More local emigrants

The internet is a wonderful thing for family historians as it enables us to find out what happened to people who left  Yorkshire for a new life. I know it has to be used with caution and I sometimes despair of family trees where children of maybe 10 years old are listed as parents just because their name is right!

But on the whole it works well. I have recently been looking at two families who emigrated to Ontario. The first family was from near Holme on Spalding Moor. George Fowler emigrated with his brother in the 1870s.  His father, also George, appeared with the family in 1851 but then disappeared. Young George in 1861 was living with his grandparents, Thomas and Hannah near Welham Bridge. His two brothers were with their mother in Howden workhouse,

Searching in the East Riding archives  told us that George senior had deserted his family and 'gone to America'.  After many hours and with the help of the Familysearch site all was revealed. All three of George senior's sons  had emigrated and although there are still some gaps to fill in [did he marry again in Canada? what happened to his wife and daughter?] we found that George and his three sons were obviously in touch and in fact George was living with his youngest son in 1911.

As ever it makes you wish that some of the many letters which passed between emigrants and their families  at home in Yorkshire had survived - but they did not know that many years later we would all be fascinated by family history.

The other family I was looking at was Thomas Bristow who married Elizabeth Bullass and lived in Reedness near Whitgift. The problem here too is what happened to Thomas. Two of his sons, William and George, emigrated. Elizabeth spent some time in Goole workhouse and later says she is a widow. When and where did Thomas die?

I  receive many queries through my website about family history and always have a look in my own resources to see if I can help. If it is a simple query and I can I normally send the information straight back. If it is a query that would involve my spending some hours researching I make a charge.

In every case I reply. My appeal to all family historians is that if you contact someone with a query and they reply to you, then please thank them. Most people do - I often spend an hour or more looking at a family and then send back information or suggestions as to what sources might be useful. I am sure other family historians do the same.

The internet is a wonderful thing but remember the people who reply to your queries are often not in a remote office but, like me, sitting at a computer in my kitchen watched by a dog that wants a walk and surrounded by a heap of ironing and other jobs that need doing.

Howden in the First World War

It seems a long time now since Christmas. The tree is down, the needles vacuumed up [ although there always seem to be a few that you miss] and my WEA classes are starting again this week.

In both classes [ Howden and Goole] we are looking at the local area and the First World War. I have taken the names from the Howden War memorial.

