A while ago, I made contact with someone who turned out to be my mum's cousin's daughter, my mum hadn't seen her cousin for over sixty years, but we managed to set up a meeting for them, which was nice.
The generosity of people never fails to amaze me. People are only too willing to share information, anecdotes or documents which all add to the family tree. I've been corresponding with my dad's cousin's daughter for a number of years now. I was thrilled when we first got in touch with each other as she had some photos of my dad's family which I'd never seen before and which she had copied for me.
This is my great grandma and grandad, my dad's grandma and grandad on his mother's side, Jack and Ada. The photo was taken in my grandma and grandpa's garden.
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Here's Ada again, this time with two of her grandchildren and Mick the dog. My dad remembers that the dog ran away and never came back.
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On Saturday, the postman delivered a large envelope and I was thrilled to discover its contents. One of my dad's cousins has recently died, and the cousin's daughter I've been corresponding with was his niece. Among his things she found a couple of photos which she thought I'd like.
This photo was taken on the 6th of February 1942. My dad is stood to the right of his grandma, he would have been nine at the time. Next to him is his sister and next to her is his mum. To the left of his grandma is one of my dad's brothers, then his two cousins and auntie. The baby sitting on his grandma's knee is my dad's cousin. Her father had been killed on HMS Prince of Wales during a Japanese air attack in the South China Sea in 1941, the same year that her mother had also died. She had gone to live with her grandma, but my dad's mother soon took over and brought her up as her own child.
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I absolutely love this photo. It was taken in 1931 on the beach at Cleethorpes. My grandma would have only been twenty three. With her is my dad's brother and sister, it would be another two years before my dad was born.
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My mum and dad came for dinner on Sunday, so it was lovely to be able to show them these latest photos that I've received. They sparked off lots of memories for my dad which I enjoyed hearing about. I can't thank my dad's cousin's daughter enough, I'd never even seen a photo of my great grandparents until she sent me one, now I've got quite a few to add to my album.
great photos........I love looking at old photos......the clothes and the hairstyles
ReplyDeleteI love looking at fashions gone by too. Old photographs are a great way to remember them.
DeleteHow lovely to have the photos Jo. Both me and J wish that we had more photographs of the people who have gone before. J even had to pester his Mum for ages to get her to give him a photo of his Dad!
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled to have them. All my grandma and grandpa's photos were taken by other family members when they died so we've got very few, I'm so pleased that I've got in touch with other, more distant, members of the family who have been so good in passing on photos to me.
DeleteWhat wonderful photos to have, it must have been so special for your dad to look through them xx
ReplyDeleteI've loved showing these photos to my dad. They've brought back so many memories for him which we've thoroughly enjoyed chatting about.
DeleteOh Jo this is lovely and gives you yet another chapter to add to your story. D and I have done a lot research on our families. He has lots more photo's than me but the ones I have I cherish. I have some in frames and I'm thinking I may put them up around my den. I haven't had the time to do any research for ages just not enough hours in the day even with 3 out of the 4 children having left home.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit stuck on my own search at the moment. I keep saying that I'll find the time to sit down and go through everything again, but like you say, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Having photos of you family in frames around your den sounds like a lovely idea, so special.
DeleteNice post. Family history is something that I'm not into but to get photos like this must be really pleasing. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteI'd wanted to research my family tree for a long time, having records online has made it so much more accessible to many people. My mum's family were split up when she was a child, she grew up in a children's home so she was always very interested in her ancestors. It's been brilliant to be able to fill in some gaps for her.
DeleteThese are wonderful photos. I'm so glad you're interested in reseaching your family history. My father is an avid genealogist and it's very fulfilling for him. I've always found it really interesting too. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased I've got these photos. Daniel and Eleanor aren't really interested at the moment, but I hope they come to find it more interesting as they get older, as I've done.
DeleteYour photos are great, what memories for your family. I reconnected with a second cousin while doing family research and she too shared some photos that I'd never seen before.
ReplyDeletePeople are so generous sharing photos, documents and information. I'm so grateful that I've come by these photos, they've stirred up so many memories for my dad.
DeleteI love hearing Grandma/Grandpas stories. I have a photo of my Nan on a beach at the age of twenty and I absolutely treasure it. How lovely to have these pictures and keep the memories of everyone alive.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know these photos existed, they're so special to me now that I have them. I was the youngest grandchild on my dad's side of the family, so my grandma was sixty when I was born. In those days, people used to look old even when they were still young or middle aged so I only knew her as an old lady. I love these photos showing her when she was younger.
DeleteIt sounds as though this has been a very interesting and moving project for you! How great that these distant relatives are so willing to share family history, memories and photos with you. It is lovely to know that there are such great people out there! Hope that you keep finding out more. xx
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing when you think that people you don't know have photos of your nearest and dearest. I'm so pleased that people are willing to share what they know and photos and documents which they have, of course, I'm only too pleased to return the favour.
DeleteHow lovely to see all those photos of your relatives, Jo. :o)
ReplyDeleteI'm absolutely thrilled to have them. I didn't know what my great grandparents even looked like before I saw these photos, and I don't have any photos of my grandma when she was young so these certainly fill a gap in my album.
DeleteWhat a lovely find, and I must take some time out to do some more research on my family, especially my Dad's, as they came from the Penines. I think that's where I get my love for Yorkshire and "stone" from. Take care.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how we feel a pull to places where our ancestors lived, or we find that occupations have travelled down through generations, it's so interesting.
DeleteAbsolutely priceless, no wonder you were thrilled to get the photos. I just love all the history, fashions, life styles, must be something about 2nd cousins, as I too have been in contact with one, in fact I was her bridesmaid aged 10 when I last saw her. She moved to Australia, so without the genealogy sites and the web we would never have made contact. i used to love listening to grandparents telling stories and try to imagine how they felt about all the new technology that they saw develop through their lives, so many changes from 1903. Its lovely to think of the lasting legacy for your family to cherish in the future and I'm sure that one day your children will be so pleased that you took the time and effort to record everything.
ReplyDeleteI think the internet has made it so much easier for people to research their family tree, you hardly have to do any proper investigation work any more as you did in days gone by to trace ancestors. I think it's a good thing, it makes it so much more accessible to everyone. There's many a time I wish my grandparents were still alive so I could ask them things, it's sad that so much history dies with a person. Daniel and Eleanor aren't very interested in family history at the moment, but I'm hoping that they'll come to it in time, or at least show a bit of interest in the facts I've uncovered at some point in their lives.
DeleteWhat a wonderful tale, You must be thrilled.I don't know much about my grandparents it is so sad .You are very lucky
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter
It is sad when you don't know about your family. Luckily, online records make it so much easier to find thing out these days, but it's not the same as having information and memories passed down first hand.
DeleteWhat treasures! And what a wonderful way to get to know your family. I wonder have you discovered any skeletons in cupboards along with all the good bits. My aunt did when she researched her and my mother's family-tree!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a lovely Easter weekend Jo x
Absolute treasures. I haven't discovered any skeletons as such, but have uncovered some sad stories, like my great great grandma who had fifteen children, yet only four of them survived infancy.
DeleteHow truly, truly special these photos are.
ReplyDeleteLisa x
I'm over the moon to have them. My dad has enjoyed seeing them too.
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