It's been a busy week but very enjoyable. On Tuesday the members and friends of the local history groups I attend in Goole and Howden concluded our summer visits by coming to Saltmarshe where we have a small museum. It is in an eighteenth century cottage and we have filled it with all sorts of artefacts ranging from a boot worn by a horse which pulled the lawn mower at Sandhall, my grandfather's adze which he used as a wheelwright at Eastrington and a range of tinplate toys and a wind up gramophone.
We enjoyed tea, scones, jam and cream and also catching up with friends on what was a lovely sunny day.
The following day I met an Australian visitor and his daughter who had come to Yorkshire to look at where their ancestors lived. It is an interesting story about a young man called Robert Donkin, born in 1867 at North Cave to parents William Donkin and Esther Howarth who had married in 1864.
When he was around 18 Robert emigrated to Australia and took his mother's maiden surname of Howarth. His descendant had employed an Australian family history researcher to trace his ancestor. Although Robert had never used the surname Donkin he had always said he was born in North Cave in Yorkshire. And armed with that - and eventually DNA - Robert Donkin and Robert Howarth were proved to be the same person. Why he changed his name may never be known.
My visitors met me in Howden and we enjoyed chatting about what they thought of Yorkshire and its people. They liked us!!
The following day I went to a lovely concert in the Minster organised by Howdenshire Music. https://www.howdenshiremusic.co.uk
The church was full and the young performers very engaging. All concerts are free and draw in large audiences who are always impressed by our town.
And now I am preparing for our Goole Local History group's exhibition in Junction, beginning on Tuesday 22nd August. There will be old photos, family research help and information about the First World War and waterways heritage. Our theme this year is railways and ships.
So above is a picture of West Dock - and the water towers- while below from 1967 is a picture of the last steam loco to leave Goole shed.