Names on the Howden war memorial  World War One

Pte. Cyril Cuthbert AGAR

Lieu. Harold Edward AGAR

Cpl. Fred ANDERTON

Spr. Tom George ANDREW        

Pte. Albert AVEY

Pte. Arthur James BAKER

Pte. Harold BELL

Pte. Ephraim BENTLEY

Rfh. Charles Singleton BLAND

Pte. John Bertram BRADFORTH

Tpr. Lionel Calam BURGESS

Pte. John CAMP

Cpl. Richard COLLINS

Pte. James Martin CONNER

Pte. William Henry DOVE

Pte. Alfred FITCH

Dvr. Harry FRANKS

Pte. Robert GILL

F.Lieut. William GLEW

Pte. Sidney GOODYEAR

Pte. Harold HABLETT

Pte. George HAIGH

Sgt. Harry HALL

Pte. Charles HALL

Pte. Tom HOUNSLEY

Spr. William HUSTLER

Pte. John George JACKSON

Sgt. Reginald Percival JONES

Pte. Arthur Edwin KAYE

Pte. William Henry Forester KNOX

Pte. Reginald Glendinning LAKE

Pte. James William LANGHORN

Pte. John Augustus Blanchard LATHAM

Ab.Sn. John Thomas LINTON

Pte. Harold LUCAS

 Lt.Cm. Charles Ceasar de Merindol MALAN

Cpl. John William MARKHAM

Pte. Thomas MARSTON

Pte. Mathew William MARQUIS

Tpr. Harry MATHEWS

Pte. Thomas Stephen MOONEY

A.S. Richard Henry Kirby MYERS

Pte. John William NEWHAM

Sgt. Leonard Riby NICHOLSON

Pte. William NUTBROWN

Pte. Herbert OLIVER

Pte. Thomas Francis PEAM

Pte. John Edward POOLEY

Pte. William Norman ROWNTREE

2 Lt. Charles Frederick SAUNDERS

Q.M.Sgt. John Everitt SAUNDERS

Pte. Jack Stather SHERBURN

Pte. William SHIRBON

Pte. Robert SIMMS

Spr. Ernest SMITH

Pte. Thomas Frederick SPIVEY

Pte. William STEPHENSON

Pte. William SWEETING

Pte. Jim THIRKETTLE

Pte. Thomas THORNTON

Tpr. Robert Butler THROSSELL

Tpr. James William WARNER

Pte. James Henry WILKINSON

Pte. Harold WOODALL

Pte. Richard WOODALL

Bugler. George WRAY

ASSELBY

Pte. Albert Henderson BRABBS

Pte. Edgar HORNSHAW

Pte. Thomas William HORNSHAW

L/Cpl. Sidney Clifford PLASTER

Howdendyke

Lieut. George Eric Asquith ANDERTON

Pte. Walter CHATHAM

L/Cpl. James JACKSON

Pte. Arthur MIDDLETON

Pte. Harry MIDDLETON

Pte. Herbert MIDDLETON

Pte. Walter Edward SWEETING

Gnr. Fred WATSON

Pte. Arthur WILSON

Able Seaman Thomas WOOD

KILPIN

L/Cpl. Thomas DOBSON

Pte. Francis Albert ROBINSON

Pte. Richard Laurence WILSON

SKELTON

L/Cpl. Herbert William RAMSEY

Sgt. George Henry TIPPING

Pte. Arthur WAINMAN

We hope to find out more about these men and also about other men who served during the war from the Howden area but who returned safely.

We hope maybe to get the information online and also into a booklet. If you have any information that might help please get in touch. We would particularly like any photos.

Most of the names which are on the memorial are of men who were born in and lived in the area all their lives. But some are a bit of a mystery.

Why, we wondered, was  Charles Ceasar De Merindol Malan, a Lieut Commander  in the Royal Navy who was killed, aged 31, after his ship, HMS Opal was wrecked in a snowstorm off  the Orkneys in January 1918 commemorated on the Howden memorial.

So I looked up his details and found that he was born in Howden in 1887 as was his younger brother John. Their father was an engineer, born in Switzerland and by 1891 the family was living in Hull. So that explains why he is commemorated in Howden - but  now I wonder what project Mr Malan was working on in Howden.

Sad loss of a gentleman - Bill Wroot

For those who also read my website you may have read the fascinating Memories of Reedness written by Horace William Wroot - Horace to his friends in the Marshland and Bill to the rest of us.

Sadly Bill died shortly before Christmas at the age of 87,  a good friend and a gentleman in all senses. Many people attended his funeral in Whitgift Church.

It was a poignant moment sitting there and listening to the organ, remembering Bill's stories of the Marshland villages where he grew up and particularly of the church itself with its dial showing thirteen which was mentioned in a broadcast by Lord 'Haw Haw'.

Although Bill served all over the world in his army career he loved returning to his Yorkshire roots, regularly attending local shows, church events, garden parties and the Marshland history group where he met up with his boyhood friends and reminisced about their schooldays at Reedness.

Bill was a kind and gentle man and a fount of  local knowledge. I am proud to have known him. He will be sadly missed.

Bill and his wife Gudrun enjoying a toasted teacake in the Shire Hall at Howden

A stormy Christmas Eve

I would like to wish everyone who reads my blog a Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2014. It has been an eventful year and I am looking forward to a peaceful few days, eating roast beef and plum pudding and sitting in front of a log fire eating chocolates.

It was very windy yesterday and one advantage of this is that small branches and twigs fall in my garden, enabling Molly and me to go outside later 'gathering winter fuel'.

On the historical front I have been buying a few old postcards from e bay - it is a good time to do this as many people seem to be too busy with Christmas preparations to keep an eye on the computer! My latest purchases were of pictures of Carlton near Snaith showing flooding around the Bank End area.

