General Chat

Very interesting reading!

Im only 32 but wow fansatic thread!!

Clare

I have just emailed GR about this thread being posted in my name and I have also asked them to apoplogise to Dee on the general board for the cock up they have made of Dee's threads.

Suexxxxxxxxxx

Well I think GR should apologise to Dee for putting my name as the poster of this thread.

I apologise to Dee for my name being put instead of Dee's name.

What a bloody cock up GR makes of threads and posts.

I am going to mail GR about this thread as I am annoyed for Dee.

Hugs for Dee

Suexxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yes, I've noticed at least one of Dee's messages has my name against it. Not that I mind, but it's hardly fair on the original poster if their hard work and good efforts are 'given' to others.
What an almighty cock up!!.
Likewise, what if something not very nice has been written in the past, and suddenly you find YOUR name next to it!! Charming.
I remember, a short while ago Dee put up a thread about this, I didn't realise that this is what made her leave, and I'm sorry to hear that she has.

As i said - what an almighty cock up by GR.
Have they come up with an apology and explanation yet??

K

This is one of the threads that have caused Dee to leave. My name (and that of others) appear beside her posts. She has asked me to nudge it.

So those who think the new boards are wonderful may like to reflect on their view.

GR should delete all the old threads then we can start again and have our own posts by our own names.

This happened to me as well and I raised it on the boards, I know others have as well.

GR should be ashamed of such a **** up - to use Dee's description.

Gwynne

What's happened to this thread Dee....I can't make head not tail of it!

Hi All I dont think anyone could imagine living in those days, my ancestors were no different either, Mums side seem to have been a bit middle class, where dads side were the poor side and you can see this in one of mums wedding photos. My Dads side the Harrisons were poor coal miners and had between 7 and 15 kids, and most of them lived, I dont seem to have a lot of child deaths in my families, I do know that they all lived in Coal miners cottages and when a son turned 14 were made to go down the mine as that was one of the conditions of living in the cottages, although the youngest miner in my family is aged 9 years, would be unheard of in this day and age. I often wonder what Christmas they had as they couldnt have had much money. Sad really. Regards Yvonne

Hi Nell I think people’s perception of poverty is different these days, perhaps it is the topic for a thread? Dee x

Teresa How sad. My Mum's childhood was the same, you didn't call the doctor out unless you were dying. Her own brother died of peritonitis because the doctor wasn't called in time. I think about my mum's childhood in Kent in the 1930s and my life is completely different. Her dad was out of work most of the time, he did any work he could - farm work, blacksmithing, shoe repairing etc to earn money. They ate meat on Sundays and the rest of the time lived on the vegetables they grew plus stodge like dumplings. The few photos she has of herself and her siblings they are as thin as whippets. She had to stay off school for 3 days once because her boots needed repairing and she had to wait until her father had got the money to buy the nails to repair them. She is now an old age pensioner and has to watch her pennies a bit, but says she is better off now than she's ever been and people who moan about being hard up don't know what they are talking about!! nell

Hi Diana By the time I had traced the family into the 20th Century there were branches in Canada, America and Australia, Dee xx

That's such a great way to explain why we all get hooked...... to find out what happened to them all!! xx

Thank you ladies for your kind words It certainly made me sit up and think when I realised just what conditions the people in the Victorian Age were living in, especially those of the working classes As you say Teresa, it must have been very difficult for families to have seen their children suffering due to lack of affordable medical care Hope some more people will be encouraged to look into the lifestlyes of the past, it certainly is fascinating, and there are simply hundreds of books out there about the Victorian times Dee xx

This was interesting Dee, and I am beginning to imagine my dad as a small boy now I have some photographs and have been to see where the cottages were that he was brought up in (small village called Gawcott, near Buckingham). My gran was from Gawcott too but her father worked for the railway and was moved to work in Wales so have a whole bunch of Welsh relatives too, as other children were born after the move. Fascinating stuff.

i remember a sad story my mother told me. Her sister was born in 1931 when my mum was six. She said she remembered that her sister was always crying before she died at six months old. It was her job to put condensed milk on a dummy to soothe her sister. I asked why they didn,t take her to the doctors, and with tears in her eyes, my mum said they just didn't have any money as her father was jobless. however much we moan about it, thank goodness for the NHS.

