A review of the blogging year is usually posted January 1st or December 31st, but knowing me if I left it until then I'd skip it. So here's my review.
Firstly, a few statistics:
1. Most people still check my blog after finding postings on Facebook.
2. "I fell in love with the Nazarene" is the number one google search that leads people to my blog - so Harold's music is still touching people years after he has passed away.
3. "The Hymns of my father" series is still the most popular. That contains the above-mentioned song, but also a few others. It's no surprise, therefore, that people with no connection to my family want to check out the lyrics and tunes to some of the old hymns.
4. February was my busiest blogging month, with 10 new blogs posted.
5. I managed 35 posts throughout 2017. It will probably be less this year but we will see!
Moving on, I count this year of blogging as a success. Back in January 2017 I set myself the goal of blogging once a month, and have achieved it. (Although the August post was an accidental repeat.) I hope you'll excuse that!
So what has been achieved within that year?
1. Finished detailing the life story of my grandfather Idris Davies.
2. Lent a helping hand to people trying to locate a family grave via the find a grave website.
3. Discovered the death certificate for my Dad's unborn sister, Bronwyn Mary Davies, and learned a little about her funeral.
4. Discovered an old archive of Pentecostal magazines which, amongst other things, detailed some of the histories of my ancestor's role in the Pentecostal movement in Britain.
5. Found out the cause of death for my great great uncle, David John Davies - along with some interesting facts about his funeral and ministry.
6. The above mentioned pentecostal archive yielded photographs of both my great grandfather Harold Griffiths, and many other family members.
7. Discovering information about David John Davies' death lead me to investigate his wife, and I was able to chronicle a few things about her own contribution to church history as well as her immigration to America.
8. Family member Roy helped me find the grave of my great grandparents, Price and Annie. This led me to research an intriguing line at the end of their eulogy, "Y Delyn Aur."
9. Started a new series on the life and ministry of my great grandfather, Harold Emanuel Davies.
10. Lastly, I was able to contribute to the honour roll project.
All in all, I'm very happy with the discoveries and research accomplished!
For the coming year I would like to:
1. Once again blog at least one post a month.
2. Start creating a physical genealogy file.
3. Finish blogging about Harold Emanuel Griffiths.
4. Focus on my grandparents, Ernest and May Hilton.
5. Introduce the world to John Hobbs.
Showing posts with label family history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family history. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Julia Edith Davies' Contribution To Women In Church Leadership
Julia Edith Davies. According to my first cousin once removed she was born 9th June 1890, in Manordeifi, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Married in Merthyr Tydfil, 11th June 1905 to my great great uncle David John Davies.
Sometime between 1911 and 1917 they began leading a church together. At that time it was in the Ystrad, Rhondda and they met at a Baptist Chapel. Today it is called Mount Zion Pentecostal Church and has moved to Gelli but is still in the Rhondda Valley.
Whether or not Julia Edith preached earlier than 1926 is not known for sure, but she was definitely preaching at the church by the period of the late 1920's.
The above article was written in July 1926 by Julia's husband. The first paragraph is of note. It reads:
"I am taking the pleasure of writing to you a brief account of our Whitsuntide Convention. Although owing to the present coal crisis[1], we had to cancel our expected speakers, yet we carried the meetings on locally, the other Assemblies rallying with us, and from beginning to end the Lord caused his face to shine upon us. Those who ministered the word were Bro. Dan John, Clydach Vale; J Crew, Tumble; Miss A. Meredith, Treorchy; Mrs. E. Davies, Ystrad."
What conclusions to draw from this? Firstly, at least some and perhaps all of these, were not the intended speakers for the convention, but the general strike made it impossible for the original speakers to make it to the Rhondda and the church in Ystrad.
Secondly, Julia Edith is referred to here as Mrs. E. Davies. This was not unusual. She often went by Mrs. J. E. Davies and Mrs. E. Davies.
Thirdly, there was more than one woman speaker at this convention. Miss A. Meredith also spoke.
Later in 1926 both Mr. and Mrs. Davies traveled for an evangelistic campaign in Ramsgate.
In this case it's a simple announcement that "This Assembly, too, is having a Special Gospel Campaign during September-October, when they expect Mr. and Mrs. Davies, of Ystrad, Wales, for a Soul-saving Campaign."
It's not definitive proof that she preached, but it was not unusual for her to do so. Another article from Redemption Tidings in June of 1929 is recalling a miraculous healing that one of the congregation experienced. The full article is provided here.
I won't transcribe the entire article, but the bit in question is a paragraph in the middle which reads;
"I went to our mission at Ystrad, where I was a member, and that night our dear sister Mrs. Davies (the pastor's wife), was delivering a message from the Word of God. She said how we people believed in God for everything, yet when we were taken ill we run for the doctor.[2] I was drinking in every word she was saying."
Julia. E. Davies was a preacher, and in the early days of the Pentecostal movement it seemed that no one batted an eyelid.
Julia's husband died in 1931. Julia herself was sick when his death occurred and the church initially called David John's brother to lead them for a few months. I've written about this here.[3]
When Julia recovered from her sickness she took over the leading of the church.