I have so many old pictures now that I despair of ever getting them online on my website - but if you ever need an old picture of  this area of East Yorkshire, do ask me if I have one.

 Most people buy copies to illustrate their family history but I have provided images this year for the new Montague Mills factory shop at Goole and most recently for an artist who was designing a book cover and needed a period background image for his heroine [this was a picture of Snaith].

Below is a picture of Coronation Row at Carlton in the snow. It is not  perhaps the sharpest of pictures but as I collect these pictures from a bygone age I have realised that sometimes the picture quality is not the main criterion.

For anyone looking for an old picture of their granny at school, their house, their ship or where their ancestor worked any picture at all is often a bonus.

Coronation Row, Carlton near Snaith

Flooding in Faxfleet, Blacktoft, Yokefleet and Saltmarshe

We live quite near the River Ouse and friends have often asked whether we get flooded. Well I can still say no but last Thursday evening I think  we came very close.

A combination of  low pressure, high winds that day and a very high tide produced a storm surge. The water tore up the Humber, flooding Hull and then up the Ouse. Here the water over topped  the banks with a horrible roaring noise and  poured into people's houses with a suddenness that caught everyone by surprise.

Standing on the river bank with neighbours I watched the dark swirling water come almost up to the top of the defences before it seemed to pause. I now know that we were saved because it came over further along and flooded houses and a large area of farmland.  Over a week later, despite  a lot of pumping, much of the land is still under water and in neighbouring communities families have had to leave their homes - the skips full of damaged carpets and furniture line the roadsides.

Last night the church at Laxton was full for the annual  candlelit carol service.  It was a time to think of those  local families who will not be having the Christmas they planned.

The morning after in Saltmarshe Park. A white van, ironically from a firm who help with the aftermath of floods,  had lost the road and had to be pulled out by a  tractor. In the background a trailer with rescued sheep.

Old photos of Howden

It is  the first day of Advent and the sun is shining brightly. Molly and I have been for a long walk and tramped our way through drifts of fallen leaves. Molly enjoys chasing after the squirrels but she is far too slow to get anywhere near them.  I then tidied up the yard, trimming off some of the dead foliage and emptying hanging baskets.

Earlier in the week I planted some daffodil and crocus bulbs where an old wooden shed stood. I thought the crocus bulbs might have more chance nearer the house as all those I have ever planted elsewhere in the garden have not survived the squirrels. Perhaps I should encourage Molly to run faster!

This has been a good week for Howden. In a previous blog post I mentioned that my friend Ken Deacon and the Howden Civic Society had put in a bid for funding for an R100 airship trail in the town. Well this Tuesday was voting day and Howden won. So the next step is to have the plaques cast so they can be embedded in the pavement.

Yesterday I took into Chappelows' paper shop in the town some mounted photos of local views to sell. Howden  has a fascinating history and is very picturesque. I hope that both local people and tourists might like a souvenir of the town and, as not everyone wants to buy everything from the internet, this is an opportunity for me to showcase and share some of my old pictures.

I am looking forward to the Howden Late Night Opening on Thursday 5th December. There is always a real Christmas atmosphere and this year I do not think that snow ploughs will be needed to clear the Market Place as happened a couple of years ago.

Goole Times - Back in Time pictures

Back to the computer after the excitement of watching the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special last night. Even though I am not an avid fan I did enjoy it and even managed to understand it - although I am sure I missed lots of references to previous stories.

I thought I would upload some of the pictures which have recently appeared on the Back in Time pages of the Goole Times. This week's issue included some which, to be honest, I had forgotten I had submitted - one of harvesting was sent in August to coincide with the harvest this year !

However it is always interesting to put names to faces on some of the group pictures as even if I trace when the picture appeared originally often the individual names were not put in.

I am uploading them in small versions but if you want to order a bigger version or a print contact me through my Howdenshirehistory.co.uk website.

