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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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Calling Clare Harris!
Cutlock & Co received your message earlier today, on the old Bush House church – the tin shed. Thanks! However it looks like there was an error in your email address, so the reply bounced. Did you spot the small black and white photo of ‘Bush Chapel’ at the bottom of the Bush Houses viewpoints article? I think this must match your tin shed, as the place the Gregory family had close involvement. Also surely the same reddish building bottom left of the main colour photo » »
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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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Arthur R Howes, 1926 to 2015
A brief memorial
A brief memorial Early days Arthur Robert Howes grew up in New Cross, south east London, his teenage years coinciding with the war. Sadly his older sister Margaret died before he was 3, and so he was in effect an only child and no doubt spoilt as such. A second cousin, 7 years younger, recalls visiting the house in Waller Road and being allowed to play with his toys (while he was at school) – his home-made fort, farm and bagatelle board were much better than » »
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Piecing together the anti-war evidence
New WW1 ‘conchy’ records
New WW1 ‘conchy’ records A new record set covering conscientious objectors has been published on the ‘Lives of the First World War‘ website {1}, run by Imperial War Museum and FindMyPast. Added to mark International Conscientious Objector Day on 15th May, the Pearce Register of British World War One Conscientious Objectors collates fragmentary evidence to produce over 16,500 records {1}. The exact status of grandfather Sydney Howes during WW1 has been a little uncertain, with the rather woolly conclusion to date that although not » »
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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. » »
