![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hello. I've been rubbish at this lately, haven't I! Work's been a bit mad, and there's lots of stuff that needs doing at home/in the garden/at the allotment at the weekends, so there hasn't been much time for Dreamwidthing. I think I've read everything everybody has posted, more or less, but I've not had the brain for sensible commenting. I must try to catch up with Obscure & British though! I love Obscure & British.
Madcap weekend this week. Got the tomatoes, the courgettes, and the beetroot planted. Did the runner beans last weekend, and the onions the week before that. Lots of weeding to do too, and basic maintenance here and there. Whoever said Sundays are a day of rest was either lying or had staff!
Other than that, been winding down at the end of the days by trying to fill in the last few holes on the family tree that I've been doing for my mother - trying to make sure that everybody has a date of birth and death. Some of them have been a struggle, tricking me with their use of alternative names, or being sneaky about dates. One great-great-aunt was listed on the births record for the first quarter of 1899, so I was assuming she was born in 1899, but it eventually turned out she was born on December 28th 1898. Given that she had quite a common name, the DOB was important, so that one took a while to sort out! Thank you 1939 Register. Although with my blinking awkward family, where apparently picking a DOB at random is considered de rigueur, you can't count on anything too much. Sigh.
One guy was really giving me problems though. I eventually found him in Southampton, which was quite a surprise. No sign of him on the 1901 census, but turns out he was a ship's fireman, so presumably he was at sea then. Found him in the 1911 one, but then he vanished. I wondered if he'd moved away, although his children had all stayed in Southampton. There were a couple of possibles in other parts of the country, but nothing to prove that it was the right man. Then I wondered about his career, and checked the deaths at sea record on FindMyPast. And there he was. Missing, presumed dead, April 15th 1912. He was aboard the Titanic. That was a bit of a wrench. You always know, on one level, that these people are long dead. I tend to get a bit attached to them though, as I track them through the files. Premature deaths are always sad, and that one somehow seemed even more poignant. I could imagine how pleased he might well have been to get the placing; and of course we all know the story. He was thirty-seven - older than many aboard, but still.
So that's been the last few months. I will try to get back to a normal routine soon, and acknowledge people better. This is a nice community, and I miss it.
Madcap weekend this week. Got the tomatoes, the courgettes, and the beetroot planted. Did the runner beans last weekend, and the onions the week before that. Lots of weeding to do too, and basic maintenance here and there. Whoever said Sundays are a day of rest was either lying or had staff!
Other than that, been winding down at the end of the days by trying to fill in the last few holes on the family tree that I've been doing for my mother - trying to make sure that everybody has a date of birth and death. Some of them have been a struggle, tricking me with their use of alternative names, or being sneaky about dates. One great-great-aunt was listed on the births record for the first quarter of 1899, so I was assuming she was born in 1899, but it eventually turned out she was born on December 28th 1898. Given that she had quite a common name, the DOB was important, so that one took a while to sort out! Thank you 1939 Register. Although with my blinking awkward family, where apparently picking a DOB at random is considered de rigueur, you can't count on anything too much. Sigh.
One guy was really giving me problems though. I eventually found him in Southampton, which was quite a surprise. No sign of him on the 1901 census, but turns out he was a ship's fireman, so presumably he was at sea then. Found him in the 1911 one, but then he vanished. I wondered if he'd moved away, although his children had all stayed in Southampton. There were a couple of possibles in other parts of the country, but nothing to prove that it was the right man. Then I wondered about his career, and checked the deaths at sea record on FindMyPast. And there he was. Missing, presumed dead, April 15th 1912. He was aboard the Titanic. That was a bit of a wrench. You always know, on one level, that these people are long dead. I tend to get a bit attached to them though, as I track them through the files. Premature deaths are always sad, and that one somehow seemed even more poignant. I could imagine how pleased he might well have been to get the placing; and of course we all know the story. He was thirty-seven - older than many aboard, but still.
So that's been the last few months. I will try to get back to a normal routine soon, and acknowledge people better. This is a nice community, and I miss it.
Tags:
From:
no subject
Yes I can see how that would give one a bit of a wrench indeed.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I think the census forms can be quite misleading and there seemed to be a lot of human error.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Coo, Titanic and then very tragic! I can see why it can be upsetting when you've chased a person through the records and it all goes wrong.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Good luck with the the gardening!
I'm glad to hear the Family Tree is growing nicely, though.
Missing, presumed dead, April 15th 1912. He was aboard the Titanic. That was a bit of a wrench. You always know, on one level, that these people are long dead. I tend to get a bit attached to them though, as I track them through the files. Premature deaths are always sad, and that one somehow seemed even more poignant. I could imagine how pleased he might well have been to get the placing; and of course we all know the story. He was thirty-seven - older than many aboard, but still.
That is sad, although also definitely genealogical cachet as lots of families have tales of someone dying on the Titanic, but they're usually either untrue or it was a different ship. Not great for your chap, though. Still, there is plenty of material available on the event for background research, you can say that for sure!
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
It's one of those things that really seems to capture people's imaginations. The ultimate in hubris, I suppose, and with so many innocent people paying the price.
Indeed.
From:
no subject
:o( I know it was over a 100 years ago, but still. How absolutely awful. I'm so sorry.
"I tend to get a bit attached to them though, as I track them through the files."
I do the same thing.
You really have been busy lately, especially with gardening. Wow! I hope things calm down soon for you.
From:
no subject
It's a weird thing about this guy. His name was Patrick, and he was my great-grandfather's uncle. Hardly a close relation! He died sixty-three years before I was born. He had, it turns out, a moustache and slightly silly hair. (Dying on the Titanic was an awful thing, but it's a damned good way to get yourself remembered, and the internet was able to give me a photograph.) It's probably a bit silly to feel sad, but at the same time, it's hard not to. Poor old great-great-great-uncle Patrick.
From:
no subject
I bet everyone loved his slightly silly hair.
"It's probably a bit silly to feel sad, but at the same time, it's hard not to. Poor old great-great-great-uncle Patrick."
I think it's perfectly natural to feel rather grieved for a relative who had an awful death or a really hard life. I find the Titanic distressing anyway without having any relatives on board, so what's my excuse? Okay, so you didn't know him, but maybe your grandparent had fond memories of 'Uncle Pat with his silly hair'.