The Complete and Utter History of Our Ancestors

Harry in New Zealand (part 3)

John — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:00:20 +0000

On our second day in Auckland we decided to revisit Devonport as it looked very nice yesterday though we didn’t get a chance to see much of it. Plus it gave us a chance to go there by ferry which is almost as lovely as taking a ferry in Sydney’s harbour. However, while having some fish and chips for lunch, as you do, Roz spied the local library and couldn’t help but pop in to look at some newspapers.

It was a small library with a small local history section but they did have some local newspaper clippings from between 1954 and 1956. But not a mention of Commander/Captain Shaw did we find. One mention of a change in the rank of the dock commander to captain in March 1954 but that was it. We left at about 4pm and got the nice ferry back to Downtown Auckland. Roz popped into the i-Site there and asked about a library with newspaper archives and we were pointed towards the Auckland Public Library on Lorne Street. It was on the way back to our YHA which was handy.

We got there at 5pm and with the assistance of a young girl we were soon sitting in front of a microfilm machine. There was a slight confusion at the start as we were initially offered The Auckland Star starting from 22-Feb-54 onwards as they couldn’t find the box for the start of February but Roz decided that that was too late so we’d get the Herald for all of February instead. Once we got started on that I decided that it’d be better for me to go back to that box anyway so we could search in parallel. But now I couldn’t find it and this girl had gone home for the day. However, what I did find, by magic of course, was the box for early February which had been placed on top of an adjacent cabinet, not back in the drawer. So, I got on with looking at that. It was on Feb. 12th I struck silver by finding a small article indicating that a new dockyard chief, naming Harry, was coming in March! We had thought it was February for so long and it was the only reason we were trying to get the February papers.

Knowing this now it was made necessary to look in the later February box as it also had March. So, we went back for some help and the nice young girl was replaced by a rather stern lady who we’d already gotten afeared of by the way she remonstrated with the young girl earlier on over how to set up the machines. Still, she was helpful and managed to find the film we were looking for as it had been filed in the wrong place. Maybe by that young girl. Probably. So, we got it in the machine and gave it a whirl. We came across the same article we found in the Devonport library about the increase in rank in late March and still nothing. We came to the end of March and as it was about 7.30pm and it closed in half an hour we were ready to give up but decided one last day wouldn’t hurt. Gold! On 1 April in the Aucklander’s Diary section of the paper was a four or five paragraph entry about Captain Shaw starting his duties.

A quick print out and then a quick double check of the Herald for the few days surrounding this – we didn’t find anything but we were tired and hungry and happy that we found this article. We paid a dollar for the print outs and headed out. Our three days in Auckland turned into two days of research with some bits of sightseeing in the middle and we probably only scratched the surface of what sort of information we could’ve found but we’ll leave that for another time.

Harry in New Zealand (part 2)

John — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:00:54 +0000

A few choice personal quotes from Harry’s oral history about his time as commander in charge of the Royal New Zealand Naval Dockyard in Auckland between 1954 and 1956. (The text in bold is the words of the interviewer.)

From Page 1:

Perhaps you could give me a brief outline out of your career before you came out to New Zealand and cover the reasons why you in fact served with us for the time that you did.

I’ve always been fascinated by New Zealand. Following my tour in HMS Renown in 1927 when the Duke and Duchess of York made their World Tour including visits to New Zealand and Australia. I was then a Midshipman and very much an onlooker, but I was fascinated by what I saw, and it’s always been my hope that an opportunity would recur when I might revisit the place. There was always the possibility that I might not want to leave it. I had been a Navigation Officer which hardly qualifies me to be the Superintendent of a Dockyard. On the other hand Navigators generally end up as Assistant Queen’s Harbourmasters in the Dockyard, and they are one of the few specialist Officers who have that experience. I did nearly eighteen months in Chatham Dockyard before I got this opportunity of serving in New Zealand. The idea was particularly attractive because I had a fairly large family, my eldest son was then just leaving school, one was still at school, one was just starting school, my daughter was still in the pram. It seemed to me that this was a wonderful opportunity for the young people to see another part of the world, and also I liked the idea of the job myself.

From page 5:

Viewing it from the perspective of almost forty years on, it was almost idyllic …..

[…]

I had a very easy ride.

The Administrative work gave me a few hours work a day, then I used to wander in large around the Dockyard and poke my nose in here and there. I don’t think that the Managers liked it very much, but I liked to feel that I was seen by the men in the Dockyard, and they knew who was in charge. The rest of my time was taken up with social events. There was all sorts of calls on ones time to go to Auckland for this, that and the other. A lot of it was evenings out at receptions, dances, what have you. Really I was quite glad I didn’t have too busy a time in the Dockyard.

From page 18 where he mentions an awesome nickname which I feel was given kindly:

It’s had a very good industrial record over the years, the Dockyard, which would indicate good management and good conditions of service, I suppose.

Well I made a point of making myself known in the Dockyard. The office didn’t keep me that busy, and I had plenty of time for walking around to see what was going on. The chaps would see me, and in fact I used to go around with a walking stick. I gather that behind my back I was known as Walking Stick Charlie.

From page 22:

[…] Can I just ask you one last question. How did you enjoy your time overall in New Zealand?

We had a marvellous time, the family loved it. The Parakai Hot Springs will long live in our memory. I took a caravan down to Wellington, and the family to Wellington for a lot of the Senior Officers meetings. We had a wonderful opportunity for seeing the country. We had a holiday at the Duchess Pool, and we spent one Christmas there actually. At the back of my mind was the thought “am I going to stay here at the end of my time or not”. The matter was eventually resolved by family considerations, and we were inevitably looking over our shoulder at the folks at home.

