​The theme for #52Ancestors is Identity.  Recently I found on Ancestry the Passport Application for my great grandmother Dorothy Gladys Harmer, or as she was when she applied for her passport, Dorothy Gladys Marini.  

​She married John Marini on 11 September 1918 at Dallington Church, across the road from the cottage (Yew Tree Cottage now Staces) her place of residence was with her parents, James and Helena (Lorraine) Harmer and no doubt some of her many siblings.  The family had not lived there long, for the 1911 census they were in Woods Corner.  John Marini was 31 and Dorothy was 26.  His place of residence at the time of the marriage was 16th Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, Kent and he was a Bandsman, 211th Battalion, American Legion of Canada.  Presumably John had been sent back from Northern France.  John’s father was Caesar Antonio Marini, a Shoemaker.  He had emigrated from Italy to Canada in the 1880s.  Dorothy’s father was a Tree Feller.   John and Dorothy both signed the register and James was one of the witnesses and left his mark.
 
The next part of the story is an application in the US for a passport from John Marini in 1919.  It gives a lot of information about him.  He lived in Pennsylvania and he had been born in Firli Del Sannio, Italy on 23 November 1886.  I think that should actually be Forli Del Sannio, the form typist mistranscribed.  It is described as ‘the small centre is located in the heart of the Apennines, in a mountainous area crossed by the Vandrella river, that originates in the north-west at the "Bocche di Forlì" and further on flows into the Vandra, a tributary of the Volturno.’  His family emigrated in 1886 and he was naturalised in 1895.  He lived for 32 uninterrupted years in the US until 1915 when presumably he headed for France.  He stated that his wife was in England and he wanted to bring her to the US after seeing that her mother was properly cared for and his wife’s affairs settled.  One of those affairs was presumably my grandmother who had been born in 1913 and was left behind with Dorothy’s older sister Emily.  

​Then a year later on 30 August 1920 there is an application for passport from Dorothy applied for at the American embassy in London.   It is an emergency passport for a person claiming citizenship through naturalisation of husband.  It says she was born in Dallington, Sussex on 21 May 1894 and her husband John Marini emigrated from Italy to the US in 1887.  He was naturalised in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1895 and was currently in London awaiting embarkation.  They were going to live in New Kensington, Pennsylvania and she wanted to join him. 
 
Dorothy appeared with John on the list of United States Citizens on the SS Olympic which sailed from Southampton on 29 September 1920 arriving New York in October 1920.    They returned to England on a number of occasions over the years including the 1970s when I met them as a child.  Dad ferried them around in his car and I think we took them to see Jack Fuller’s Follies. 
 
It is amazing how much information can be gleaned from just three documents, if only we read them carefully enough.  Sometimes we download a document for a specific bit of information, ie a date of birth or place of birth and miss all the other bits of useful information.  From John’s passport application I now have enough information to try and search for his birth; his father’s name, place of birth and even his birth date.  More research then…..

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Broken Branch.  Another subject I have struggled with, something with enough story to tell in a blog post.  Of course the obvious answer is Thomas Sinden alias Winchester. 
 
When I started researching my family tree back 20 years ago, I was sent research and family trees that had Thomas Winchester, the son of John Winchester of Ashburnham and his wife Mary.  There were promises of the Winchester going right back to at least the 1500s in Sussex and I was really excited. 
 
But then I was brought right back down to earth.  Apparently John Winchester was not Thomas’s father or was he?  There is disagreement between genealogists and this little bit of the family is extremely murky.  Mary Locke married Thomas Sinden in Ninfield in January 1785.  In July 1785 in Catsfield, the couple had a son James.  It looks likely that Thomas died in Ninfield in 1788 but is recorded as Sedden.  No other burial has been found either in Ninfield or Catsfield.  Mary then had two children, Fanny in 1790 and Thomas in 1791, both baptised to her alone as Mary Sinden.  No idea who the father was!  Then in 1793 she has another child, Elizabeth and the baptism entry reads Elizabeth Winchester, Daughter of Mary Sinden.  

