The Big Adventure

Karmacat

That sounds fascinating, Goldie! I got my dad's RAF records years ago, but they were incomprehensible because of so many acronyms, and he was always so shy about saying anything, it was difficult. But I've just realised, I could at least try to get his brother's records - he was also evacuated (like your dad) - nearby, but not at, Dunkirk, but he died in England 6 weeks later ... it'd be really good to see what he was up to tho. The Canadian records were online and freely available, for that research I was doing recently - and like you, yes, I'm dying for another free ancestry week

Watty - doesn't have to be your father! I've traced my maternal line - mother's mother's mother, etc etc, back to Ireland, and a birth in 1788.

abouttimetoo

Hi Goldie, hope you're well


Seem to recall you had a few Ll0yds shares that you'd 'put to the back of your mind'. I got a few divis in yesterday so thought i'd drop you a quick note in case you've not got round to checking your shares yet? Not sure whether you're set up to get the divis in cash or shares but hopefully it's nice unexpected few pounds extra for you


Regards
ATT

Goldiegirl

Hello, all is well here

I checked my bank account today and a random payment of a couple of quid had been received.

I must admit I was scratching my head for a while, before I realised it was my Lloyds divi. Hopefully this is the start of regular dividends. Larger dividends would also be nice!

On the family history front, some of my branches have ended as there wasn't a father registered, but the maternal line can be just as rewarding as the paternal line.

However, I must admit my favourite branch is my dad's paternal line. My dad was the only person I ever knew who had been born with the same surname as me, so it has been rewarding to go back to the 1600's finding people with the same surname.

I know of the whereabouts of some distant cousins, but my direct line is very sparse. I appear to be the last one.

My dad had a cousin, who died in the 1970's. My dad had never mentioned this cousin, so when I discovered him I tried to research him. I never found a marriage, so I ordered the death certificate, so see who had registered the death, as it might give some clues to family.

When I got the certificate, it turned out that the coroner had registered the death, as it had been in a road accident.

I was upset about this, as this gentleman was a close relative to me, and it was a horrible way to die.

However, no doubt there were local newspaper reports about this, so the reports could give more information about family.

The cousin lived in Cornwall, so I have been wondering whether to employ a researcher to look up the information, or even have a break down there and try to do it myself.

Of course, it all costs money, but I will follow this up one day, as it's possible I could have some close relatives out there.

As my decluttering is coming to an end, I've decided the time is right to start getting into postcards again.

I've made an investment of £100 and have won some eBay auctions for some likely looking job lots of cards.

I'm encouraged - I listed some at the weekend, and have several watchers, and one person contacted me for a buy it now. The card tied in with an article he's writing, and he offered me £15' which I gladly accepted!

As long as I at least break even, I'll be happy. A profit would even better, so I feel I've made a good start.

Karmacat

The postcards thing sounds great, Goldie! Excellent start to your new career

Sorry to hear about the Cornish connection can you get to the National Archives at Kew for the day, to do some research?

Goldiegirl

I probably could get to Kew, but I'm thinking of looking for local newspapers, which I think would be held at somewhere like the Cornwall Record Office.

I suppose Kew might have the coroners report....... But I think that might be a bit graphic.

When I used to have the family history magazines they had small ads for researchers, so i might one day employ one to look up what I want.

Flowers planted in the garden today, and decluttering is ongoing. I've broken through the 300 mark. The 500 was an aim, not a target, and I probably won't get as far as 500, as I'll probably run out of things to declutter.

Then all I'll need to do is make sure it doesn't build up again!

Karmacat

This might help in the meantime:
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

And the British Library's collection doesn't seem as big:
http://www.bl.uk/subjects/news-media

Never tried this one:
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers

You could always hit the decluttering mark by being fiendish :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: i.e. not "a bag" but "a plug, a magazine, a spare lid" etc etc

Goldiegirl

Thinks for the links:)

I'll check them out to see if they have the information that I'm interested in.

If I had counted everything separately that I've decluttered this year, I'd be well over 500. But no matter, the main thing is getting it out of the house.

We had a leaflet through the door from the British Heart Foundation. They have a local shop and they'll collect furniture and electricals. We have a hi-fi and two tables in the loft, so we intend contacting the BHF, so they can pick them up.

Had a bit of a spend this morning. We've found that only the odd coloured trousers are left in the sales, so, as we have 20% off vouchers for M&S, we bought a pair of neutral coloured trousers each. I also bought a pair of trainers. They are actually boys trainers, but they are exactly what I want. I take a size 4, and they are perfect, and cheaper than adult shoes.

I've joined something called Sainsburys My Coupons. You register your nectar card on the web site, put points vouchers in your 'wallet', buy the items, and extra points are awarded. That's the theory, so I'll try it out next week when we do the shopping.

Summer looks to be well on the way - we had a good walk this afternoon. Hopefully we'll be able to get out more and more from now on

lilmissmup

Thanks for the tip on sainsburys! Just joined up, they have sent me loads of extra nectar points vouchers in post over the last week or two but this will help a lot to help start my christmas stash!

Watty1

Oh my goodness. Out of interest I clicked on the first link for the papers. Our cottage used to be a barn annexed to a pub so I put in the name of the pub and the road. Now when we first moved here I had a friend gifted me an energetic clearing from a psychic. Odd but I went along with it and was told that someone had had a violent death in the barn at the turn of the last century. Now call it a coincidence - but - the second story that came up was 1807 paper that told of someone locking themselves in the annex of the pub and shooting themselves with the landlords musket.


How very bizarre. Haven't subscribed to read the whole thing. But all very odd.

Watty1

On closer inspection it is not the same pub. Phew! That was a bit too spooky for me