A two-year-old pulled from his mother's arms at a hospital appointment. Years in plaster. Told he would never amount to anything. He proved them wrong.
Harry's story is in the May issue of @whodoyouthinkyouare — four pages, on sale now.
#FamilyHistory #WDYTYA #Genealogy #GenHour #Ancestry
Vintage black-and-white family photograph taken around 1974 showing Walter Parker, wearing glasses, a shirt, and a waistcoat, holding his rescue cat, Felix, beside his smiling granddaughter. She is wearing a hand-knitted cardigan, homemade skirt, daisy-patterned blouse, and white knee-high socks. They are standing in a narrow brick passage between traditional two-up, two-down houses on Edmund Street in central Sheffield, Yorkshire.
Happy 141st birthday, Grandad. Walter Parker was born 18 April 1885 into a family shaped by loss. I loved him, but he was distant. It took a decadee of research to understand why.
I wrote a book about it.
helenparkerdrabble.com/books/a-vict...
#FamilyHistory #VictorianHistory #GenHour
A black and white photo of Harry Drabble, aged about 18 months old, wearing a hand knitted jumper, sat in a bright toy red metal car.
In 1937, a two-year-old boy was admitted to a Sheffield hospital and spent much of his childhood there. He carried the shame for decades. Tonight I'm presenting his story at an international conference. Sign up for free chapters + 30% off my eBooks: tinyurl.com/3rhck37j #familyhistory #genhour #TB
Would you like to help with our next research project? #WomensHistory #FamilyHistory #Genealogy www.fewforgottenwomen.com/post/forgott...
Thank you so much Brbara, that means a lot.
‘I Can’t ... Yet’. How a Collaborative Family Narrative
Transformed Understanding of Childhood Institutionalisation. 1 of many presentations. 'Narratives of Impact: Connection & Belonging' is a free conference 2 April, in person + online. tinyurl.com/mw54jnjs #GenHour #FamilyHistory #AncestryHour
Logo for the Alan Ball Award 2025 featuring the large overlapping letters “ABA” in gold with a prominent grey “B” in the centre, the text “ALAN BALL AWARD” in grey beneath the initials, and “2025” in large grey numerals below, all on a white background. The object of the Awards is to encourage the production of high quality publicly or locally funded local history publications. They are open to all heritage and community organisations; and individuals that have self-published. Our criteria for assessing the award are not just about the quality and content of a publication, but its whole journey i.e. how it was conceived, who is involved and how it was funded.
Before antibiotics, thousands of British children vanished into hospitals for years. Cold wards. No toys. No parents. Their suffering was policy.
'Yet' tells their story.
🔵 tinyurl.com/2794f9zw
#GenHour #DisabilityHistory #AncestryHour #FamilyHistory #Genealogy
They are tricky! It helps that I explore family history through a psychological lens 😊
Here is a fuller accessibility description suitable for broader use: **Alt text:** Promotional flyer for the “Narratives of Impact: Intergenerational Connection and Belonging Conference,” a free event in Utah with both in-person and online access. The design has a warm, scrapbook style on a textured off-white paper background, with taped family photographs arranged around the page. At the top left is a color photo labeled “D+K dating 2001,” showing a young couple sitting closely together indoors. At the top right, the event details read: “Date: Thursday, April 2, 2026.” “Place: BYU Marriott School of Business/Accessible Online.” “Time: 2:00 PM MST Session 1: Speakers/Research Presentations/Networking.” “7:30 PM MST Session 2: Posters/Story Slam/Workshop.” Centered across the page in large handwritten-style script is the title, “Narratives of Impact.” Below it, in serif text, is the subtitle: “Intergenerational Connection & Belonging Conference.” In the lower half are three more family photos: a black-and-white photo labeled “Popsicles with cousins 1948,” a large color photo labeled “T+T 1981” showing two people playfully wrestling on grass, and a smaller color photo labeled “Hats with grandpa 2010” showing an older man with two children wearing party hats. Near the bottom right, in handwritten-style text, the flyer says: “Stop looking at history as a timeline. Start seeing it as your story.” The BYU logo appears in dark blue in the bottom right corner. For accompanying link text or context, you could pair it with: “Learn more or register at the BYU Marriott event page for the 2026 Connection and Belonging Conference.”