Sure

My father and mother in law were still alive, my own father was still alive, and the boys were oh not sure about which way it was going to make for them. They said if they fancied it they would go back on their own. So we elected to return to UK after I had extended my loan service long enough to ensure I got a Captain’s Pension. I left New Zealand with many regrets. In fact in many ways I have since thought of another visit, but I think I have left it a bit late now. The only representative of the family who’s been back is my grandson, who is just back from a fortnight in the North and South Island to see what the place looked like.

A further grandson and granddaughter have visited since then and Roz’s dad (the son who “was just starting school”) made his first return visit late last year. He was more fortunate than us in that on their visit to Auckland the dockyard had an open day allowing people to be guided all over it including in the tunnels underneath the cliffs connecting various areas. So jealous.

Harry in New Zealand (part 1)

John — Mon, 30 May 2011 10:00:43 +0000

Last year we had a holiday in New Zealand visiting the North and South Islands. At the end of our trip we stayed in Auckland and, since Roz’s paternal grandfather Harry had been in charge of the naval dockyard there for a few years in the 50s, we thought we’d have a look about.

Our goal was to visit the house where he once lived with his family (including Roz’s dad) then the Navy Museum which apparently had on record an oral history by Harry regarding his time there, and then maybe if we had time we try to look up some newspapers of the time as we were aware there was supposedly a few with him mentioned. We ruled out visiting the dockyard itself as it’s still in use by the navy today.

The Dockyard can be found in the suburb of Devonport which is on Auckland’s north shore. From the CBD you can now get there by the Harbour Bridge but when Harry arrived they hadn’t even started to build it therefore the only way from the city was by ferry or some other boat. A bit handy being in charge of a dockyard I imagine.

Today we crossed the bridge by car which probably took just as long as the ferries did then. We first visited Calliope Road where Harry stayed with his family. It’s close to the dockyard and in fact overlooks it as its back garden ends in a cliff. We didn’t do much but look at the house from the outside as it is very much still in use and we understand it is remains owned by the navy.

The Navy Museum was nearby. It was a small house up some steep steps and quite hard to park at with the dockyard so close by so I let Roz go ahead while I found a spot back on Calliope Road. Ten minutes later I entered the museum myself. It was so quiet and dim that I hadn’t noticed anyone behind the desk until a young girl’s voice piped up and directed me away from the exhibits to a back room where I found Roz poring over a book. This was the oral history. I had expected it to be a voice recording but, no, it has been transcribed and filed away amongst about a hundred others in similar blue binding with gold lettering. These are all personal oral histories from some naval personnel recorded as part of the 50th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1991. I’m sure the audio exists somewhere but this was better for us as I could then photograph each page for study at our leisure.

According to the blurb back in June 1991 Harry was visited in his home in England by a Commodore from the Royal New Zealand Navy after a request for an oral history of his time spent at the dockyard. This is how the website describes it:

Captain T.H.B. Shaw was a Royal Navy Officer who was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy to be Captain Superintendent of HMNZ Dockyard from February 1954 until 1956. He describes the management of the Dockyard in those days and particularly the change from an old style management structure which was run by people who were ex ERA’s and ex Foremen to a management structure where it was led by professional engineers.

Before we were allowed access to the text one of the curators had to confirm that it was not still classified as some of the other histories are. Fortunately it wasn’t. Still, I won’t put all the images up on the internet. It is interesting overall but not much in a family history way. I’ll put some extracts up in the next part.

A Memorial for Dan Doyle

John — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:24:08 +0000

I’ve recently been informed by one or six people that the hitherto unknown resting place of Dan Doyle, legendary Victorian footballer of Celtic and Everton fame, has been found by The Celtic Graves Society. I previously wrote a post about him a few years ago which can be found here and further details of his career can be found on his Celtic Wiki page here.

Why bother looking for his burial plot? Well, in their own words:

The Celtic Graves Society has been formed this summer by Celtic supporters who aim to cherish the memory of those whose contribution, large or small, has been the cornerstone of Celtic’s remarkable story.

As Celtic supporters, we believe that maintaining the memorials of Celtic players and important figures from our past is a real part of “knowing your history.”

This Saturday, November 6th there will be an unveiling of the newly erected headstone kindly purchased through donations to the Society. This will be at St. Peter’s Cemetery at Dalbeth where both my parents, a couple of my grandparents, great grandparents, various great uncles and aunts, etc. are all buried.

I’ve never managed to find out if Dan had any children of his own and nor did Marie Rowan, the author of his biography, whom I suspect did a lot more research into it than I, so I am coming to the conclusion that none exist. Though if any direct descendants do exist and read this I, and I’m sure the Society too, would be pleased if you got in touch.

More information on the memorial can be found on The Celtic Graves Society forum here (though you unfortunately have to sign up even to view the text) and the Celtic Wiki page on his grave here which currently has a picture of an empty spot where his remains apparently lie.

The Inglis Memorial Library: CLOSED

Roz — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:35:53 +0000

Inglis Memorial Hall

It has recently been brought to my attention that the Inglis Memorial Library in Edzell has been closed by the local council and replaced by a 2-hour weekly mobile library service.
The Library, as well as 5000 books (for what point is a library without books!), was gifted to the village of Edzell (in Angus, Scotland) in 1898 by Sir Robert William Inglis in memory of his parents and uncle. The gift was supported by a trust fund, and the opening ceremony was a lavish affair attended by many dignitaries and as many family members as could be mustered.

