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Messages - Preraphaelite

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1
The Lighter Side / Re: Unusual causes of death
« on: Thursday 25 October 12 20:38 BST (UK)  »
Hello all. I was the originator of this thread and, not having checked in on Rootschat for quite some time, am astonished by the amount of replies....and the many weird and wonderful (and very sad) ways in which people's ancestors have met their maker!

I am particularly surprised, in reading through all the posts, by how many times being "struck by lightning" has been mentioned as the cause of death. I had thought that this was an extremely rare occurrance (I work in an electricity museum, and we are sent details of any present day incidents).

I am also now eyeing my luminous watch with suspicion... :o  Thanks everyone!  :D

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Derry (Londonderry) / Re: Holmes/McQuillan Londonderry
« on: Monday 21 May 12 23:33 BST (UK)  »
@Ataturk05 - Yes, we have a definite match! Your wife's grandmother was indeed my father's sister Sarah, who was known by everyone as Sissy. She is mentioned, under her married name of Bush, in the newspaper clipping I have of my grandfather's obituary notice. I understand that Sissy had hardly any contact with the rest of the family after she got married, and unfortunately I never had the chance to meet her myself, but she did resume contact with her sister Molly in their latter years. My father died when I was 8, so I didn't get the opportunity to ask him very much about his family, but I did know Molly and her daughters. How much information does your wife have so far? I'm afraid I know very little about Sissy and don't even have any photographs of her, but I'm happy to share all that I know about the rest of the family. Your wife is my first cousin once-removed  :)


@cyclamen - it is possible that our Holmes families are related too...we both have a John Holmes who was a carpenter, but I really don't have any more information to go on at the moment . Are there any other children of John Holmes listed on the 1901 Census?

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The Lighter Side / Re: How cross would you be, or am I over reacting?
« on: Saturday 01 August 09 12:27 BST (UK)  »
Beware of ignoring people!  A couple of years ago we had a bit of a run of bad luck, owing to illness and a family bereavement.  We also had some problems with our home computer at the time and couldn't get it fixed straight away, what with everything else going on, so I was unable to get online for a few weeks.  When I eventually was able to check through all my emails, I found several from a particular older "gentleman" who had tried to contact me about a name I had on my GR tree.  The emails had started off pleasantly enough but, as he had not received his anticipated reply, each subsequent email became increasingly irate. The final one I read informed me that I was an extremely rude and horrible individual (or something to that effect)! :o

I really didn't know what to do - I was so shocked, and not really in the mood for any confrontation at the time. I figured that after his final outburst he would just leave me alone, so I did nothing.  A couple of weeks later I went to check my emails one day and discovered that this man had started a new tactic of flaming my inbox with messages!  This continued for a few days wth up to 70 emails a day from him, until I snapped and completely removed my tree and account with GR. I've not dared to use the site again! 

I suppose I really should have reported him.  I did however speak to a cousin and fellow genealogist about it.  She had also been in contact with this man and thought he seemed very pleasant and helpful (!), but my opinion is that this man is clearly a complete fruitloop!  ::)

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The Common Room / Re: Burials by the church wall??
« on: Wednesday 24 June 09 16:07 BST (UK)  »
Chris in 1066 and Lydart - according to the Canford Parish website it looks like this part of the building, the South Chapel, was built in the 14th C - so, yes it was a new addition to the building! (the church was originally Saxon)  ;)  I enclose the plan from their website, showing the age of the various sections, below.

Thanks for the link to the church plans site though, Lydart.  I haven't had a chance to study the plans they have for Canford church yet, but it looks like it will be a generally useful site for other research also.

I haven't discounted the possibility that the stones had toppled and been moved - just that if they did it was a very long time ago as they've been against the wall since at least 1886!

Thanks also to goldy for the Budden family site link.  Unfortunately they don't seem to be anything to do with my line - at least I haven't come across a link yet and I have mine back to the 16th C.  Mine came from Ringwood to Canford in the 17th C - the website is for the Buddens from Loders which is in the west of Dorset, near to Dorchester.




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The Common Room / Re: Burials by the church wall??
« on: Wednesday 24 June 09 11:43 BST (UK)  »
Thanks Lydart for the extra information.  I didn't know whether I should write to the vicar directly, but I will do as you suggest.  Yes, I had also considered that the stones had been placed there for safety - that is very possible of course although they have been sited there for a very long time.

