​The theme this week for #52Ancestors is Gone too soon and I decided to write about Mary Rusbridge my 2x great grandmother who died after giving birth at the age of 28.  I have many occurrences on my tree of young women dying early in childbirth and much has been written about the reasons why families in the Victorian period had big families and young women died so often in childbirth which I will not repeat here but I will retell Mary’s story as a testament to those young women so that they won’t be forgotten.
 
Mary was born on 21 October 1854 in Godstone in Surrey to John Rusbridge and his wife, Ann formerly Roffey.  She had seven younger siblings, Ann born 1859, Emily born 1862, John born 1865, William born 1866, Thomas born 1869, Robert born 1872 and Edith born 1875.  The family lived at Blindley Heath where on the 19 November 1854, Mary was baptised.  

​The family appear on the 1861 census at Hollands Farm in Godstone, John was a Farm Carter and Mary was a scholar.  Ann was 2 years old.  Lodging with the family was James Payne aged 52, a Bricklayer’s labourer and William Quickenden aged 25, a Carpenter’s apprentice.  The Payne family later became connected through the marriage of Mary’s son Albert and Emily Payne, my great grandmother.  I believe that the families all knew each other because they belonged to a non conformist chapel but that has not been proved.
 
By the time of the 1871 census Mary had left home and was a servant at High Trees, in Reigate.  She was a kitchenmaid.  I have yet to investigate High Trees.
 
She married William Andrew Terry on 21 October 1879 at Blindley Heath.  His father was Thomas Terry, a labourer, probably agricultural.  The two witnesses to the marriage were Thomas Terry, possibly William’s father and Ruth Roffey, probably a relative of her mothers.  

​In 1881, she was at Old Park Farm Cottage, Bletchingley with William who was an Agricultural Labourer and Albert John, my great grandfather was 11 months old.  Also living with the family were William Rusbridge aged 14 and William Roffey aged 17.  Both were agricultural labourers.  William Rusbridge was one of her younger brothers and William Roffey could well be a cousin. 
 
On the 30 March 1883 Mary gave birth to a daughter, Ethel Mary at Anchor Field Cottages in Godstone and unfortunately by 4 April she had died from a Phlegmasia dolens thrombosis, better known as a deep vein thrombosis today.  The risk of DVT can be increased during pregnancy but today mothers to be are checked if likely to be at risk and measures can be put in place to mitigate against it.  Sadly for Mary in 1883 this was not the case.  The witness to both the birth of Ethel and the death of her mother was M Winchester who on the death certificate was described as Aunt.  At the moment I am not sure who she was.  Mary was buried at Blindley Heath on 7 April 1883.   Poor William was left with two young children but as was quite common in those days, he married again in April 1885 to Edith Knight and they had 11 children.  Albert became the Postmaster at Lingfield.  I have not managed to find any information after her birth about Ethel Mary yet. 

​This week’s #52 Ancestors theme is ‘I can identify’  I thought I would write about my Grandad, Ron Pilbeam.  It was his influence that encouraged me in my love of bird watching.
 
I have written in my blogs before about Ronald Pilbeam, he was born on 17 March 1912 in Three Cups, a tiny hamlet on the edge of Punnetts Town near Heathfield in Sussex.  He had one brother, Sydney, older than him and 3 sisters, Phillis, Gwen and Joan.  He grew up on the farm at Rushford Farm and when my mum was a child, had a dairy herd which were milked and the milk sold daily to the locals around Punnetts Town and Heathfield.

​Growing up in the countryside as he did he could identify a number of the farmland and garden birds he saw daily around and about and at some point he joined the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.  When I was 10 years old in the hot summer of 1976, he built a large fish pond in the front garden and he had a whole load of fish in there which all seemed to be named after his grandchildren, I remember him showing me Kerry!  That summer I stayed, as I often did, for a week or two with my grandparents and remember the pond developing.  It was large, square with a rim of paving slabs.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find any photos of it amongst my collection.  When the hole had been dug and the liner put in, all that remained was the pouring in of the water and stamping down of the liner and Grandad asked me to get into the pond to push the liner down with my feet while he poured in the water with a hose. 
 
In return for this most important job, he would buy me a member to the Young Ornithologists Club (YOC) the young arm of the RSPB.  Well how could I refuse? the pond was filled with water, and I joined the YOC.  He paid for my membership every year until after my 18th birthday when I graduated up to the RSPB and some point he stopped paying and I gave up birdwatching for a while.  

​As a child I became fascinated by birds and bird watching and even now I get excited by some of the birds I attract into my small back garden on my feeders.  In my 20s I became more attracted to boys than birds and gave up the birdwatching for a while, which is extremely annoying because I remember on a coach trip in Turkey with a friend, the coach driver stopped to let people get off and watch some Lammergeiers (bearded vulture) that I would kill to see now.  I think I did vaguely see them but wasn’t really that excited.  It wasn’t until I met my other half, Pete that I once again became a member of the RSPB and have been ever since.  When my sister’s three children were young I bought them YOC membership too until they became 18 and I hope one day at least one of them will again become enthusiastic about birdwatching just like I did.  Pete and I have travelled around many parts of Britain over the years and seen many different birds that we could identify with the help of various books and sometimes other birders.  We’ve been to Scotland to see Divers and Skuas and Osprey, oh and a sudden stop along the road to watch a Golden Eagle.  We turned the corner at the cliffs in Yorkshire called Bempton Cliffs and had 5 new birds in five minutes and I’ve had nuthatch, treecreeper and a grey wagtail in my garden amongst a lot more common ones.  If it hadn’t have been for Grandad starting me off at the age of 10 I don’t suppose I would ever have become quite so excited about birds as I am.  Just one of those special Grandparent/Grandchild moments!