​The two marriage records confuse matters even further!  As already noted above Mary Locke married Thomas Sinden in January 1785 in Ninfield.  She was noted of Ninfield.  They were married by Licence and she left her mark.  She married John Winchester on 23 February 1794 in Catsfield.  Again by licence and she is noted as Mary Lock, a single woman.  So is it not the same woman?  But then the children point to it being the same woman.  She left her mark and one of the witnesses was Thomas Locke who could be her father. 
 
Obviously more investigation is needed but my gut feeling is that it is the same Mary.  The fact the first marriage was conducted in Ninfield where she grew up and the second in Catsfield away from the neighbours suggests her parents wanted to legitimise the three children by giving her a husband, but then if you know the geography of Sussex, Catsfield is only a couple of miles down the road and people talk!  Finding the burial record for John Winchester’s first wife may put a different light on things as would an alternative for the likely burial of Thomas Sinden.  This is another interesting story that rumbles on!  So maybe Thomas really was a Winchester after all, or maybe he was something else entirely different.  

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Popular name and I thought I would reflect on a name that appears a number of times on my family tree as it does on many based in Sussex particularly during the second half of the 1700s.  Philadelphia.
 
I have 19 Philadelphias on my tree, ranging from the mid 1700s to the early mid 1800s.  I’m not sure why it was so suddenly popular in Sussex for naming daughters but it may have something to do with William Penn who founded Philadelphia in the US.  William Penn spent a lot of his life in Sussex.  The name was also apparently popular amongst early Quakers because it means ‘the loving people’.  But whatever the reason there were a lot in Sussex and here I pick out just three of my small pile.

Philadelphia Fletcher born 1787
Philadelphia Fletcher was born 1787 in Battle to John Fletcher and Mary Bishop.  She was the second child of five and was my great x5 grandmother.  She married Samuel Jenner in 1807 in Battle, they both left their mark on the register and her sister Jane was one of the witnesses.  The couple had 9 children.  Their 3rd daughter, Mary married my great x4 grandfather Robert Carey Harmer.  Picture of Mary below.  Samuel Jenner died in August 1832 and Philadelphia married again to Thomas Sinden of Battle in 1838.  Thomas was an Agricultural Labourer.  They lived ‘below Watch Oak’ in Battle and Philadelphia died in 1863 and was buried at Battle Cemetery on 28 April 1863.

Philadelphia Pennifold born 1776
Philadelphia Pennifold was born November 1776 in Worth, Sussex to Thomas Pennifold and his wife Elizabeth Hall.  They had 8 children that I have found in the records.  There is a gap between 1778 and 1790 although some Ancestry trees have a couple of other children born in those years, but having looked at the parish records these baptisms cannot be confirmed so more research is needed.  A quick look at a family tree on Ancestry gives the possibility of Quaker ancestry, that should be interesting and maybe explains her name.  Philadelphia married Richard Vigar my great x5 grandfather on 3 November 1794 in Burstow, Surrey about 5 miles away from Worth.  Richard signed the register and Philadelphia left her mark.  They had 12 children, 4 of whom died as small children.  Philadelphia and Richard both died in 1839, Philadelphia in January and Richard in October and they were both buried in Burstow Churchyard.  It looks like her father, Thomas was also buried in Burstow in 1715.

​Philadelphia Seaman born 1732
Philadelphia Seaman was born 1732 in Chailey, Sussex to Richard Seaman and Elizabeth Grover.  I’ve not managed to find Richard Seaman yet although he may have been born 1702 in Newick to John and Alice.  Richard and Elizabeth had 10 children, 9 girls and 1 boy.  The oldest child, Elizabeth and the youngest child, Catherine both died in March 1744 within days of each other.  Sadly the parish register is very illegible at that point and I can barely read the record let alone wonder if the Vicar added a reason for two deaths within days of each other.    Philadelphia married Thomas Cruse on the 19 July 1757 at Chailey and both left their mark on the register.  She was his second wife.  His first wife Frances had died in 1756.  Philadelphia and Thomas had 8 children, 7 survived to adulthood.  Their eldest son John born 1756 but baptised in 1759 was my great x5 grandfather.  That needs more research because the baptism record clearly says Philadelphia mother but if he was born 1756, surely Frances was his mother.  Hmmm.
 
