Fearless Females 2013: Day 30: Words of Wisdom

Did you receive any advice or words of wisdom from your mother or another female ancestor?

"Never say never".

Showing that, while my Females may be Fearless, they are also adaptable...

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...

Friday's Faces From the Past: Kingsbridge Fair

Here is a photo which I inherited.  Don't know the people, do know the location - Kingsbridge, Devon UK.  Maybe sometime in the 1930s?

Does anybody in this pic look familiar?  I would love to know!

Fearless Females 2013: Day 27: Off to Australia

Do you have any passenger lists or other documentation?

Once again: Annie Marian Buckingham EDGCOMBE.  Born 11 September 1873 in Plymouth, Devon, Annie married John Samuel EDGCOMBE on 22 February 1894.  John Samuel was a coastguard, and so they lived in Co. Mayo, Ireland for a while, then his farming father called and back they went to South Milton, Devon.  Between the two World Wars, John and Annie decided to leave for Australia.  The two oldest boys, Harry and Ted, went in 1924 on the SS Berrima.  Two years later, on 3 August 1926, John, Annie, and the younger children went to Australia on the SS Hobsons Bay:

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...

Fearless Females 2013: Day 26: Education

What education did your female ancestors receive?

Well, this originally asked what education was received by your mother, your grandmothers, or your great grandmothers.  I decided to be a rebel, and have chosen a great great grandmother!

Emma Elizabeth Dunstone AVERY was christened 4 June 1837 in Rame, Cornwall.  1889 saw her being committed to the County Lunatic Asylum in Bodmin, Cornwall, where her admittance notes describe her as being "well educated for her station in life"...

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...

Fearless Females 2013: Day 24: Physical Traits

Do you share any physical resemblance or personality trait with one of your female ancestors? Who? What is it?

That's an easy one...and one which makes me sigh.  When I was a baby, I had gappy teeth - and so did my paternal grandmother (although the gaps weren't in the same places).  Now that I am in my fifties, I have her excess weight...

Elsie Beatrice Blagdon (Haywood) McNally, my paternal grandmother, was born on 22 July 1908 in Millbrook, Cornwall, and died 2 February 1975 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire.

RNH and Elsie Beatrice BLAGDON 1960

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...

Fearless Females 2013: Day 21: Tender Moments in Reading

Describe a tender moment one of your female ancestors shared with you or another family member.

When my mother, Audrey Ball HAYWOOD, passed away suddenly in 1995, one of my clearest memories is one day going to the local supermarket to buy some bread, milk, whatever - and the girl at the checkout saying, "I remember your Mum; she taught me to read."  (My mother used to work as a teaching assistant at St John's Primary School in Glastonbury, Somerset).  To me, that is one of the proudest moments of my life.

I remember her teaching me to read, too.  I still have a recording, converted from a reel-to-reel tape (showing my age here!) of a very small me, aged 4, reading Beatrix Potter's "Peter Rabbit" in a very posh little voice.  And yet, you can hear in the background, when I stumbled on some of the larger (and therefore harder) words, my mother's voice gently prompting me with the correct pronunciation.

One of the most tender moments we shared.

Audrey Ball HAYWOOD, 1990s

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...

Fearless Females 2013: Day 20: Female Brick Wall - or is she?

Is there a female ancestor who is your brick wall? Why? List possible sources for finding more information.

Amanda Malvina LEY, born 28 April 1852 in Eastbourne, Sussex, married Joseph BUCKINGHAM on 21 January 1872 in East Stonehouse, Devon, and died quite young on 21 April 1895 in Plymouth Devon.  She had eight children.

So, she doesn't seem much like a brick wall, does she? (apart from the fact that she should appear in the 1881 census as a newlywed, and doesn't appear at all).  After all, I have her dates and locations.  But have you ever heard of the myth of King Midas, where everything he touched turned to gold?  Well, where Amanda (or Minda) is concerned, everybody she touched becomes a brick wall.  Husband Joseph, children (especially Annie Marian, my direct line ancestor) were either born, or not born at all, or were born out of wedlock, don't appear in the censuses, and the last two went to Canada as Dr Barnardo's children and never came back.  If I knew where to look, these brick walls might not exist.

Oh, Amanda (or Minda, with or without the Malvina)...

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.  I know this is really US-centric - but that's not going to stop me honouring my own Fearless Females...