"Time has passed since the homecall of our late pastor, Mr. D. J. Davies of the Ystrad Assembly, to be with Christ, but we can truly say that the Lord has been very faithful in watching over His flock and providing for them another leader, viz, our late Pastor's wife, Mrs. J. E. Davies.
The Lord has granted times of refreshing in our midst; souls have been saved, many of whom have received the Holy Ghost, and many bodies have been healed, Hallelujah."
The 1935 listing of the Assemblies of God churches in Great Britain list Julia Edith Davies as the official leader of the church in Ystrad.
This is just the lower half of the listings, but you can see Mrs. E. Davies listed in the bottom right hand corner next to the Ystrad church. She wasn't the only woman leader in the listing. Miss N. Shearman leads in Gloucester, and Miss J. Curtis in Hull.
Price Davies (Julia's brother in law) records in his memoir that there were 700 people sometimes in the congregation at Ystrad[3], which met at the Nebo Baptist Church until the Mount Zion church building was built. This wasn't a woman leader in some church of 20-30 congregants tucked away in the middle of nowhere. The Assemblies of God church in Ystrad was significant. David John (Her deceased husband) was the former secretary of the Assemblies of God in Wales and a member of the national executive board that led the Assemblies of God in its early days in Great Britain.
I see Julia Edith Davies as a pioneer of women in leadership within the church.
____
[1] Unlike the same time period of time within the United States, there was no roaring 20's in Britain and the 1920's were a time of social upheaval and strikes. The 3rd May 1926 to the 13th may 1926 was a General Strike where none of the coal miners worked and non essential railways shut down. Any visiting speakers from outside of the Rhondda would have been unable to visit during this period. This article is written in July 1926 but it is about the May Whitsuntide Convention which would have been affected by this.
[2] To my knowledge neither Julia Edith Davies nor her husband David John Davies believed it was wrong to visit a doctor. They did however believe in divine healing and often preached on such. The denomination of which they were a part, the Assemblies of God, also believes in divine healing. The denomination does not believe in avoiding doctors and believe that God uses doctors to bring about healing. While this is the teaching of the church, the lady writing the article, a Mrs. Chinn, obviously decided that in her current case of cancer there was nothing more the doctor could do and so she would trust in divine healing instead.
[3] I am fortunate that my Great Grandfather Price Davies recorded his own memoirs of his involvement in the birth of the pentecostal movement in Great Britain. Mentioned within them is his time at Ystrad assembly in the Rhondda Valley.
Married in Merthyr Tydfil, 11th June 1905 to my great great uncle David John Davies.
Sometime between 1911 and 1917 they began leading a church together. At that time it was in the Ystrad, Rhondda and they met at a Baptist Chapel. Today it is called Mount Zion Pentecostal Church and has moved to Gelli but is still in the Rhondda Valley.
Whether or not Julia Edith preached earlier than 1926 is not known for sure, but she was definitely preaching at the church by the period of the late 1920's.
 |
| Article in 1926 July edition of Redemption Tidings (The official magazine of the Assemblies of God, Great Britain.) |
The above article was written in July 1926 by Julia's husband. The first paragraph is of note. It reads:
"I am taking the pleasure of writing to you a brief account of our Whitsuntide Convention. Although owing to the present coal crisis[1], we had to cancel our expected speakers, yet we carried the meetings on locally, the other Assemblies rallying with us, and from beginning to end the Lord caused his face to shine upon us. Those who ministered the word were Bro. Dan John, Clydach Vale; J Crew, Tumble; Miss A. Meredith, Treorchy; Mrs. E. Davies, Ystrad."
What conclusions to draw from this? Firstly, at least some and perhaps all of these, were not the intended speakers for the convention, but the general strike made it impossible for the original speakers to make it to the Rhondda and the church in Ystrad.
Secondly, Julia Edith is referred to here as Mrs. E. Davies. This was not unusual. She often went by Mrs. J. E. Davies and Mrs. E. Davies.
Thirdly, there was more than one woman speaker at this convention. Miss A. Meredith also spoke.
Later in 1926 both Mr. and Mrs. Davies traveled for an evangelistic campaign in Ramsgate.
 |
| Article from the 1926 Oct edition of Redemption Tidings |
In this case it's a simple announcement that "This Assembly, too, is having a Special Gospel Campaign during September-October, when they expect Mr. and Mrs. Davies, of Ystrad, Wales, for a Soul-saving Campaign."
It's not definitive proof that she preached, but it was not unusual for her to do so. Another article from Redemption Tidings in June of 1929 is recalling a miraculous healing that one of the congregation experienced. The full article is provided here.
 |
| Article in 1929 June edition of Redemption Tidings |
"I went to our mission at Ystrad, where I was a member, and that night our dear sister Mrs. Davies (the pastor's wife), was delivering a message from the Word of God. She said how we people believed in God for everything, yet when we were taken ill we run for the doctor.[2] I was drinking in every word she was saying."
Julia. E. Davies was a preacher, and in the early days of the Pentecostal movement it seemed that no one batted an eyelid.
Julia's husband died in 1931. Julia herself was sick when his death occurred and the church initially called David John's brother to lead them for a few months. I've written about this here.[3]
When Julia recovered from her sickness she took over the leading of the church.
 |
| Article in the February 1934 edition of Redemption Tidings |
The Lord has granted times of refreshing in our midst; souls have been saved, many of whom have received the Holy Ghost, and many bodies have been healed, Hallelujah."