Although records show Sir Robert may have been a little on the pompous side (bless him), there is absolutely no doubt as to his heartfelt and sincere desire in honouring the parents who did so much for their children under often difficult circumstances, by giving back something to the community that supported them through thick and thin.

I have posted before about various members of the Inglis family, including Sir James, whose Australian company was, it appears, responsible for the popularity of Waltzing Matilda; my great great grandfather Alexander Brand Inglis, who went into business at a very young age in order to put his younger brothers through university; and of course Sir Robert himself. What is certain is that their parents were hard working and respected members of the community, often living hand to mouth, but never without the support of their congregation.

To close the library is not only to disregard the values that put it there in the first place, it is also to insult the wishes of Sir Robert, who gave the library over in perpetuity. Living in Sydney I know all too well that “perpetuity” is a phrase easily ignored by politicians, as shown by the sale of the Graythwaite estate, which was gifted by its owner in 1915 to the state as “a Convalescent Home for our Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Sailors and when not required for that purpose as a Convalescent Home in perpetuity for distressed subjects of the British Empire regardless of Sect or Creed”. That too was supported by a trust fund, which sadly did not stop the NSW state government from selling it to a private school, despite the best efforts of the Federal government.

So if you, like me, think that “perpetuity” means forever (and I looked it up in a dictionary, just to make doubly sure), then please join ELAG (Edzell Library Action Group) on facebook.

Harry: In His Own Words

Roz — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:52:57 +0000

Sadly, I have to report the death of my last remaining grandparent, Thomas Henry Brown Shaw (Harry to his friends), just a few weeks ago on 6th February 2010. I ummed and ahhed about posting about such an immensely personal event, but in today’s world, the Daily Telegraph Notice is online for all to see and I felt that I would be doing a disservice to grandad not to talk about him. Rather than write about him myself, however, I think it is best to let Harry’s own words do the talking.

Firstly, a few months ago Jim Norris from the local radio station, Radio Winchcombe, conducted an interview with Harry, where he talked about his life (and it was a long one; he was 101!), the Navy, and his family. You can listen to this interview by clicking on the following links (each part is about ten minutes long): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Secondly, Harry had made, in the early 1990s, a typed-up one-page summary of his life. This is it:

I was born at a house called BAYVIEW, Greenisland, Belfast, during the forenoon of 1st October 1908. The house belonged to my grand-father Watters and was run by Aunt Mabel and Aunt Elizabeth. My mother, Kathleen, was the youngest of a large family. My father was a Naval Surgeon then serving at the Naval Barracks in Sheerness. Early life involved being moved around depending on my father’s appointments; a nurse was constantly in attendance. During a spell at the R.N. Hospital, Haslar, my brother, Terence, was born in March 1911. In October 1912, my father went to sea in H.M.S. FALMOUTH, so my mother took us to 52 Whitwell Road, Southsea, where my grandfather -now retired- was living.

With the outbreak of the War in August 1914, the FALMOUTH was moved to Scapa Flow along with the rest of the Grand Fleet; we were by now in rooms in Chatham as it was the ship’s Home Port, but it was not long before we were back in Southsea. By 1915, we were in rooms in Dunfermline as the ship was using Rosyth as a base port. I was eventually sent to a day school in Southsea sometime in 1917, being boarded with the aunts in Whitwell Road.

I entered the Naval College Dartmouth as a Naval Cadet in May 1922; went to sea in the battleship RAMILLIES in May 1926 just in time to take part in the General Strike when the ship was sent to Liverpool. In August, we were guardship for Cowes Week. I was transferred to the battlecruiser RENOWN in September and so found myself sailing on a World Cruise conveying the Duke and Duchess of York to visit Australia and New Zealand. By now, 1927, I was a midshipman as opposed to a naval cadet.

In 1929, courses in various naval subjects lead [sic] to my appointment as a Lieutenant to the destroyer VENETIA based on Malta. It soon became necessary to choose which of the various specialist courses I wished to take. I chose Navigation which meant that I had to go back to school at H.M.S. DRYAD, a “stone frigate” in Portsmouth Dockyard. My first job as a Navigation Officer was to H.M.S. LUPIN, a sloop in the Persian Gulf; 1932-34. This was followed by another spell at DRYAD as an Instructor, during which time I was married to the girl (1935) whom I first met when at the day school in Southsea in 1917.

Various temporary sea appointments followed, but by 1938 I had joined the new destroyer SOMALI whilst still under construction. The outbreak of War in 1939 found me in Scapa Flow which was to be the ship’s base for the three years I served in her. I was awarded the D.S.C. in 1940 for my part in the operations off Norway. Other wartime appointments were:- the cruiser LIVERPOOL (1942) involved convoys to North Russia and Malta; the cruiser CLEOPATRA (1943) was employed in support of the Army in North Africa; the aircraft carrier INDOMITABLE (1944) was employed in the Indian Ocean and was based on Trincomalee in Ceylon.

In December 1944 I was promoted to Commander. Back in the UK, an Admiralty job was my first shore job in six years. I took the Naval Staff Course in 1948; one of the officers in my group at Greenwich was a Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. In 1949, I was the 2i/c of the cruiser JAMAICA based on Bermuda until the ship was redeployed to Hong Kong following what became known as the AMETHYST incident. In 1950, I was back in the Admiralty for two years. Then a spell at Chatham Dockyard as the Assistant Queen’s Harbour Master. In 1954, I was loaned to the R.N.Z.N. and held the post as Superintendent of the Auckland Naval Dockyard in the acting rank of Captain. In 1956, I was again in the Admiralty for what was my last appointment before being placed on the retired list in 1958.

