He apparently turned right as if to go into Richardson Road without noticing that there was an omnibus right behind him. The bus tried to swerve to avoid him but he kept going right and it ended up running over him. He survived for a few weeks in hospital but didn’t make it… 😢
Ordnance Survey 25" Map, Edition of 1911 National Library of Scotland https://maps.nls.uk/view/103674019 Sussex LXV.12 Revised: 1909, Published: 1911 Size: map 64.4 cm x 96.6 cm (25.344 x 38.016 inches), on sheet ca. 76 x 104 cm (ca. 30 x 41 inches)
My great grandfather, Frederick Thomas Port, is the pathway to my English ancestry. He was born in Buckingham and after marrying in Staffordshire in 1872, moved to Scotland.
But he died in Brighton, on business, after he was run over by a bus while riding a bike - at this junction!
#MyFamily52Maps
There's a wonderful line in Jane Austen's Emma. Harriet Smith turns out to have been the daughter of a tradesman, lacking "the blood of gentility that Emma had formerly been so ready to vouch for! The stain of illegitimacy unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed."
While I was driving back from Northampton last night after giving my talk on illegitimacy, I found myself thinking about how societal attitudes towards the parents of illegitimate children were influenced by class and gender.
I've come up with an infographic to explain how it all worked...
Absolutely - a point I make very clear. Or at least, if they were lying they were often only spouting what they had been told and believed to be true.
But that doesn’t make such a good title for a talk… 😁
Title slide for Lying Bastards, my talk on the impact of illegitimacy on family history research. The main image is 'The Outcast' a painting by Richard Redgrave (1851) the original of which is in the Royal Academy of Arts. The scene is of a young woman with a baby in her arms being shown the door by her stern-looking father, while other members of the family react in various ways to the event.
Heading up the M1 this evening to talk to the Northamptonshire Family History Society @northantsfhs.bsky.social. We'll be discussing the impact of illegitimacy on our family history research.
We need to talk about those Lying Bastards...
Apparently my assistant thinks it’s Poets Day (aka Half-Day Friday)
It is
Reposting this which I originally posted during @Bluesky's difficult day yesterday...
Reposting this which I originally posted during @Bluesky's difficult day yesterday...
How refreshing to see that Charles Bernau (of the Bernau Index fame) listed himself and his wife as equal partners in the family business. They're both described as a 'Searcher in Public Records' and their daughter is a clerk, working for 'Messrs. Bernau & Bernau, Searchers in Public Records'.
I’ve just finished reading the second book I’ve read by @davidgrann.bsky.social this year. The Killers of the Flower Moon is every bit as thrilling, engaging and powerful as The Wager and I thoroughly recommend them both to anyone who’s interested in historical narrative, investigation and justice!
It's from a register of freedom admissions for the Vintner's Company. I don't have the exact date but the volume covered the years 1658-1768.
👉
Manicule alert!
I’m spending the morning at Guildhall Library and I’m pointedly referring to it as such (it’s not *The* Guildhall Library). I’m doing this because it’s right but also out of respect for the late Audrey Collins who cared about these things! 😁
https://maps.nls.uk/view/74481260 Ordnance Survey 25 inch map, First Edition, 1880 Argyllshire and Buteshire CXCVIII.6 (Killarrow) Survey date: 1878, Publication date: 1880 Size: map 64.4 cm x 96.6 cm (25.344 x 38.016 inches), on sheet ca. 76 x 104 cm (ca. 30 x 41 inches)
My great grandmother's family moved from the Isle of Man shortly before she was born in 1872; her father had found work in the Lead Mines on the Hebridean island of Islay. I don't know exactly where the Howlands lived on Islay but I know that Charles worked right here in the smithy.
#MyFamily52Maps
https://www.airhistory.net/photo/7682/NC90923 Aircraft Registration / Serial: NC90923 Aircraft Original Type: Lockheed 49 Constellation Aircraft Generic Type: Lockheed Constellation / Starliner (C-69/C-121) Aircraft Version: Lockheed L-049 Constellation C/n (msn): 049-2053 Operator Titles: American Overseas Airlines Aircraft Name: Flagship Great Britain Location City / Airport: New York - La GuardiaMap Region / Country: New York, United States Airport Codes: ICAO: KLGA IATA: LGA Local: LGA Other: - Photo Date: 1946 Photo from: RAScholefield Collection Photo ID: 7682 Photo Comment "Flagship Great Britain" was delivered to AOA on 29 March 1946. It is being prepared for a transatlantic schedule at La Guardia. Sold to Pan American on 25 September 1950. From Lockheed 60 years ago. This photo was added on 13 September 2017, and has since been viewed 1983 times.
When I discover people travelling across the Atlantic or to Australia or New Zealand I always like to find roughly contemporary pictures of the vessels they sailed in.
I can safely say that I've never before found a photo of the actual plane that someone flew from London to New York on in 1947!
I think it must be 1915 or 1916.
Yeah, I wondered about that. It’s a definite possibility!
As a P.S., I’ve realised that the calendar works for next year - 2027. Now to persuade my wife that it would look perfect up on the kitchen wall!
… because behind the picture, in the back of the frame, I found this…
A wall calendar (unused) which I’ve been able to date to 1915.
Now I want to know who put it there and why.
🧵 3/End
… when took it apart I found that the ‘portrait’ appeared to have been cut out of a magazine (perhaps a church magazine?) and on the reverse was a page of adverts for some local businesses (all in the same part of Edinburgh - close to the Church of the Sacred Heart…).
But that’s not all…
🧵 2/3
Another item recovered from my parents’ house. This one formerly graced the walls of my Roman Catholic Granny’s house. I’m pretty sure that ‘Our Lady of Lourdes’ isn’t a relative of ours (at least not a close one 😁) but I liked the look of the frame.
And I’m glad I did, because…
🧵 1/3
My memories of it are a bit vague but I remember the swing park at the foot of the road!
This was written about a different discipline but the lesson is the same - it's the prefect explanation of why we should NEVER use LLMs in family history research.
"Serendipity doesn't come from efficiency. It comes from spending time in the place where the problem lives..."
Get your hands dirty!
Wow! That must have just happened - I walked across it last week and the scaffolding was still there...
I did. I’m 65 now if that helps…
Oh, wow! We were at 83 OMQ…
I think there were six left in the garage. The other five, I’m sorry to say are no longer with us… 😬