The 1935 listing of the Assemblies of God churches in Great Britain list Julia Edith Davies as the official leader of the church in Ystrad.
 |
| 1935 Jan Redemption Tidings listing of Assemblies of God Churches, Great Britain and their leaders. |
Price Davies (Julia's brother in law) records in his memoir that there were 700 people sometimes in the congregation at Ystrad[3], which met at the Nebo Baptist Church until the Mount Zion church building was built. This wasn't a woman leader in some church of 20-30 congregants tucked away in the middle of nowhere. The Assemblies of God church in Ystrad was significant. David John (Her deceased husband) was the former secretary of the Assemblies of God in Wales and a member of the national executive board that led the Assemblies of God in its early days in Great Britain.
I see Julia Edith Davies as a pioneer of women in leadership within the church.
____
[1] Unlike the same time period of time within the United States, there was no roaring 20's in Britain and the 1920's were a time of social upheaval and strikes. The 3rd May 1926 to the 13th may 1926 was a General Strike where none of the coal miners worked and non essential railways shut down. Any visiting speakers from outside of the Rhondda would have been unable to visit during this period. This article is written in July 1926 but it is about the May Whitsuntide Convention which would have been affected by this.
[2] To my knowledge neither Julia Edith Davies nor her husband David John Davies believed it was wrong to visit a doctor. They did however believe in divine healing and often preached on such. The denomination of which they were a part, the Assemblies of God, also believes in divine healing. The denomination does not believe in avoiding doctors and believe that God uses doctors to bring about healing. While this is the teaching of the church, the lady writing the article, a Mrs. Chinn, obviously decided that in her current case of cancer there was nothing more the doctor could do and so she would trust in divine healing instead.
[3] I am fortunate that my Great Grandfather Price Davies recorded his own memoirs of his involvement in the birth of the pentecostal movement in Great Britain. Mentioned within them is his time at Ystrad assembly in the Rhondda Valley.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Organizing My Family History
This blog has been on hold for the majority of the past three years. This was because my family history research was mostly on hold. There were some notes I made, pictures I came across and interviews I had conducted spread throughout that time but for the most part I wasn't actively pursuing it. This is because I was writing a novel and learning how to be a dad to a new born and toddler. I have finally reached a stage where I think its feasible to begin researching and blogging again.
As I sat down in front of my computer I suddenly realised an error I made when I was last researching my family history. Organization. I have a family tree on Ancestry, notes on FamilySearch and pictures spread across two computers and four websites. Organization has never been my strong point but I was horrified that I had not been more on top of things.
I quickly started to try and get my head around where everything was and contacted a friend who is a veteran at blogging about genealogy. He suggested a method of organization that made sense and had me wondering why I hadn't been able to come up with it myself. Realising that I sometimes work on multiple machines I decided that I should try and store my work in the cloud and back it up to one or both of the primary computers I use.
With this in mind I opened my Google Drive and began setting up folders for each family name and folders for individual people within that. I also currently have two rather large folders titled "Unfiled Photographs" and "Unfiled records." My hope is that over the coming days and weeks these folders will shrink while others grow.
Along with the organization I decided I had to pick one primary place to keep my family tree and after much deliberation I have decided upon Myheritage.com as the site. This isn't to say I won't be keeping hard copies. I just want one central place online. I did like FamilySearch in general but I am not a fan of 'open trees' where anyone can make changes. I've set up some family ancestors there because I think this helps connect with others but I didn't want record merges and additions from others to be changing the tree before I could check the quality of their changes.
Although Ancestry offers a 'closed tree' I became frustrated at Ancestry because I had attached records to various family ancestors assuming that since I had paid to access them and attached them they would all now be viewable. They're not. That was potentially a rookie mistake but one which I shall not make again. Myheritage does not seem quite as intuitive as FamilySearch but it seems to have all the same features. I do prefer the way FamilySearch allows you to attach photographs as memories to ancestors, while Myheritage seems to keep them separate, although you can tag ancestors in pictures which is still very helpful. In the end though, the fact that it is a closed tree won the day. It still allows me to add other family members to view the tree and I will be employing this ability in the coming year.
Thanks again for all who are following my genealogy journey, I'm eager to see what's still out there.
As I sat down in front of my computer I suddenly realised an error I made when I was last researching my family history. Organization. I have a family tree on Ancestry, notes on FamilySearch and pictures spread across two computers and four websites. Organization has never been my strong point but I was horrified that I had not been more on top of things.
I quickly started to try and get my head around where everything was and contacted a friend who is a veteran at blogging about genealogy. He suggested a method of organization that made sense and had me wondering why I hadn't been able to come up with it myself. Realising that I sometimes work on multiple machines I decided that I should try and store my work in the cloud and back it up to one or both of the primary computers I use.
With this in mind I opened my Google Drive and began setting up folders for each family name and folders for individual people within that. I also currently have two rather large folders titled "Unfiled Photographs" and "Unfiled records." My hope is that over the coming days and weeks these folders will shrink while others grow.
