Lilian's Tree

  A true and confusing story about one person and their two names, with other people also having that name, but using another. Confused? Read on. (Disclaimer, all persons are deceased.) Where to start this story, the end, the beginning or random? No matter where I start, you will be confused by the end. Forty years ago, I started researching my family history, especially my dad’s side. I discovered all sorts of interesting facts, dates, and people over the years and this added colour to the family tree. Dad had been married, before he married my mum and with is first wife had three children, Mavis, Leslie, and Patricia. I never got to meet them, nor they me. I did meet Patricia’s husband and some of her children, (I’ve now meet all on them.) Mavis I was able to trace and was in contact with her daughter, June, for several years before she passed and during that time, she gave me information and photos about Mavis and a photo of Leslie. Leslie was the mystery, I couldn’t...

 July's research was going really well and then I decided to expand the branches I was researching.  I originally started the month looking for more information on the family of Mary Ann Abberton and John McLaughlin. They had six children, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, Eveline, Stanley and Francis.  Francis caused the first problem, when several trees had him as a her! Francis is the masculine form and Frances is the female form. Francis is very much a male. His marriage also gave me some confusion as there were two Francis McLaughlin's married between 1923 and 1925. Much digging and the purchase of a death certificate gave me the correct marriage, 1925. Sarah was next to cause problems, she married a SMITH and according to some people died in 1906. Well thankfully for me Sarah married Oswald Smith and I was able to trace them. The death was for a different Sarah Smith, I'm still looking for my one. The other children were easy to research and I've been able to add more lines...

As I look towards a 'big' birthday,  Judy G Russell  in her blog post, The passing of time , got me thinking about my six closest ancestors and how old they were when they died. 1998 was the first time I passed the age of  my paternal grandmother, Louisa Abberton, nee Nicolls. Louisa died in childbirth, not uncommon for the time, aged 43yrs, sadly the baby boy also died. 2002 was the next time and it was my maternal grandmother Evelyn Galbraith nee Jasper. Evelyn, aged 47yrs,  had delivered her 10th child when she succumbed to a pre-existing illness. The baby boy lived. 2003 and it was my paternal grandfather Thomas Abberton.   TB claimed his life, aged 49yrs, again not that uncommon, he left seven children orphaned. 2017 was the year I passed my dad,   Matthew Abberton, aged 62yrs. That leaves just two, my maternal grandfather   Arthur Galbraith he was 81yrs and 41 days when he passed. Still a long way off. Then my mum, Lilian Abberton,...

  This year, 2022, marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth 11 ascended the throne and commentators have been saying that for most people, she is the only monarch we have known. (I’m talking Commonwealth countries here.) This got me thinking, “ How many monarchs did my ancestors have in their lifetimes?”   I’ve gone back to my 2xGreat grandparents and worked it out. I have two German 2xGreat grandparents, so while I have included their names, I haven’t included any monarchs. MONARCH (numbered for ease of recording) 1) George III 25 October 1760 – 29 January 1820 2) George IV 29 January 1820 – 26 June 1830 3) William IV 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837 4) Victoria 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 5) Edward VII 22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910 6) George V 6 May 1910 - 20 January 1936 7) Edward VIII 20 January 1936 – 11 December 1936 8) George VI 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952 9) Elizabeth II 6 February 1952 - present Name/Monarch Number 1 ...