RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Staffordshire => Topic started by: dawnwas on Saturday 09 September 06 01:16 BST (UK)
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Just wondered if anyone had researched family who hailed from this area as I was born and bred there?Sometimes it is interesting to know a bit about where those people lived?
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Thank you Dawnwas, that is a very kind offer.
But I am going to admit my ignorance (again ::) ) of place names in UK. Exactly what area is known as "blackcountry"?
I know some well meaning Rootschatter will tell me to "go google it" or "look it up on a map" ;D but I thought that others may also wish to know.
Apologies for my ignorance and thanks
Regards
Di
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Hello Di - I'm not a local, but have some family from the area.
Have a look here www.bclm.co.uk/whatis.htm for some information - and a great day out if you're visiting the area.
dawnwas - that's a nice offer. It does help to have local knowledge about the ancestors - puts flesh on the bones, so to speak.
Monica
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Hi all,
I am from rowley regis. this is in the black country
The areas are sandwell, walsall and dudley some people also include wolverhampton.
it gets its name from the smoke from the ironworking foundries and forges.
i have lots of pictures if anyone wants to see them...
Sue
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Hi there i was born in Wolverhampton and lived for most of my childhood in willenhall so if i can help let me know
Vanessa
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Thanks everyone for the replies ;D
I was born in wednesfield,and Dad is from Cannockchase and Mom is a Brummie ( which does not class her as a Blackcountrian).
I worked in the early days in WestBromwich and Wolverhampton was the nearest town.
I have since emmigrated to Australia but still have a brother and family in Dudley and wednesfield.
The Blackcountry was named as a reference to the thick industrial smoke that covered it when the area was the heart of heavy industry,but also delicate pottery and china etc...it was the site of the worlds first iron bridge!!!
Wolverhampton was the first town in the world to trial traffic lights!!!
The Midlands in general will always have a special place in my heart!!! I have family who have seen the area change as the heavy industry declined...anyone want a Master Welder from Wolverhampton,cos I know a fantastic one!!
Anyone know more about the challis ( Holy Grail) and Shropshire?
My family were at one stage mostly coalminers ( the men anyway) at Cannock pits!!
Dawn
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I remember reading somewhere,that when Rowley was
given it's royal charter by Henry V111, becoming Rowley
Regis, the area then was known as the Blacke Countrie,
due I think to the black soil caused by coal being near
surface.
Why do Brummies call us yam-yams?
Jackie.
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My husband's family hail from Wolverhampton and then Rugeley - many of them worked in Cannock pits and one in particular worked in Rawnsley pit. Wish I new more about the area. We have visited Rugeley but have never been able to spend much time there.
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The Black Country is the industrial area of south east Staffordshire, north east Worcestershire, north west Warwickshire, and south Shropshire. It is centred on the town of Dudley, and gained its name from the results of the massive atmospheric pollution produced by local metal-working industries, especially in the 19th century. Buildings and trees (where any survived) were black with soot, the stars were never visible in the sky, any washing hung outside was black with freshly deposited soot long before it was dry, and life expectancy was unsurprisingly short. County boundaries in the area always have been complex and subject to many changes.
from http://www.jimella.nildram.co.uk/counties.htm#black
This website looks like a great read for all non-Brits (and some Brits, too ) as it explains about parishes, boundaries, older words for these (hundreds, wappentakes, etc) and much more.
SooCat found it and I quoted it for one particularly useful aspect, i.e. on one page it explains about various regions of Britain, which have well-known names.
That is a great link that SooCatt gave, http://www.jimella.nildram.co.uk/counties.htm
it's a lot clearer then the wikepedia links and also has a big plus for non-brits, that names of areas are also given. These can occur anywhere and are confusing if you don't know what they refer to:
e.g.
The Black Country
The Dales
East Anglia
East Midlands
Fenland
The Home Counties
The Lake District
The Peak District
The Weald
Welsh Marches
West Country and WESSEX
West Midlands
Wirral
etc.
Bob
http://www.jimella.nildram.co.uk/counties.htm
the whole site is well worth a look, here's a list of contents:
# Introduction
# Origins of the counties
# Various forms of county names
# Abbreviations, sub-divisions and map
# Boundary changes
# Other administrative areas
* Hundred and Wapentake
* Parish
o Naming a Parish in Relaton to Its County, Etc.
