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Topics - Velveteen

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Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Can anyone do anything with this photo?
« on: Friday 08 June 12 00:20 BST (UK)  »
Hi there,
I have a photo from the early 20th century of my g-uncle by marriage wearing some sort of masonic-style regalia. It's been suggested that I put the photo up here and see if anyone can clean it up more so that the insignia etc is  clearer. I've already had a go -the orginal is very faded.
Thank you so much to anyone who can give this a shot:)

The most faded one is the original, the sharper, yellower one is the one I've played around with myself.

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The Common Room / Early 20th century masonic type regalia identification
« on: Thursday 07 June 12 09:16 BST (UK)  »
Among a lot of old photographs that my mother found there is this picture of my grandmother's sister's husband, John Gillibrand. He appears to be wearing some sort of masonic-style regalia, but as far as googling can make out, it doesn't seem to be Masonic, Orange Order, Oddfellow or Buffalo. He lived in Manchester, Lancashire and  this photo would have been taken somewhere between roughly 1917 and 1930. Can anyone shed light on what order he was a member of?

Thank you so much to anyone who can help:)

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The Common Room / What would you do? Re using Wills to try to break down Brick Walls
« on: Wednesday 13 April 11 09:18 BST (UK)  »
Ok, this is possibly an odd kind of question, but keeping in mind that this brick wall is...a good 20 years old(between the first person do do research on this family line, and others that have picked up and continued...I've been researching seriously for about 3 years), would this be worth trying?

I have the earliest male member of my direct ancestry, my distant grandfather, James Choppin(and I had great luck with HIS will, but he was an old man, so it took me no further back), born 1751, died 1824. He is buried in St Swithin Walcot, Bath, Somerset. Now also buried in St Swithin Walcot are two other Choppin's, each buried (separate graves from each other)in a wall grave or vault, each paired in their respective graves with Giradote's(also seems to have been spelt Girardot) One is a memorial to Anna Giradote, late of Belmont, died 1st Oct 1767 aged 79. She is buried(or possibly it is just a memorial, and she herself isn't buried there -not sure) with (Charles? This first name isn't clear, apparently) Choppin of the Island of Saint Vincent d. 182?. To put the significance of that plot together, my man James Choppin was from St Vincent, and I suppose given the poor state of the vault inscription, this could be him, not a Charles. Either way, why is he buried with a Giradote?

The second is incredibly badly preserved, and all that can be made out is: <illegible>180?  Giradote <date> Choppin<date>

Obviously I haven't the foggiest what the family connection there is, but there must be a strong one, as two separate groups of Giradote/Choppin's were buried or commemorated together. Based on this, would it be worth buying a Will of a particular Giradote who died in 1810, in Bath in the hopes that it miiiight shed some light? Or is this such a long shot it's not worth paying for? The hope is that it might break through to a previous generation, OR explain the ongoing link between the two families.

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Lancashire / William Stone and Mary Alice Mann, Atherton, Lancashire
« on: Wednesday 16 February 11 01:27 GMT (UK)  »
I am seeking decendants of my paternal grandmother's parents.

They were William Stone and Mary Alice Mann, of Atherton, Lancashire, England. They had at least one child, my grandmother Clara Stone, b. 1899, in Atherton, Lancashire, and possibly a son, William or Billy. I think there may have been other children also. After Mary Alice died, apparently William couldn't cope, and, fostering the children out to various relatives(his or hers I don't know), he went 'on the road', as a 'tramp', as they used to call them.

Clara married Frank Choppin at 16 in Wales(although she fudged her age by...quite a lot lol) and they had 5 children, one my father.

I would like to hear from anyone decended from, or otherwise connected to this family.

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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Where was he born? *complete*
« on: Thursday 02 December 10 05:16 GMT (UK)  »
This is from an 1851 census return. Can anyone work out where James Crocome was born? Top line. I know who he was, and that he was born in Bath, but the census has another word before Bath that I can't work out. I thought it might be Somerset, as the format of his wifes birth is "Middlesex, Hackney" in that order, but I think it has too many letters to be Somerset.

