A Sunday in Salt Lake City

 

                                                       The Entrance to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City

At the time I didn't know it would be the last research trip I would take for a while. I had used a travel agent to book my flights in and out of Salt Lake City. Not until later did I notice that my return flight was in the evening, on a Sunday. Surely there would be something open after I was kicked out of my hotel room. Checking online it appeared that stores were open on Sunday. All good. The Family History Library even had Sunday opening in the afternoon. I would be fine.

My hotel was right next to the Family History Library. Convenient during the week, but that Sunday I realized there was very little around it that was open. Even the restaurants I had visited during the week were closed. October in Salt Lake City always takes me by surprise. It just looks like it should be warmer than it is. It was cold visiting the historical sights which weren't behind closed doors.

I had envisioned a morning of shopping, a leisurely lunch and maybe a couple of hours at the Family History Library wrapping things up. I eventually found an open restaurant and one open store after a long walk. My research time increased. I was at the Family History Library shortly after it opened.

Extra research time is usually a boon. But only the main floor computers were open that Sunday. Not knowing what to expect, I hadn't really prepared. It remains to be seen if I gathered anything new as I finally take a look at the information I gathered that afternoon. My Chambers family was one I remember looking for. Will there be hidden treasure in the data I brought home? 

Taking the hint

                                                                   Ornamental representation of a steam engine

Lately I haven't had much time for genealogical research. Other ways to spend time online have proliferated the longer social isolation has gone on. Time that once was taken up by webinars and virtual conferences now seems to go to Zoom meetings and the fall out from writing retreats. At least Zoom writing sprints have led to me getting more words down.

In a Zoom meeting about genealogy the topic of Ancestry messaging came up. Apparently it has improved. I went on the Ancestry site to see if I had any messages. Nada. So, I checked out my family tree on the site. Green leaves were springing up all over. I have a tendency to ignore them but some were for recent family so I checked them out. I already knew a lot of the information but I went further than I usually do and found some real treasures, copies of original documents in sources I had never though of checking.

Because of where he lived when he was working for the railway, I had surmised that Harold S Chambers worked for the London and South Western Railway. I had never found anything to document that fact. That is, until I checked one of the Ancestry hints. Attached to Harold's name on my tree was a hint that led to a copy of the document for UK railway employment records that confirmed that Harold Strange Chambers worked for the London and South Western Railway. My assumption was correct! The documents was a record of his time with that company.

He entered into service in July of 1900. His age at the time was given as 15. The records also noted his rise in rank and salary as the years progressed. From 1900 to 1906 there were raises every year and then none. He remained in his employment with the railway with no increase in pay for just over another 4 years.

When researching how Harold would have traveled from Bournemouth to Liverpool in 1911 to take the Empress of Ireland to Canada, I ran across mentions of Britain's first railway strike in August of that year. Harold was long gone from England by that time but perhaps employment conditions were behind his resignation from the railway in January of 1911. Then again, he immigrated in March of 1911. Perhaps he needed the time to visit far flung friends and relatives before he left the country of his birth.

 

Sources:

Ancestry hint accessed February 17 2021 UK, Railway Employment records 1833- London and South Wester 1859-1920 Clerical Sta

The Llanelli Railway Riots https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/The-Llanelli-Railway-Riots/

Value added through in person research

 

                                          Gravestone of John Chambers showing his wife and son who died elsewhere

Often research trips don't turn out the way you planned. Sometimes they are even better! So it was when I checked out some of my Northamptonshire family lines. When I reached the village of Little Weldon, I thought how well it fits its name; it was small. It was quiet too. I don't remember seeing anyone when I made my way from the bus stop to the churchyard. It wasn't hard to pick out the church among the sparse buildings at the centre of the village. It was the big building with the graveyard at the rear.

I made my way through the gravestones reading as I went. There were several for my Chambers family. I knew that my ancestor, John Chambers, had died in Little Weldon but I was surprised to see the names of his wife and son on the stone. They had died much further away in Bournemouth. It made me wonder who had commissioned the stone and when it had been erected. I haven't looked for that information yet and don't know if the records would still exist.

But in this case, bricks and mortar still exist. The church where my ancestors worshipped probably looked much the same as when they went there. While I was out tromping around the gravestones taking notes and pictures someone was watching from inside the church. The custodian came out to see what I was doing. When I explained my quest, he asked if I would like to see the inside of the church. That was how I came to see where they would have sat and listened to the minister every Sunday. Now that's an experience that can't be replicated through an internet search! 

                                               Weldon Independent Church is visible at the back of the gravestones

From maps to footsteps

 

   

                                                                            A Map of Northamptonshire

 

It always seems that it takes more research prior to going on a genealogical foray to an ancestral place than it does when you have access to the places and archives while there. Even so, during the preparation you can forget some basics. Before I went to Northamptonshire, I checked out the places I would be staying, the places I needed to get to and public transportation in the area. What I didn't do was look at a map in conjunction with the bus schedules.

I had it in my head that when I left the city of Northampton where the conference had been, I would first get to Kettering and then to the villages of Little and Great Weldon. My plan was to stop in Kettering, check out the graveyard for my ancestor's gravestones and then find the street where my Strange family had lived and run their grocery shop, before moving on to the Weldon villages and my Chambers family. Only the bus schedules didn't allow for that to happen.

Checking maps of the area before my trip along with bus schedules would have shown me that I wouldn't be able to visit both Kettering and the Weldon villages in a day. Fortunately, one of my contacts, a distant cousin, was happy to drive me around to those ancestral places which were harder to get to relying on public transport. It helped that those were the family lines we shared in common.

Successful research on the ground requires changing plans when necessary and being open to new ways of accessing places and information. Another good thing to do is to have contacts in the area, preferably ones which you have been in touch with for a while to build up a relationship. At least that was one thing I had going for me on that trip.

 

Images:

By User: (WT-shared) Paul. at wts Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22746942