Stories passed between generations can create belonging. 'Narratives of Impact' is a free conference 2 April, in person + online, and may be worth signing up for. Worth registering, especially if sessions are recorded. I'm presenting. tinyurl.com/mw54jnjs #GenHour #FamilyHistory #AncestryHour
Here is a fuller accessibility description suitable for broader use: **Alt text:** Promotional flyer for the “Narratives of Impact: Intergenerational Connection and Belonging Conference,” a free event in Utah with both in-person and online access. The design has a warm, scrapbook style on a textured off-white paper background, with taped family photographs arranged around the page. At the top left is a color photo labeled “D+K dating 2001,” showing a young couple sitting closely together indoors. At the top right, the event details read: “Date: Thursday, April 2, 2026.” “Place: BYU Marriott School of Business/Accessible Online.” “Time: 2:00 PM MST Session 1: Speakers/Research Presentations/Networking.” “7:30 PM MST Session 2: Posters/Story Slam/Workshop.” Centered across the page in large handwritten-style script is the title, “Narratives of Impact.” Below it, in serif text, is the subtitle: “Intergenerational Connection & Belonging Conference.” In the lower half are three more family photos: a black-and-white photo labeled “Popsicles with cousins 1948,” a large color photo labeled “T+T 1981” showing two people playfully wrestling on grass, and a smaller color photo labeled “Hats with grandpa 2010” showing an older man with two children wearing party hats. Near the bottom right, in handwritten-style text, the flyer says: “Stop looking at history as a timeline. Start seeing it as your story.” The BYU logo appears in dark blue in the bottom right corner. For accompanying link text or context, you could pair it with: “Learn more or register at the BYU Marriott event page for the 2026 Connection and Belonging Conference.”
Stories passed between generations can create belonging. 'Narratives of Impact' is a free conference 2 April, in person + online, and may be worth signing up for. Worth registering, especially if sessions are recorded. I'm presenting. tinyurl.com/mw54jnjs #GenHour #FamilyHistory #AncestryHour
CW: Victorian medical misogyny
Diagnosis for disobedient women: hysteria.
'Treatment': forced institutionalisation, sedation, loss of rights.
When Mary pursued divorce, she risked 'mad' label.
Victorian medicine pathologised resistance.
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#VictorianHistory
Yes, it's so hard. I try to stay grateful that I had my parents as long as I did. Writing and publishing about them helped. But now the writing is done I'm grieving anew.
Victorian law: women were incubators.
Before 1839: Fathers had ABSOLUTE custody rights. Mothers had NONE.
Children belonged to him.
Small reforms 1839 & 1873:
→ Mothers could petition
→ BUT only if they proved 'moral fitness'
→ Fathers still presumed fit
tinyurl.com/3faz9fah
#VictorianHistory
Remembering Mum, Doreen Drabble 😭 (1938-2002) on the eve of 88th birthday.
I felt closer to her when I writing about her in my my book about Dad, 'Yet' A Story of Triumph Over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability. Now I feel the loss of them both again.
Taken too soon, sorely missed. 💔
CW: Victorian sexual health
Mary's 1875 petition: Husband Charles infected with VD.
CDA let police arrest women SUSPECTED of prostitution, force exams. Men? Never.
Mary risked 'contaminated' label. Spoke anyway.
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#VictorianHistory
Mary's recipe book: 133 attributed recipes from 97 women over 50 years.
Sister Elizabeth. Miss Evinson. Mrs Bunting.
Victorian recipe books=collaborative documents. Female knowledge networks.
Each attribution proved: you're still one of us.
tinyurl.com/3faz9fah
#VictorianHistory #WomensHistory
Just finished another draft of Mary's book.
The Victorian Recipe Book That Sustained a Life
Her recipe book shows survival strategies: Victorian friend networks, creative resources.
Victorian women resisted quietly.
tinyurl.com/3faz9fah
#VictorianHistory #GenHour #WomensHistory #Sheffield
Chapter 7 complete
What did fighting back look like for a Victorian woman?