Three Philadelphias, with remarkably similar lives although they lived in different parts of Sussex and at different times.  I imagine due to the geography of where they were living they were all from labouring families of some variety, probably agricultural labourers in Chailey and Burstow.  It is hard to tell without Census records though, and that is where other records such as Apprentice record, land records or wills prove very useful.  More research then….

​This week’s theme for #52Ancestors is Mistake and I thought I would write about my latest research into the family of David Smith.  He married Emily Smith Harmer, my paternal grandmother’s aunt and they brought my grandmother up when her mother and stepfather emigrated to America in 1920.  I have been looking at David’s ancestors and his mother’s family were the Sturt family from East Hoathly. 
 
Samuel Sturt was born around 1815 in East Hoathly, no baptism found as yet.  His sister Sarah was baptised in 1811 and their parents were Samuel Sturt and Sophia Ford who married in Burwash in 1810.  

​The 1841 census had Samuel living on Teelings Common, which now appears on the map as a housing estate Teelings Drive and Old Common Road at Ridgewood, at the northern end of Uckfield.  Samuel was a 25 year old shoemaker, the same profession as his father and he was living with Ann, and Henry aged 3 and Mary aged 1.  A marriage was not found before 1841, however in 1841 banns were called for a Samuel Sturt and an Ann Terry in Lewes and then in 1842 a Samuel Sturt and Ann Terry were married in St Nicholas Church, Brighton.  It appears that Henry was in fact Jacob Henry Sturt, mother’s maiden name Terry on his certificate and he was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1838 in Hailsham Union.  A registration has not been found for Mary ‘s birth as yet.  The family was split up by the 1851 census, Ann, Turnpike Gate Keeper at Hailsham with the children and Samuel was a Turnpike Toll Gatekeeper but was lodging at the Kings Head Inn in East Hoathly.  This may be due to the circumstances reported in the local newspaper The Sussex Advertiser, Surrey Gazette on the 29 April 1851.  

This leads to a number of unanswered questions such as why did Ann pay his fine after such an allegation.  My feeling is that maybe she knew there was no truth in the allegation, but we shall never know or maybe he was threatening her to come up with the fine but the rest of the story of his life shows no repeat of such behaviour.  There was one further newspaper report in 1854 of Samuel Sturt, Toll Gate Keeper bringing Thomas Sinnock, Farmer to court for evasion of the toll.  The case was thrown out.  

​By the 1861 census, Ann was alone with the children, described as a widow.  However no death for Samuel Sturt could be found.  In fact a number of family trees on Ancestry all put Samuel Sturt in New York, USA married again with another family by the 1860 census.  He was described as a Shoemaker from England and aged 39 which was not quite correct but plausible.  I searched for a marriage certificate for Samuel and his second wife Sabra Ploss but none has been found so far.  The first child, was born about 1857 so Samuel must have moved to US between 1854 and 1857.  Again no birth certificate for Ruth or the second child Mary were found.  Neither were census records for Sabra before 1860 but I continue to look.  A naturalisation record dated 1869 stated he was formerly of Sussex, England.  There was one record that helped to prove that this was the same Samuel Sturt and that was the death certificate for Samuel’s son Samuel who died in 1945.  He had been born in 1867 in New York.  He stated that his father Samuel Sturt was born in East Hohley, Sussex, England.  No doubt other death records or even birth records for his children would add further proof. 
 
