Sunday 31 August 2014
Don't miss out
Hi, remember everyone, my £5 off offer expires 5th September - so that's £5 off the prices on www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk (excluding my 'leaves' hourly rate,) if you order before this Friday 5th September
Friday 29 August 2014
WDYTYA? - Brendan O'Carroll
Brendan O'Carroll's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was in some ways more like a detective story than family history. Brendan (who is famous for being Mrs Brown in Mrs Brown's boys,) had one simple mission that consumed the entirety of the episode - who murdered Brendan's grandfather one night in the autumn of 1920?
The search led him through the murky world of the fight of the IRA for Irish independence from the UK, full of spies and assassins. Indeed, assassination seems to have been Peter O'Carroll's fate, an almost silent shot within minutes of opening the door of his shop. As Brendan says when trawling the Dublin newspapers of the period and coming across tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting, murder after murder: these were dangerous times.
The danger came not least from the handful of British units without conscience - teams of spies and hit-men, these were largely made up of seasoned officers from the British army. Many of these officers had served in World War One, perhaps embittered and hardened by their experiences - certainly, there seemed to be no qualms about killing.
A dark time indeed, a war, of which Peter O'Carroll was undoubtedly a victim. There were murders and executions on both sides, and it was only natural for Brendan to feel that justice had not been done - his grandfather's killer/s had never been arrested for their crime. Yet, in order for the country to move on after independence was achieved, a line had to be drawn in the sand; the settling of scores would unfortunately have done more harm than good and simply perpetuated the war; that meant that personal tragedies unfortunately had to remain unaddressed. A dark period indeed.
The search led him through the murky world of the fight of the IRA for Irish independence from the UK, full of spies and assassins. Indeed, assassination seems to have been Peter O'Carroll's fate, an almost silent shot within minutes of opening the door of his shop. As Brendan says when trawling the Dublin newspapers of the period and coming across tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting, murder after murder: these were dangerous times.
The danger came not least from the handful of British units without conscience - teams of spies and hit-men, these were largely made up of seasoned officers from the British army. Many of these officers had served in World War One, perhaps embittered and hardened by their experiences - certainly, there seemed to be no qualms about killing.
A dark time indeed, a war, of which Peter O'Carroll was undoubtedly a victim. There were murders and executions on both sides, and it was only natural for Brendan to feel that justice had not been done - his grandfather's killer/s had never been arrested for their crime. Yet, in order for the country to move on after independence was achieved, a line had to be drawn in the sand; the settling of scores would unfortunately have done more harm than good and simply perpetuated the war; that meant that personal tragedies unfortunately had to remain unaddressed. A dark period indeed.
Wednesday 27 August 2014
The Question of Mrs Maybrick
I doubt you've ever heard of Florence Maybrick, but she was the name on everyone's lips in 1889. On trial for murder, on trial for her life, Florence was accused of killing her husband.
Florence Chandler was a girl from Alabama, young and naïve. She married James Maybrick, a cotton trader, and together they lived in Liverpool. James was almost twenty years her senior. This was a fashionable marriage - American high-society girls marrying into 'old world' money. It was a marriage that soon ran into trouble - within a few years there were arguments and the spectre of divorce (attainable, though expensive, difficult to obtain, and socially shameful.) Florence's husband, a drug addict with a fascination for all things tonic and medicinal, was having an affair, was acting somewhat irrationally, and on at least one occasion had hit his wife (something that was socially and legally acceptable so long as the 'punishment' the husband dealt out was in proportion to the alleged misdoing by his wife.)
James, never in good health, became severely ill and died not long after. So, why would it be suspected that his dear wife - his dear 'bunny' - had killed him? Firstly, a few circumstances that may have been innocent - soaking flypapers in water (to extract arsenic for cosmetic purposes,) adding something to a bottle of meat juice (common invalid food) which may or may not have been on the behest of her husband, moving medicine from one bottle to another to prevent sediment from forming at the bottom, being accused by a, frankly delusional, ill husband, etc. etc. The second, and more damning in the Victorian mind frame, was that Florence Maybrick had had an affair with a man named Alfred Brierley - had stayed in a hotel with him over several nights - anyone capable of infidelity must be capable of murder. The fact that her husband kept a mistress seemed to nobody to bare any importance.