* Poor Law Unions
* Mid-19th century boards and districts
* Boroughs
* Urban and Rural District Councils
# Definitions of types of settlement
Each page also includes links to more information
Enjoy,
Bob
ps.
the RootsChat topic I am quoting from is also worth a look, if you are wondering generally about british county names
Topic: Correct nomenclature for Counties (!)
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,168106.0.html
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Hi dawnwas. My family also worked in the Cannock Pits. My grandfather used to run around the houses locally in Hednesford when he was a little boy knocking on the doors to get the miners up for their shifts for 6d a week. He also did engineering work on West Cannock No. 5 colliery before going into farming. I am fortunate to live on the edge of Cannock Chase - never moved far from my roots.
Cathy ;)
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Hi Cathy.Great to hear from you.When did your grandfather run around waking up the miners?
My DAd wasa Bevan boy during WW2,along with my Grandad.Grandad originally emmigrated from the area for canada late 1800's early 1900's.
As a boy Dad used to clean out the engines on the steam trains.
How lovely that you still live on the edge of Cannock Chase,I envy you that :)
I am a blackcountry lass with a strong link still emotionally to Chase Terrace,although I never lived there my self.
dawn
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Hi Dawn,
My grandfather was born in 1876 so it would be about 1882/3 onwards when he had his little job. He lived with his family in the Hednesford/Chadsmoor area before he took the tenancy of a farm in 1911. Sadly I never knew him, he died 20 years before I was born. I never realised until researching the family at the beginning of this year what an extraordinary man he must have been to have built up a good farming business from nothing. I don't know why but my father never talked much about his family - so the information I found this year has been an wonderful journey.
Cathy :)
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Regarding the 'yam-yams', I am making a guess to it's origins. When my husband did his National Service he was nick-named Am you. Instead of asking 'are you?' we tend to say 'am you?'.
Could it be that yam is short for the slang 'yo am' (you are).
Hope you can understand this black country dialect. Or (hope yo con understond this black cuntry dilect).
I've heard this dialect is the least favourite in the country, but it is the nearest to the Old English language and in my opinion it should be preserved and not ridiculed.
from a Black Cuntry Ouman. ;D ;D
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The yam yam does come from you am and we tend to call brummies yo yo's from a similar saying but i can not quite remember what.
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Thanks, now I know.
I suppose we could have been referred to as
"bin-bins" or "bay-bays"
Jackie,
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hi sucad....I for one, would love to see the photo's. :D Dawn
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Thanks for all the links. It turns out this would be the part of Staffordshire my Hayes family lived in, really for one generation as far was we can tell. My ggg grandparents came over from Ireland and raised 4 children in the Cannock area (Michael, John, James, Mary Jane, and George). John was a coal miner, married a Hodson lass and eventually moved to Australia. James left for New Jersey, Mary Jane died at 15 and is buried in Rugeley with her mom and I assume her dad, although haven't found that yet. And I don't know what happened to Michael and George. I am on the hunt. It is nice to learn what life was like for them where they lived.
Kath
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Hi,
I was born and breed willenhall and am still 1 mile away now. Willenhall was mostly known for the Lock industry and employing 2 or 4 people in their own backyards, if not others their own family's.
I cum from a family of Locksmith's dating back from the early 1500s from willenhall, new invention, willenhall, wolverhampton and tipton and darlaston.
My family was the Duncombe's married to squire's who had been going for 300yrs, Parkes, Dowens, Tuckleys, Applebys and so on we're all connected.
Willenhall was also known for the people being hunched backed and resting their backs in an hole in the wall, alot of people are still like it today.
Ruby
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Ruby,
First off, welcome to Rootschat. You are going to love it, and possibly become obsessed :).
I am envious of your connection to an area. I couldn't wait to move from the town I grew up in. My family had only lived there for one generation, but as a child it felt a lifetime. I live in a very small town now (pop 2,000) and have a few friends whose family has been in this town for a couple hundred years. It is fascinating hearing her talk about all of these connections. My connection to the blackcountry appears to be only about one generation. I guess my family has a pattern here. ;D
Kath
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Hi Kath,
Thanks for replying to me. If you don't mind, which area of the Black Country did you family live
to make it a life time for you.
Kath with all the family's in my tree, i love helping other's besides doing my own, i've just had a man
get intouch who was a squire and i did him a Genealogy report of about 350 squire's dating back to the early 1600s he's made his family.
