The following is a transcript of the obituary (and associated reports) for William Blizard Williamson (the elder) of Worcester. He was (via the adoption of my mother) my Great Great Grandfather and lived from about 1811/12 until 15 September 1878.
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13 December, 2016
Obituary: William Blizard Williamson (the elder) of Worcester
1 July, 2016
17 May, 2016
One Hundred Years ago Today
Hansard, The Record of the UK Parliament, reports for 17 May 1916:
HC Deb 17 May 1916 vol 82 cc1572-6181572
§ Message received to attend the Lords Commissioners.
§ The House went, and, having returned,
reported the Royal Assent to,
1. Local Government (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916.
2. Courts (Emergency Powers) (Amendment) Act, 1916.
3. Summer Time Act, 1916.
4. Edinburgh Corporation Order Confirmation Act, 1916.
5. Gas Orders Confirmation Act, 1916.
6. Burnley Corporation Act, 1916.
7. Weston-Super-Mare Grand Pier Act, 1916.
Hansard, HC Deb 17 May 1916 vol 82 cc1572-618
The Summer Time Act had long been advocated by William Willett. He did not live to see his proposal implemented having died in March 1915. The idea had been adopted by many other countries including Germany and it was only the demands of wartime that moved the British from ridiculing the idea to adopting it. (more…)
25 May, 2015
The Willetts of Colchester, Essex (and Daylight Saving) 1 of 2
The change to and from British Summer Time can bring about a flurry of interest in William Willett, the original advocate in Britain of Daylight Saving. He was the eldest son of another William Willett. For some reason this spring Google and that ilk have pointed a larger number of people than usual towards this family blog. Some of them have familiar family stories about being related to “Daylight Saving” Willett.
In addition another comment by a relative (about William Willett senior – Daylight Saving Willett’s father – running away from his step-mother) has prompted me to re-examine “the top” of the Willett tree as I have previously understood it.
(more…)4 February, 2011
The Quick and the Dead: Upcoming book
Richard van Emden will be publishing a book later this year about the Great War families left without a father or husband. Although stories of members of our family do not feature, some may recognise the cover.
The picture was taken at Tyne Cot in the 1920s by Marjorie Faulder, widow of Harold Faulder, and shows my father pointing out his father’s name.
A friend of the author saw the picture when I used it to illustrate a post on the Great War Forum and consequently Richard Van Emden approached me asking if he could use the image. My brother and I agreed (almost two and a half years ago).
(more…)21 December, 2010
Research Note: Google Ngrams
(This post is more in the nature of a genealogy diary entry or research note discussing a potential line of interesting research.)
Google in their attempt to “capture all information”, have been digitalising huge numbers of mainly out of copyright books (more than 5.2 million). Now they have introduced a tool to try and analyse this corpus of data: Google NGrams. This allows you to graph by date of publication the occurrence of a word (or even selection of words).
So for a genealogist, the logical thing to do is ego-surf – stick your own surname in the tool and see what comes out. (more…)
18 August, 2010
Tom Clark’s Family Album (all believed deceased)
Believed to Be Thomas Clark
Photos (together with reverses to aid locating & dating) in the Album originally owned by Tom Clark (now in care of Liz Clark*). Families likely to be Clark, Pearson, Faulder, Sewell. In addition other names (e.g. Telford, Pattinson, James) linked to the family appear in the album. (more…)
Marjorie Fell Faulder (née Lendrum)’s WW1 scrapbook
Harold and Marjorie Faulder at Holy Trinity, Huddersfield on their Wedding Day
Marjorie Fell Faulder (née Lendrum)’s scrapbook based on her husband Harold’s service in World War 1
Picasa Photo Album
This contains photographs, postcards and newspaper cuttings meticulously filed until April 1918. Marjorie Faulder was my Grandmother.
Emily Faulder: Co-founder of Universal Aunts
Emily Faulder, Co-founder of Universal Aunts
Emily Story Faulder (1883-1974), was the first child of Joseph Sewell Faulder and his wife Emily Story and was my Great Aunt.
Gertrude Maclean together with Emily Faulder set up Universal Aunts
in 1921 as the original concierge service although very much focusing on looking after children – particularly those travelling alone.
Their website reports:
Having found a partner, Miss Emily Faulder, she [Gertrude Maclean] started her business in a little room behind a bootmaker’s in Chelsea. Their lease did not allow them to work in the afternoons, so they went, with their papers in a capacious knitting bag, to Harrods’ Ladies’ Rest Room where they received clients and applicants on a sofa in the corner. So began a business that by its 80th year had employed over three quarters of a million men and women, and undertaken over a million services. (more…)
George Henry Williamson (b 1845): Briefly MP for Worcester
George Henry Williamson was (in 1906) briefly elected Conservative and Unionist MP for Worcester before being disqualified.
It was suggested that members of his team had bribed voters to vote Conservative. After a petition by the Liberal Party the result was declared void. (more…)
