me anything more than I already know?

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