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In Memory of Alan Phillips

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My dear cousin Alan who was born on 4th December 1935,  passed away from stomach cancer on 17th July 2012.

As soon as I learned the date of the funeral I changed my holiday plans so that I would be up ‘home’ at the time to enable me to attend his funeral.

Tuesday 24th July dawned bright and sunny, which was very welcome as Alan was to be interred at 11.30am and there is nothing worse than standing around a grave with the rain pouring down.

As Alan lived in Co. Durham and I was staying at my sister’s in Northumberland we had an hour’s journey before arriving at the Wear Valley Crematorium where there was to be a Humanist celebration of his life which would be followed by the interment at St. Paul’s Church, Hunwick.

Funerals are never happy, enjoyable occasions, however I must admit that this celebration of Alan’s life was so well thought out by his wife and daughters which made it a lovely occasion.  I certainly learned a lot about Alan’s early life from the reading which was done and as I am researching our family tree it was very interesting.  I have asked for a copy of the reading to put in the book I am writing. 

After this beautiful ceremony we got back into our car and set off for St. Paul’s Church.  The sun was still shining beautifully as we drove into the cemetery, there was just one road in which ended abruptly and just became a grassy field.  The setting was absolutely beautiful and so fitting for Alan who has worked on the land for so many years and was such an animal lover – there is a lovely view across the countryside with sheep bleating away in the background.  Soil to throw onto the top of the coffin, from Northumberland had been provided by Alan’s brother-in-law, as although he lived in Co. Durham he was born in Northumberland.

Next stop was The Red Lion pub, North Bitchburn which was there local and originally they lived in the little row of terraced houses behind there before buying a larger property with a few acres of land.  Inside was a display of old and new photographs of Alan and his family, plus of course hot and cold drinks and yummy food.

This has to be one of the nicest funerals I have ever attended and the memory of it and Alan will stay with me forever.

R.I.P. Alan – you will be sadly missed.

Another one bites the dust!

Another sad day for our family. My cousin Carol Simpson nee Phillips passed away this morning at 11a.m. This is the last of my Aunty Flossie and Uncle Anderson's family to leave this mortal coil. Carol succumbed to the dreaded cancer today - her stomach cancer had returned and had moved to her lungs and was rapid - the tube in her throat had collapsed and she was unable to breathe. Last time I saw Carol was at her brother Alan's funeral in July - she looked older than her 64 years and was still smoking! We now have very few cousins left - thankfully we are at the younger end of our family tree so hopefully have a few years left to enjoy our lives. R.I.P. Carol

Tom Dobson & Annie Kirby - question over her father!!!!

As I need to tie up some loose ends with my family tree so I can make a start on my book I decided to purchase the marriage certificate for my great grandparents. From the Mormon website I had gleaned the information that Annie's father was named James but all the Census returns I can find for the family give his name as John!!!! To be sure the information on the Mormon website was correct I needed to see the actual marriage certificate - oh dear - now I don't know what his name was!!!!!! Also the only marriage I can find for a Mary Ann to a Kirby is one to a John Kirby - no trace at all of a James!!!! I'm 99.9% sure that the family on the Census returns are the correct ones as Annie appears with them. I now assume that perhaps Annie didn't even know her father's name as she was only 2 years old when he died - why her mother didn't give her the correct name of John I don't know. I've discovered her oldest sister Jane died at the age of 18, her brother Thomas Hugh didn't marry until he was 50, her sister Alice Ann was 53 when she married - so I don't believe any of them had children except for Annie (my great grandmother). Tom Dobson and Annie Kirby married on August 21st 1887 in the Parish Church at Pickering, North Yorkshire, they were both 20 when they married - her father died in 1869 when Annie was 2 and her mother died in 1910. I think perhaps now I should purchase Annie's birth certificate to check out both parents' names!!!!! Instead of solving mysteries I've created more!!!!

Carole and Christine Dobson born 1961

Hope someone out there reads this post and can help me again in my quest for long lost relatives: Today I'm trying to find Carole & Christine Dobson born in the Durham area back in 1961. I believe the girls are twins and are the children of Thomas Henry Dobson aka Young Harry, born in 1932 and Jennie Blemings born 1935. I believe Thomas and Jennie married in 1958. If you know these people, or better still you are one of the people I am searching for please contact me, either on here or on Facebook.

Tying up loose ends!

