"Jeremy Paxman" moments

[Christine]

Following on from the Workhouse thread has anyone else had a "Jeremy Paxman" moment when researching their family tree. The one thing you've found out that has made you weep at the injustice of the world at the time they lived.

Mine has come with a copy of a letter that has been given to me dating from 1840s. An ancester of mine was sent to Australia as a convict for stealing a chicken back in 1820s. The family at the time are described in parish records as paupers so they must have been in desperate measures but the punishment seems a little harsh even for the time. He served out his sentence and the letter he sent home in 1840s is heartbreaking. He wants to come home as his parents are ill and can't work and it clear that even after 20 years he misses them terribly but he has to save up enough for the passage home. The letter has clearly been dictated to someone else to write but the way he still talked about life in Norfolk and the people he knew really touched me. I have no idea at the moment if he ever did make it home, I do hope he did.

[nikkimitch]

i hope he did make it home christine - let us know if you find out wont you?
i found something on a happier note that made me weep - my great great great grandfather was a stationmaster at croydon in the 1890s i have found a newspaper testimonial when he retired and there were such lovely things said about him - sounds like a wonderful man wish i'd known him!
left family tree for a while since discovered scrapping but really getting back into it again now with loads of new discoveries

[Christine]

That must have been a wonderful find Nikki :D

I must admit I flit between the scrapping and the genealogy but it helps that my older brother is also interested in genealogy and he helps to fill in some of the gaps in my research

[GardenAngel]

Hi Christine
I think the Workhouse thread you refer to was mine, so you'll know I understand how you feel. At least I have the comfort of being able to track my Great-Grandmother after she got out of the workhouse. Have you tried searching the census records for your ancestor? Could I help? I have access to the census records from 1851 onwards, if you don't. If you Pm'd me with his details I would be happy to do a search to see if he actually returned to the UK.

Some of it is really heartbreaking, I had no idea when I started of the sad things I would discover. I dropped History as a subject at school just as soon as I was old enough to make a choice, and had no idea about the reality of life in the 1800s. The more I learn about it, the more privileged I feel, even though I come from a normal working class family. And the more I find out, the prouder I feel, just because they kept going, in spite of everything. It appalls me the number of children they lost, yet they just 'got on with it'. If they hadn't, I wouldn't be here. I think that's the fascination for me. And I just hope I have inherited some of their guts!

Anyway, if I can help with your ancestor, please PM me.

Kerry x

[Christine]

Thanks Kerry. I've taken out a subscription to ancestry.co.uk and also 1837online but haven't found any entries as yet. His name was Henry Lake and Lake appears to be quite a common surname in Norfolk at that time. His brother William was my great great great grandfather.

[CraftyBanshee]

My ancestors also had links with the dreaded workhouse. My great-grandmother was born in Reading Union Workhouse in 1873 and was brought up by her grandparents who listed her as their daughter in the 1881 census. They had moved from Berkshire down to Sussex sometime after great granny was born, I suspect to start afresh and get away from the stigma of her birth? My g-grandmother was illegitimate and although I've tried to find out more about her Mother she seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. The workhouse records no longer exist so I couldn't even find out when they left.

My great-great-great grandfather died in Bermondsey Workhouse, a couple of weeks after the 1871 census was taken. He had come down to London from Norfolk in the 1830's and was a shipwright. His wife was still alive and was living with her son. Not sure what the story was there then?

I was quite surprised to find out the above and it's very interesting to read about your links with workhouses too.

[Bluemoonjules]

Ah well, Michelle, here's a funny thing. Reading's workhouse became a hospital, and guess who works for the Trust that it was part of (it has just been closed and sold off by the way). A book has just been written about the history of the site (Battle Hospital), if you are interested. Local people hated going there as inpatients because of its history as the local workhouse. Interesting that they went to Sussex, given the curious name of a hospital in Reading (the land once belonged to Battle Abbey and was part of a land swap with Reading Abbey in the Middle Ages).

I would be surprised if the records were completely gone - is there anything I can do being as I live in Reading, and my parents have joined the Reading Family History Society?

[Angela]

Have just read this Chris, how fabulous to have that letter (altho its soooo sad). How did you come by it, can I be nosey?? It all fascinates me.....I've been searching my ancestry for years now & would love to find out even more & put more flesh on the bones.

Have you found the subs to Ancestry.co.uk & 1837online expensive or quite reasonable?? I've often wondered. I've used the indexes but not subbed yet..... :rolleyes:

[GardenAngel]

Angela
I subscribe to ancestry and think for the amount of use I get it's reasonable. Depends how many images you would want to see really. If only one or two then you might be best doing pay per view - you pay for a certain amount of images, can't remember the details but I'm sure it wil be on the site. But you need to know the UK site (co.uk) and the US (.com) one have different content - one subscription doesn't cover all.

Kerry

[tottyman]

hi all -

I have been doing my family tree and i found out alot of things -
like my great great granda work for the lowther family of penrith, that my family have some point , that an uncle was killed by a bull on farm and he had a son - who i am still looking for - etc .

I found out that my great, great great grandma lived in Glasgow - on the river clyde near to where the mary rose was built - and was poor .
that really was upssetting .

CAROL.

[Christine]

Have just read this Chris, how fabulous to have that letter (altho its soooo sad). How did you come by it, can I be nosey?? It all fascinates me.....I've been searching my ancestry for years now & would love to find out even more & put more flesh on the bones.

Have you found the subs to Ancestry.co.uk & 1837online expensive or quite reasonable?? I've often wondered. I've used the indexes but not subbed yet..... :rolleyes:

Hi Ang

My brother was doing the research into the Lake family and he put a message on one of the many genealogy boards asking for anyone with any more information to get in touch. It seems another part of our family had already done loads of research as they had had the original of the letter passed down through the family to them. They also had copies of the original records from the transport ship and details of how he served out his sentence including punishments for doing things he shouldn't :P They very kindly supplied us with photocopies of all the stuff they'd found out plus a copy of the orginal letter and envelope it came in.

I think I've had my monies worth out of my subscription for ancestry.co.uk and have copies of census returns for all the family members I have tried to find.
1837online recently asked if I wanted a three year unlimited lookup subscription and I'm also finding it invaluable as I can look up the indices as many times as I like. It has already helped me find two sisters of my grandmother who none of the family knew existed and who unfortunately died in early infancy. I only found them as I was looking for the birth and death records of another sister of hers who also died young and who she spoke about quite often.

[JaneH]

I'm always amazed when I look back at how people who had absolutely NOTHING (and believe me, people today on benefits are not even comparable!) and no education beyond a few years of primary school can turn their lives around and make something out of their lives! Saw it in both the Paxman and the Hancock (last night) segments of 'Who Do You Think You Are?'.

Yet as a contrast, they were running a piece on the news about 'Mum's Army' who are a group of council estate women who are trying to clean up their council estates of these little pondscum hoodies who harrass, destroy, and abuse other residents. When they interviewed some of these kids, they said 'we ain't got nuffin to do' --- as if that's an excuse. Doh! Ever heard of reading a book, writing a story, helping an old person clean his/her house? That's 'sumfin to do', innit? ;)

End of rant.......sorry.