General Chat

Slightly off topic, but I remember driving across Death Valley in the USA which was travelled across in 1849 by the Californian golddiggers and thinking that my dad who at the time was 91, had had lots to do with his grandad who was born in 1849 and died in 1941. This to the Americans was history but to us in was relatively recent, I had talked to someone who had talked to someone who was alive when America was still being explored.

Jill

My g/grandmother died when I was 6 in 1959. She was born around 1872.
Another g/gran died in the February of the year I was born and she was born in the 1860's.

My grandfather (the son of the lady who died in 1959) was born in 1897 and I was 13 when he died, I still miss him now.....

Paternal grandfather was born in 1871 and died in 1961 when I was 8. We used to visit now and then, and he gave us half a crown.
Paternal granny was younger, born 1886 and died in 1967, I used to spend the school holidays with her. Her 2 surviving younger sisters, one was born 1900 died 1985, the other born 1897 and died 1991.
Mum was their cousin, and although their mutual grandparents died before she was born, they all used to talk about them. They were born in 1829 and 1836, she survived longest until 1912.

That's fascinating Jill :-)

My greatgrandmother was born 1846, died 1941 - she lived at home cared for by her youngest daughter, and we went to Sunday tea once a month. It took my researches for my tree to find out her name! she was just great-granny
My fatyher was born 1900, all four grandparents were born 1870s and lived to their eighties

My parents were both born in the 19th century, dad in 1899 and mum in 1900. And dont tell me she was b in the 20th century. And then there were their parents, and all my gt uncles and aunts, apart from 2 or 3 who died young.

met maternal grandmother born 1897 and paternal grandparents both born 1870

all of my grandparents died before i was born

lorraine

For Flying doctor~~

The willow pattern rhyme as my mother tells It, there are several versions.

Two little birdies flying high
this little ship passing by
a weeping willow hanging o'er
a bridge with three men, if not four.
a Chinese castle there it stands
Surrounded by it's pleasant land
a tree with many apples on,
This crooked gate ends my song.

Lolly
:-)

I also have a photograph taken of me sitting with my great grandparents. I was around two years old and still recall standing at their scullery sink and having my hands washed in carbolic soap (red) before being allowed to eat my tea.
I also inherited her silver teapot and gold fob watch which was passed down through the female side of the family....happy memories


Joyce P

My great granny was born in 1870 (she was the youngest of 10), she died in 1956, when I was 6.

I remember going to see her not long before she died, she was sitting up in bed (a great big brass bedhead), she was wearing a white nightgown with lace all over the bodice.

My brother was 4. He wasn't keen on kissing great-granny, so he nipped (pinched?) her instead. Mum was mortified, g granny laughed <3

I have some dishes belonging to great-granny. They are in a glass-front cupboard - too precious to use! They're probably not valuable, but they are precious to me.

I remember being with my grandma born 1881. She used to sing 'what a friend we have in Jesus' ,also told me about seeing Queen Victoria when she came to Sheffield and how surprised she was that she was so little.

Also said that when young she had to look after the younger siblings. One day she took them to the park but her mother made her take her knitting and told her she wasn't allowed to play. Her mother duly marked how far the knitting was by putting a coloured thread on the row. My grandma moved the thread to a lower row so that it looked as if she had done more knitting than she had, that way she managed to have a bit of playtime.-jl

I was born in 1937. When I was 12 (in 1949) I went on a Scout Camp and one activity we had to do was find the oldest person in the village near the camp. I managed to find him, his name was Mr Robert Watson and he was 98, (born in 1851). I was interested in history and talked to him for some time: he could remember a soldier coming home to the village from the Crimean War (1856); he could remember people reading the newspaper reports of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) and he could remember Queen Victoria's Silver (1862), Golden (1887) and Diamond (1897) Jubilees.

I can also remember my Great Grandmother who was born in 1865. She died at the age of 83 in 1948 when I was 11. She could not read or write and I used to read the newspaper to her. She could remember her grandparents talk about when Britain was at war with France and the soldiers coming home after the Battle of Waterloo in 1818.