I'm trying to tidy up some loose ends in my family tree research as I intend discontinuing my subscription to findmypast later in the year and get on with the laborious task of putting all the information I have into book form. To this end I am trying to find various people and hope that someone trawling the internet will come across this post and have information I need. Currently I am looking for: Jane Elizabeth Dobson's marriage and subsequent family. Jane was a sister of my grandmother Violetta Dobson. Jane was born in 1890 in Pickering, North Yorkshire to Thomas Dobson (1867-1940) and Annie Eliza nee Kirby (1869-1939. The family had moved to Gateshead by 1900. I have 5 options for gentlemen Jane Elizabeth may have married: Thomas Walker in 1916 Frederick Thompson in 1913 Fred Hetherington in j1916 William A Proudlock in 1927 Arthur Eltringham in 1936 - although I think this one is incorrect as I have found that the wife in this relationship died in 1956 and I am certain that Jane Elizabeth was still alive in 1965. If anyone out there is researching this line or is related in any way to any of the people I have mentioned I would like to hear from them.

Sheila Sharp nee Phillips 3.1.31-28.3.11

Today my dear cousin Sheila passed away after a very long illness bravely borne.

Rest In Peace Sheila we will miss you.

Nelson Village Leek Show 19 September 1959

This is a photo taken in the Village Hall opposite the Nelson Miners' Welfare Club on Leek Show Day.

On the 2nd right is my Uncle Bill Allsopp, who was then Secretary of the Club. I think the chap on the extreme left is Joe Twist. The chap on the extreme right also looks familiar to me but I am going to have to ask my old school friend his name and whether she remembers the other two blokes in the photo.

A bit of a quandary!

Referring back to a previous post showing my cousin Bryan's wedding.

Although I know who he married, and I also met her, we even used to visit them and stay for tea quite often and they would come to us too - I have tried and tried to locate Lesley's birth registration details without any success.

I had assumed she was born in Northumberland but unless she had not been given a name when she was registered then she isn't there!!!! Other than that all I can find is a registration for a birth down in Chatham in Kent. However I always thought she was a local girl, even though when I think about it she did perhaps speak with a posher accent than the rest of us up in Geordieland.

If anyone reading this knows anything I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks.

My Uncle Bill

This is my Uncle Bill sitting at his desk in the office at the Nelson Miners' Welfare Club where he was Club Secretary. I think it was taken in 1959 as there is another photograph taken at the local Leek Show and on the back of that one is the dated 19th September 1959.

Oooh, crikey, I'ves just realised that's the same date as little Cole's birthday! A bit of a coincidence that I should now hunt out this old photo for publishing on here, it will appear on another post.

Uncle Bill was my Dad's oldest brother, well at least the oldest who survived childhood as I have discovered that my Dad actually had a brother who was a firstborn but he died at about 6 days old, I have also unearthed (no pun intended) two sisters we did not know anything about.

I don't remember Uncle Bill ever working anywhere, or why he didn't appear to work in one of the local coal mines like some of his siblings. As far as I know he always lived in a house at the council side of the village we lived in once he was married which also tells me he didn't work in the mines otherwise he would have been given a colliery house.

When I was older and allowed to go into the Club I would go to play housey (bingo) with my Mam and I plagued him to death about giving me a Babycham Bambi which stood on the shelf behind the bar. I still have it, but a few months back when I took it off the windowsill to dust it I dropped it and one of its antlers broke!!!!!

Wedding of Bryan Allsopp and Lesley N Oliver in 1963

This a photo of the wedding of my cousin Bryan, who was my Uncle William's (Bill) and Aunty Annie's (Nance) only child. He married Lesley Oliver in 1963 at Morpeth Registry Office. I don't know who the other person is on the photograph but he was presumably the best man.

I am researching my family tree and am having great difficulty in finding any birth details of Lesley.

I remember Bryan always liked a good drink (alcohol I mean) and that one New Year he even got my Dad to take some alcohol (my Dad was tee-total!), he ended up pushing a bowl around the floor in front of him because he was so sick. I don't remember Dad ever doing that again.

I also recall that Bryan and Lesley would come to us for tea regularly and that we also used to visit them at the flat they lived in just outside Morpeth. This flat was on the premises of the car sales room that Bryan worked at.