I can provide the whole page if needed, but I wasn't sure of the rules for doing that. You guys have been so helpful before, VERY quickly figuring out what I'd puzzled over for months, so I'm so greatful :)

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New Zealand Completed Requests / Anyone researching the Crocomes of Waikouaiti Otago COMPLETED
« on: Monday 29 November 10 02:25 GMT (UK)  »
I have a Will of my many-times great grandfather James Choppin, Sugar planter of the west indies, who died in Bath, UK in 1824. He had living with him at the time of his death Elizabeth Crocome, her two illegitimate children Joseph(b. 1811) and James Crocome, and Elizabeth's brother William. He provided very well for them, especially Elizabeth and the two boys. Joseph Crocome became a surgeon(apparently my ancestor wished him to be brought up a surgeon, and made provision for that -James Choppin had also been a surgeon.) - and settled in Waikouiti, Otago, and I'd really like to get in touch with any of his decendants who may be researching their family history.

 I'd especially like to find out what they know about his father -I have very strong suspicions that my James Choppin was his father. The Will more or less says so without saying so, if you know what I mean, and Joseph is supposed to have been the illegitimate son of a wealthy west indian sugar planter, according to the accounts of him I've read, but I can't find a baptism record or anything to confirm or rule out my suspicions.

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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Need help with a name in a Will *COMPLETE*
« on: Thursday 18 November 10 00:47 GMT (UK)  »
I need help deciphering the this surname from a Will. She was living with my many-times great grand-father when he died. Her brother was his servant, and my ancestor left quite a lot to her and her sons(but not, I notice, her brother). I, nor anyone else in my family can't work out the surname. Any ideas?
Elizabeth...what?

If anyone can help I'd be so grateful, I've been trying to work this one out for months. Literally ::)

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Canada / Canadian Air Accident records
« on: Saturday 23 October 10 03:17 BST (UK)  »
According to my father and his two surviving brothers, they had an "Uncle Crosby from British Guiana (where my family was from although my grandfather had gone to the UK by then) who was in the Royal Flying Corp and who went to Canada and died in an air crash" either before they were born or while they were children. This is complete hearsay and in my 10 years of research I have NEVER come cross any hint of a brother to my grandfather called Crosby, only two sisters, and another sister who was stillborn.

HOWEVER. My grandfather's aunt had an illegitimate son called Frederick Kearton Crosbie Choppin(born 1886), who would have been 8 years older than my Grandfather. This seems to have been quite open, and he and his mother lived and travelled with her parents, my Grandfather's Grandparents.

This boy, Frederick Kearton Crosbie Choppin, was in the UK airforce first world war, and was seconded to the Canadian Royal Flying Corp. He and his wife Jessie emigrated to Ontario, Canada. EVERYTHING about what I have uncovered for Frederick Kearton Crosbie Choppin matches the family stories about "Uncle Crosby", except that I have no death date, place or reason for him. I'm beginning to think that "Uncle" Crosby was actually COUSIN Crosby and that he and my grandfather had just been brought up as if they were brothers.

If I could find death details, or a record of a fatal air crash involving Frederick Kearton Crosbie Choppin in Canada it would confirm my suspicions, but I'm not sure where to look? I haven't found any death record at all for either him or his wife. I know they were both alive in 1930, but that's where the trail ends. There is a Frederick Choppin and his wife Jessie buried in Holy Trinity Church, Pembroke, ON. But this is a cousin, who happened to have the same name, AND married a wife with the same name as the guy I'm looking for. ::)

Where would I find resources for Canadian air crashes from around 1930-1960? Probably ones connected to the Royal Flying Corp.

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Other Countries / -British Guiana- Marriage of James Frederick Meyer Choppin
« on: Friday 01 October 10 01:42 BST (UK)  »
James Frederick Mayer Choppin was born 1858 in Mount Grenan, Kingston, St Vincent and the Grenadines. He died sometime after 1914. He was my great-grandfather, who lived in British Guiana as an adult. I have never been able to find the name of his wife, my great-grandmother, the only references I have found to her was in a transcript of the accouncement section of the Argosy newspaper announcing the birth of their stillborn daughter in 1896, and another brief mention in Tikwis Begbie's directory of British Guiana Colonists -both times as "Mrs Choppin, wife of J F M Choppin", no name, and living in Suddie.

Family surmising suggests she may have been a Hamblin or Hamblyn, as my grandfather was named Frank Hamblyn Choppin, and there is a strong tradition of naming the children's middle name as the mother's maiden name, but that's pure conjecture, although there do appear to have been Hamblins in the area of British Guiana(Demerara) that my family were from.

How would I go about tracking down this elusive woman? My father and uncles never knew anything about their grandmother.

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