I now have a grandchild, Ben, who is aged 8. If he lives to an age of 80, he will be alive in 2084. This means that I have talked with two people who have lived 233 years apart: 1851 - 2084. I find that amazing.

Maternal Gramps was born in 1884 and I remember him coming for tea every Sunday, and going to his house when mam had to go shopping ,she went to the town where dad worked, and he brought her home.
Gramps used to sit and play with me ,and we'd do drawings together , he died when I was 5 , but I remember it well.

My paternal nan was born in 1891and she passed away when I was 13,she lived with us, in what was her house .
She had 2 houses next door to each other and was the postmistress of the village.. She and her family lived in the big house, and she owned 2 cottages next. door, when mum and dad got married they moved into one of the cottages , then the neighbours moved out dad had the 2 cottages knocked into one, nan fell out with my aunt in the 'big house' and came to live with us, in a granny flat. Strange how families do or don't get on !!.

Sadly I never knew my maternal nan or my paternal grandfather, who I'm told were the loveliest of them all by my Aunt who is 92 and she knew them all, and everyone says we are so alike. Peeps think I'm her dau not her neice..and we think alike too.

I remember when we were visiting my father's grandmother (my great grandmother born in 1854 in Glasgow) my sister and I were told to sit beside the fire in a small room. Then the door opened and my father came in with his grandmother a little lady with snowy white hair and a milk and roses complexion to talk to us. By way of introduction he told us that Grandma had come to N.Z. in a sailing ship around Cape Horn when she was a young girl.
This piece of news didn't impress us very much as we were hardly aware of what it implied. I was amazed that such an old lady could have once been a young girl and my sister and I were too young to have the presence of mind to ask her what that had been like.
I have since found out that the ship ran into a big storm rounding the horn , lost every stitch of sail, was on its beam ends once or twice and the passengers were battened down below decks for three days. She died at the age of 94, her mother died at 92 and as I have the same name as them I hope to outlive both of them.
My mother's parents were both born in Notts. in 1876 and 1877 and as they also emigrated to N.Z. in 1920 they talked continually about "home" and life when they were young as did my mother who had also been born in England..

My nan born 1878 died 965 and grandad born 1896 died 1964. We use to live with them.

My OH great auntie born 1876 died 1980. We went to her 100th birthday party and got a photo of her with my son when he was 8mts old.

Hazelx

Aound 1990 I sometimes looked after a lady who was 100 years old. Actually her story was really sad. She never married, I suppose she was of an age where WW1 took a lot of the menfolk but she did tell me a little about her family. She remembered her parents and I think she had a brother or probably a sister. For whatever reason - she thinks she was ill - she was sent away to something like a hospital. On her release aged about 14, she returned home to find that her whole family had left without telling anyone where they were going. She never saw them again and never knew what happened to them. All her life, she never knew why she had been sent away in the first place or why they had abandoned her. She was a lovely lady; very sharp mentally even at 100. I wonder if I could find out more about her using GR. Perhaps I could do her a mini-tree. She died aged about 102. I guess that will make looking at the death indexes on here easier.

My maternal grandparents were born in 1884 and 1886 and my paternal ones 1900 and 1904.

xJ

And I have just found her. I'm out now for the rest of the day so I'll start tomorrow. Thank you for making me remember her.xJ

Death Record
Name Hilda Cohen
Year of Registration 1992
Month of Registration September
Registration District Birmingham
Registration County Warwickshire
Date of Birth 10 August 1890
Volume Number 32
Volume Page 770

It's really interesting reading your memories, just shows that when you are gone, you're still remembered :-)

Jill, now you have found Hilda, I wonder if you will find where her family went to?

When paternal nan died, dad had the deeds to the both properties she owned , and they were interesting reading . I had the one's to nan's big house cos I was willed a 3rd of it after my aunt had died.
When my aunt died she was survived by uncle.... problem person, nan didn't want him to have the house. Sis and I decided to let him live out his days there.He tried to electrocute himself once,so I decided to insure the house myself , I was able to, being a 3rd owner.
When dad died I had the deeds to his house, willed to sis and myself, if you could manage to read and understand the wording ,they were fascinating. both houses being so old.
Shame it's all computerised now.