Along with the organization I decided I had to pick one primary place to keep my family tree and after much deliberation I have decided upon Myheritage.com as the site. This isn't to say I won't be keeping hard copies. I just want one central place online. I did like FamilySearch in general but I am not a fan of 'open trees' where anyone can make changes. I've set up some family ancestors there because I think this helps connect with others but I didn't want record merges and additions from others to be changing the tree before I could check the quality of their changes.
Although Ancestry offers a 'closed tree' I became frustrated at Ancestry because I had attached records to various family ancestors assuming that since I had paid to access them and attached them they would all now be viewable. They're not. That was potentially a rookie mistake but one which I shall not make again. Myheritage does not seem quite as intuitive as FamilySearch but it seems to have all the same features. I do prefer the way FamilySearch allows you to attach photographs as memories to ancestors, while Myheritage seems to keep them separate, although you can tag ancestors in pictures which is still very helpful. In the end though, the fact that it is a closed tree won the day. It still allows me to add other family members to view the tree and I will be employing this ability in the coming year.
Thanks again for all who are following my genealogy journey, I'm eager to see what's still out there.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Hymns Of My Fathers - "I fell in love with the Nazarene"
This is the first in a series of blogs that will endeavor to capture the heart of some old hymns. They are not just any hymns but those which I know my ancestors sang. I will post the lyrics with some information about who crafted the hymn and why. Sometimes I may explore the words and lyrics of a tune and sometimes there may also be a family story behind them. I hope you enjoy reading about this as much I will sharing them with you.
There are many things to write about Harold but for the purpose of this blog it is enough to say this: He was a man of great conviction who became a Christian sometime after World War 1. He became a Pentecostal minister who planted churches around the United Kingdom and Ireland, in partnership with Edward Jeffrey's who started the Bethel movement. These churches later joined the Elim and Assemblies of God churches on the European side of the Atlantic.[1] Many of the churches he planted bare the name "Bethel" today. As well as a preacher he was a pianist and a singer. He composed a new tune to the formerly well known hymn of "I fell in love with the Nazarene." The words are as follow:
Verse 1
"The Master stood in the Judgment Hall of Pilate great and strong,
He stood there silent and alone for all his friends were gone.
They had scattered far and near, and left him with the throng,
No voice of love his heart to cheer, thro' all the morn' so long."
Chorus
"I fell in love with the Nazarene, "The beautiful Nazarene."
Whose face with glory was a-light, the fairest I have seen.
Near his side I would abide, with ne'er a veil between,
Since I fell so deep in love with Jesus "The Nazarene."
Verse 2
"His face was fair as lilies white, a halo round his head,
While all around was black as night, their souls thro' sin were dead.
See his hands all bound with thongs, the thorn crown on his brow,
Hark! The Angels mournful song, "All heav'n in sorrow now."
Verse 3
"The angry mob cried out in wrath, "Crucify him now!"
And so he trod Golgotha's Path, The life blood on "His brow."
On on he trod and bear the Cross, But never made a moan
Weak and falling from the loss, of blood yet not a groan."
Verse 4
And when they nail'd him to the Cross, with cruel spikes and deep,
His face diviner grew to me, And I began to weep.
All His anguish quite forgot, I heard him gently pray:
"Father forgive, for they know not the wrong that they have done."
I must confess, I don't know the original tune, and I haven't yet heard the tune my Great Grandfather composed for it. I have however convinced my Mum that when my parents are over to visit at Christmas she will play the tune for me. How do we know the tune? Harold's granddaughter sent me these images via email:
They came with the following message:
"I think it is an appropriate song to remember Harold by as he never got over the love of God, the wonder of his salvation and he had a deep love for the Lord. It is a moving song and anything Harold played was moving and congregations would laugh, cry or worship depending on what Harold did on the piano as he sang. When you hear this song you can imagine the power of God at work when Harold ministered in music.
 |
| Harold Emanuel Griffiths |
Verse 1
"The Master stood in the Judgment Hall of Pilate great and strong,
He stood there silent and alone for all his friends were gone.
They had scattered far and near, and left him with the throng,
No voice of love his heart to cheer, thro' all the morn' so long."
Chorus
"I fell in love with the Nazarene, "The beautiful Nazarene."
Whose face with glory was a-light, the fairest I have seen.
Near his side I would abide, with ne'er a veil between,
Since I fell so deep in love with Jesus "The Nazarene."
Verse 2
"His face was fair as lilies white, a halo round his head,
While all around was black as night, their souls thro' sin were dead.
See his hands all bound with thongs, the thorn crown on his brow,
Hark! The Angels mournful song, "All heav'n in sorrow now."
Verse 3
"The angry mob cried out in wrath, "Crucify him now!"
And so he trod Golgotha's Path, The life blood on "His brow."
On on he trod and bear the Cross, But never made a moan
Weak and falling from the loss, of blood yet not a groan."
Verse 4
And when they nail'd him to the Cross, with cruel spikes and deep,
His face diviner grew to me, And I began to weep.
All His anguish quite forgot, I heard him gently pray:
"Father forgive, for they know not the wrong that they have done."