I was always quite in awe of Lesley who was a Secretary in an office, possibly why I decided I wanted to do the same job when I was older! Isn't it funny how we look up to our elders when we are small?

Latterly Bryan and Lesley lived at Yeadon in Leeds, but Bryan died in 2001, I think Lesley is still alive.

Great Aunty Bella and Great Uncle Jack's headstone

Great Aunty Bella and her husband are buried at Mayfield Cemetery in Cramlington, this is their headstone.  I think I need to clean it up next summer when I visit.

Restoration of the Dobson memorial at Ellerburn.

Forgive me for more or less duplicating a post from my other blog but this is very important and really needs to be on my family history blog too.

I hope other Dobson family members will see this, read it, and make contact. Since I came home I have made contact with three new sets of people regarding my family tree so the visit to Ellerburn was worth it.

One thing organised for my holiday was a visit to St. Hilda's Churchyard at Ellerburn, near Thornton-Le-Dale, North Yorkshire about two and a half hours away from my sister's home.
The purpose of the visit was to meet up with a 3rd cousin and a 6th cousin both of which I met via family history research sites on the internet. The 3rd cousin made contact again earlier this year as he had been made redundant and had started looking into the family tree again - we think perhaps we first made contact via Genes Reunited but we aren't sure.

He told me he was going up to his mother's in Gosforth near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne at the end of July to do some garden tidying for her and then intended to go to Ellerburn to restore the memorial to some of the Dobson family from our family tree. The plan was that he and his daughter would camp at Thornton-Le-Dale and go to the churchyard each day to do the restoration. I advised him that at that time I would be staying at my sister's so it would be lovely to meet up with them, put faces to the names as it were. Everything was arranged for Wednesday 28 July.
In the meantime I told him about another distant relative I had been in touch with but hadn't heard from for some time, she is a 6th cousin. I passed on her e-mail address and he made contact. Turns out I hadn't heard from her because her lap-top had crashed and she'd lost all her contacts, although someone had managed to get all her family history research back for her. We made contact again too and arranged that she'd meet us there also.

Of course I was a bit wary travelling that far to a little dale in North Yorkshire to meet up with a man I had never met and I can imagine your horror as you read this, shouting out to me to be careful. He could have been an axe murderer and may not have had a daughter for all I knew.

Well I am not that stupid! MN and I would be going and I asked my sister if at least her or even her husband would come along with us for the day if they weren't doing anything to which they agreed. Safety in numbers and all that.
We set off just after 10am, it was a bit of a dull day and the traffic was quite light for the time of the year and we made good time. The roads took us up hill and down dale, some of them pretty steep. As we got closer to Ellerburn I was aware I needed to go to the loo before we got there and knew there wasn't any facilities near the Church, the nearest being in Thornton-Le-Dale. As we drove across the beautiful Yorkshire moors with nothing but the odd farm around other than sheep and cattle, I spotted a sign for a picnic area by Scaling Dam which also had WC facilities. We decided to stop here to do the necessary and stretch our legs. As we pulled in to park we spotted a mobile burger van. When we got out of the car to go to the loo the smell of the bacon from the van was overwhelming, it was calling to us 'Come on you know you want one!' When Mn and I returned from the loo, we got back in the car to set off again and of course it was unanimous - we had to have a hot sandwich. We weren't far from Ellerburn so it seemed like a good idea to eat now otherwise we would get nothing until much later in the afternoon after out meeting. My sister and I opted for the bacon sandwich, MN didn't want anything although he did pinch some of my sandwich!!! My brother-in-law opted for the 'belly buster' which was bacon, mushroom and black pudding I think. We all had a hot drink to wash it down. There were tables outside by the caravan and we decided to sit there to save the mess in the car and for some fresh air. The seagulls obviously knew a good place to stop for scraps as there quite a few of them about.

After we'd had our fill we set off again. As I'd been to Ellerburn to see the memorial back in May 2007 I recognised the road although we were going in from the opposite direction this time. It wouldn't be long now before we arrived at our destination.

We headed off across the moors again, then the road dropped down into a village, after travelling a few more miles we took a tight left hand bend, more or less doubling back on ourselves and drove along the narrow winding country lane with the Church in the distance. I pulled into the small parking area where there were already three cars. Homer's voice boomed from the satnav 'Whoohoo, you have reached your destination, you can hold your head up high because you are a genius'. Yes, I have Homer Simpson giving me directions on my satnav as MN loves the Simpsons!

