The snow has gone !!!

As I sit writing to you, the sun is shining and it is a glorious spring day. The snow has gone, which means my car can come out of hibernation and Ben's car (the fire engine) can now have a rest.

During the past few months the bird feeding station has been working overtime and it was on occasion funny to watch the poor birds hunting for dropped seed in the snow and the squirrels hunting for their secreted dinner. Oh! and the foxes, they are back after being away for years. It was so nice to look out of the kitchen window and see two foxes playing in the show - running around the garden, stopping and then charging off chasing each other.

The snow was a godsend to the website as during the past few months I have uploaded quite a few memorials gathered from last years visit to Scotland and a few days on the south coast. The new pages can be found on the 'What's new' page of Wakefield Family History Sharing. But I will list a few examples :- Dewsbury South African War Memorial ; Carrbridge, Inveress-shire War Memorial ; Forest Row War Memorial and memorial from inside Holy Trinity Church + memorials from East Grinstead, including those inside the church ; Beauley memorials ; Blair Atholl ; Advie, Avoch and many more + there are many more to do - keep me busy.

Since Christmas I've moved my 'office' into the loft and Ben has now taken over my old space for his 'music' room. I still cannot believe how much stuff I managed to squeeze into a small space. I still have to sort some things out but I have books I now can see, printers I can reach and scanners also within easy reach. I have also a work table to house my sewing machine, a big tv with dvd and a large settee for visitors - not that I get any in the loft, but if I did they would be very welcome and I would supply oxygen !

A couple of weeks ago we made a trip to London for our daughters London engagement party and just while we were there I managed to snap a few memorials from around the Staines, Windsor area. The following week I drove down for a girly weekend - you know mum and daughter days.

We caught the train into London and it just so happens that as I walked out of the station there were a couple of memorials - well what luck and I just had to photograph them, it would be a shame to waste the opportunity.

But after that it was a trip to the London eye and then afternoon tea just off Leicester Square - sandwiches, fresh scones with jam and clotted cream + other fancy cake, what more could you ask for ?

Last weekend the children, sorry that's wrong, but you can't say 'the adults came up for the weekend' can you, came home to celebrate three birthdays. Up until the evening before we had no idea where we were going - a quick google for 'fine dining in Wakefield' came up with just the right place - yes, you can fine dine in Shakey Wakey!! I won't tell you where it is as I don't want it to get fully booked when we go again, but I will say its a 10 minute drive from the town centre. The pate was superb and the lamb, done to a tee with pickled walnuts. Pudding, I have never seen Eton Mess on a menu before. I've made it at home, but it was so nice to see it in a restaurant and it was fantastic.

Yesterday evening another photo gallery, Hensall, was handed over to one of my technical directors - Ben, for him to do his bit to make it web-ready. While he was doing that I started and completed the Dallow Gill churchyard photo gallery.

I'd better go now, there is a cup of tea awaiting me and so are a lot of partially completed web pages, so keep checking in on Wakefield Family History Sharing as things are always being added too.

See you later

Carol

Additions to site

New additions since yesterday afternoon include :-

Chiddingford War Memorial, Surrey

Chainley War Memorial, Sussex

Carrbridge War Memorial, Inverness-shire

Braemar War Memorial including RAF Wellington Memorial

Blair Atholl War Memorial, Perthshire

Billinghurst War Memorial Surrey

Biddenden War Memorial

Berwick, Sussex - War Memorial

Beauley War Memorial, Inverness-shire

Beauley South African Memorial, Inverness-shire

Ballindalloch War Memorial

Avoch, Ross & Cromarty War Memorial

Advie War Memorial, Morayshire

Aberlour War Memorial, Morayshire

I hope you find them of use in your research and if you know of any info about these people or infact, you have a photo of them, please let me know

Happy New Year and happy hunting

C

End of 2009 new pages to website

As I said before I've been transcribing the information, you know names etc, and I am pleased to say that 75 new memorial additions will be coming to either Wakefield Family History Sharing or Genealogyjunction very shortly. In fact, some are already there, as I've just added a couple for Morayshire, Ross & Cromarty and Inverness-shire - as I hope you appreciate getting the transcription into a format that matches the rest of the pages takes a little while, but they are on their way.

When those pages are complete there are many more memorials that I have to do including to name a very few :- Gullane, Dunning, Braco, Lodsworth, Sissinghurst, East Grinstead and a number from Newhaven. So I do hope you keep popping back to see whats new - you never know you may find a family member or someone of interest.

As I've said before, if you are looking for a certain memorial you can always contact me via Wakefield Family History Sharing and see if I have it in my 'to do' file

May I now wish you a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful 2010 full of good family history finds

Carol

Christmas Update

The past month has been quite hectic - with Christmas and all that comes with it to transcribing over 85 War Memorials.

I thought it made sense, well to me anyway, to sit and transcribe the images and then upload the resulting pages - at least they can then be seen by either family, friends or researchers and then do the hard and time consuming bit - finding out who they are, what they did in their lifetime and whose children they were, you know the important stuff, the bit that makes them a person and not just a name on a slab of stone or in a book hidden behind glass.

In this batch there have been some interesting and unusual memorials from the small village memorial to quite large towns and one in particular, hidden from the road and only identified by a small roadsign, that was damaged beyond repair and replaced by a new memorial only a few yearsago - the original now rests in the local churchyard. Some memorials are informative and give full rank, regiment and full name - easy ! While others only tell of an initial and surname - not so easy but we keep on trying to get as much information about these people as possible.

Sometimes the memorials are in plain sight, on main road, churchyards, outside prominent buildings but sometimes they are hidden away and you would be surprised how many people when asked where the war memorial is simply look very vague. But a few questions later i.e. where is the churchyard, where do the villagers or townspeople lay the poppies and its found. Many people seem a little embarassed that they do not know where their memorial is but with a smile and a brief explanation as to why I want to know and all is well - and then another memorial is added to the awaiting transcriptions listing.