I must confess, I don't know the original tune, and I haven't yet heard the tune my Great Grandfather composed for it. I have however convinced my Mum that when my parents are over to visit at Christmas she will play the tune for me. How do we know the tune? Harold's granddaughter sent me these images via email:
They came with the following message:
"I think it is an appropriate song to remember Harold by as he never got over the love of God, the wonder of his salvation and he had a deep love for the Lord. It is a moving song and anything Harold played was moving and congregations would laugh, cry or worship depending on what Harold did on the piano as he sang. When you hear this song you can imagine the power of God at work when Harold ministered in music.
I remember hearing Harold (tenor) and Nance (alto) singing it. I also remember hearing David singing it. He had a lovely voice, as did all of them. I suppose you know the whole family sang song items together at services."
History
It has taken me a while to track down the origins of this song. I searched some of the books about old hymns from the 19th and early 20th century but couldn't turn anything up. Eventually however I found a site online that contained "The Weekly Evangel Issue 169, Dec 16th 1916." I believe this was a tract that was given out in the beginning of the Pentecostal movement to people and churches connected with it. In it is the story of Sarah Payne, a former song writer for 'the world' as she said herself. This was the first song she created after "Giving her life to Jesus." It was written within moments of this commitment and nearly burned to ashes a few days later. Fortunately for my Great Grandad and many many others, it wasn't.
History
It has taken me a while to track down the origins of this song. I searched some of the books about old hymns from the 19th and early 20th century but couldn't turn anything up. Eventually however I found a site online that contained "The Weekly Evangel Issue 169, Dec 16th 1916." I believe this was a tract that was given out in the beginning of the Pentecostal movement to people and churches connected with it. In it is the story of Sarah Payne, a former song writer for 'the world' as she said herself. This was the first song she created after "Giving her life to Jesus." It was written within moments of this commitment and nearly burned to ashes a few days later. Fortunately for my Great Grandad and many many others, it wasn't.
****
[1] An early version of this blog said he campaigned with the Jeffrey's brothers. This might be true, but I have changed it to Edward Jeffrey's because there is evidence of this in a pamphlet created to commemorate the building and commissioning of Bethel Church at Milton Hall in 1950. This church was built by Harold E. Griffiths.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
How I found Anney!
I have mentioned before that when it comes to Genealogy I am fortunate to have some other family members that have done the hard work for me. Many branches of my family tree have already been explored to a certain extent. There was one significant branch that was missing; that of my Great Grandmother Simpkins. I initially put her name down as Annie in the searches I made through census records but I couldn't find her. Then I changed it to Anne but still no luck. On Ancestry a picture of a little green leaf appears if the name matches any records they have. The name didn't.
So I waited a few weeks; in genealogy there are always more things to move on to. I'm still looking for information on Great Granddad George Wright and there are the ongoing interviews with family about my Grandma Iris, as well as many many other people to research. Within the past week though, Great Aunt Ruth sent me some information confirming Anne's father was John Simpkins and she had a sister called Lily. Great I thought, now I can search for Anne/Annie in conjunction with her father.
I put in some simple searches and it still came up with nothing. I must state, probably much to the chagrin of my Aunt Ruth, that I was unsure whether she had given me the right names. [The moral of this story - never doubt an Aunt, particularly about her own mother!] As I looked back over the information I had gathered I realised Anne was definitely Annie because I discovered a wedding between Harold Emanuel Griffiths and Annie Simpkins from 1911. I've sent off for their marriage certificate but it hasn't arrived yet. I also realised that they definitely lived in Abertillery at some point. So again I ran the search, and this time a close match popped up. I discovered this!
Anney, there you are. Yes, Anney...with her whole family. So this is how they spelled Annie in 1911. Or at least, that is how the person taking notes for this particular census form spelled Annie. It doesn't help that her mother was recorded as Eliz, when I had it down as Elizabeth. Which brings me back to something I read on my friend Bill's blog once. [His blog can be found at www.westinnewengland.blogspot.com] It is also listed on the right hand side of my blog.
He mentioned how many people in previous times didn't know how to spell their own names and had never had to write them before. Therefore many names were probably spelled phonetically, or close to it. When it came to a census the person conducting the census might have no idea how certain names are spelled. All this leads to a variety of names being found on a census for the same person. If you look closely at this particular form you will notice that John's last name is "Simpkins" and Eliz' last name is "Simkins." It's a prime example of how lax some people were on the spelling!
Now that I had found Annie in 1911 and all of her family, I sent a quick message to Great Aunt Ruth to confirm it was the right one. It is - so I'm pretty sure that with the information from this form I can trace her back through the other records now.
And that is how I found Anney!
So I waited a few weeks; in genealogy there are always more things to move on to. I'm still looking for information on Great Granddad George Wright and there are the ongoing interviews with family about my Grandma Iris, as well as many many other people to research. Within the past week though, Great Aunt Ruth sent me some information confirming Anne's father was John Simpkins and she had a sister called Lily. Great I thought, now I can search for Anne/Annie in conjunction with her father.
