After the Tour - Sharing

While researching, we fill ourselves with excitement at the finds we are able to make. The missing pieces no longer missing. The parts of the story that had not yet been uncovered. Understanding the hardships. Celebrating the discoveries. 

Once we return to our daily lives we need to work at sharing our excitement with others. And not just a "Wow, join one of Christine's Tours" although I do love and appreciate when that happens. 

But let's think about how we can share our discoveries. The things we uncovered and the excitement that the discoveries created. 

During one trip, I used the opportunity to research more recent records than what are available online. I was able to fill in the information about my dad's aunts. My maternal granny was one of six girls. Granny was the second born so I had very little info on the four younger sisters. Because I can view records within the past 100 years while onsite at ScotlandsPeople, I concentrated my research on the Haddow aunties.

I was able to find their birth records, marriage records, death records. I found the records for their children as well and was able to really fill in the details of who those women were. But it wasn't enough for me to have that information. I needed to share with with my cousins. So I created a booklet about the discoveries and shared the stories. 

Several tour participants are so amazed at the wealth of records available in Scotland and so they have offered to give talks to their local genealogy societies or to write articles for their society's newsletters. 

A few participants have blogged their genealogical journey and have shared their excitement and discoveries that way. 

Others have used family gatherings or reunions to share the family stories. 

As I have stated before, the genealogy tour is just the beginning. After the tour is when the real work begins. Processing the documentation and then sharing the stories and discoveries are just two factors that need to be managed out in the after math of a tour. 

How have YOU shared your findings after returning from a genealogy research trip? Any kind of genealogy trip - a conference, a cemetery scour, a visit to a local or national archive? If you haven't shared, what is it that is holding you back?

What I Learned On My Research Vacation

Over the 10 days of my research vacation, I amassed huge stack of certificates, MIs and headstone photographs. I have a better sense of the area where my ancestors lived, having driven out to see the villages listed on the documents. Now that I am back home, it was time to start making sense of it all in a way that was tangible, meaningful and in a way that can be shared with future generations.

 One area I chose to focus my research was on my paternal grandmother's family of origin. My paternal grandmother has always fascinated me. Perhaps because I never really knew her, having been only a toddler when she passed away. Although I have taken the Haddow line back to 1680, I have a deep yearning to know more about Maggie and her family.

This photograph has been a source of inspiration. Maggie is in the back row, behind her mother - the woman seated on the right. 

When the 1911 census was released, I learned that the little girl in the front, holding the basket, is in fact my aunt. My dad's eldest sister. But what of the other women? Thanks to being onsite at Scotlands People Centre and being able to view documents not yet available online, here's what I have learned:

Two years after their marriage, my paternal great grandmother, Mary (McCabe) Haddow gave birth to a daughter, Jessie. Following the Scottish Naming Pattern, Jessie was named for her maternal grandmother, Janet (Jessie) Lawrie. Baby Jessie was born on December 21st, 1882 at the home of her parents in Mid Calder. 

After she left school, Jessie worked as a postal runner. She later married James Sneddon on September 11, 1908 in Mid Calder. James was from Pumpherston, a nearby village. At the time of their marriage, James was a Shale Miner and Jessie was a postal clerk. James and Jessie had a son, George who was born December 6th 1908. 

The 1911 census is unique in that it asks the length of the marriage (in this case, two years), the number of children born alive, (the 1911 census for James and Jessie states that there were three children born alive) and how many of the couple’s children are still living. The 1911 census for James and Jessie states that only one is living. This would be young George. This sent me looking at death records for infants. I found that James and Jessie had a set of twins, Walter Haddow Sneddon and Agnes Miller Sneddon, who were born prematurely on March 1, 1910. The young babies died 2 hours and thirty-five minutes after they were born. This must have been devastating for the young family.  

On May 31, 1911, Jessie gave birth to another daughter, Mary McCabe Sneddon.