Samuel died in 1880 and I found a copy of his will, it did not mention any family in England, as you would expect.  He left his land and appurtenances to his wife Sabra to be divided between his 7 heirs on her death.  A curious story and usually, and I blame this on the years I spent working for a Child Protection Team in Social Services back in the 1990s, I have no sympathy for paedophiles but somehow this story does not resonate with me as being of a paedophile.  Of course we shall never know what went on that night in the privy but to me Samuel made a mistake and then he ‘came good’.  An interesting family that I continue to research.  I wonder what I shall uncover next?

Week 22 of #52Ancestors already, and this week’s theme is Conflict.  Time to reflect on the research I have carried out so far on one of my two WW1 forebears and the records I have gathered that give a snap shot of his life.  Henry James Baldwin, the eldest son of my great x2 grandparents William James Baldwin and Jane Elizabeth Turner. 
 
Henry was born on 30 September 1885 in 4a Bristowe Street, Hoxton New Town.  This was the home of his maternal grandparents James Turner and Emma Traies.  James Turner had recently died on 12 September 1885.  James and Emma had lived at 4a Bristowe Street since at least 1871.

​Henry enlisted at Stratford in 1903 for the regular army.  His attestation papers tells us that he was residing at 40 Dock Street, his father’s address and was single.  He was 18 years and 9 months old and was Clerk for a Messrs Goldsmith Myers.  He was to serve in the Royal Artillery Regiment as a gunner.  He was 5ft 7 ¾ inches tall, had grey eyes and brown hair and a number of tattoos.  His parents were both still alive and his brother Frederick Charles was at Devonport on HMS Lion.  His two younger brothers, Bertie and Reuben were still at home with their parents.  No mention of Sydney, Alfred or Victoria though.  At the time of the 1911 census he was stationed at Honeybutton Island, Hong Kong with the 87th Company Royal Garrison Artillery.  He was a 22 year old Gunner and still single.

On 17 September 1914 at the age of 29 he joined the 4th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery in France.  The Siege Batteries were deployed behind the front line, tasked with destroying enemy artillery, supply routes, railways and stores.  The Batteries were equipped with heavy Howitzer guns firing large calibre 6, 8 or 9.2 inch shells in a high trajectory.

​He was killed in action on 16 June 1915 nearly 30 years old, and is buried at Ypres Reservoir North British Cemetery, Ypres, France.  From the CWCG website I have gathered a number of papers about Henry that tell me he was buried at Ypres Reservoir Graveyard, his body was exhumed and buried in a CWCG graveyard presumably meaning he was originally buried where he fell during battle. 
 
I have a copy of his will found in pay book after death which states he left all his personal belongings to his mother Jane Baldwin who was living in Peckham.  I also have a copy of his personal effects which states that 21s and 9d were sent to his mother, Jane as the sole legate plus another 5s again to Jane Baldwin.  Sadly it is not stated where he died and that is where my research will take me next, I want to find out a bit more about the role he would have played and the role the 4th Siege Battery would have played in the war and presumably one of the battles in Ypres.  It would be great to find a regimental diary which might give an idea of where they were during June 1915 and what they were involved in as a regiment.

This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Textile and gives me chance to write about my only bit of the family from up north.  The story started down south of course.  In 1818 or thereabouts Phillis Funnell, my great x4 grandmother met a young soldier who was stationed at the barracks in Ringmer, John Thelwell.  On 6 November 1818, my great x3 grandfather, John Funnell was born.  For a number of years the only clue to John’s father that I had was a warrant for the arrest of his putative father, John Thelwell, late of Ringmer now a gunner driver in the Corps of Royal Horse Artillery stationed at Ringmer for the child to be born of Phyllis Funnell of Chiddingly – ref. P292/15/12 – date: 6 November 1818.

​It wasn’t until I started searching the Royal Horse Artillery that I discovered who John Thelwell was.  Probably born in 1793 in Gorton, Lancashire to John Thelwell and Martha Marsh, he had 11 siblings, 3 of whom died as small children.  Despite a lot of searching this John seems the most likely but his second marriage certificate in 1855 names his father as Thomas strangely.  John was married to two different Nancy’s, the first one died young in an asylum.  He had 10 children, 5 of whom died under the age of 5.  He died in 1870, a Chelsea Pensioner, having fought at Waterloo.
 
