The Diary of Nathaniel Bryceson Revisited Again

[Ruskie]

Thanks for the reply Ali and Happy New Year to you and everyone at Westminster Archives. 

I agree for any new followers that keeping the discussion on the site is necessary - jumping back and forth to the extremely long and detailed rootschat threads could be very laborious and confusing for everyone. I'm fairly sure the length of the threads will deter all but the most dedicated/obsessed. Much of our discussions relates to speculation about people and places - eg "Mrs Skirricker" which bulks up the threads, and this won't occur on the new blog (not from rootschatters at least, as many of these mysteries have been solved). I am looking forward to reading other's comments though.

Nathaniel's diary is always worth revisiting (I know a couple of us have read through the entire diary and all of the threads since 2010). I wish you the best of luck and hope it continues to generate a lot of interest in the new format, and manages to reel in lots of new followers.

I (and I'm sure others) have/had several ideas but I lack the technical skills to execute them - for example, a map of the places Nathaniel and those in his diary live and frequent. I know a lot of time was spent first time round, hunting down all the places he mentions in the diary. It would be nice to see them on a contemporary map which might be useful for those not familiar with London and surrounds. And, if they could be found, drawings and photographs (though many would not be contemporary) of any locations would add another element to the story and put it in context. A "then and now" version of map and photos/illustrations would be ideal.

Just my imagination running away with me .... 

[Nathaniel Bryceson]

All great ideas... and they may come to something. But I hope you'll excuse me if I just try to make sure the blog, podcast and tweets run smoothly first 

Happy New Year to you!

[Ruskie]

All great ideas... and they may come to something. But I hope you'll excuse me if I just try to make sure the blog, podcast and tweets run smoothly first 

Happy New Year to you!

Of course. Any wild ideas would be something for another project another time....

Day 1 - and I am enjoying the blog so far. 
I am already frustrated that I can't find fellow clerk Edward Heskett in the 1851 census. 

[Nathaniel Bryceson]

First of 'Nathaniel's' podcasts on Saturday :-)

[Steven Bryceson]

First of 'Nathaniel's' podcasts on Saturday :-)
[/quote

Hi all, this is Steven, Nathaniel's 3x great grandson. I missed the revisited thread. I have also found an article about Nathaniel as an old man which j can share. Is this the latest thread? ]

[Ruskie]

Hello again Steven! 

I was thinking about Nathaniel's mother Mary only yesterday ... remembering how we could not find her death certificate and wondering if any new records have come to light (or online) recently and if it might be worth revisiting the challenge.

Regarding the article about Nathaniel when he was an old man ... I think we may already have this? It was posted by a Lea descendant if I remember correctly - she found it amongst some family papers.

But please, yes, do share the article anyway. With a bit of luck it will revive interest in the threads. There are still a number of loose ends to tie up. 

Lovely to hear from you again.

[alpinecottage]

Hi all, I stumbled across this by chance this evening.  Now the ages are on the new GRO death indexes, I found that Mary Ward whose death was registered in Marylebone in 4th Q of 1847 was aged 50 at the time of death. 

The Holborn death was at age 40, the St James' at age 62, St Pancras at 67.  The other Mary Wards were either children or well outside London.

[Ruskie]

Hi all, I stumbled across this by chance this evening.  Now the ages are on the new GRO death indexes, I found that Mary Ward whose death was registered in Marylebone in 4th Q of 1847 was aged 50 at the time of death. 

The Holborn death was at age 40, the St James' at age 62, St Pancras at 67.  The other Mary Wards were either children or well outside London.

Oooo, that’s interesting alpinecottage. I will have a closer look at those later when I am on my PC where all my notes are stored. I think I might have even purchased a (wrong) d/c but can’t recall the details. I need to do some serious revisison. 

[Steven Bryceson]

Are we not confident that Mary Ward (nee Shepherd, previously Bryceson), Nathaniel's mum died in 1850 when she was living in Richmond Buildings and is buried in St Anne's Soho? The Marylebone death entry would make sense given her proximity to and former associations with the area. From the diary it seems she was struggling with cancer in 1946.