And so, the odds were stacked against poor Florence. In her favour was slowly rising public support - with a notable female faction, and the poor scientific evidence against her. Toxicology was in its infancy, with the fallibility of medical knowledge and early tests for poison. The scientific experts and doctors could not agree on the cause of death - many argued for arsenic poisoning while others said it was more likely that James had been killed by a bad infection or gastroenteritis. Certainly, there was not sufficient arsenic found in James' remains or excreta to kill (and, for those of you more scientifically minded, the remains decayed at the normal rate, instead of being partially preserved by arsenic.) Florence had also been the victim of that most heinous of Victorian class-crimes - insubordination. Her children's nurse had made accusations against her (her mistress! oh, the scandal!) and had even read her personal correspondence (to her lover, Alfred Brierley.)
Arsenic was commonly found in almost everything in the Victorian period - food, medicine, cooking utensils, wallpaper, clothes; it wasn't as if it was difficult to purchase or find in the average house. In the Maybrick's home for example, amongst the sources of arsenic found was a packet of the stuff designed specifically, according to the label, for poisoning cats. It was in a great deal of James' medicines (along with some other, equally tasty ingredients,) and when he became ill the doctors prescribed a series of medicines and tonics, any of which could have reacted with one another, and included such substances as nitro-glycerine and cocaine.
But Florence was faced with a biased judge who, it seems, did his utmost to prejudice the jury against her, a jury made up entirely of men, and a national press that had reported so many details of her life and trial that many had already made up their minds as to her guilt or otherwise.
The case raised many issues with the justice system: all male juries, the impermissibility of defendants to give evidence in cases which may result in capital punishment, and the lack of a criminal appeal system - as well as society: the place of women, the responsibilities of servants, the morbid fascination that such trials created, and the sense that moral impurity created criminal tendencies.
To find out more about the Maybrick case (including what happened to Mrs Maybrick,) I highly recommend Kate Colquhoun's book Did She Kill Him?: A Victorian tale of Deception, Adultery, and Arsenic - a very informative and descriptive book, though perhaps a little flowery and imaginative in places. The case is well discussed, though sometimes the tone falls more towards fiction than non-fiction. This is the book in which I found a great deal of the information for this post.
And, just to prove the fallibility of the press (even then,) I found that the Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser on 24 May 1889 repeated the general misreporting that Florence was 'a French Canadian, the daughter of a baron.' Florence was from Alabama, not Canada, and her mother - an eccentric and colourful lady - was indeed the Baroness von Roques, but Baron von Roques (who had by this point abandoned her mother,) was not her father - that honour belonged to one of the Baroness' previous husbands, Mr. Chandler.
Florence Chandler was a girl from Alabama, young and naïve. She married James Maybrick, a cotton trader, and together they lived in Liverpool. James was almost twenty years her senior. This was a fashionable marriage - American high-society girls marrying into 'old world' money. It was a marriage that soon ran into trouble - within a few years there were arguments and the spectre of divorce (attainable, though expensive, difficult to obtain, and socially shameful.) Florence's husband, a drug addict with a fascination for all things tonic and medicinal, was having an affair, was acting somewhat irrationally, and on at least one occasion had hit his wife (something that was socially and legally acceptable so long as the 'punishment' the husband dealt out was in proportion to the alleged misdoing by his wife.)James, never in good health, became severely ill and died not long after. So, why would it be suspected that his dear wife - his dear 'bunny' - had killed him? Firstly, a few circumstances that may have been innocent - soaking flypapers in water (to extract arsenic for cosmetic purposes,) adding something to a bottle of meat juice (common invalid food) which may or may not have been on the behest of her husband, moving medicine from one bottle to another to prevent sediment from forming at the bottom, being accused by a, frankly delusional, ill husband, etc. etc. The second, and more damning in the Victorian mind frame, was that Florence Maybrick had had an affair with a man named Alfred Brierley - had stayed in a hotel with him over several nights - anyone capable of infidelity must be capable of murder. The fact that her husband kept a mistress seemed to nobody to bare any importance.
