Posts

Changing names twice does not help family historians!  Part 1 The First Name Change. When my father retired in 1984, my parents moved to East Runton near Cromer in Norfolk. His mother Annie Bertha Cubitt had died aged 37 of influenza pneumonia in 1927 when my father was just 8 years old.  He knew very little about her background except she had been born in Norfolk, her marriage certificate had shown no father's name and that she had a brother William whom he had met only once as a small child.  To find out more he visited the Norfolk Record Office in Norwich and came away with a birth certificate for Annie which both surprised and upset him.  Annie was indeed illegitimate and born in Norwich.  The mother's name was Laura Cubitt, a bar maid of Bull Close Road, Norwich but other than that he was unable to find anything more about her or his uncle William.  My own interest in family history began in about 1995 and when visiting my mum and dad I was able to visit the

Unhappy Badger!

Jan bought a timed pet feeder to open up at about 2 in the morning as the blooming cats have been dining in style before the foxes or badger come out to play. The badger came very early about 9pm and was a bit cross I think to find the cafe was still closed. However, the fox dined happily later!  Earlier in the week the hedgehog managed to have a bite of supper. It's usually all gone before he manages to make an appearance. 
Image
My Great Grandparents This post will be edited as I write about each of the families of my Great Grandparents.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 'Land'

Image
The families of John Adams and Martha Pizzey - Early 1800s The desperate situation that many agricultural workers found themselves in during the late 1700s and early 1800s was, in part, the result of a combination of several events namely The Enclosure Acts, the Napoleonic Wars and the Corn Laws.  It was a time of great upheaval and uncertainty and, I believe, almost brought about the demise of my paternal Adams line. The families of John Adams and Martha Pizzey my 4th Great Grandparents had been agricultural labourers in the Suffolk village of Baylham (7 Miles NW of Ipswich) for at least 80 years by the time they married in 1791. St Peter's Church, Baylham, Suffolk. By permission of Simon Knott.  suffolkchurches.co.uk 

Harry the Fox - such beautiful colouring

The first video from Friday early morning shows the badger being trailed closely by the fox and it looks as though the badger turned on the fox just off camera - there does appear to be a bit of a scuffle. It was lovely to see the fox come early evening but he again woofed down the food before the badger had a chance to get to it.  He is well-fed and has a beautiful coat; not at all scruffy as many others we have seen. He obviously knows the best residents to visit during his nightly rounds! 🦊😃

Badgers, Foxes and Hedgehogs!

Image
Over the last weekend, my husband installed some cameras so we could view the wildlife visiting our garden during the evenings and night time. Eagerly on Monday morning we inspected the SD memo card and were excited to find amongst the stills the normal foxes, hedgehogs, mice and numerous cats that were to be expected and a badger! A WOW! moment as it was totally unexpected. Our house is situated in an urban environment albeit next door to a small orchard attached to what was, a century ago, a farmhouse. There is a hole in the fence which we allowed to remain so that the hedgehogs could roam freely from garden to garden.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 'Same Name' - Updated Dec 2020

Image
The theme 'Same Name' reminds me of the time when, years ago, I had been exploring my Wilkinson line and hit that proverbial brickwall; unable to find anything at all about my 2nd gt grandfather Robert Wilkinson's wife Emma Anna Killik apart from what I had seen on their marriage certificate.   Emma married at the very young age of 16, to Robert Wilkinson, age 20. They married at St Mary's Church Tollesbury on 22nd September 1855. In the Father's Name and Surname column on the marriage certificate the vicar wrote - ' illegitimate daughter of Rosa Killick ' [sic]. A particularly cruel thing to have written for all to see. None of the witnesses is from Emma's side of the family. [1]