We all got out of the car and I grabbed the video camera and digital camera out of the boot (trunk). As we passed the parked cars I read the car sales sticker on the back of a blue one which had Guisborough on it and I guessed that was AA's car as that's where she is from. I wasn't sure about IN's, but there was a little blue sporty job there and a Landrover. Turns out the sporty job was his.

St. Hilda's Church, Ellerburn, near Thornton-Le-Dale.

Looking towards the Church through the Lych Gate

 

As we walked towards the Lych Gate we could see people gathered in the left hand corner of the churchyard by the Church door and I told the others that these were the people we were going to meet as that was 'our memorial'. We walked towards the Church and introduced ourselves, there was the usual shaking of hands, then discussions about the Dobson family which the three of us are researching.

IN explained how he was doing the restoration with the assistance of his daughter KI. He had been given advice by an old boy he used to work with who had worked on stonework in the past. He was told to: Clean all the faces first; which he reckoned would take at least an hour for each of the three (the fourth being blank). It then had to be left to dry completely before enamel paint was applied to the lettering which then also must dry overnight before wet&dry abrasive paper was used [on a block] to remove any excess paint, thus clarifying (sharpening) the lettering image. His words were: 'I've taken advice from authority on this renovation!!. So timing will be tight but it may be that I am painting by the time you arrive, then the paint can dry over Thursday when we go to Thirsk to meet my friend from Newcastle. I can then finish the job on Thursday eve/ Friday using the wet and dry.' He had also had a practice run on his first daughter's grave stone in the Churchyard at Wreningham.

They were indeed in the process of painting when we arrived and I thought it would be a good idea if all us 'Dobsons' had a go at painting some of the lettering, just to say we had!!! MN didn't do any because of his lack of fine motor skills, but AA, my sister and I did. Photos on here to prove it.

IN then announced that he had brought a bottle of wine and plastic cups with him so we could toast the Dobsons and especially Samuel Dobson who had the memorial erected. AA chipped in to say she had also brought cupcakes. We hadn't brought anything but ourselves and family tree info plus camera and video!!! We all congregated in the Church porch with plastic cup in one hand and cupcake in the other! What a sight we must have been. Unfortunately there was no-one around to ask to do a photo of us.

My brother-in-law took photos of the 'Dobsons' standing in front of the memorial as a souvenir of the day - posted here for all to see. I went into the Church and signed the Visitors' Book again saying I was researching the Dobsons and the memorial and put a donation in the box.

The  'Dobson clan'.

The 'Dobson clan' again.

Here I am doing a bit of the painting.

Here's my sister doing her bit.

This is the memorial after the restoration work was completed.

One of the faces of the memorial, before and after restoration

Another face before and after restoration

The third face before and after restoration

 IN says the fourth side which is blank is waiting for him!


I'm sure you will all agree that he and his daughter have made a fantastic job on the memorial.  Our concern now is that the yew tree is beginning to displace the top of the memorial.  However the Church will not prune the yew tree as it is protected, we don't want them to chop it down just prune it back.  I wonder who will be responsible if someone is hurt if the top is knocked off because of the tree pushing on the memorial!!!!  What about Health and Safety?

 
After more talking and wandering around the headstones it was time to take our leave as we wanted to go into Thornton for a bite to eat before our long journey home.

We drove into Thornton which is a very small town, not much there to be honest, but a pretty little place with a river running down the side of the road!!! A couple of gift shops/fancy goods stores, a small general store, a small food store, a fish and chip shop, The Chocolate Factory shop, bakery and cafe, and another cafe/restaurant and a pub are about all there is.
As is usual when we go out, my sister announced that she needed to find a cash machine as she had no cash to pay for refreshments!!! Why is she never makes sure she has money on her before she goes out - something she criticised her daughter for whilst we were up there!!! I told her I had money and that I would pay - after all it was my day out so I'd treat them.

We had a quick look around what was on offer then opted for the cafe we'd been in back in May 2007 to eat before going into the chocolate shop for some gifts. I bought BB a chocolate mobile phone, JE bought JE and SN mobile phones in white chocolate, and JE's partner JK a motorbike. The chocolate is Belgian chocolate, it's a bit like going into a Thornton's chocolate shop in England or the Belgian chocolate shops in Bruges.

Looking toward The Chocolate Factory, bakery and cafe.  The white railings are erected around the river.