Looking through the census returns held for him, marriage records, burial of first wife and his children’s baptisms and burials they all have his occupation as Weaver or Dresser.  Both occupations involved in the Cotton Industry.  Specifically his burial record in 1870 was Cotton Warp Dresser.  He was living in Brimmington, Stockport and further research should be carried out possibly find out who were the main cotton factories in Stockport.  

​According to a very useful website that has a list of old occupations Old Occupations - C2 (rmhh.co.uk) a Cotton Dresser was an Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to the weaving of cloth. 
 
In the early days of power weaving, looms had to be periodically stopped every few minutes to adjust the cloth and dress the warp with a flour paste to strengthen the threads as they unrolled from the beam.  In 1803 William Radcliffe invented the dressing machine operated by a dresser who prepared the yarns for weaving.  This was found in a book I purchased ‘My ancestors worked in Textile Mills’ by Adele Emm and published by The Society of Genealogists 2019.

​During the 1851 census two of John’s sons, aged 19 and 17 were also involved in the cotton industry as a Power Loom Weaver and a Silk Plush Weaver (part of the Top Hat industry).  In 1861 the household has a Cotton Twister and a Cotton Winder.  All the neighbours were involved in various parts of the industry in the three census returns I have for John, 1841 to 1861.  In 1851, agricultural labourers formed the biggest occupation group in England and Wales, servants next and third was those working in textile industries.  The industry was concentrated particularly around the north west and Manchester became known as Cottonopolis.
 
Currently that is as far as I have got with my research into John Thelwell’s cotton past.  It’s all completely new to me, with most of my family hailing from Sussex I am much more used to Agricultural Labourers and the odd brickmaker.  But I look forward to finding out more about Lancashire and its cotton industry as well as more about John’s heritage.

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Social and for a minute there, I was going to go for 4 weddings and a funeral (a rather lovely film!) but decided to stick at the 4 weddings.

I chose the weddings of 4 siblings, my grandfather Ronald Pilbeam and 3 of his siblings, Phyllis, Gwen and Sidney.

The first to marry was Phyllis Naomi, the oldest child, born in 1907 to George and Nahomi Pilbeam of Rushford Farm, Three Cups, Punnetts Town.  She married Percy Thomas Cottingham, second son of Mr C E Cottingham of Warren Farm, Halland on 22 July 1933 at The New Gospel Hall, Maynards Green.  Mr W Payne from Lingfield officiated, who I need to research as I am thinking he could be related to my Grandmother, Edith Terry.  Her mother was a Payne from Lingfield.  The bride wore a dress of white satin and an embroidered net veil surmounted by a coronet of orange blossom.  There were three bridesmaids, Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, sisters of the bridegroom.  Edward Cottingham, brother of the groom was the best man.   The report in the local newspaper has an extremely long list of people who gave presents.

​The second pair to marry was Sidney George, the first son of George and Nahomi Pilbeam born in 1909 and he married Eva Edith Delves, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs William Delves of Lynton, Maynards Green on 21 August 1935, again at Maynards Green.  The newspaper announced that Punnetts Town Teacher weds.  Eva was a teacher and then headmistress at Punnetts Town for many years and is remembered by many past pupils.  The bride wore a simple gown of white crepe de chine, embroidered net veil, wreath of orange blossom, white kid shoes and carried a shower bouquet of white carnations and ferns.  She had two bridesmaids, her sister Vera Delves and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister.  The best man was Ron Pilbeam, groom’s brother.  The couple were to live at Beech Croft, Punnetts Town, newly built.  Again there was a long list of presents including many family members.