I put in some simple searches and it still came up with nothing. I must state, probably much to the chagrin of my Aunt Ruth, that I was unsure whether she had given me the right names. [The moral of this story - never doubt an Aunt, particularly about her own mother!] As I looked back over the information I had gathered I realised Anne was definitely Annie because I discovered a wedding between Harold Emanuel Griffiths and Annie Simpkins from 1911. I've sent off for their marriage certificate but it hasn't arrived yet. I also realised that they definitely lived in Abertillery at some point. So again I ran the search, and this time a close match popped up. I discovered this!
Anney, there you are. Yes, Anney...with her whole family. So this is how they spelled Annie in 1911. Or at least, that is how the person taking notes for this particular census form spelled Annie. It doesn't help that her mother was recorded as Eliz, when I had it down as Elizabeth. Which brings me back to something I read on my friend Bill's blog once. [His blog can be found at www.westinnewengland.blogspot.com] It is also listed on the right hand side of my blog.
He mentioned how many people in previous times didn't know how to spell their own names and had never had to write them before. Therefore many names were probably spelled phonetically, or close to it. When it came to a census the person conducting the census might have no idea how certain names are spelled. All this leads to a variety of names being found on a census for the same person. If you look closely at this particular form you will notice that John's last name is "Simpkins" and Eliz' last name is "Simkins." It's a prime example of how lax some people were on the spelling!
Now that I had found Annie in 1911 and all of her family, I sent a quick message to Great Aunt Ruth to confirm it was the right one. It is - so I'm pretty sure that with the information from this form I can trace her back through the other records now.
And that is how I found Anney!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The Grandma I Never Knew. Part 2 1938-1944
[Let me first start by addressing a mistake I made in my first post about Iris Griffiths. I mentioned that due to her older sister Annie being partially blind and deaf Iris may have done most of the house hold chores. I have been informed by one of their sisters that Iris did not take over from Annie's duties. This makes Annie quite a remarkable person, but that is another story;)]
Contributors to this post are: Merthyn Davies, Glyn Davies, Wendy Thomas and Ruth Salmon. Thank you, I could never have done this without you.
After the death of William Sergeant, Iris was single for a while. By this time most of her family had moved to Birmingham and Iris went with them. No one is completely sure how Iris met Idris Davies, but it seems fair to say they may have met at Church. Both were devout believers and both had a Pentecostal upbringing with fathers who were preachers. The story of their meeting however is one that I have not yet discovered.
On Dec 24th 1938 Iris was married to Idris and became Mrs. Iris Davies. The wedding took place at Bethel Gospel Temple, Wardend Road, Birmingham, England. Iris' father Harold Griffiths was a traveling preacher and he was due to be speaking and planting churches in Ireland both before the 24th and after Boxing Day. (1) So the 24th it was!
Their first child was soon born; Grace Wendy Davies! The lives of everyone around the world were to be horribly interrupted shortly after. On September 1st 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Britain, France and most Commonwealth (2) countries declared war on Hitlers' Germany. World War 2 had begun.
The Davies' were affected in a similar way to most of those in Britain at the time. Some family members went to war while others were involved in the Home Guard.(3) Below is a picture of Idris with his brothers DavidJohn, and Glyn. Glyn went to war, the others were in the Home Guard.
+during+World+War+II.JPG)
****
Notes
(1) Boxing day is December 26th In England.
(2) The Common Wealth, formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is made up of a collection of countries that used to be part of the British Empire.
(3) The Home Guard is a term used during WW2 in the United Kingdom, for those people who volunteered to serve with the military at 'home'. They were usually ineligible for military service due to age etc. and were employed in many tasks from cleaning up wreckage, last line of defence, and putting bodies back together.
(4) This website can give many more details about the affect of the Blitz and bombing on Birmingham during WW2 http://www.swanshurst.org/barra/
(5) Anderson Shelters were given free to many British house holds during and in the lead up to WW2. They provided excellent protection from ground shocks but had a tendency to flood during cold weather. An Air Raid Table was just what it sounds like. A table that was perhaps sturdier than your average table but a table never the less.
(6) Ludo is a game similar to the American board game "Trouble." Opponents race their counters around the board from start to finish by throwing the dice and moving accordingly. Drafts is known in America as "Checkers".
(7) An Eider Down is like a quilt but made out of Eider Duck feathers.
Contributors to this post are: Merthyn Davies, Glyn Davies, Wendy Thomas and Ruth Salmon. Thank you, I could never have done this without you.
[Above: Iris Davies with her 2 eldest children Wendy and Glyndwr, in Birmingham abt1947]
After the death of William Sergeant, Iris was single for a while. By this time most of her family had moved to Birmingham and Iris went with them. No one is completely sure how Iris met Idris Davies, but it seems fair to say they may have met at Church. Both were devout believers and both had a Pentecostal upbringing with fathers who were preachers. The story of their meeting however is one that I have not yet discovered.
On Dec 24th 1938 Iris was married to Idris and became Mrs. Iris Davies. The wedding took place at Bethel Gospel Temple, Wardend Road, Birmingham, England. Iris' father Harold Griffiths was a traveling preacher and he was due to be speaking and planting churches in Ireland both before the 24th and after Boxing Day. (1) So the 24th it was!
Their first child was soon born; Grace Wendy Davies! The lives of everyone around the world were to be horribly interrupted shortly after. On September 1st 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Britain, France and most Commonwealth (2) countries declared war on Hitlers' Germany. World War 2 had begun.