And so, the odds were stacked against poor Florence. In her favour was slowly rising public support - with a notable female faction, and the poor scientific evidence against her. Toxicology was in its infancy, with the fallibility of medical knowledge and early tests for poison. The scientific experts and doctors could not agree on the cause of death - many argued for arsenic poisoning while others said it was more likely that James had been killed by a bad infection or gastroenteritis. Certainly, there was not sufficient arsenic found in James' remains or excreta to kill (and, for those of you more scientifically minded, the remains decayed at the normal rate, instead of being partially preserved by arsenic.) Florence had also been the victim of that most heinous of Victorian class-crimes - insubordination. Her children's nurse had made accusations against her (her mistress! oh, the scandal!) and had even read her personal correspondence (to her lover, Alfred Brierley.)
Arsenic was commonly found in almost everything in the Victorian period - food, medicine, cooking utensils, wallpaper, clothes; it wasn't as if it was difficult to purchase or find in the average house. In the Maybrick's home for example, amongst the sources of arsenic found was a packet of the stuff designed specifically, according to the label, for poisoning cats. It was in a great deal of James' medicines (along with some other, equally tasty ingredients,) and when he became ill the doctors prescribed a series of medicines and tonics, any of which could have reacted with one another, and included such substances as nitro-glycerine and cocaine.But Florence was faced with a biased judge who, it seems, did his utmost to prejudice the jury against her, a jury made up entirely of men, and a national press that had reported so many details of her life and trial that many had already made up their minds as to her guilt or otherwise.
The case raised many issues with the justice system: all male juries, the impermissibility of defendants to give evidence in cases which may result in capital punishment, and the lack of a criminal appeal system - as well as society: the place of women, the responsibilities of servants, the morbid fascination that such trials created, and the sense that moral impurity created criminal tendencies.
To find out more about the Maybrick case (including what happened to Mrs Maybrick,) I highly recommend Kate Colquhoun's book Did She Kill Him?: A Victorian tale of Deception, Adultery, and Arsenic - a very informative and descriptive book, though perhaps a little flowery and imaginative in places. The case is well discussed, though sometimes the tone falls more towards fiction than non-fiction. This is the book in which I found a great deal of the information for this post.
And, just to prove the fallibility of the press (even then,) I found that the Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser on 24 May 1889 repeated the general misreporting that Florence was 'a French Canadian, the daughter of a baron.' Florence was from Alabama, not Canada, and her mother - an eccentric and colourful lady - was indeed the Baroness von Roques, but Baron von Roques (who had by this point abandoned her mother,) was not her father - that honour belonged to one of the Baroness' previous husbands, Mr. Chandler.
Friday 22 August 2014
WDYTYA? - Tamsin Outhwaite
Ok, so yesterday was the turn of former Eastenders actress Tamsin Outhwaite to get the Who Do You Think You Are? treatment, focusing on her British-Italian ancestry. An interesting story, Tamsin's shock at discovering the treatment of Italian immigrants during the Second World War was touching. The interment camp on the Isle of Man (referred to by Tamsin's grandmother, perhaps not unfairly, as a 'concentration camp,') was an unfair place in which hard-line fascists were entrapped with people who were, to all intents and purposes, British, and had no love for the Italian regime.
The fascists were unfortunately able to dominate the camp, largely due to the fact that the British left organisation of accommodation, roles, and work, up to the inmates. This meant, perhaps inevitably, that those in charge were those who were the most likely to be violent, intimidating, and thuggish. Innocent people, also labelled 'enemy aliens,' tried to get on and keep their heads down.
The other interesting facet to this story was the immigration of Italian ice cream and café workers to Glasgow, sometimes only for a few months a year. This reminded me of the South Wales tradition of the affectionate title of the 'Bracchi' café (the name was thought to originate with one of the first Italian families to move to South Wales.) Several of the older members of the South Wales communities still refer to ice-cream parlours, Italian cafes, etc., as 'Bracchi shops,' though this is less common than it once was.
The fascists were unfortunately able to dominate the camp, largely due to the fact that the British left organisation of accommodation, roles, and work, up to the inmates. This meant, perhaps inevitably, that those in charge were those who were the most likely to be violent, intimidating, and thuggish. Innocent people, also labelled 'enemy aliens,' tried to get on and keep their heads down.
The other interesting facet to this story was the immigration of Italian ice cream and café workers to Glasgow, sometimes only for a few months a year. This reminded me of the South Wales tradition of the affectionate title of the 'Bracchi' café (the name was thought to originate with one of the first Italian families to move to South Wales.) Several of the older members of the South Wales communities still refer to ice-cream parlours, Italian cafes, etc., as 'Bracchi shops,' though this is less common than it once was.