Thanks again,
Ruby
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Use of the verb "To Be":
I am
yow am
e am
er am
them am
we bin
the negative "yow bay",
and the strong negative "yow ay arf not"
... needs to be mastered before visiting the area
See also http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dave_mellor/slang.htm
Graham
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Ruby,
I didn't mean I lived in the black country. I grew up in a small city in northern New York and couldn't wait to move from there. My family hasn't had a long-time connection to any area probably since all the branches came over from their respective European homes ages ago. A branch of my family came to Staffordshire from Ireland in the 1840s. My gg-grandfather was born in Cannock. He and his siblings were all gone by the 1891 census and my ggg grandfather died some time after the 1901 census. I haven't been able to track 2 of his 4 siblings, don't know what happened to them, but my great-aunt, who was close to her grandfather, only ever mentioned the two siblings that I have tracked. I wish she were still around so I could ask her about them (well, for more reasons then that but... ).
Sorry about the confusion.
Kath
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Hi Kath,
Sorry i got the wrong end of the stick, as for finding Ancestors i'm ok on my Dads side, they stopped in the same area and got married and buried to only 4 familiar church's. Now my moms side
as been an headache, she never mentioned being half welsh, her mom was born in cannock and her
dad Pontypridd, Glamorgan in 1907 and finding going back in generation they're originally from Berkshire. My mom and dad are dead and for cousins on my moms side god knows where they live.
I've put posts up and it's been no good, i'm trying on here now.
Ruby
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Well, Rootschat is the place to get answers. There are some brilliant people on here, happy to help and anxious to solve mysteries.
Good luck
Kath
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Thanks Kath, for the vote of confidence every bit helps and the same to you.
Ruby
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I have Smiths and Steventons from the Black Country - the families tend to centre on Rowley Regis/Derby End, though my direct ancestors moved north to Lancashire (first to Barrow-in-Furness, then to Blackpool) around 1870.
Hi all,
I am from rowley regis. this is in the black country
i have lots of pictures if anyone wants to see them...
Modern ones, or old ones? Just looking at old maps, I suspect the landscape must have changed a bit since the 1860s, what with urbanisation and the loss of the old industries.
It'd be interesting to see photos/paintings from the mid 19th century of the likes of Rowley Regis, Derby End etc. Anything you read, suggests conditions were grim.
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Hi Aulus,
Try Rowley Regis online
http://www.rowleyregis.com/
they have some old photo's in their gallery
Donna
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Dawnwas you might want to take a look at this site its very interesting for the blackcountry, and what people used to do in and around the area, hope it helps,
http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/home.htm hope it helps you,
steve
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Sorry to be so late answering this post...but have been unable to access for some time.The site looks great and I am off to catch up and have a look now.
Cheers Dawn
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There is also "The Black Country Bugle" a weekly paper concentrating on old stories and photos.
http://www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/
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Hi Cember,
My husband has the Bugle every week, for the pic's and old saying's.
Ruby
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Why do Brummies call us yam-yams?
Jackie.
Because... "yam frum the bloc-countri"
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Anyone know more about the challis ( Holy Grail) and Shropshire?
You'll be thinking of the grail window at Hodnett church (St Lukes) and the object found hidden in an old statue in nearby Hawkstone Park. If my memory serves me right it is an egg-cup like soapstone object, identified as Roman 1st century and used for annointing oil.
By the way, put me in pedants corner if you like, but the bridge you refer to is actually the world's oldest CAST iron bridge, erected in 1779. Other claims have been made from around the world but that one we can claim.
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Yo useter be able ter tell wen yo was in the black contry..
The'n all had big bulgin muscles and moustaches...an that won just the wimen.
;D
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Them war moustaches- it wuz snuff!
Jackie
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Hi,
I was born and breed willenhall and am still 1 mile away now. Willenhall was mostly known for the Lock industry and employing 2 or 4 people in their own backyards, if not others their own family's.
I cum from a family of Locksmith's dating back from the early 1500s from willenhall, new invention, willenhall, wolverhampton and tipton and darlaston.
My family was the Duncombe's married to squire's who had been going for 300yrs, Parkes, Dowens, Tuckleys, Applebys and so on we're all connected.
Willenhall was also known for the people being hunched backed and resting their backs in an hole in the wall, alot of people are still like it today.
Ruby
We must be related Ruby
I am not far from Willenhall either and have birch tarbuck squire Parkes duncome etc in my tree too x
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For anyone interested in the history of the Black Country, here's quite a detailed site centred on Wolverhampton but covering the whole area
http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/