The following image is from the Francis Frith collection.  It was taken in 1886 and shows the graves alongside the nearest corner of the building, as you view it. (funny how the Norman tower was completely covered in ivy then - bet that took some work removing!)


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The Common Room / Re: Burials by the church wall??
« on: Wednesday 24 June 09 11:19 BST (UK)  »
Thank you Old Mother Reilly! I am very relieved to learn that my family were not buried on the "devil's side"! :o

I will do as you suggest and contact the church and enquire about the vestry records.  Hopefully I will discover some interesting facts as to why they were buried there.  It will be nice to have some prominent citizens in the family  ;)

I have just had another look at my photos of the graves, and noticed something possibly a little odd.  John's wife Mary died 18 years before him, but she is also buried in the same grave and commemorated on the headstone. So perhaps she was the eminent person, as she was here first? Unless they exhumed her grave from another location after her husband died?!

I enclose photos of the grave stone - I had to take two close-up shots to show the inscriptions clearly. I've also resized the images, so hopefully they won't be too big here!




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The Common Room / Re: Burials by the church wall??
« on: Wednesday 24 June 09 09:10 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for your response goldy.

Oops, silly me - John Budden did of course die in 1797.  I've looked at that date a gazillion times - I don't know why I typed 1789!  ::)

I have found the websites you mentioned before - yes you have got the right church!  My ancestor's headstones are situated along the south facing wall of the South Chapel.  According to the church website, this part of the building dates from the 14th C so would have been there long before the graves, but good lateral thinking there!

I remember visiting another church once (can't recall where) which had a grave stone up against the building  - it was to honour a long-standing church sexton, but this was clearly indicated on the inscription.  The inscriptions for "my lot" are very faint and covered in lichen, but I managed to decipher them all, and they all feature just names and dates. I'll see if I can dig out some of my pictures of them.

I think perhaps I should try contacting someone at the church itself.  I have no idea whether churches hold that kind of information on burials - other then just a "map" of the plots.  I'm not even sure who at the church I need to speak to. :-\

I suppose what I was originally asking was - is there some kind of protocol for who can be buried in such a site right beside a church?

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The Common Room / Burials by the church wall??
« on: Tuesday 23 June 09 16:31 BST (UK)  »
Hello all!

I have been puzzling for a while over this, and trust there will be someone out there who is a little more knowledgeable than me!

I have an ancestor (8 x g-grandfather? haven't quite done the maths yet!) who is buried at the side of a church.  When I say at the side of a church, I mean literally that - his headstone, and those of several of his immediate family are lined up along the south wall of the building.  I considered that they may have been buried elsewhere in the churchyard, and that the headstones may have toppled and been placed against the wall for safety, but they do seem to be firmly rooted there!  Also, I have seen an old photo from the 19th C which shows the headstones already in that position. My question is - why would they have been buried there?  I assume it means that "many greats Grandad" would have had something to do with the church, or was highly regarded in the community in some way, but is there any "standard" reason why someone would be buried against the church wall?

There are no clues in the headstone inscriptions. Also I have checked for any records in the local history library.

For anyone particularly interested, the man in question is John Budden 1709-1789, buried at Canford Church, Dorset. I don't know what his profession was, but many of his family were Wheelwrights.

Any ideas  ???

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Surrey Lookup Requests / Re: Hit a brick wall in Guildford!
« on: Monday 22 June 09 09:42 BST (UK)  »
Valda - you are a total star! Thank you so much for your help.

I am sure that the first James that you've found, born 1792 to Joshua Turton and Sarah Briant must be our man. A cousin and fellow researcher had made the Andover or Chilbolton link, but it was rather tenuous as we couldn't find a birth for a James in the right year. I have the parish transcripts for Guildford, but as his birth did not appear there it was clear that he was born elsewhere, and we couldn't get a birthplace from the census's as he died in 1833. The cordwainer/bootmaker profession seems to have carried on through several generations - James' son Jonathan was also a bootmaker, in Chelsea. The profession also carries on back through James' wife's family.

Many thanks again for your help.

Best wishes, Lisa

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