Thursday 21 August 2014
The Other Darwin
This is a theory of how life developed:
'Would it be too bold to imagine, that in the great length of time, since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind... that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament... with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions, and associations; and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down those improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end'
These were the words written by Erasmus Darwin - the grandfather of the famous Charles Darwin. He died in 1802, before his famous grandson was even born. His works were influential in how the theory of evolution would develop, and he was also a well-renowned doctor in his day. A man that history should perhaps pay a little more attention to.
'Would it be too bold to imagine, that in the great length of time, since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind... that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament... with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions, and associations; and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down those improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end'
These were the words written by Erasmus Darwin - the grandfather of the famous Charles Darwin. He died in 1802, before his famous grandson was even born. His works were influential in how the theory of evolution would develop, and he was also a well-renowned doctor in his day. A man that history should perhaps pay a little more attention to.
Monday 18 August 2014
Friday 15 August 2014
WDYTYA? - Brian Blessed
Last night's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured the unique and larger-than-life Brian Blessed. It's worth the watch just to see him - what a character.
The story of the Blessed family was actually quite tragic (and, much to Brian's surprise, originated in London.) Barnabas Blessed fell on hard times, and when he and his wife died within a few months of each other, his children were sent back to London from Portsmouth - to be beholden to the workhouse and poor relief system there.
In no way was it unusual for people to be moved from parish to parish as they squabbled with themselves over who was responsible for supporting the 'paupers.' The poor laws in place from the 1600s until the 1830s was rife with confusion, relying on a complex system of the claiming of settlement in a parish - by earning the right to settlement in one parish, you were no longer a burden to your previous parish, or so the theory was. Generally, as I said, it just led to a lot of confused argument and bureaucracy by those attempting to foist the poor off on another local authority. The situation changed to civil poor law unions in the 1830s, which relied more on regions rather than individual church parishes.
The family (mini-spoiler alert!) broke the cycle of poverty with Brian's ancestor, Jabez Blessed, moving to Lincolnshire and having thirteen children while working as a licensed hawker (a wheeler-and-dealer sort of occupation.) Brian showed his soft side by having a little cry, and showed his eccentric side more than once; a very enjoyable and interesting episode.
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| Image courtesy of dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
In no way was it unusual for people to be moved from parish to parish as they squabbled with themselves over who was responsible for supporting the 'paupers.' The poor laws in place from the 1600s until the 1830s was rife with confusion, relying on a complex system of the claiming of settlement in a parish - by earning the right to settlement in one parish, you were no longer a burden to your previous parish, or so the theory was. Generally, as I said, it just led to a lot of confused argument and bureaucracy by those attempting to foist the poor off on another local authority. The situation changed to civil poor law unions in the 1830s, which relied more on regions rather than individual church parishes.
The family (mini-spoiler alert!) broke the cycle of poverty with Brian's ancestor, Jabez Blessed, moving to Lincolnshire and having thirteen children while working as a licensed hawker (a wheeler-and-dealer sort of occupation.) Brian showed his soft side by having a little cry, and showed his eccentric side more than once; a very enjoyable and interesting episode.
Monday 11 August 2014
£5 off Family History packages
A reminder that my family history research packages on www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk are £5 off marked price if ordered before 5th September - perfect for getting that special Christmas present sorted early! (offer excludes 'Leaves' hourly rate.)
Friday 8 August 2014
WDYTYA? - Julie Walters
So, there we are, first episode of the 2014 series (series 11.) While perhaps it wasn't the ground-breaking episode a season opener deserves, it was still a fairly interesting episode. It started off kind of slowly, with tales of Irish agricultural workers (not that there's anything wrong with that but I think perhaps a touch too much time was devoted to it,) and then picked up when Julie learned of her ancestors' association with the Land League.
The Land League, seen in their day as radicals, was an association of tenant farmers who wanted fairer rents and better tenancy agreements from the landowners, particularly at a time when they barely had enough money to feed their children. So radical was this seen to be (it is, after all, a very early form of socialism when you think about it,) that Julie's ancestor, Anthony Clarke, had to flee the country to avoid arrest. When Anthony returned to Ireland, he was arrested for another reason - seemingly unjustly.