The Davies' were affected in a similar way to most of those in Britain at the time. Some family members went to war while others were involved in the Home Guard.(3) Below is a picture of Idris with his brothers DavidJohn, and Glyn. Glyn went to war, the others were in the Home Guard.
+during+World+War+II.JPG)
During World War 2 Iris' husband Idris became a munitions inspector but Iris worked at the local Woolworths. Woolworths was a chain of shops in England. Iris would operate the elevators. Their son Glyndwr recalls visiting Iris with his Grandpa Harold Griffiths. They watched as she operated machines to move the Elevator. In those days it did not move at the push of a button!
During the war Iris and Idris lived at 54 or 45 Heather Road in Birmingham and that house is still standing today. The same can't be said of every house of that street. Birmingham was bombed often during World War 2 and the Blitz. The Blitz was a series of bombing raids organized by Germany and night after night would see the bombs come down on all the major cities of Britain. Birmingham was the second most bombed city of Britain during this time period. Over 2,000 people were killed in Birmingham with many more injured.(4)
Like others, Iris and the family were given Anderson Bomb shelters, sturdy Air Raid Table shelters, and drills in what to do when the Air Raid sirens sounded.(5) Iris' sister Ruth recalls that Iris, Ruth, Wendy and one of their neighbors would all run to the shelter.
"We used to go down in
the shelter that Idris had made in the garden, he made it very comfortable so we could play
games while the bombs were dropping all around us. Idris was out & about in
the Home Guard helping to dig people out that had been hit." - Ruth Griffiths
Iris father Harold was also not with them as he was "out there praying with people who were dying."
In the shelter they would sometimes sing to try and drown out the noise of the bombs falling and the guns firing. Sometimes they would play games like Ludo, Tiddlywinks and Drafts.(6)
Wendy remembers that the Air Raid Table was used for those times that they couldn't make it to the Anderson shelter or if the shelter was flooded. There was only one time she can ever remember using it and none of them thought it was safe. On another occasion a bomb had a direct hit on a house just four lots away, It was demolished and the windows of Iris' house came breaking inwards. As the family ran down the hallway to reach the Anderson shelter they discovered a piece of burning shrapnel had flown in with the glass and landed on an Eider Down (7) on the sofa, setting fire to it. Fortunately they saw it and were able to put it out or the whole house may have burnt down.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though. Wendy observes that Iris would often take her to the clinic where they would have to do all kinds of tests. Then they would have to do silly exercises like picking up matchsticks with your toes to stop your feet from becoming flat. [There's more to this story but it is related to another blog of the future.]
Then towards the end of the war their second eldest, Glyndwr was born. It was often joked among the family that "Wendy began the war and Glyn finished it".
****
Notes
(1) Boxing day is December 26th In England.
(2) The Common Wealth, formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is made up of a collection of countries that used to be part of the British Empire.
(3) The Home Guard is a term used during WW2 in the United Kingdom, for those people who volunteered to serve with the military at 'home'. They were usually ineligible for military service due to age etc. and were employed in many tasks from cleaning up wreckage, last line of defence, and putting bodies back together.
(4) This website can give many more details about the affect of the Blitz and bombing on Birmingham during WW2 http://www.swanshurst.org/barra/
(5) Anderson Shelters were given free to many British house holds during and in the lead up to WW2. They provided excellent protection from ground shocks but had a tendency to flood during cold weather. An Air Raid Table was just what it sounds like. A table that was perhaps sturdier than your average table but a table never the less.
(6) Ludo is a game similar to the American board game "Trouble." Opponents race their counters around the board from start to finish by throwing the dice and moving accordingly. Drafts is known in America as "Checkers".
(7) An Eider Down is like a quilt but made out of Eider Duck feathers.
Tech Tuesday: Using Pinterest for your Family History Photographs
Tech Tuesday is a blogging prompt used by the Geneabloggers group and others to help inspire bloggers to post. Today my post is dedicated to using Pinterest.
I've been aware of Pinterest for a while but I hadn't really looked into it. As I started this blog I thought, wouldn't it be cool to have another place where family members and others can just view the photographs of our ancestors. In essence, the tale of our family through pictures. With this in mind I created a Pinterest board specifically for it. The link is contained in the information section on the right hand side of this page. I will also post it here:
http://pinterest.com/michaeldavies1/tall-tales-of-a-family/
Pinterest is a social networking tool based around images. People post images that fit around a specified criteria to their Pinterest site. You have to be invited to use it but you can personally request an invite through their main webpage. After my initial request it took them a day before inviting me. Pinterest is linked to a Facebook account so you have to be careful about your settings unless you want every picture posted mirrored to your Facebook timeline.
Once on Pinterest you create something called "a board." This board can be called anything you like and about anything you like. I called mine "Tall Tales Of A Family." Original eh! You can change the name at any point but the link to the site will also change. Once a board is created you pin [upload] pictures to the site. Alternatively, if you find an image online you can pin that to the site without downloading it to your computer. Family and friends can then leave comments with each picture, a great way to share memories.
So now I have another place online that people can connect with my family history blog. It's a visually driven site and hopefully provokes enough questions that people want to find out more.
