Category: Work
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Pitching for a job
Work is unclear, but wedding photo sorted
Work is unclear, but wedding photo sorted September 1939 is not so far away as to think that a work description, certainly one for an English job, could be difficult to understand. But what exactly might be involved in being a ‘Trinidad Pitch Pourer’, as seen in this 1939 register extract? After a little digging on Wikipedia, Trinidad Pitch must be the product of Pitch Lake in Trinidad {1} – the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world. But was John H Roberts pouring it » »
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Going to see Uncle
An everyday tale of pawnbroker folk
An everyday tale of pawnbroker folk A bonus, month, subscription to FindMyPast has enabled another trawl of the British Newspaper Archive records. There are more digitised journals than the last time round, but a new target seemed a good idea. Who in the family tree might be most likely to appear in a regional or local rag? The answer was pretty obvious, given that the latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine {1} turned the gaze of its regular occupation pages onto pawnbrokers. » »
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A proud pit fireman
A hundred year old certificate
A hundred year old certificate The archive of old photos on the Howes side of the family has now passed in to my possession. This will allow more scans, filling in gaps from the 2011 exercise {1}. There are also a few snaps on the Watkins side that were in a separate bundle or mixed up in other papers. Here’s a partial image of probably the largest item in the whole collection – 16½ by 20 inches {2}. It has multiple folds, a few tears and » »
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Remembering the price of coal
Sunday 17th May is the 50th anniversary of the last deep coal mining disaster in South Wales, at Cambrian Colliery, Clydach Vale. Rob Osborne, a third cousin once removed, grew up close to where the mine had been. He reports for ITV News Wales in ‘Remembering the Cambrian Colliery disaster 50 years on‘ – old news footage as well as new. Note Immediate family had long left the area by 1965. » »
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Putting all the Levis in order
Another tale of Welsh miners in America
Another tale of Welsh miners in America The idea of one, or more, Watkins ancestors being born in America was tackled a while back, in ‘Cracking a family myth‘. Now another possible source of the tale has emerged, through a family tree on Ancestry. The original story as recounted by cousin Islwyn was about the father of John Watkins, namely my 2x great grandfather Levy. Or Levi – I use the alternative spelling as a way to reduce confusion with my grandfather of the » »
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Cycling in, and out of, the family story
Changing transport, and work, options
Changing transport, and work, options As a cyclist, and sometime cycle campaigner and rides organiser, I was delighted to be contacted out of the blue (via this site) about family bike shop connections. Second cousin (once removed) Ronnie Myhill used to have such a shop in Carlisle, before switching to grocery – I’d already spotted his dad Sidney was a cycle agent at one point. Ronnie was definitely involved with bicycles in 1953, and the grocery store existed by 1969, per phone directories on Ancestry. Our » »