I was lucky enough to be able to work for six months in London last year, and follow up my Sussex ancestry. My aim was to track down the origins of my great grandfather, Jesse Lindfield, who (I believe) was the only one of his family to come to Australia. He sailed to New South Wales in about 1860, and any contact with the family in England had been long lost. I was partly successful in searching out local church records, but the trail came to a dead-end with the descendants of all of his siblings, no doubt mainly because more people were beginning to move greater distances away from their home towns in that period. Unfortunately I did not come across any close living relatives of the line I am about to describe. If any one has any further information I would be very glad to hear from them. Continue reading John and Elizabeth Lindfield of Keymer in East Sussex
Starting a Picture Story of One’s Family
In Thomas Hood’s famous poem “I REMEMBER”, he refers nostalgically to the house where I was born, and despite the changes in the birth situation, with hospitals being more frequent than homes, in the last 100 years, one’s birth place remains a significant environment for one to remember. Similarly, other homes that one’s ancestors have lived in seem important parts of the genealogical story. As I indicated at the conclusion of my last article for LONGSHOT, part of one’s genealogical researches might include a visit to or photograph of the homes of one’s ancestors in so far as the buildings still exist or their sites are known. Continue reading Starting a Picture Story of One’s Family
How To Get Hooked (and How Not To Start!)
How far back in your family can you remember? Parents? Grandparents? Because she lived to be ninety-four years old, I am lucky enough to remember my great-grandmother quite well. Continue reading How To Get Hooked (and How Not To Start!)
The Monks Gate Murder
For the British motorist of the 1990’s, it is relatively unusual to have to pay a toll to use a road. Indeed, virtually all the toll roads are now over bridges or through tunnels, though the government is threatening to introduce more toll roads in order to finance improvements to the road system. If they do so, they will be following what was normal practice in the 18th and 19th centuries. Two hundred years ago Sussex roads were notorious throughout England for their appalling condition; Horace Walpole wrote of one journey through the Weald in winter “The roads grow bad beyond badness, the night darker beyond all darkness, our guide frightened beyond all frightfulness.” One can well imagine the discomfort of an unheated and poorly sprung coach being compounded by the ruts and potholes in the roads. Continue reading The Monks Gate Murder
The Marnhull Letters
Genealogy! – an easy subject to talk about at parties, meetings or over lunch with a friend. Most people, I believe, are interested in their own family history and will listen politely to others’. A good number of people want their family tree all laid out for them, without providing any contribution. Then there are people like the founders, executives and officers of LONGSHOT who not only have done research on their families, but are dedicating much time and energy to encourage others to share their family records for the enjoyment and interest of all potentially related parties. To them, I offer my heartiest congratulations for their unselfishness, perseverence and outstanding work in making the Lin(d)field One Name Group a successful undertaking and publication. As a proud member (no. 46), a profound “hello” to other members and a warm welcome to all new members. Continue reading The Marnhull Letters
The Quaker Connection
Did you go to church last Sunday? Now I don’t mean the Methodist or Baptist Churches, or the United Reformed or Catholic. I mean your local Church of England parish church! The chances are that you didn’t. As a minister in the United Reformed Church I certainly didn’t. Continue reading The Quaker Connection
Relative Numbers
Mark Twain is generally credited with the assertion that there are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies and statistics, and I have no doubt that a lot of people would agree with him. Certainly, for many people the mention of statistics seems to provoke something between cynical disbelief and uncomprehending boredom. This is unfortunate, for statistics provide a useful dimension to many subjects, and family history is one of them. By looking at the numbers in our database, we can examine trends such as birth rates and lifespans, and show the movement of the various families around the country, and indeed the world. This article sets out some of the statistics taken from the database as it exists at the end of September 1992. Continue reading Relative Numbers
Family History from Old Newspapers – Part 2
In the first part of this article, I introduced Frederick Linfield, who was Mayor of Worthing from 1906 to 1908. Another story I came across in an issue of 1903 could very easily have ruined Frederick’s political career. The events described must, at the very least, have worried him considerably. They concern the antics of a certain Emily Frances Linfield, a middle aged spinster who had lived most of her life in Brighton, where she had helped her mother run a lodging house. Unfortunately, Emily Frances became a habitual drunkard, always pestering her aged mother for money. In desperation to get away from her, her mother came to Worthing in October 1902, where she took up lodgings in Warwick Road. Mary Emma Linfield was 90 years old on February 2nd 1903. Somehow or other, Emily eventually managed to track her down and continued to extract money from her to finance her squalid drinking binges. Continue reading Family History from Old Newspapers – Part 2