Jessie died at age 72 on May 22nd, 1955. She died at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh (right behind the hotel I was staying at). The cause of death listed on her death registration is Myocardial Infarct (heart attack) that she had suffered five months earlier as well as a pulmonary infarct (a lack of oxygen to the lung resulting in tissue death).

After 47 years of marriage, they are buried together with their infant twins in Mid Calder Cemetery. (photo courtesy Scottish Genealogy Society). Jessie is not in the above photo. I believe this photo was taken just prior to the marriage of my grandparents, and by then Jessie was married with a young family.



As for the other sisters, Walter and Mary’s second daughter was Maggie. Maggie was born 10 August 1888 in Kirknewton, Mid Calder. Maggie is my granny. Her history has been well documented for future generations.

Walter and Mary’s third daughter, Elizabeth Brown Haddow, was born on 24 August, 1890. Elizabeth is seen on the 1891 census, along with her parents and her sisters Jessie and Maggie. Elizabeth married Thomas Porteous Nathaniel on December 2, 1910. Thomas was an engineer (journeyman—meaning he had completed his apprenticeship) from Pumpherston. Elizabeth and Thomas had three children: Dunlop (born 1912), Henry (born 10 March 1916) and Walter Haddow (born 1920). Elizabeth died January 25, 1963 at Bangour Hospital. She was 72. Elizabeth’s cause of death was bronchopneumonia. Her usual residence is listed as 15 Retham Park Pumpherston. The informant of her death (to the registrar) was her son, Henry.

Walter and Mary’s fourth daughter, Mary McCabe Haddow was born 30 March 1893. Mary is seen in the 1901 census along with her older sisters, Jessie, Maggie and Elizabeth as well as with her younger sister, Jeanie. Mary never married. She was known to have had at least one child, daughter Molly (Mary). There is some speculation that she may have had other children as well. Mary died at the age of 70. She was a retired housekeeper at the time of her death. The informant of her death was her daughter, Molly Haddow. Their usual residence was 23 Main St Mid Calder. Molly continued to reside in the home after her mother's death.

Walter and Mary’s fifth daughter, Jeanie McCabe Haddow was born on 18 January, 1899. Jeanie never married. She worked as a canteen manageress (perhaps at the school where Molly also worked). Jeanie died on December 21st 1960 as a result of breast cancer. The doctor noted that the breast cancer had re-occurred after radiotherapy. Jeanie was 61 years of age. She died at home and the informant (to the registrar) was her niece Mary (Molly) Haddow.

The youngest of Walter and Mary’s daughters was Katie Clark Haddow. Katie was born on April 8th 1901. Katie never married. She worked as a domestic. She died on July 31, 1979 of gastric carcinoma at Bangour Hospital. Her usual residence was 23 Main St Mid Calder - the same home as her sister Mary and Mary's daughter Molly.

Walter died at his home on Bank Street in Mid Calder on 24 February 1927 as a result of tuberculosis. He was 64 years of age. The informant of the death is son in law James Sneddon (husband of Jessie). James and Jessie were by this point living at 3 Robertson Ave in Edinburgh. Mary McCabe Haddow died on 19 March, 1945 at her home on Bank Street in Mid Calder. She was 84 and her cause of death was cardiovascular degeneration. The informant of her death was daughter Jeanie. Walter and Mary are buried with their unmarried daughters: Jean, Mary and Kate in Mid Calder cemetery.

(photo courtesy Scottish Genealogy Society)

As a genealogist, I believe in sharing. Not just with other genealogists, but also with family. In order to share what I learned on my research vacation, I prepared and presented this "newsletter" to my paternal cousins so that they may also have the story and so that their descendants will know from whence they came:





Transported Back In Time

Recently I was at a Scottish Genealogy Conference. One of the workshops was a repeat for me, so I quietly slipped out the back door and wandered around the vendors. As always, I was drawn to the booksellers. I saw a book that I had been thinking of buying online for a while. I turned the book over. $25. Very thin book. As I was wondering just how badly I wanted this book after all, I began flipping through the pages. I was drawn to the photos in the centre of the book. Nothing too special about the photos  and the information I may be able to get online....then I saw it. The very last photo was a picture of my Papa's house. The house my father grew up in! I was SOLD.