Goole British Legion ladies committee
from left Alice Holborough [ standard bearer], Gwendoline Robinson, Esme?, Bella Chesman, Avril Rockett,  Rene Lewis

Howden Brownies - around 1970

Bus trip from Goole Grammar school

Combine harvesting near Goole

Howden cubs around 1970

Molly and a hedgehog

I have just come in from walking Molly. The leaves are beautiful this year and as yet it is still mild enough to walk in just a sweatshirt. I understand however that winter is arriving next week. Molly was on her lead as we passed a dead hedgehog on the roadside. A couple of days ago she was not and it took some time to wash off the smell after she rolled delightedly on top of it.

My old pictures often appear in the Goole Times but talking to a friend earlier in the week she asked when the pictures were going to feature somewhere other than Goole. A fair point and I shall try to submit some of the local villages such as Blacktoft, Holme on Spalding Moor,  Rawcliffe and the town of Snaith. I have hundreds of pictures but  am easily distracted by writing when I should be cataloguing!

Some of my most recent acquisitions are pictures of around Drax  - long before it became famous as the site of the giant power station.

This is a view of the Drax Primitive Methodist chapel on the left and the Huntsman Inn a little further down the street.

Howden airship trail

Time seems to fly by at the moment and it is well over a fortnight since I wrote anything. So here is a catch-up on local history matters.

First my friend Ken Deacon from Howden, expert on the airship R100, has come up with the idea of creating an airship trail in the town. His plan, backed by the Civic Society, is to embed plaques of the R100 airship, which was built near the town in 1929, along the Market Place to show how long this magnificent airship actually was. The trail will run from the corner of Market Place up to the Ashes Playing Field.

In order to fund the plaques, which have to be specially cast, Ken and the Society have made a bid to something called The People's Millions. The project has made it to the final and we are all going to vote for it on November 26th after it has been featured on ITV local news programme Calendar. The project with most votes wins the funds.

Read more about it on the Howden Civic Society site.

On Saturday 2nd November Goole library held a family history day which was very successful. I met many interesting people and found more information for our WEA current class project - the fish and chip shops of Goole!

At home the leaves are turning but are still on the trees. Autumn seems late this year and I hope we don't have any more strong winds here until all the leaves are off. We avoided most of  the much forecast storm, nicknamed apparently St Jude, but some of the tall ash trees rocked alarmingly.

Recently on Twitter many people have been viewing old pictures which have been restored and coloured to give them a feeling of immediacy. My friend Pippa has been doing this for some time and has had great success with both local scenes and people. It is amazing how an old cracked and damaged black and white photo can be brought back to life. Below is a sample of her work. Contact me through the website if you would like more details

We believe these men were Volunteers from the Goole area

A busy week

I am now able to relax a little after what has been a very busy week.

On Monday I gave a talk on how to trace your family history to the Holme on Spalding Moor history society. I have spoken to them before about Snowden Dunhill and about Saltmarshe and always enjoy it.

They are a very friendly group of people and  I think the talk went well - there were lots of questions which is always a good sign.

Their next talk is to be given by eminent East Riding historian Dr David Neave who will  talk on the Lords of Holme on Monday, 18 November at 7pm in the Scout Hut which is part of the village hall.  It is on the left hand side as you drive in the car park and has a separate entrance round the corner.

I hope to attend.

And then last night I was at Melbourne near Pocklington talking to the Pocklington Local History group about East Riding emigrants.

 I explained some of the reasons why people emigrated - ranging from the Puritans who left Rowley near South Cave in 1638 with Rev Ezekiel Rogers to create a new settlement - Rowley in Massachusetts,  to the Quakers of Knedlington who went a few years later to Delaware and right through to the young men and families of East Yorkshire who went to Canada in the nineteenth century to make a new life.

I am particularly interested in the last group as my own ancestor, Robert Nurse of Eastrington suffered the loss of his farm, took on the village pub, the Black Swan and then, as family lore has it,  drank the last of his inheritance. He then in 1832 took his family to Canada, settling near Port Hope where there was quite a community already established of local people who had emigrated 10 years earlier.

I have some letters from family members which describe the wonderful life in Canada and the difficult conditions at home in Yorkshire. No wonder Robert went. His descendants are still settled near Rice Lake.

Today I shall concentrate on keeping the Rayburn going and walking Molly in the rain.