Only a few weeks later, on 14 September 1935 the second daughter, Gwendoline born 1908 married Edward Charles Cottingham, brother of Percy Cottingham at Maynards Green Gospel Hall.  The bride wore a dress of white satin, with embroidered veil and coronet of orange blossom and white satin shoes.  Her bouquet was of bronze chrysanthemums.  Bridesmaids were Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, groom’s sisters.  The best man was Leslie Cottingham, groom’s brother.  The couple were reported to be going to live at Ash Grove, Shortgate, Laughton and they received many useful presents, not listed this time.

​The last wedding was that of my grandparents Ronald and Edith on 7 August 1937 at Lingfield Mission Room.  The service was again conducted by William Payne.  The bride wore a long white dress and veil trimmed with orange blossom.  She carried a shower bouquet of pink and white carnations and her only jewellery was a string of pearls.  She had two bridesmaids, her sister Winifred and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister.  Sidney Pilbeam was the best man.  They left the reception bound for their reception in Worthing.  

The more I search the British newspapers that are currently available on Findmypast, the more I am learning about how my family lived their lives, the places they worshipped at, the people they knew and the families that intermingled through these connections.  These articles are also a useful tool for giving you hints to family members not yet found and places they lived.  But mostly I love the details from these reports of the wedding dresses and the flowers that were fashionable at the time.

Richard Message married my great x4 Grandmother Hannah Oliver in Dallington, Sussex on 20 October 1803.  They had one child from the marriage, Richard baptised on 9 February 1807 at Warbleton, Sussex where the family were living.  Various contacts have mentioned a second child, Philadelphia who lived between 1804 and 1817 but have never shown me any proof and I have searched high and low with no sign.  So I discount until someone shows me the evidence!  Hannah had two children already by a previous relationship with a Benjamin Carley, Benjamin Oliver Carley baptised on 16 February 1800 at Warbleton, and Stephen Carley Oliver born in 1802 in Warbleton.  

Richard may have been born in Shoreditch around 1786, a baptism has been found on 31 January 1786 to a Richard and Mary Message of Holywell and there is nothing in Sussex at that time.  

​But Richard’s story can be picked up in 1806 and fits this week’s theme of Negatives for #52Ancestors nicely.  Richard appeared in the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk charged with Felony (which was a serious crime) at the January session, he was acquitted.

Then he turned up again in 1807 on the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk at the Lent session at Horsham Court charged with Larceny (theft of personal property), the sentence was 14 years Transportation.  

At the age of 21 in 1807 he appeared on the register of Perseus a Prison Hulk register, convicted on 16 March at Horsham of Felony which is a bit confusing unless it was a separate charge from the Criminal Register above.  He was awaiting transport on the Admiral Gambier.  The Perseus was moored in Portsmouth Harbour and it would appear from the next record that they were moored for over a year.  It must have been grim!

A newspaper report from the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday 25 December 1808 reported that the Admiral Gambier arrived from England under Captain Harrison with 197 male prisoners.  They sailed from England on the 2nd July and arrived in late December so a 5 month voyage, but all were reported in good health and good spirits.  A small handful died on the passage.
 
Richard appeared on a list in 1811 as being in Hobart town in Tasmania and then in 1816 he appeared in the New South Wales Convict Register of Conditional and Absolute Pardons with an Absolute Pardon. 
 
Amazingly the next record found for Richard is the record of his marriage on 26 June 1816 to Mary Ann Mullins in Hobart, Tasmania.  She was a free person.  Unfortunately Richard doesn’t appear to have been free to marry again, as he was still married to Hannah although she was all those miles away in England.  I guess the likelihood of him ever returning to England was so very slim, he took his chances as many others must have too.  He was 31 years old and Mary Ann was 19 years old. 
 
Richard died on 5 October 1821 in Hobart, Tasmania aged 35 years, having never returned to England. 
 