Another view of Thornton-Le-Dale, as you can see the white railings go around the corner, it's a bit like a moat having the river around the houses and shops!

Dobson Reunion at Ellerburn

If anyone reading this is researching information regarding the Dobson obelisk in the churchyard of St. Hilda's at Ellerburn I'd like to let you know that one or two of us are turning up there on Wednesday 28 July to meet each other and have a chat. We haven't met before but are all in some way connected to the Dobsons commemorated on the obelisk.

Should be a fun day (if it doesn't rain).

More photos of the cute boy who has just joined our family.

Very proud Grandma and Jayden.

The equally proud Granddad.

Some of my semi professional wedding photos taken by my boss of the time

My sister doing the hair, my niece having her hair done, and the other lady is a friend.

Yes, that's me, my friend is passing me my veil to put on.

Last in the series of my school photos 1971

Okay Kitten, I know when I'm beaten, you are obviously too shy or too polite to hazard a guess at which child I am on the photos so I am posting the last in the series of my school photos and I now refuse to admit which boy was my boyfriend when I was 11 and which boy I had a crush on for 4 years on this photo.

OMG - look at us all on here.  The girls all have very mini skirts, we are wearing tights, and most of us have trimmed our eyebrows to that stupid 70s fashion of being very short, you had to make sure they gave you no more than a 45 degree angle!!!!  To do that you took a pencil, placed one end at the bottom of your nose, turned it to 45 degrees and checked where your eybrow ended!  Yikes, what were we thinking of.

Now the big question again is, which one is me?????

Answers on a postcard!

My husband's Dutch grandparents

I think I have already explained that my husband's mother was a Dutch lady from Rotterdam who met her future husband when he was stationed in Rotterdam after the war.  She came over to England and married him here in Worcestershire.

The photo above is of her parents.  Johannes Antonius Van Schijndel born 1889, died 1976 her father.
Geertruida Maria Smeehuizen born 1894, died 1965 her mother.

They had the following children:

Maria born 1923, died 1924
Maria (my husband's mother) born 1925, died 2003
Hendricus Jacobus born 1926, a son
Jacoba Johanna born 1927, died the same year, a daughter
Antonius born 1928, died 1977, a son
Geertruida Jacoba born 1931, known as Truus still living

Just like me, Bb was not aware that his mother had other siblings, he was not aware of the ones who died in childhood, however I was given this information by the daughter of Truus, a cousin of Bb's.

Maria was very much like her mother, I can see that from this photo.

Bb always tells the story of his grandfather having smoked a pipe from his teenage years and living until a grand old age - his excuse for smoking his pipe me thinks!

Mind you when I met Bb he smoked the most horrible stinking cigars I have ever smelled.  To be honest had he not given them up and taken up the pipe on my instruction,  it would have signalled a very quick end to our relationship.  He started smoking a pipe and we went through numerous flavours of tobacco until we found something we both liked, me for the smell and him for his palate.  We opted for Black Cherry - enough said.

Elizabeth Dobson nee Keld

I think it's time I added some more photographs of my ancestors to this blog as I have been a little lax at doing this lately.

This photo is of Elizabeth Keld.

Below is a paragraph from the family tree book I am busy writing at the moment about Elizabeth and John Dobson who she married:

John Dobson 1837 - 1906 and Elizabeth Keld 1841 - 1919

John was born on September 17, 1837 at Thornton-le-Dale, Yorkshire and was christened on September 25; he married Elizabeth Keld on March 18, 1861 at Pickering. Elizabeth was born on June 16, 1841 at Pickering and was the daughter of Isaiah Keld and Jane Lightfoot. In 1861 John and Elizabeth were living with her parents in a private house at Burgate, Pickering and his occupation is given as a Groom.

Should you have any connection with any of these people do make a comment on my blog, I would love to hear from anyone who may be a distant relative of mine.

Especially for Kitten on my birthday.

Now, I know Kitten has looked at my old school photos cos Gingeyginge told me she had. I did ask them to let me know which kids she picked out as me to see if she was correct but as yet I haven't had a reply. So - because it's my birthday today I am going to publish the next photo especially for them to see what they think of me when I became a teenager.

Here goes folks:

Me in 1969 at 13 years of age, in my school uniform, cardigan knitted by my Mam as usual.

Have I changed much? - lol.