By chance, I became a freelance tutor in Mathematics, and gradually gave more and more time to working in a preparatory school in Dorking where I taught Mathematics and Science. I kept this up until 1977. Since then, I have been Secretary of the Ewhurst Film Society plus being the treasurer of two other local organisations.

We look forward to celebrating our Diamond Wedding on Pearl harbour Day 1995.

Ernest Alfred Bird (1888-1944)

Roz — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:38:31 +0000

My great grandfather Ernest Alfred Bird was born on 26 July 1888 in Lambeth, London, and died on 23 October 1944 in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

He was the youngest son of Alfred Bird and Emma Sharp and lived in the London borough of Lambeth. On 6 November 1915 he married my great grandmother Elsie Lena Moore at St John the Divine in Kennington. According to the marriage certificate the marriage was witnessed by Ernest’s brother Arthur and also by one of his sisters, Hilda. Elsie’s witness was her brother Edwin Musgrove Moore. On the certificate Ernest described himself as a Clerk, and was living at 98 Vassall Road, Brixton. The address explains the decision to marry at St John the Divine, which is an Anglican church on the distinctly “High Church” end of the worshipping scale. As Ernest was a Baptist it is unlikely that he was a regular worshipper at St John, but as the church was on Vassall Road it was probably the most convenient. It could also be that his bride was an Anglican, of that I am not sure.

Ernest joined the RAMC, at the rank of Private, number 104751. Via ancestry it is possible to look up the Medal Index Card, courtesy of the National Archives, of nearly all those who served in the army in the First World War. Ernest’s card tells us that he was awarded both the Victory and the British medal, (RAMC roll 101 B81, page 6215.), which means that he a) served abroad, and b) saw active service in a “theatre of war”. Unfortunately these index cards do not include the army service record, so it is not possible to determine where exactly Ernest saw action from this alone. In addition, it appears that Ernest’s army service record was one of the many (as many as half of all of them) destroyed by a fire, moreover being part of the RAMC further complicates research as the Corps was active world-wide at all times and therefore not open to any interpretation as to the location of any given soldier at any given time.

We can make one assumption though, and that is that because he was not awarded the 1914 Star he did not serve in France or Belgium between August and November 1914, or did not participate in a theatre of war before 31st December 1915 (see the excellent medals section of A Long Long Trail for an explanation of medal index card codes and much, much, more about WW1 genealogical research). This assumption is backed up by my mother’s statement that her grandfather served in Egypt. A number of desert-based photographs (camels, pith helmets, sand, etc) also bear this out.

One of Ernest’s souvenirs from that era was an olivewood-covered bible, labelled as a gift from the Holy Land. “Egypt” was a coverall name for the campaign that spanned the Red Sea to Suez to the Sudan and from Gaza to Gallipolli; a campaign fought predominantly against the Turkish forces. So it is likely that Ernest served in Palestine, instead of or as well as Egypt. Handily out of copyright and available to view on the internet is a book called With the RAMC in Egypt, which describes the history of the Corps in the area up to the end of 1917. I fear this book is the nearest I will get to Ernest’s experiences.

Interestingly, while on the (to date) fruitless search for information on Ernest’s war career, I came across the army service record of his next-door neighbour, Frederick Rogers, resident of 99 Vassall Road, Brixton. If you have access to ancestry you will be able to view an army service record in full, but in summation, it lets me know his physical attributes, his next of kin, where he served and in what regiment, what trade skills he possessed, and when he went home. I feel sad that I know more about this man than I do my own great grandfather.

The British in India

Roz — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:08:18 +0000

Taking a break from the NLA website (on the advice of my optician) I began re-investigating the other Inglis family; namely the ancestors and siblings of Jessie Anne Inglis, who married Alexander Brand Inglis.

Wanting to be thorough I revisited the FIBIS website to add sources for the data I have collected so far. FIBIS (Families in British India) was my first port of call, as the Inglis family, both Jessie’s and Alexander’s in fact, seemed to be drawn to the Indian subcontinent during the 1800s.

When I got to FIBIS and searched on Inglis I suddenly noticed that there was far more data than I remembered, and then I looked at the transcription dates, and then it hit me: just because I had halted research didn’t mean others had. Tireless and countless hours have been spent by volunteers in the painting-the-forth-bridge-like (i.e. neverending) task of transcribing and logging records, and it still goes on. I found a death date from an article transcribed just one week ago, I found out a few middle names from data transcribed in December last year, and more.

One of the recent / ongoing transcription sets is the “Times in India”, specifically the “Domestic occurences” column (hatch match n dispatch). Whilst purists may sniff that this is not primary evidence – it is reported or secondary evidence – more often than not the announcements can be backed up with primary evidence later, or at least backed up by circumstantial evidence, or just point one in the right direction: for example, a death announcement in a particular year might be backed up by the spouse being listed as a widow or widower in the next census, or remarrying, or just not having any more children. Many of these “domestic occurences” have already been seen on the rootsweb website, but there are more here, and they are indexed and searchable. The transcribers are even named. FIBIS deservedly won an award for their work.