Notes:
Willetts, J (n.d.) "Convict Ship Admiral Gambier 1808" Free Settler or Felon
https://freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_admiral_gambier_1808.htm
18 April 2022 – more information about the Admiral Gambier

How do you spell that? is the theme for this week’s #52 Ancestors.  I’m sure we all have stories from our family trees of misspelt names.  I have one family for instance that somewhere in the middle of the 19th century became Rusbridge from Risbridger.  All the early records are Risbridger and then suddenly records start showing Rusbridge.  When I work backwards suddenly I could no longer find any Rusbridges but when I found the first Risbridger I was then able to start finding other missing family members and fit them together.  I presume somewhere along the line someone writing down what they heard misheard an accent and it simply changed.  Two generations have a mixture of the two.

​But my best family for misspelt names is that of James Traies, my Great x 5 grandfather who was born in Exeter in Devon in 1785 to Samuel and Jane.  At some point James travelled to London where he spent the rest of his life, living around the Kensington area.  James was a Tin Plate worker.  He married 5 times, although is first marriage to Hannah has not been found, just her death, and Ann who he married next was thought to be the same woman but can’t be, he married her after his first children were born.  The search carries on for the first marriage in the early part of the 19th century.

​Searching for the records for this family was a slow and laborious task and some records remain hidden to this day.  Not only can parts of the family be found under; Trayes, Treays, Treayes, Traces and Trease to name a few but there were other mistranscriptions such as the 1851 census for James which took ages to find.  It was eventually found under Fraies.  I notice on Ancestry.co.uk that a user submitted a correction to this record in 2020 which is curious because I submitted a correction in about 2007.  Ancestry obviously didn’t believe me!  

​The 1861 census was found under Truies and other records were found under names such as Praies.

Searching for James and his son Samuel and in turn his daughter Emma who married James Turner, all part of my direct line taught me quite early on that it helps to be a little creative when searching for missing records.  Sometimes you need to think outside the box and be clever with your searching.  One day I might succeed in finding out who Hannah (first wife) was.

​The theme for this week’s #52Ancestors is Sisters.  I have struggled with this one but then I thought as we have just celebrated Mother’s Day in the UK, I would celebrate my mum and her twin sister and take the opportunity to share some of the many photos I have collected of the pair.  A photo of the ‘Pilbeam Twins’ always had the same conversation, “Which one is which”?  

The twins were born on 9 September 1943 at Worthing Hospital.  Davina Mary came first and Hilary Margaret second.  The lived at Punnetts Town, where their dad, Ron Pilbeam worked on the family farm at Three Cups and mum, Edith looked after the four children, Neville and Enid born before the twins and helped at the Dairy.  

​They attended the village school at Punnetts Town where their Auntie Eva Pilbeam was a teacher and where now, my mum’s grandsons attend.  After that they moved to Heathfield Secondary School.  

Mum tells many stories about helping Grandad on his milk round in the late 50s early 60s especially the hard winter of 62/63.  She also tells stories of the fun they used to get up to pretending to be each other for boyfriends, teachers etc.  

​Mum married my dad in September 1964 at the Rest Gospel Hall at Cade Street and Davina or as she was known, Auntie Beana married Philip Greenacre in 1968 at Oulton Broad, Norfolk.  They lived in Lowestoft.  I have some faint memories of the wedding.  My grandad took me out of the service, at the age of 2 1/2 I was probably restless and we went and woke the ducks up on the Broad.  

Mum and Dad had 3 children, me and a younger sister and brother and Davina and Philip had two children, a boy and a girl.  At some point in the early 70s Davina and Philip divorced and she came back with my cousins to live in Sussex and they attended the same school as us in Hailsham.  

Sadly Auntie Beana died in May 1998 and she is missed for the fun we used to have with her as children.  Mum had a stroke in 2016, survived and carries on to this day.

​Looking at my family tree I am surprised at the number of sets of twins that appear on both sides of the family.  I found one family in the 1600s that gave birth to two sets of twins but sadly I don’t think any survived to adulthood.  I wonder how many of the twins on my tree were known for being identical like mum and her sister.