You mentioned the railways -I`m still waiting on a photo of Guthrie Station , Forfar where my great aunt was born from someone -not on here -who said they would send it. I`ve e- mailed him several times to remind him -he works for the railways now, Rosalyn

Hi Rosalyn It's good to be able to write it all down sometimes, it gives future generations an idea of what went on I agree with you Nell about the changes Have just studied the effects the railways had on families in Kent and London, and it made a huge difference in the mid 1800's to the way families lived, worked, and spent their pleasure time No more at the minute Carol, but there may be one day Dee x

I think the trend in my family tree - both mum and dad's side, and that of my husband's, follow national trends. 1780s-1840s Family size is often 10 children, sometimes more. Often younger children are born after the eldest children have had their own first baby. Marriage is to the boy next door or girl in the next parish. Children are named after their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and names are recycled when a child dies. Popular names: Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Susan. Men are called William, Thomas or John, with a few Josephs thrown in. Husband's Welsh lot are very fond of Margaret and Mary. People stay in or very near the parish in which they were born. Their family are living up and down the road from them. Most are ag labs. They die of 'old age' or 'consumption'. 1840s-1860s Changes. Family size is now often fewer than 8. There's a bit more mobility, often to a village some miles away, though usually along a major road. Younger generation are beginning to go to towns, especially London, to seek employment in industry. Deaths through many respiratory illnesses - pulmonary TB, pneumonia, etc. 1860s-1900 Family size is now about 4-6 children. The girls are usually off to work in service when they are 13, though some work in industry. Family names are less popular, some names without family history are being used, Frederick being a name that comes in. Some families move home frequently and the children often settle a long way away from the parental home. nell

What an interesting story , Dee -it makes genealogy all the more intriguing. I`ve just written 700 words on the story of my great aunt-she didn`t do anything interesting but has a connection with a friend of mine -they live in the house her husband had built in 1940`s. My gr, gr grandmother died age 34 leaving 5 children -don`t know what happened to 2 of them as they were boarders with a family in 1881 census. Rosalyn

Dea Apart from my gt grandmother who was pregnant 9 times but only raised 3 children, my lot seem to be fairly healthy. My gt grandmother lost 3 babies in infancy through illnesses associated with poverty. They lived in Islington. My Norfolk gt grandmother had 10 children. Only one died in childhood, of meningitis. The rest grew up and several became police officers so they had to be fairly fit and healthy. Similarly, the Gloucestershire lot were healthy. Of 8 children, only the eldest died young, being knocked down by a runaway horse and cart. My Cornish-born gt grandmother died young, aged 37, of TB and only had one child, my mum's mum, who lived to be 97. nell

What would the three boys do in years to come? Would they go in search for work in other parts of the country? At the time of the census Abel’s family had a boarder living with them. Alfred, a 21 year old from Oxford, was working for his brother in law as a bricklayer. It is known that a married brother or sister would often give a home to a younger sibling. This would possibly have been due to a lack of work opportunities in their hometown. It may also have been due to family problems. In general large families supported each other in times of hardship. If Ada had lived would she have followed her sisters into service? In 1881 her sisters are both shown in service in Lewisham. Going into service ‘represented a chance to accumulate skills and savings to take into marriage’ Life in service would not have been easy. The girls would, however, probably have been better housed and fed than when they had lived with their parents. When you consider the conditions Abel and his parents were living in at the time of the census it is easy to see that the chance of having a room to yourself, or shared with another servant, would be tempting. There they would stay until they married.