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Messages - tonyharrison

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1
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Saturday 05 November 22 11:27 GMT (UK)  »
First time I've posted here in ages, but a very brief update...
My attempts to look into some Swains in the Condover area were thwarted, since I failed repeatedly to receive responses from some Swain descendants in that immediate area. Maybe they've died, or moved away; maybe (like so many are, disappointingly) just not sufficiently interested to bother. They don't care about their family history.
On the other hand I was contacted recently by a lady (hello Karen!) looking into some family history re Swains from the Oswestry area - this might well affect me, since my Swain great-grandfather (William Swain) was born in 1861 at Maesbury, near Oswestry.
It's hard going, not helped by the fact that I'm busy with other things and spend time abroad; still, new information is always welcome.
Regards, Tony

2
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Saturday 05 November 22 11:20 GMT (UK)  »
Hi. I believe I may be linked up too. My grandfather was Harold Swain (born 1904) who hailed from Salop but lived in Bangor/Llanfairfechan. His father was Thomas W Swain (1875-1933).

Wendy
Hello Wendy - sorry for my tardy reply but I fiddle with family history only intermittently, and hadn't logged on for ages. I've checked my records, and among my own Swains of the appropriate generations, I find no Harold or Thomas. Sorry!
rgds Tony

3
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Tuesday 16 January 18 12:41 GMT (UK)  »
Mike, many thanks for taking the trouble to tell me this. Yes, I've known about Swains of Stretton for some years, having passed their trucks a few times! I've spoken with the boss Scott Swain - though I think it's his son who runs things mainly these days. He put me onto his cousin and her sister, with whom I am now in touch: they've been doing a bit of family research. We agree it seems likely these two branches of the Swains are connected, though this has yet to be confirmed.
Regards, Tony

4
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Friday 04 August 17 09:08 BST (UK)  »
Further thanks, Alberbury - it starts to become a little confusing when one finds people with the same name and apparently the same age marrying on two occasions four years apart in the same place! This is the case with great-uncle William Swain... I can see that much comparing of records is necessary. It doesn't help that names and places are often spelled so differently.
Regards, Tony

5
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Thursday 03 August 17 09:27 BST (UK)  »
Alberbury, thanks again for this additional information. If you do this for everyone here you can't have time to eat or sleep! Re your suggestion about my great-uncle Jack Swain's second name, might not "Edwards" be a misprint for "Edward"? The records certainly contain plenty of those: my great grandmother's name is spelt variously Eleanor, Elenor and plain Ellen. Then there's the odd business of my grandfather Louis/Lewis* apparently understating his age on joining up - why would anyone do that? Most likely a clerical error by an army clerk. Re great-uncle Will(-iam) listed as part of the Roberts farming household at Llansantffraid in 1911, I suppose it's possible there was some sort of connection with his mother's being from Montgomeryshire.
Kind regards, Tony
*Grandfather's army records show his name clearly as "Louis" not "Lewis".

6
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Wednesday 02 August 17 15:04 BST (UK)  »
Trish, many thanks for your kindness. This extra info is valuable - I now know of another great-great-grandfather, born it seems in 1812! Married at 43 to a lady 19 years his junior, eh... Yes, my Swains picture is a good one, lucky to have it. They all look quite smart & prosperous so perhaps great-grandfather had progressed a bit from farm labourer.
Kind regards, Tony

7
Cheshire / Gibbons still living around the Minshulls, maybe Haslington?
« on: Wednesday 02 August 17 14:48 BST (UK)  »
I've very recently found out quite a lot about my maternal grandmother Ada Swain (nee Gibbons) and her family, farm folk who lived in different Cheshire locations. I wonder if there are Gibbons's still around places such as Church Minshull, Minshull Vernon and thereabouts - ? My great-grandfather William Gibbons is buried at St Bartholomew's, Church Minshull, with his wife Rachel; and the war memorial at Minshull Vernon bears twelve names from WW1 including that of a James Gibbons who was (I have concluded firmly) my great-uncle, killed at Gallipoli in 1915 aged 20 - he's also buried at Church Minshull. I learned from John Headon in Church Minshull that he was visited in the 1990s by a Canadian who was looking up Gibbons relatives there: he was very likely a descendant of my great-uncle Harold Gibbons (born 1902 at Shocklach near Malpas) who went to Canada with his wife Hilda and their children - they'd lived near Malpas, according to my mother's recollection. The Canadian apparently met some Gibbons folk at Haslington near Crewe.
Any of my Gibbons relatives out there, and on this board? And I'm a Harrison, eldest son of Robert William Harrison who grew up in Malpas - I used to have three sets of aunts & uncles in Church Street - so if this rings a bell with anyone...
rgds Tony

8
Shropshire / Re: Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Wednesday 02 August 17 14:16 BST (UK)  »
Alberbury, many thanks for this. It exemplifies a factor I'd already discovered in my initial researches: conflicting information. This is clearly my grandfather and his family, but here he's been born about 1890; the record of his marriage in 1914 at Malpas says he was aged 24, which matches; yet his military record, which I just checked, says his stated age on 31st August 1914 was 21 years 2 months... Nice to have confirmation that great-grandmother was indeed Welsh - my mother says she was thought to be rather fierce, chasing Louis and his brothers with a pig stick if they misbehaved!
KGarrad, thanks for the tip about surnames, which I'll try. Trish, ditto for the information about great-grandmother Lewis - I wonder if her maiden name has anything to do with a certain confusion over the spelling of my grandfather's forename.
Kind regards, Tony

9
Shropshire / Swain family (-ies) in and near Condover
« on: Wednesday 02 August 17 12:18 BST (UK)  »
There are a number of Swains in this area and I've contacted a couple so far, with no result except a couple of leads to follow. I wonder if there are any Swains on this forum who hail from the Condover area? My maternal grandfather was Louis Swain, born at Cross Houses (his army record suggests, barely legible!) in probably June 1893 - on joining the army 31st August 1914 he gave his age as 21 years and 2 months. He'd married Ada Gibbons in Malpas, Cheshire (he worked as a butcher at Hampton nearby) on 5th January 1914, survived WW1 with a couple of wounds, and lived thereafter in Cheshire, dying in the 1970s.
The photo might help: my best guess is it dates from about 1910. Seated front is my great-grandfather William Swain, with his wife (said to have been Welsh, maybe called Rachel) standing behind. At the back, centre, stands my grandfather Louis; at the front seated are his brothers Archie (L) and Charlie (R) with their sister Esther; the other four brothers are Tom, Will, Jack and Hugh, though not necessarily in that order. Hugh was a lorry driver, my mother (aged 89) recalls, and later moved to Blackpool; Archie started a coal business - I was led to believe a spot on the OS map south of Shrewsbury, on the railway line adjacent to a signal box, was named Swain's Field because of his business located there; Charlie stayed near Condover and had one child, Arthur; Tom later on lived at Shawbury. My mother says she always understood her grandfather William Swain had a brother who started a haulage/transport business.
I've had no luck so far in finding any further information, but perhaps someone here can help.
Thanks - Tony

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