A word to the wise. If you are using photographs of living people, make sure to get their permission before you post it. This should be just the same as when blogging an article. Whenever I post a story that contains the name of someone living or the immediate family of someone living I make sure to give the living relative an advance copy and I do not post the blog until they have affirmed it. Sometimes they make suggestions that improve the story. Sometimes they notice mistakes and they always have the option to say they are uncomfortable with that story being put online. The same should definitely be true of their own photographs as well.
With all that said, why don't you hop on over to Pinterest, maybe visit my own Pinterst 'board' and see how you like it.
http://pinterest.com/michaeldavies1/tall-tales-of-a-family/
Pinterest is a social networking tool based around images. People post images that fit around a specified criteria to their Pinterest site. You have to be invited to use it but you can personally request an invite through their main webpage. After my initial request it took them a day before inviting me. Pinterest is linked to a Facebook account so you have to be careful about your settings unless you want every picture posted mirrored to your Facebook timeline.
Once on Pinterest you create something called "a board." This board can be called anything you like and about anything you like. I called mine "Tall Tales Of A Family." Original eh! You can change the name at any point but the link to the site will also change. Once a board is created you pin [upload] pictures to the site. Alternatively, if you find an image online you can pin that to the site without downloading it to your computer. Family and friends can then leave comments with each picture, a great way to share memories.
So now I have another place online that people can connect with my family history blog. It's a visually driven site and hopefully provokes enough questions that people want to find out more.
A word to the wise. If you are using photographs of living people, make sure to get their permission before you post it. This should be just the same as when blogging an article. Whenever I post a story that contains the name of someone living or the immediate family of someone living I make sure to give the living relative an advance copy and I do not post the blog until they have affirmed it. Sometimes they make suggestions that improve the story. Sometimes they notice mistakes and they always have the option to say they are uncomfortable with that story being put online. The same should definitely be true of their own photographs as well.
With all that said, why don't you hop on over to Pinterest, maybe visit my own Pinterst 'board' and see how you like it.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Grandparents. What's in a name?
While researching my Grandparents it's been interesting just to note what names they preferred to be called.
My Nanna and Granddad (May Wright and Ernest Hilton) were always called Nanna and Granddad and always in that order for some reason. Even now it just seems to roll off the tongue with a Nanna first, then a Granddad.
This is a photograph taken of them on their Wedding Day, April 22nd 1944.
+Wedding+Day+22nd+April+1944.JPG)
Below is a photograph taken sometime in the 90's for their Ruby Wedding Anniversary. I remember when this was taken as I was there. I was due to sing a solo at the celebration and that week I had a five a side indoor football (soccer) tournament. While attempting to head the ball it hit me in the nose and scraped off my skin. So I had to sing with a nose that had half its skin gone.
+Ruby+Anniversary.JPG)
While I never met my Grandparents on my Dad's side he always calls them Grampy and Grammie Davies. I'm probably butchering those spellings because I've never written them down before. Below is a picture of my Grandparents with two dogs, Tanya and Meghan. I'm still hunting around to see if any surviving relatives have a Wedding photograph of these two love birds. Or rather, my relatives are hunting around for me, while I do the pestering!
It made me think. I wonder if what we called them has something to do with a culture we have now forgotten? I'm sure if I do a little investigation I might identify a geographic or cultural region that resulted in these names. Dad's parents were Welsh, do any of the Welsh side of my family know if Welsh grandparents were always referred to in this way? It will be interesting to find out!
Grampy and Grammie I wish I could have met you! Nanna and Granddad, I always will miss you! To all of you, I am looking forward to the day when we will all meet again:)
If any family members are reading this and would like a copy of these photographs please let me know!
My Nanna and Granddad (May Wright and Ernest Hilton) were always called Nanna and Granddad and always in that order for some reason. Even now it just seems to roll off the tongue with a Nanna first, then a Granddad.
This is a photograph taken of them on their Wedding Day, April 22nd 1944.
+Wedding+Day+22nd+April+1944.JPG)
Below is a photograph taken sometime in the 90's for their Ruby Wedding Anniversary. I remember when this was taken as I was there. I was due to sing a solo at the celebration and that week I had a five a side indoor football (soccer) tournament. While attempting to head the ball it hit me in the nose and scraped off my skin. So I had to sing with a nose that had half its skin gone.
+Ruby+Anniversary.JPG)
While I never met my Grandparents on my Dad's side he always calls them Grampy and Grammie Davies. I'm probably butchering those spellings because I've never written them down before. Below is a picture of my Grandparents with two dogs, Tanya and Meghan. I'm still hunting around to see if any surviving relatives have a Wedding photograph of these two love birds. Or rather, my relatives are hunting around for me, while I do the pestering!
It made me think. I wonder if what we called them has something to do with a culture we have now forgotten? I'm sure if I do a little investigation I might identify a geographic or cultural region that resulted in these names. Dad's parents were Welsh, do any of the Welsh side of my family know if Welsh grandparents were always referred to in this way? It will be interesting to find out!
Grampy and Grammie I wish I could have met you! Nanna and Granddad, I always will miss you! To all of you, I am looking forward to the day when we will all meet again:)
If any family members are reading this and would like a copy of these photographs please let me know!
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