A second look at a military record

 

                                                                  The book and my grandfather's military record

Reading is one of the joys of my life. I read widely and sometimes what I read provides inspiration for my family history research. This time that spark was provided by a book about a man who served in the Great War, aka WWI. That man was Harry Palin who was living in New Zealand when he joined the armed forces. Those troops were some of the "lucky" participants at Gallipoli.

The book gave a narrative account of that conflict and named the British ships that were supporting the troops in that theatre of war. My paternal grandfather was assigned to a ship in that war and I remembered someone telling me that he was on Lemnos and Mykonos. Was he also involved in the Gallipoli Campaign?

I pulled out my grandfather's naval record and took a closer look. According to the record, he joined up in June of 1917 and was assigned to the President II and served in Chingford. 1917 was too late for the Gallipoli campaign and besides, the President II was parked in different places on the Thames, such as Chingford, and used as an accounting base. Chingford was also the site of a Royal Naval Air Service airfield was explains the note on his record which read ENGT TO R.A.F. A further search into conscription in WWI, explained his late entry into the fighting forces. It wasn't until May of 2016 that married men were subject to the draft.

So, although checking to see if my grandfather was involved in the Gallipoli campaign turned up negative results, I still learned a lot about the records I already had on hand. They are still confusing though, as they also record that he received the Eastern Medal. Was the family lore placing him on Lemnos and Mykonos correct? It look like I have more searching to do.

Sources:

Imperial War Museums – Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/story/28229 

Palin, Michael Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire, Random House Canada, Toronto, 2023

UK Parliament – Conscription: the First World War https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/conscription/ 

Adding background to family history with a book

                                                        Sources for London ancestors, a book and a death certificate

An online group of family history writers that I belong to sometimes reads a book to see how other writers have treated their historic subjects. This time the book was The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. In it the author, Hallie Rubenhold, wrote about the lives of Jack the Ripper's victims, showing the reality of those lives as opposed to the lore passed down by Ripperologists through the ages.

Almost right away after the murders in 1888, a whole mythology sprang up around the deaths and the perpetrator. The emphasis was on the killer, Jack, and the mystery of his identity. The victims became throw away women, branded prostitutes by the press and dismissed as such by those whose interest was in the killer's mysterious identity.

Because of my interest in the East End of London in my research, I have read some of the many books about Jack the Ripper. They often contain details about the area where my family lived and the social life of the times that is hard to find elsewhere. I welcomed Robenhold's book and, when I took it off the shelf, I could see that my copy bristled with many bookmarks marking the places that had information that I wanted to look into further.

Jack terrorized the streets of the East End in 1888, a few years after the widow, Sarah Minster Cavanagh, had passed. So the details in the book would concern the generation after her. But when I leafed through the book again I came upon a chapter with the title "Demon Drink" and much of it is about the effect of alcohol on women. On my family tree a few women from that era and general location succumbed to that particular demon. Looks like it's time to read that chapter again and to look at whatever other items of interest I flagged in the book on my first read through.

 

Sources:

Britannica article about Jack the Ripper https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-the-Ripper 

 

A neglected family branch

 

                                                               Molly's Reach in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast

I like to write but finding inspiration about what to write about can sometimes be the hardest part. This week I was busy with a project which took way long than I thought it was going to. Don't they always? Anyway the result was that I finally finished the long project on the day that an article deadline came up. On top of that there was my blog post which I usually try to post on Friday, the day before it goes live.

The fact that my article was for the BCGS journal helps though, because once I thought of what I could write for that, it usually provides a similar topic to write about here. And it did. When writing about a recent trip to the Sunshine Coast of BC, I realized that I have neglected a whole family of relatives on my family tree. Some of them ended up living on the Sunshine Coast and I actually met them in person once, but that was when I was just lightly interested in family history in that time before it took over so many of my waking hours. 

Being a novice was my excuse then but it won't wash now. But thinking about those family connections and how I have neglected them, makes me realize they are prime candidates to put in my plan for when I next visit the FamilySearch Library. I better start that plan before something else comes up. 

For Remembrance Day

 

                                  On Remembrance Day

                      we remember those who have fought

                  in our more recent wars. It is good to honour

            them for their service but it must be remembered that

        war affects more than those in the various military services.

    War can and does affect also those who live through the conflict 

                         as well as those who come later. 

Strength from family history

 

                                                            Battle of Britain-Blitz, Dawn by Joseph Gray

I get reminder emails about watching Ask the Experts, a series of interviews that Diahan Southard does with various experts in the genetic genealogy community. They take place on Your DNA Guide's YouTube channel. The one this past week snuck up on me but I tuned in on time to see it live. Her guest was Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist. The discussion was interesting and one of the things that Judy said really rang true for me.

I can't remember her exact words, but Judy talked about how knowing one's family stores gives people, particularly young people, strength and resilience. She cited the men and women who made the trek west by wagon train to claim new land. My thoughts didn't stray back that far but I can attest to this. When I was going through a particularly trying time in my life, I found strength by invoking memories of my grandmothers. They both lived in London at the time of the blitz in WWII. The thought of them coping with the disruption and fear that the constant bombing brought gave me the fortitude to get through my day to day life in trying circumstances. Knowing they had been able to carry on told me that I could too. 

Images:

Battle of Britain- Blitz, Dawn image: a view from the north bank of the River Thames in London over towards the Shot Tower on the south bank. A few civilians are walking on the pavement in the foreground. Clouds of smoke, showing evidence of fires caused by German air raids, are visible on the horizon.

Gray, Joseph - http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//281/media-281466/large.jpg This photograph Art.IWM ART 15672 6  comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums