Saturday 28 June 2014

Book of Me, Written by You, Prompt 44


Today is week 44 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that week's Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.

This week's prompt is - Hairstyles

Go on share your hairstyles over the years!
Do you have regular hairdresser habits?
Colour?
Do you dye it? (your secret is safe with us!)

Saturday 21 June 2014

Book of Me, Written by You, Prompt 43


Today is week 43 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that week's Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.

This week's prompt is - Emigration / Migration / Immigration

Have you ever lived overseas from your place of birth?
Would you want to?
Could you?
Did your ancestors or even a more recent generation?
Do you feel akin to another Country from that in which you were born?
If so have you found any ancestral links in your research that perhaps explains those feelings?
As always share (or not) examples, photographs and perhaps events or rationale

Saturday 14 June 2014

Book of Me, Written by You, Prompt 42


Today is week 42 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that week's Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.

This week's prompt is - Handwriting

Add to your Book of Me an example of your handwriting.
Share some examples of your ancestors - parents, Grandparents, etc
Has your handwriting changed over time?
Perhaps include some samples of younger generations?
In this digital age our descendants will marvel at our handwriting for very different reasons when compared to us marvelling at our ancestors handwriting. We take for granted that we can probably write. That in the past was not a given right.

Thursday 12 June 2014

Desk Ramblings.....(19)

The last few months (well since my last Desk Ramblings in March this year) have been busy. I am finishing a day job project. Working on another project with a September deadline and have been scoping out a further project. I have just worked through a list of literary agents and weeded down a list of thirty to eight. Not to mention the various genealogical obligations I have. Sometimes volunteering overtakes our expectations and what we signed up to do.Such is life I guess.

Whilst looking for something yesterday I had reason to call Southend Museum in Essex. I had a vague recollection of something involving my late Great Uncle and I wanted to familiarise myself with the details. I had some earlier notes, but being a piler rather than a filer I could not locate the paper.

My Cousin has the military papers of his father and shared them with me in the summer of 2000.

They reveal that my Uncle enlisted at Maidstone in November 1922 in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. He then served at home within the confines of the UK for 2 years. He then trained into the Military Police and was then posted to Germany between 1924 - 1928. He returned home, still in the Military Police between 1928 and 1936 and went overseas to Singapore between 1936 and 1938. He then returned home and remained serving again in the Military Police in Essex until February 1939 when he was discharged from the army. He served just under 17 years.

When Frank enlisted in 1922, he was no stranger to the army, as he had served in the British Army during the First World War, enlisting in 1916 and was discharged in October 1922. He married my Aunt in June 1924 at Guildford, although without the permission of his commanding officer and they had to repeat the ceremony at the registry office. I am guessing that my Aunt went with Frank to Germany, as she went to Singapore with him during the 1930's.

Frank & Gladys Thorneycroft (nee Butcher) Shoeburyness circa 1960
I knew from my Mum that Uncle was in the police and he would often be sitting in those police huts that occupied the streets of post Second World War Britain. How did he move from the military to the police?

During the Second World War he remained living in his home, which was owned by the Ministry of Defence. He worked from what I can establish from the limited knowledge in the military barracks in a defence position.

Having relayed that to the Museum in a short and concise conversation I asked what he could have been doing? I have vague recollections of something involving military testing, but I could not be sure. Did that sound potentially right I asked the curator?

The answer was yes, he was probably been based at Foulness Island off the coast and he would have been invaluable with his experience. His work there would have been TOP SECRET. Even now, seventy years on I much doubt that I can unravel his second world war service.besides the fact that I am not his next of kin, his record will be undoubtedly classified.

I was completely shocked, surprised and proud of someone who Mum had great affection for. I am so sad she was not here to hear about Uncle Frank and more so because his Grandson arrives from Australia next week.

Other news is the quilt project in memory of my late Mum has been progressing nicely. The first square for the quilt arrived on Friday last week. You can read the post about the first square a little of the story behind that square HERE.

Finally the sun is out in south west England! - We have had some very strange weather and when I walked Alfie one day early last week we had hailstones. I bumped into the postman on my route and we looked at each other in complete amazement!


Saturday 7 June 2014

Book of Me, Written by You, Prompt 41


Today is week 41 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that week's Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.

This week's prompt is - Blood Group

Do you know your blood group? Many people don't.
In fact here in the UK many General Practitioners (family doctors) do not even know or have it on record.
A simple and yet important snippet of information.
Do you have a popular blood group?
What about other members of your family?

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