RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Isabel H on Sunday 06 March 16 10:06 GMT (UK)
-
This is part of a sampler stitched by my gg grandmother, Elizabeth Coxon, b.1830, dau. of William Coxon and Ann Gray of Thrum Mill, Rothbury.
The letters after the date, TSI(J?)SMS-SB look as though they have some meaning, but what might it be?
-
This is part of a sampler stitched by my gg grandmother, Elizabeth Coxon, b.1830, dau. of William Coxon and Ann Gray of Thrum Mill, Rothbury.
The letters after the date, TSI(J?)SMS-SB look as though they have some meaning, but what might it be?
I would presume they are a religious acronym, in the manner of INRI (JNRJ if you prefer), possibly added when the job was complete, in the manner of Haydn writing Laus Deo at the end of a symphony?
Wasn't Thrum Mill the subject of a TV restoration programme a couple of years ago?
-
I think it reads : TSJSMS - SR. I agree it's proably a religious acronym. Any idea which denomination the family belonged to?
Steve
-
I researched one of these some time ago with a series of letters & found them to be the initials of the rest of the family. Not the case here as you know who she is but may be something similar.
-
Andrew, I did wonder if it was an acronym, but can't work it out. And yes, the restoration of Thrum Mill did feature in a TV programme.
Steve, Thanks, I see now that the last letter is an R, not a B. No I'm afraid I don't know what denomination they were.
Jim, That doesn't seem to apply here, as her siblings were William, John, George and Robert.
-
11 years old would be an indication that it is something a child would recall
I also thought of a hymn or a scripture saying ie (they) Say Jesus Saves Many/My Soul/s
-
I would also guess it's initials - of either members of her family, except presumably their initials ended with C, or the others in her class. Perhaps the SR at the end is the teacher. Can you research other contemporary Rothbury residents? Or the name of the teacher (which might be found in a directory of the period)?
Thrum Mill is a spectacular setting.
-
I see:
TS JS MS SR
Going off at a tangent, it could even be the initials of a kindly neighbour/family, perhaps even the ones who looked after her while parents were working, or who taught her how to do samplers and gave her the materials. And the SR ... could be their dog :)
While sensible answers are King, it's sometimes good to think outside of the box in case that leads you to an unexpected answer that just lands in your lap.
-
It's definitely SR.
-
You will of course know that Debdon Burn is the tributary stream that joins the Coquet river near Thrum Mill. Still don't know the meaning of the acronym, but the repeated S does suggest a group of relatives.
-
What else is on the sampler? I wonder if the letters were added at a later date by say Elizabeth's grand daughter. Is there anything else on the whole sampler in the same colour thread?
-
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.
Here's the whole sampler, but as you can see, all of the work appears to have been done at the same time.
I can see the TSJSMS as being some sort of religious text or hymn or something of that sort, but SR, separated from the rest, puzzles me.
In 1841 Elizabeth was living with her widowed mother, Ann (her father died in 1839) and brothers at Debdon Burn Foot. There don't seem to be any family members whose names tally with those initials.
I was hoping there might have been standard acronyms used on samplers of the time, but realistically, the letters could mean anything or nothing. They just don't appear random. My Grandmother might have known the story behind it, but sadly I never paid much attention to the sampler until my mother inherited it, and now it is one of many unlikely-to-be-solved mysteries thrown up by my family history research.
-
It's a fine piece of work and you are lucky to have it in your family. I hope you can solve the mystery.
-
Good morning,
This Sampler Just Shows My Stitches.
Can't think of anything for SR.
John915
-
Thanks John915, that's another possibility, and something a child might well have chosen to embroider. Maybe SR could be something like Stitched (at) Rothbury.
It's interesting to get other people's ideas about it, even if there is no definite solution.
A relative has another sampler sewn in 1872 by Elizabeth's daughter, my g grandmother, aged 10, at Rothbury Girls School, and I have just realised that the border on it matches this one. I wonder if she chose to copy it from her mother's sampler, or if it was decided by the school? There's always something new to wonder about!