Of particular interest to my research was an entry on John Inglis (1805 – 16 Feb 1849). John was married to Louisa Maria Loveday and died of injuries sustained in battle in India on 16 February 1849. Other FIBIS records recently found concern his children’s “orphan pensions” and to whom they were paid, and when the payments were stopped (either as the child reached 18 or died, which in 2 children was found to be the case), but John himself was still a dead-end. John, as you may notice, is not an unusual name and in Scotland (and Victorian Anglo-India) Inglis is also common. There were at least two John Inglis in the Bengal army – mine rose to Captain only, and was initially in the 2nd regt of light cavalry before being transferred to the late-formed 11th light cavalry; the other fought at Lucknow and became a Sir. Indeed, there was another John Inglis in India in my family: John Knox Inglis (1849-1878; Alexander Brand Inglis’ younger brother), who was a headmaster in Fyazabad. My John Inglis, apparently born in “Midlothian, Scotland” in 1805, I believe applied for a cadetship in the Bengal army in 1821-22, and it is this record that could unlock his past. The data available on the website itself is not immense, but it does note in the section above that an application would have been accompanied by details of birth, baptism, parents’ occupation, schooling, and a letter of introduction by a director of the EIC (East India Company). Then it gives a film reference number and notes that this is all handily available on microfiche at an LDS centre.

I’ll get my coat.

National Library of Australia: Australian Newspapers Archive

Roz — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:53:39 +0000

I’ve spent the past couple of days hunched up in front of my laptop squinting at blurry text from the late 1800s. But it’s worth it.

The NLA Australian Newspaper Archive is a brilliant website (as is Papers Past, the New Zealand equivalent) that has simply offered up its entire historic archive (from 1803 to 1954) to view, free of charge.

Its search engine is sensible:- you can browse and subsequently filter by title, location, date, type of story, or just search for specific words. This search, though, is what might make impatient people squirm. Each story / section of each paper has been scanned and a machine has read the text. So what? So, referring back to the blurry, squinting comment above, this machine is not infallible. It has a penchant for replacing Es with Os…Australians among us will be familiar with the shortening of nearly every word with “o” (like deco for decoration, rego for registration – you get the idea) but it gets a little ridiculous when the word “evidence” is scanned as “ovidonco”. It makes searching more difficult if you’re looking for “Smith” but the record you’re looking for has been scanned in as “Brnltb” (the S becomes B, the m is split to 2 letters r and n, the i becomes l – t stays the same – and h becomes b). You just have to hope that the search term has been scanned correctly once or twice in the article, and then you’re OK.

But the pure gold of this website? It allows you to fix it. It’s not precious: it knows the value of volunteer action, and if you see a word (trust me, you will) that has been incorrectly scanned, you can fix it. Even put a comment on there too for everyone to see, if you think the correction is important.

Much of the text I’ve been correcting relates to James Inglis and Co Limited and a libel lawsuit they had to fight against the Co-operative Coupon Company. James Inglis, in his usual exuberance, wrote a rather scathing attack on the coupon system and put it in his “Little Monthly Messenger” leaflet that went out to customers and suppliers. The Co-operative Coupon Company took this is an attack on themselves specifically, and therefore sued James Inglis and Co for libel. James won the first round (hurrah!) but a retrial was granted and I have yet to find the outcome in an article (maybe it was scanned under “lmyius”). Some of the articles are here and here.

The Rev. John Pourie (1825-1867)

Roz — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:39:19 +0000

The above gentleman is not a direct ancestor of mine, but he was the second husband of my ggg grandmother Louisa Maria Loveday. (My ggg grandfather Captain John Inglis was born in 1805 -we think in Midlothian- and died in India in 1849)

After Captain Inglis’ death Louisa and her children moved to Edinburgh. In 1853-54 Louisa and John Pourie met and fell in love, (after mutual intercessionary prayers and a great deal of soul searching, the book would have us believe) and became engaged sometime in Edinburgh, although they did not marry until they both reached Calcutta, India, in 1855.

A book written on the sermons and teachings of Rev Pourie indicates a very devout and conscientious man, who nevertheless struggled initially with his faith and the path that it may lead him. Reading between the lines in this book (which is scant with regard to personal information) it seems as though there were objections placed to the marriage between John and Louisa, as his life’s ambition to be a Presbyterian missionary in India would have been poorly paid and maybe ill-looked upon by the Lovedays (can we also assume that the Inglis’s would have objected to their grandchildren being dragged back to the Indian subcontinent? I think we can). However, objections aside the union took place, and the book touches upon Louisa’s not inconsiderable committment to her role as a missionary’s wife, and later a reverend’s wife after John became the minister there.

The husband and wife team evidently ran a well-organised female orphanage and encouraged the education of women in Calcutta. They also taught English to boys with the aim of producing good Christian subjects, but more often than not, producing good Hindu subjects who went on to pursue more worldly and more lucrative careers in government and business.

Rev Pourie paid a visit to Scotland in 1864 (visiting his mother-in-law, Anne Louisa Loveday nee D’Esterre, in Bath on the way) and picked up a chill from which he never seemed to fully recover. On his return to India his doctor advised a change of climate and sent him to Australia. The journey did not seem to help and after a spell in Melbourne he travelled to Sydney in poor health where his wife and sister met him. He died shortly after and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery (also the resting place of James Inglis 1845-1908) on the outskirts of Sydney.