So, within the next few weeks there will be over 30 Scottish Memorials including 21 pre WW1 memorials and over 45 from Sussex and Kent, there are also a large number of French and Belgian memorial also awaiting transcribing.

If you want to know if a memorial has been photographed ready for transcribing please email me and I'll have a look in my listings.

Have a Happy, whats left of Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2010

Carol

October activities

I seem to photograph War Memorials a lot quicker than I can transcribe the wording and find out who the young men were. But then again, I don't tend to venture far when the nights draw in and the outside gets cold, windy and either very damp or wet, so that gives me some time to gather all the info together.

I've spent some photographing time in Sussex via Kent with bits of Surrey thrown in for good measure.........and some parts of the south are not all that bad !!!!!!!!!! I only found one place that I would avoid like the plague.......Crawley......what a place and the worlds rudest driver.

Saying that it was nice and a very pleasant surprise to find churches open, but I'm still amazed to find that the churches in towns that have volunteers to keep an eye on them do not know what is on their walls. I went to find one war memorial, place shall remain nameless, and asked a lady walking towards the parish church where it was....I was told....and I asked is the church open and is there any memorials inside. She did not know but after photographing the memorial went inside and asked.........as I walked in I saw some wording on the panelling behind the doors - guess what it was a pair of private memorials. I continued on inside and saw my lady from the outside and after being greeted asked were there any memorials inside..... Oh! no idea was the answer. I said I had found the ones behind the doors. It was then that one lady said Oh, yes we have those ! Sometimes I wonder why I ask and don't just walk around myself.

I did on my quest find two very nice memorials, both I think in East Grinstead.

Anyway, while ever I sit and write this its not getting the transcribing done, now is it ??

I have hundreds of War Memorials photographed but not yet transcribed, if you want to contact me to see if the memorials with a family connection are in my 'waiting folder' etc., I'd be happy to make that a priority

Happy hunting

New idea

While manning a family history help desk I was talking to 2 people who were total beginners but had brought some family information with them namely a couple of certificates.

As I was explaining what information, very useful information was included in certificates I was also sketching out a rough, very rough, family tree based on the info given on the certificates. My sketching, without a ruler was not good and it was hard for them to follow as from the census we had found a child with grandparents - so a generation was missing. This made it even harder.

How could I make it easier to explain and more importantly make it easier for beginners to understand. Well, not always beginners as sometimes even more experienced family historians need to draw a tree to understand who goes where and how they all fit it.

Paper came out along with pencils and a vry big rubber, oh and don't forget a non-dogearred ruler ! The first few attempts I kept missing out a generation on one side - silly me ! Time to concentrate. Eventually I had a good enough prototype to take to my better half and say draw that for me on the computer.

Less than 24 hours later I have a workable mainline with siblings tree and uploaded it to the charts and forms section of my site.

Now it should be easier to follow generations and add siblings as children of siblings are also family members - there's not a lot of space for dates and if you run out of space for siblings, start another sheet, with a ref no. that way you know who fits into the great scheme of things.

Back to the transcribing, I've lots of things in the pipeline and I've been working on a war memorial for a church in Whitby. Not only did the church include those who died but also those who fought, which is very interesting but sad when you see brothers who went away and not all came home. That will be uploaded soon.

Now the nights are drawing in I will, I promise, transcribe a great deal over the winter and add lots for you to peruse.

Royston Cemetery

Yes, a good title for a Blog.

My cousin and I have been doing a joint effort on the family trees of his close relatives spouses - Shephe(a)rd from Royston/Barnsley.

Well, we found them in the census of 1911 and followed them back in the previous decades. It was then that we came across an Albert Edward Shepherd V.C. who died in the 1960's. The trail lead to a family member originating in Shropshire - coming up to Yorkshire following the coal fields, as a lot of our relatives who were miners did.

As the trail was getting cool and it was a nice day on Sunday, off I went to Royston, killing two birds with one stone, snapping the memorial and looking for Shepherd and Lees family in the cemetey. But..... finding our Albert Edward was a daunting task as I knew the headstone was quite small and white. When you want a white headstone, what colour are all the headstones, yes.... white !!

I accousted..oh ! asked a few people if they knew of Albert E, most said yes but where he was, they had no idea. But I did find a small leaning headstone, rather dark in colour to Rosezillah, the wife of A E Shepherd V.C. But where was Albert. Then I struck gold..... a lady who I had asked had been looking at the headstones on her way back to the car, she asked a gentleman if he knew where A E was.....no he replied and she very kindly came all the way back to me, just to tell me what she had done and confirm the name......... How nice some people are.

As the gentleman walked down the path I too spoke to him. He wondered why I was looking for his headstone, I passed on my reasons and bid him farewell. I was meant to speak to him for as I turned and walked away, he called me back and I turned .....well whose grave was I stook next to.. You've got it, good old A E's. It all turned out that he knew A E, he was older than my new friend, who told me he was a small man but had a good heart. What a better way to be remembered.

We again parted and I wondered off to photo the memorial with its new plaque to A E. At the back of the town memorial stood a gate. I knew of A E's grave and his shiny new plaque but the gate was a surprise, a nice surprise as it was given by his regiment in the 1960's in remembrance of Albert and his V.C.

A quick chat to the verger in the church and I learnt that both the memorial and the gate had been moved from their original position to within the church boundary. She said that the gate was now beginning to look its age, but they had felt that it should be left to age gracefully and hence the new plaque.

That was my Sunday lets hope the Heritage Weekend next week will be just as nice. You can find out whats on in your area by a simple google search for Heritage Weekends.

Happy searching