When I got to the cashier, I showed her my amazing find. She asked if the house was small. Suddenly I was transported back in time and memories came flooding back. Small? To me it was always HUGE. Big rooms and high ceilings. Of course by the time I arrived on the scene, there were only my grandpa and 2 of my aunts in the house. My aunts shared one of the huge bedrooms at the front of the house and Papa had the other one. The rooms seemed enormous to me, but it is hard to imagine what it was like when my dad was living there with his seven siblings. Four boys in one bedroom and four girls in the other. Dad said often when his mom went to wake the kids in the morning, there would be other kids from the neighbourhood in the bed as well. The living room was large and spacious. Of course it doubled as a dining room but the table was up against the window most of the time, so it seemed like an end piece rather than a focal point. Papa had his own chair at the side of the fireplace. The room smelled sweet - pipe tobacco. Quite a contrast to the reek outside from the coal chimneys. The room was always warm (not heated warm, cozy warm - inviting). Papa's house was always so much quieter than my Gran's house. Of course with 20 children - all adults now but dropping in at all hours - Gran's house didn't stand a chance in the "quiet" department.
Papa's house was the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night. There was always music and singing and laughter and above all, family and kin. Dad carried these memories of the "Cochrina Ceilidhs" in his heart and his memory for life.
Papa's house had a emulsion heater. If a bath was wanted, the secret door at the side of the fireplace was discreetly opened and the heater "flipped" on. Time was then ticking until it was "ready" and the bath could be drawn. This wait time always seemed to co-incide with the length of time it took to enjoy a cuppa and a blether.
The kitchen and the bathroom, of course, were add-ons to the original house. The part of the bathroom that always fascinated me as a child was the "pull-chain" toilet. Out the back of the house was a loan down to the main street and this loan ran alongside the pit bing. I recall sitting in the bath late one morning and hearing bagpipes. The pipe band was headed down the loan on its way to get ready for a Gala Day practice!

Needless to day, the serendipity of finding that photo was indescribable as was the torrent of memories that accompanied being asked one simple question about the photo. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.....or in this case, a thousand memories!

Using Obituaries for Research

When you are researching for your ancestors, don’t overlook the obituary. In the obituary you not only find the date of death, but you may also find an address, siblings or parents who died prior to the ancestor, spouse or offspring who were still living at the time of your ancestor’s death, and maybe even a cause of death. Obituaries are often the key to adding the missing twigs on your family tree. As well, the obituary provides the name of the funeral home and if they are still in existence, you can contact them to see if they have a funeral card, their certificate of death, and they may be able to tell you who they dealt with in making the arrangements for the funeral.

Getting Photos Out of Magnetic Albums

Having trouble getting your old photos out of those sticky magnetic albums? Don’t despair. You can use a micro-spatula (a small science tool about the size of a large crochet hook, but with a soft rounded edge) and gently ease this under the photo to separate the photo from the sticky page. These can be expensive, so a “multi-purpose tool” can be ordered from Creative Memories for $9 and will work wonders and last years. Other scrapbooking companies and stores likely have similar items for getting those embellishments off the pages. Drop by a store or check online for a dealer nearby and start getting those precious photos OUT of those sticky albums and into archival safe ones that will keep them preserved for decades.

The History of Listerine

Joseph Lister, Professor of surgery at Glasgow University, was the first to realize that the high post-operative mortality of his patients was due to the onset of blood poisoning (sepsis) caused by bacteria. Back then, the operating theatres were not the sterile places that they are today. In the early 19th century, they were awash with blood, tissue and amputated body parts. In 1865 Lister found that carbolic acid was an effective antiseptic. Dr Lister is likely more commonly known in connection with Listerine—the antiseptic mouthwash. While Dr Lister didn’t invent Listerine, it was named after him because the product is antiseptic and Dr Lister was the pioneer of antiseptic surgery.