The book is available from Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=rJ0HAAAAQAAJ&dq=john+pourie&source=gbs_navlinks_s. The section relevant to Mrs Inglis starts on page xix:

Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis now online

John — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:58:13 +0000

Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis (which we’ve mentioned previously here and here) is now scanned and available to be read in its entirety online now. For some reason it can’t be viewed through Google Books but from the Open Library website despite it originally coming from Google. No matter, find it here. I’m going to update some of the older posts with links to the relevant pages. Note that it is the second edition they have online while we have the first edition. I don’t believe there are any real changes genealogy-wise, only one . . . → Read More: Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis now online

Maria Bainbrigge b 1737

Roz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:29:00 +0000

Maria Bainbrigge (alternatively spelled Bainbrigg, or Bainbridge) was born on 24 August 1737, according to my last researches (thanks to a lady named Helen). According to a tantalising glimpse (via Google Books) of grainy text from a book entitled “Leicestershire Pedigrees and Royal Descents” by William George Dimock Fletcher, 1887, Maria married Richard Loveday of Hammersmith and had EIGHT children. So far I’ve found just two – William Loveday b BEF 1763, and Lambert Richard Loveday (1763-1843), later to become Lt General Loveday, and husband to Anne Louise D’Esterre. Finding the other six children is on my To-Do list.

The four-line excerpt from the book referred to the Bainbrigge line and listed Maria and her siblings. Cursory research on the good old IGI backed up this information, with baptisms being held a few days after each child was born (except for Maria, of course, that would be too easy). The IGI listed the parents of Maria’s siblings William and Elizabeth (twins; b 8 May 1739, baptised 11 May 1739), Anne (b 30 Jun 1740, baptised 3rd July 1740), and John (b 6 Mar 1743, baptised 14 March 1743) as being William Bainbrigg(e) and Joanna (unknown).

I am hoping that William Bainbrigge will be a gateway ancestor; being as he is listed in the above book there must be more information out there about him. The online search indicated that there were quite a few more pages devoted to the Bainbrigges…but as I don’t think my local library has a copy, does anyone know where I can read it…?

Shaw-Watters Wedding Album

John — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:34:24 +0000

A wee while ago Roz was contacted by a lady named Sally regarding a wedding album her mother-in-law, Joan, had in her possession. The album was rather old and contained artefacts relating to the wedding of Ada Kathleen Watters to Thomas Brown Shaw RN in 1907. Coincidentally these names happened to be the same as Roz’s great grandparents.

Joan had bought the album in jumble sale in Shere, Surrey about 25 years ago and she had always intended to find out more about the bride and groom. So through a search on the internet Sally came across our site and got in touch. Joan insisted on sending the album all the way to us here in Australia and I’m pleased to say it arrived safely.

We suspect that the album was ‘donated’ to the jumble sale when Roz’s grandparents moved between villages about 25 years ago. Whether it was deliberate or accidental we will probably never know though I can’t think why anyone would think a family document would be worth donating to a jumble sale. However, that’s what appears to have happened and we are grateful that someone thought it was worth buying and that it was looked after for all these years by Joan.

The album is a fascinating document. Unfortunately there are no photographs (excepting the postcard of the church seen up there) and there are about six pages torn out. Roz’s dad, knowing the minds of his parents more, suspects these contained the photographs and they would have been removed just before the donation.

What the album does contain is a copy of the invite, a good number of telegraphs, clippings from some newspapers and a fascinating list of all the gifts given to the couple (Roz believes one of the silver serving dishes is now at her parent’s home though we have no idea what happened to the rest). View the full album here.

510 Days Later

John — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:02:15 +0000

…or thereabouts. Lots and lots of stuff got in the way since we last posted. We’ve done very little family tree research in that time partly because recent family history has been so… exciting… births, deaths, marriages, even a 100th birthday party (and he’s now a month off 101). Mainly all happening in the UK while we’ve been up here in Oz having to commute.
We’ve had many people get in touch while we’ve been ‘away’ and we’ve been very lax at getting back in touch. If we’ve not replied already then we intend doing so soon.
I’ll probably do something to the tree section soon. It’s too slow and, with storing data locally and on Ancestry, it’s a lot of effort to keep it up-to-date. We’ll see.

Oor Ain Folk: Circular Letter from 1884

John — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:06:37 +0000

As mentioned in the last post there was two circular letters published in Oor Ain Folk. The second is transcribed below. From pages 266 to 270.

The next was written a full decade after the foregoing, and the observant reader will see that in the interim death had been busy, and that our hitherto happy and united family was beginning to feel the common fate of all merely earthly associations and institutions.

1st January 1884, Warepa, Otago, N.Z.

My Dear Mamma, and all the Members of the Family, big and little,—

We wish you much happiness throughout the coming year. We trust that Grannie will be long spared to us yet, and aye hae a competent portion o’ the guid things o’ this life, and be able to gie a shillin’ or twa to puir folk. May prosperity attend oor clan, and may we a’ walk in the footsteps of our dear father, gone to his reward.

Geo. B. Inglis.
Milly P. Inglis.

Craigo, Redmyre, Sydney, N.S.W., 20-2-84.

Amid all the inevitable changes of life, let our loving sympathy for each other know no change. We owe much to the dear ones that are gone: we can best pay it by showing love to those that are still with us. Fair fa’ ye a’.

Jas. Inglis.
Mary Inglis.

Tukdah, Darjeeling, India, 30th March 1884.

So fa’ ye, Tomas. The foregoing foreigners seem to be rather sentimental, and as there is not much fun in me just now, I heartily endorse the aforesaid sentimental sentiments, and hope Mamma will be loing spared to receive a paper like this, with the signatures of all her sons, and perhaps one more daughter, as I hope I am not to remain the only ‘Bloomin’ Bachelor.’

Thos. C. Inglis.

Coombehurst, Lunham Road, Upper Norwood, 24th April 1884.