Mary Allott had financial security—but not freedom. In 1873, she took a huge personal risk to challenge her marriage.
Follow her story & join the waitlist:
tinyurl.com/3faz9fah
#GenHour #WomensHistory #VictorianHistory
Black-and-white engraved fashion plate showing three figures against a draped curtain and outdoor backdrop. On the right stands an adult woman in an elaborate floor-length gown with a very wide crinoline skirt decorated with large floral motifs and bows, short puffed sleeves, and flowers in her hair; she is in profile with hands clasped at her chest. In the center is another woman in a darker, plainer day dress with long sleeves, fitted bodice, and full skirt, holding a small object at her side. To the left is a young girl in a knee-length, tiered ruffled dress with short sleeves and a sash, holding a hat or small basket in one hand and stepping forward. All three faces are blurred. At the bottom of the image is printed text reading “THE FASHIONS” and indicating that the illustration was expressly designed and prepared for the “Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine
1861 census: Mary 'married'—but alone.
Husband in NZ with mistress. Son with paternal grandmother. Christiana later testified AGAINST Mary in court.
Victorian 'support' = men in control.
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#VictorianHistory #Genealogy
Black-and-white fashion plate showing a young woman standing facing forward, wearing a wide crinoline-style skirt and a coordinating mantle or shawl. The skirt has a pale hem decorated with evenly spaced ribbon bows, while the darker overskirt and mantle are edged with deep pleated trim. The woman’s hands are clasped at her waist over the mantle, and she wears a striped, high-necked bodice beneath. Her hair is dressed close to the head, and the image is framed by the printed caption “SUMMER DRESS AND MANTLE” with the publication title “THE FASHIONS AND PRACTICAL DRESS INSTRUCTOR” at the top. helenparkerdrabble.com
The 1861 census showed Mary Allott as 'married'.
Her husband? New Zealand. Her eldest son? Living with his grandmother streets away.
Mary's story shows us the pain.
'The Recipe Book That Sustained a Life' coming soon.
Find out more and join the waitlist helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
Wow, they left early. My Drabble ancestry goes back to the 1500s in Bradfield, Sheffield. My granddad Walter Parker bn 1885 emigrated from Thorney, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire to Canada 1907 and returned to Sheffield in 1930s. A published the 1st part of his story 'A Victorian's inheritance'.
Love the archives. What's your link to Sheffield?
Recipe books = relationship archives.
"Mrs Maxwell's Ginger Beer"
"Aunt Margaret's Pudding"
Each name = connection. Evidence of networks that sustained women.
Victorian Mary preserved 280+ recipes, some attributed.
More: helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#WomensHistory #Victorian #Recipes
Mary's gingerbread:
Butter (pricier than meat)
Brandy (luxury)
White flour (not oats)
Maintaining status when her world collapsed.
Every ingredient: "I belong."
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#FoodHistory #WomensHistory #VictorianRecipes
"First Class Seed Cake (Splendid)"
Mary documented belonging in her personal recipe book after her husband abandoned her in 1859.
From fashionable Sharrow. Expensive sugar. Luxury lemon.
Not cooking. Proof of worth.
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-marybio
#FoodHistory #Victorian #Sheffield
📚 Educated to be a perfect wife
💍 Married & legally erased
💔 Husband contracted VD, abandoned her
⚖️ Lost son to custody laws
📖 Found power in recipe books
👭 Saved by women's networks
Mary's story coming soon helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-...
#VictorianHistory #WomensHistory #Genealogy
Mary Allott 1861 census: "married daughter" at parents' Spring Villa
Unremarkable until you add:
• Husband emigrated to NZ (passenger lists)
• Son with grandmother
• Newspapers
• Court records
helenparkerdrabble.com/coming-soon-maryabio/
#VictorianHistory #WomensHistory #FamilyHistory
Ooh, I love seemingly random connections : )
Intriguing. What theory?
To mark Disability History Month, explore how women’s experiences have shaped disability history and why they must be counted.
Read Dr Coreen McGuire’s article for the Women’s History Network:
womenshistorynetwork.org/making-women...
#DisabilityHistoryMonth #WomensHistory #Inclusion #Accessibility