Monday 17 September 2012

Secret Millionaire: In The Family!


So, I don't live in a mansion or take tea with the queen, but the other day I made a very interesting discovery about one of my ancestors. As far as I was aware none of my ancestors have every been particularly rich. That was until I found the 'England and Wales National Probate Calender', which records how much money people left in their will when they died, and discovered that one of them had left a lot of money. My three times paternal great-grandfather William Albert Stratton (1824-1893), who  was born and lived in Sussex, England, was a landowner and left £91,295 19s 2d (the equivalent of £5,467,714.94 in today's money) to his family in his will. I was pretty amazed as it seems he wins the prize for my richest ancestor. I wonder where my share is?!

Monday 27 August 2012

My Family in 1911!

Here's some of my family history, told through the stories of three of my ancestors living in different classes in 1911.

Upper Class:
My paternal great-grandmother Agnes Grace 'Jan' Cancellor (10) living in Kensington with her brother, aunt, and uncle, my paternal great-great uncle Henry 'Harry' Lannoy Cancellor (49). Her mother had died and her father had was exiled abroad for fraud, and she spent most of her childhood living with different 'aunts'. 'Uncle Harry' was a wealthy barrister and kept three servants. His wife, Lily 'Aunt Lil', ran a bookshop and was involved in the suffragette movement.

'Jan' Bateson (nee Cancellor), in her 80s

Middle Class:
My maternal great-grandfather Albert Miller (10), living with his parents Richard (67) and Sarah (49), sister Ruth (9) and housekeeper Ellen Message (41). His parents ran a laundry in Hailsham, Sussex.

Albert Miller, 1989 (aged 88)

Working Class:
My maternal great-grandmother Clara Wright (14), living with her parents William (37) and Clara (37), brothers Frank (9) and Frederick (3), and sister Ida (7). The family were poor and lived in the East End of London; the census shows that Clara gave birth to 2 children who later died.  Her father was a bricklayer and possibly Jewish. I believe that my grandfather Peter Wright was born illegitimately in Wandsworth in 1922, where he then was adopted and lived with a large family in Sussex.

Saturday 25 August 2012

Adoption and My Granpa



My maternal granpa Peter Wright was born in Wandsworth in 1922. His mum apparently pregnant 'out-of-wedlock', he was born in the house of Dorothy Cooper, who later adopted him. They moved to Sussex where the family included a stream of fostered and adopted children, and where he lived for the rest of his life. In the 1911 census his mum (my maternal great-grandmother) Clara Wright (14), is living with her parents William (37) and Clara (37), brothers Frank (9) and Frederick (3), and sister Ida (7). The family were poor and lived in South London; the census shows that Clara gave birth to 2 children who later died.  Her father was a bricklayer and possibly Jewish. The area where Clara's family lived, and where my grandfather was born, is now high-rise flats.

Friday 17 August 2012

Blue Blood and 13th Century English Monarchy


Through some documents passed down to me by my granny I can trace my history to King Edward III of England (and Edward II and Edward I)! While it's exciting to be able to say that he is my 22nd great grandfather, given the 700 year history between us it also means that a lot of people can also claim the same relationship! He was born in Windsor, England on 13th November 1312 and married Philippa Hainault of France. So here are the links, beginning with my paternal great-grandmother Agnes Grace Cancellor.

Agnes Cancellor (1901-1994) daughter of Ada Radcliffe (1866-1906), daughter of
Rebecca Fenwick (1837-1923) daughter of Nicholas Fenwick (1802-1843), son of
Robert Fenwick (d.1829) son of Robert Fenwick (1716-1802), son of 
Elizabeth Clavering daughter of James Clavering (1665-1707), son of
John Clavering (1641-1688) son of James Clavering (1620-1702), son of 
John Clavering (1591-1648) son of James Clavering (1565-1630), son of 
Ann Grey (1532-1616) daughter of Dorothy Ogle (1515-1570), daughter of
Margaret Gascoigne (1473-1515) daughter of William Gascoigne (1445-1487), son of
Joan Neville (1431-1464) daughter of John Neville (1416-1482), son of
Mary Ferrers (1394-1457) daughter of Joan Beaufort (1379-1440), daughter of 
John Plantagenet (1340-1399) son of Edward III (1312-1377)

Ffew!! I'm exhausted at the idea of being related to all those people who lived through 700 years of English history!

Sunday 29 July 2012

Welcome to My Family Tree!


My love of history and investigative research led me to start researching my family tree on Ancestry.co.uk, in 2006. I have now been periodically adding to my tree, and researching different stories that it has brought up, for 6 years and have 549 family members in my tree. That's some family gathering! So welcome to my blog where I will sporadically update the blogosphere with some of the twists and turns of the lives of my ancestors, over 700 years in some cases.