This Family Letter for Mamma only reached London this week after a journey from New Zealand to Australia, thence to India, and then home. Our household here all unite very heartily in wishing Mamma (she is Grannie to most of us) many happy returns of the New Year, and hope she may be long spared to her Children and Grandchildren, and that she may be able to come South and see the latest additions to the number of the latter in the course of a few weeks.

A. B. Inglis.
Jessie Anne Inglis.
R. A. Inglis.
Ethel Margaret Inglis.
Frances H. L. Inglis.
Charles Elliot Inglis.
Emily Gertrude Inglis.
Arthur Loveday Inglis.
Colin Stuart Inglis X his mark.

Craigendowie, Reigate, Surrey, 26th April 1884.

Here’s t’ye, Grannie! Lang may yer lum reek.

R. W. Inglis.
Ellen Inglis.

‘Oakfield,’ Selhurst Road, South Norwood, S.E., 28th April 1884.

All here entirely agree with the sentiments expressed by the elder members of the Clan, and hope that Dear Mamma and Grannie (two in one) will long be spared to be a blessing to all of us.

W. B. Inglis.
Mary Inglis.
Helen Margaret Inglis X
Robert Andrew Inglis X
William Andrew Inglis X
Mary Lilian Jane Inglis X
X Their marks.

5 Stotham Grove, Green Lane, N., London, 29th April 1884.

We also join in hearty good wishes for dear Mamma’s welfare, and hope that her proverbial teuchness¹ may long stand her in good stead.

‘When bendin; doon wi’ auld gray hairs,

Beneath the load of years and cares,

May He who made thee still support thee,

And views beyond the grave comfort thee,

Our worthy family, far and near,

God bless them a’ wi’ grace and gear.’

Henry Inglis.
Amy Catherine Inglis.

25 Bridge Street, Montrose, 2nd May 1884.

Dear Grannie—The branches are far spread, part o’ the stem gone. May the half that remains long continue to thrive!

David Inglis.
Anne Inglis.
Maggie Jane Inglis.
A. B. Inglis.
Robert Inglis.
James Inglis.
Tom. C. Inglis.
John K. Inglis X his mark.
Helen Ann Inglis X her mark.

Brechin, 6th May 1884.

Dear Grannie—George’s paper has just come our length; we heartily join our good wishes to the rest, and may ye lang come rinnin’ (for ye dinna walk) up the brae to read the paper, and say, ‘Fat’s dain’ the day, lassie?’

A. Simpson.
Jane Inglis Simpson.
Robert Inglis Simpson.
Catherine Jane Simpson.
Rosie A. Simpson.
Andrew M. Simpson.

55 Southesk Street, Brechin, 7th May 1884.

Long may Grannie reign, the head and centre of a prosperous, united, and happy family!

Marion W. Inglis.
Ruby C. inglis.

Note that Roz’s great grandfather is in this letter. He is Colin Stuart Inglis, son of Alexander Brand Inglis, and he was less than a year old, explaining the X for his mark.

toughness

Oor Ain Folk: Circular Letter from 1874

John — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:10:40 +0000

In Oor Ain Folk James Inglis prints two examples of the type of circular letter that his family used to send:

I hope that the reader may make some allowances as he runs his eye through what was certainly never intended for publication of this sort; my only excuse for now reprinting these old circular letters it the belief that others may perhaps be fired to follow our example; and if the pleasure given to some loved ones be even measurably near to what our random letters gave, I will not have given the hint for naught.

At the time of this letter four of the Inglis children were in India. From pages 263 to 266 of Oor Ain Folk:

Write your Name and pass it on to the Chief o’ the Clan.

1st January 1874.

Faizabad, Oudh.

My dear Jim, Tom, Alick, Jessie, Robbie, Ethel, Baby, Bob, Ellen, Will, Hen, George, Davie, Annie—a’ yer bairns, for I dinna ken their names—Andrew, Jeanie, Nelly, Bob, Tatie Tam, Curly Pow—an’ a’ the rest, for I forgot them too—Lizzie, Papa an’ Mamma-the twa Patriarchs—a very Happy New Year to you all, an’ mony o’ them.

Always your very affectionate brither, uncle, half-uncle, an’ son,

Jack.

In Camp, Radhanugger, Hoolas, Bhaugulpore.

Ditto, ditto, also, likewise, and in repetition,—Lang may ye lauch at the doctor, an’ hae mair o’ the warl’ and the flesh than the deevil, an’ hae mony another fit o’ indigestion owre Xmas pudden an’ New Year’s cake.

Jim.

Brechin Castle Shanty, Tukdah, Darjeeling.

My dearly beloved parents, brethren, sistern [sic], and relations,—I wish you all he same as Jack and Jim. May you all have more of this world’s gear than I have at present, and long may you live to enjoy it. Success to the bachelors: may they soon become scarce, and yet at the same time increase, and never forget the old folks.—Your loving relative,

Tom Chalmers.

15 Elysium Row, Calcutta.

All of us here, both big and little, wish the dear old folks at Edzell, and all our other relatives in Scotland, England, India, or elsewhere, very many happy returns of the New Year, and every other good wish.

A. B. Inglis
Jessie Inglis.
Robbie A. Inglis.
Ethel M. Inglis.
Hugh M. Inglis Χ his mark.

South Penge Park, Surrey, England.

‘Ta same owre here, but she snaws.’

R. W. Inglis.
Ellen Inglis

Hairywirm Dookit, Bayswater, London.

Like the auld wife’s parrot, we ‘dinna speak muckle, but we’re deevils to think,’ and are aye thinkin’ abbot ye a’.

W. B. Inglis.
H. Inglis

Edinburgh University.