Another side of Julie's family, the O'Brien's, were also involved in the Land League; Maria O'Brien was part of the Women's Land League - supposedly a charitable organisation, this was a cover that allowed them to take part in politics and continue the work that the men's part of the Land League could not then continue. Maria's maiden name was Buchanan, and it turned out that her father was on a very different side of the debate - that which took over the land of evicted tenants. It was really interesting to see Julie try to work out in her head whether Cummins Buchanan was justified in his actions or not. Overall, a slow and steady start to the series - and hopefully with more enjoyable episodes to follow.
The Land League, seen in their day as radicals, was an association of tenant farmers who wanted fairer rents and better tenancy agreements from the landowners, particularly at a time when they barely had enough money to feed their children. So radical was this seen to be (it is, after all, a very early form of socialism when you think about it,) that Julie's ancestor, Anthony Clarke, had to flee the country to avoid arrest. When Anthony returned to Ireland, he was arrested for another reason - seemingly unjustly.
Another side of Julie's family, the O'Brien's, were also involved in the Land League; Maria O'Brien was part of the Women's Land League - supposedly a charitable organisation, this was a cover that allowed them to take part in politics and continue the work that the men's part of the Land League could not then continue. Maria's maiden name was Buchanan, and it turned out that her father was on a very different side of the debate - that which took over the land of evicted tenants. It was really interesting to see Julie try to work out in her head whether Cummins Buchanan was justified in his actions or not. Overall, a slow and steady start to the series - and hopefully with more enjoyable episodes to follow.
Wednesday 6 August 2014
Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 11
The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? starts Thursday at 9pm on BBC One. You can see the full list of the celebrities from this series below:
Should make for some very interesting episodes in the next few weeks! For the duration of the series, I won't be posting any 'Friday Quick Tips' as I'm planning on doing reviews of the episodes the day after they air instead - like I did last year.
Ooh, and don't forget 'Secrets From the Clink,' is tonight, 9pm, ITV1, and a Who Do You Think You Are? special looking back on the last decade of programming is on 10.35pm, BBC1. Enjoy!
- Julie Walters
- Brian Blessed
- Tamzin Outhwaite
- Brendan O'Carroll (Mrs Brown from Mrs Brown's boys)
- Sheridan Smith
- Mary Berry
- Martin Shaw
- Reggie Yates
- Twiggy
- Billy Connolly
Should make for some very interesting episodes in the next few weeks! For the duration of the series, I won't be posting any 'Friday Quick Tips' as I'm planning on doing reviews of the episodes the day after they air instead - like I did last year.
Ooh, and don't forget 'Secrets From the Clink,' is tonight, 9pm, ITV1, and a Who Do You Think You Are? special looking back on the last decade of programming is on 10.35pm, BBC1. Enjoy!
Tuesday 5 August 2014
A bumper week for family history on TV
Well, not only did we have a pretty devastating episode of Long Lost Family last night, but we've got ITV's new series of Secrets From the Clink tomorrow (9pm, in a similar vein to Secrets From the Workhouse, only with jails,) but there's the brand new series of Who Do You Think You Are? on Thursday (9pm, BBC one, I'll post further details about this year's celebrities tomorrow,) and a look back over the last ten years and 100 shows of WDYTA? tomorrow at 10.35 on BBC1 - not to mention the amount of WW1 related programming you can find on various channels this week. I can't wait!
Monday 4 August 2014
A Quick Note of Remembrance
Just a note of remembrance on the centenary of Britain's entrance to the First World War for those millions of souls who would lose their lives in the years to come. 'In Flanders fields the poppies grow.'
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| image courtesy of njaj/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Saturday 2 August 2014
A Beautiful Tribute
Hey,
I came across this beautiful act of remembrance to commemorate world war one at the Tower of London while surfing online and decided I had to show you all. I think it's a fantastic and beautiful idea, what do you think?
I came across this beautiful act of remembrance to commemorate world war one at the Tower of London while surfing online and decided I had to show you all. I think it's a fantastic and beautiful idea, what do you think?
Friday 1 August 2014
Friday Quick Tip
Hi everyone, I'll keep this Friday's new handy genealogy tip short and sweet: If you can't find someone, try looking for someone you know is related to them - a brother, sister, or parent. Good luck! And remember, if you're stuck, you can check out my hourly rate here - I'd be happy to hear from you.
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