27 December, 2022
5 April, 2021
On This Day; 5 April 1981 – Census
On 5 April 1981 the 1981 UK Census was taken. Normally this is not a particular issue but for my mother it was. She was adopted but had traced her birth mother. On the approach to Census night she realised that she would be staying with her birth mother that night so would be listed as a “visitor” on her mother’s household census form.
This meant her mother would have to record their relationship. In 1981 this was “a secret” and left my mother in a quandary; knowing her mother had promised her (later) husband that she would keep my mother’s existence a secret but also knowing she wanted to be honest – how could she complete the form?
(more…)30 January, 2020
5 June, 2019
On this day – 75 Years Ago: D Day
My late mother, then Elizabeth Willett, was almost 14 in June 1944. In her memoirs she wrote of her memories of D-Day. She was away at boarding school in Sherborne, Dorset.
(more…)During the night of the 5th – 6th of June 1944, everyone in my house was woken by the staff and prefects to watch the gliders being towed over to Normandy at the start of D-Day.
11 November, 2018
On this day 100 years ago: Armistice
One hundred years on it is hard to imagine the impact of the Armistice. I was too young to discuss it with any of my relatives who survived the war. I imagine amidst the celebrations there would have been a sad reckoning.
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26 April, 2018
On this Day 100 years ago: Harold Faulder; Killed in Action
On this day 100 years ago (26th April 1918) my Grandfather, Harold Faulder, climbed out of a trench near Ypres leading his company across no man’s land towards the German lines. He did not return and his body was never recovered.
A previous post had detailed his career. Today I am looking at what we know about the night of 25th/26th April and the early morning of 26th April 1918. (more…)
1 April, 2018
William Blizard Williamson of Cork
One of my brick walls has been William Blizard Williamson and his family;
- His wife Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) and
- His sons William Blizard and George Henry.
George Henry was the father of Elizabeth Ann Willett who with her husband Everard William Willett adopted my mother, which makes William Blizard Williamson (senior) my Great Great Grandfather (by adoption).
This posts summarises what is and is not known about this family and what can be done to break down this brick wall! Essentially we know little about their Irish life or of their ancestors in Ireland.
(It was initially published on 24 December 2016 and updated 1 April 2018 and 3 August 2021.)
(more…)13 December, 2016
Obituary: William Blizard Williamson (the elder) of Worcester
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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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…)