Here’s health, strength, long life, and happiness to ye a’.

Geo. B. Inglis.

17 Armit’s Buildings, Montrose.

In continuation of the foregoing sentiments, we heartily join.

David Inglis.
Anne Inglis.
Maggie Jane Inglis.
Alexander Brand Inglis.
Robert Inglis.

Brechin, 10th February 1874.

This has travelled far,
And now is near its hame;
To all the good express’d
We add our hand and name.

Andrew Simpson.
Jane Simpson.
Nelly Simpson.
Robert Inglis Simpson.
Catherine Jane Simpson.
Rose Adelaide Simpson.
Andrew Melville Simpson.
Lizzie Simpson.

The circular letter has now become known as a “round robin” though that term is often used incorrectly as being a single author letter sent to multiple recipients like those dreaded yearly missives from some long-forgotten relative telling you about Tarquin’s exciting year climbing Everest only days after recovering from breaking his leg as he crossed the line first in his fourth marathon of the year, etc. Terribly fascinating to those who write it, object of ridicule to those who read it.The above is not really the same. It’s not particularly exciting nor informative but I can imagine the single recipient (well, both of the ‘twa Patriarchs’) would have found it reassuring to see all their children were still alive and well.

Oor Ain Folk: James Inglis (1845-1908)

John — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:39 +0000

The following article contains an extract from Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis regarding himself.

I would suggest that he is slightly modest in his appraisal of himself as you might expect. A fuller biography of him can be found on various websites which I link to below. I’ll get around to writing my own short biography of him soon.

From page 258 of Oor Ain Folk:

As to myself little need be said. I have been repeatedly urged to tell the story of my life which has been full of adventure and change. Perhaps I may some day. It has been one long record of mercies and kindnesses; and though at one time, I believe, sundry shortsighted critics predicted that I would come to no good, and put me down as ‘the minister’s black sheep,’ there were not wanting kindly hearts who responded with the more cheering prophecy that I would yield ‘as good a clip’ as any of them in the long-run. ‘So mote it be.’

Links

Parliament of New South Wales—the link below when clicked will take you directly to a brief history of Inglis’ political career in the New South Wales parliament between 1885 and 1888. There is also an abbreviated biography of him of the sort you might find in Who’s Who: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au

Guide to the Papers of Members of the New South Wales Parliament 1856-2006 in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. It is from here we know of which documents to look at whenever we visit the Mitchell Library: http://www.parlpapers.sl.nsw.gov.au

Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au

Oor Ain Folk: Henry Inglis (1857-?)

John — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:50 +0000

The following article is an extract from Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis regarding his brother Henry Inglis.

Henry was the last child of Robert Inglis and Helen Brand (left). Mrs Inglis retiring after a good 26 years in the baby making service.

From page 261 of Oor Ain Folk:

My youngest brother Henry is married and doing well in London; and so far the manse boys, ‘by the good hand of their father’s God upon them,’ have proved themselves fair average specimens of the myriad sons of the manse, who have gone out into the world from many a mossy howe, to sustain the good repute of their fathers, and uphold the fair fame of dear auld mother Scotland.

I’m afraid that’s all he wrote of him. We don’t have much else to add as we haven’t even found his death date yet but we do know, as James mentions, that he moved to London at some point and married Amy Catherine Graves and had four children: Amy Morrison, Helen Gertrude, Henry (or Hugh), Ronald Morrison.

Oor Ain Folk: George Brown Inglis (1854-1936)

John — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:22 +0000

The following article is an extract from Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis regarding his brother George Brown Inglis.

The large Family Bible which is to be found in Inglis Memorial Hall was once owned by George when he was in New Zealand. When he died in 1936 it was sent back to Edzell.

From page 261:

Next on the list is George. He has manifested the hereditary bent, and is now a minister of the New Zealand Presbyterian Church. After passing through a creditable collegiate course in Edinburgh, he studied for two years under the venerable Principal Hodge and Dr. M’Cosh at Princeton College, U.S., travelled to Australia through India, and is now the honoured and beloved pastor of a large farming district in Otago. A clever wife and two fine boys help to make his snug manse bright and cheerful; and he too is a living refutation of the stupid libel that ‘minister’s sons always turn out badly.’

It is possible that George was, like his brothers, named after a notable Scottish clergyman. In this case George Brown, Bishop of Dunkeld during the reigns of King James III and IV. I see no other Browns in the Inglis lineage to explain where his middle name came from.

Oor Ain Folk: William Burnet Inglis (1851-1888)

John — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:47 +0000

The following article is an extract from Oor Ain Folk by James Inglis regarding his brother William Burnet Inglis.

From pages 260 and 261 of Oor Ain Folk:

Willie, the next, lies in a lonely grave by the great Australian inland river. He had taken an honourable position on the London Stock Exchange, but his health breaking down, he came out to Australia. After entering the service of one of the leading banks there, he accepted the position of branch manager in the far back, pastoral, riverside town of Wilcannis [sic]. Here he was joined by his goodhearted, loyal, loving wife and her four children. The first year of their stay there, however, proved too much for poor Willie’s enfeebled frame. The temperature is frequently over 100° in the shade, and my poor brother fell a victim to sunstroke.

Roz previously wrote about Willie here. Specifically regarding a letter his first daughter Helen (known as Daisy) wrote to James Inglis in 1896 eight years after her father’s death.

An account of life in Wilcannia was written by Daisy later on in 1941 and kept by an Inglis family member. This was published on rootsweb.com five years ago by Sandra and David Bales with whom Roz has been in touch with recently. Of which, more anon.