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Outcast.  I couldn’t think of anyone on my tree that was an Outcast so the link here is a bit tenuous but I am going to write about John Thorp, my Great x11 Grandfather and his will of 1607.
 
John and his wife Alice had 8 children that are known, all baptised in East Grinstead:
John, the eldest born 1560
Richard born 1562 and died in 1585
Marie born 1564
Thomas born 1567
Mercy born 1569
Giles born 1577
Rachel born 1579
 
According to the rule of primogeniture, the eldest son would normally inherit his father’s landed property and the purpose of the will was to provide for younger children, and to provide for a widow into her old age, ensuring any titles or properties were not passed by her to any subsequent husbands.  There were often legacies to ensure the education of any grandchildren too.  Normally an eldest son would not be mentioned in the will because the estate and title would have automatically passed to him, often before death.
 
In the case of John Thorp there is an interesting clue to his relationship with his eldest son, John.  He was an Ironmaster of Hedgecourt in Horne, Surrey which he rented from the Gage family.  He also held lands at Cudworth in Newdigate and in Ifield and Hurstpierpoint in Sussex which are said to be part of his wife, Alice Bowett’s inheritance from her father, Richard.  At the time of John’s death in 1607 he was living in Worth, Sussex.  I have already written about the iron forges and furnaces managed by John in a previous blog.  

John left the lease of Hedgecourt to his second living son, Thomas and the lands that went with it.  This included Warren Furnace and presumably Woodcock Hammer. The will mentions money to be given to various grandchildren and he mentions a number of different servants of his own as well as servants of his son Thomas.  He leaves his grandson, Richard, son of his eldest son, John £300 and he mentions the use of Cudworth at Newdigate where I assume John, the eldest son was living and this was part of John’s inheritance.  Indeed his first two sons John and Richard were baptised 1595 and 1597 in Newdigate.
 
However the really interesting bit is:
Item I give to my sonne John Thorpe although his behaviour unto me hitherto hath deserved noe remembrance of him at all the some of one hundred pounds which my will is shall not be paid or delivered unto himself but shall be delivered and paid unto my good friends aforesaid John Delathamber, George Turner, Anthony Linton and Richard Heath or the survivor of them within five years after decease, by them to be disposed for his maintenance at their good directions.  

​It will never be known what it was that John the son had done to upset his father but it must have been important enough to be written into the will.  I do wonder if he had been careless with money hence the leaving of a legacy to friends to administer instead of simply handing it over directly. 
 
A number of contacts over the years who are researching the Thorp family have imagined that John was written out of his father’s will but I do not believe this is the case, because of the fact that properties etc went automatically to the eldest son.  Cudworth went to John, but Hedgecourt was given to Thomas, his brother to set him up presumably close by the furnaces he was running and which he left to his son, Richard after his death in 1608.  I need to carry out more research around the eldest son, John which has not been my focus so far as he neither was an Ironmaster or on my direct line.  I would like to know more about what, if anything he did.

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Social Media and I thought I would update one of last year’s blogs as I now have the last photo. 
 
Newspapers were very much the social media of their day, before Facebook, Twitter and the like and I wrote last year about my grandfather Ronald Pilbeam and 3 of his siblings, Phyllis, Gwen and Sidney’s weddings in the 1930s.  I found all four of the weddings reported in the local papers which gave long lists of gifts and who attended as well as what the bride and bridesmaids were wearing and the flowers they had.  At the time I did not have a photo of Gwen’s wedding to Edward Cottingham but the blog was read by a distant cousin who sent me a copy of a photo of the wedding.  So now I can complete the blog.  Social Media can be very useful sometimes!
 
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, 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 theme this week for #52Ancestors is Oops and it’s a short one from me, I really didn’t know what to write then I thought of the following oops moment I found when I downloaded my great grandfather’s WW1 service record.  I wonder if it was something he wanted to keep quiet!
 
Albert John TERRY was born in Crowhurst, Surrey on 3 May 1880 to William Andrew TERRY and Mary RUSBRIDGE.  Albert had a sister Ethel Mary wo was born in 1883 and unfortunately his mother Mary died of a thrombosis 4 days after Ethel’s birth.  William remarried to Edith Knight two years later and together they had 11 children, Christmas dinners must be have been crowded!  

​Albert married Emily PAYNE in 1907 at the Lingfield Mission Hall and by the time of the 1911 census the couple were living at the Post Office in Lingfield in Surrey along with Harold William, their first son who was a year old.  At the time of the census Emily was expecting my grandmother, Edith Evelyn Mary who was born in October 1911.   Albert was a Post Office Clerk.  The family remained living above the Post Office in Lingfield until Albert’s death in 1958. 
 
When WW1 came I think Albert may have been considered to have been a Reserved Occupation, although I am not 100% sure on that and I need to research this subject further.  He enlisted in June 1916 and was called up in January 1917 and he joined the Army Service Corps in the Canteen Services.  

​His medical history on his Service Record stated he was a Sub Postmaster and expert telephonist and he had Flat Feet and varicose veins.  He was rejected and that presumably is why he ended up in the Canteen Services rather than the Regular army.  He was posted to Dieppe in April 2017. 
 
The oops moment came on 13 July 1918 when he forfeited 7 days pay for the crime of hanging his kit in the kitchen contrary to EFC Standing Orders.  Seems a little harsh to me but I live in an age where discipline and standards count for nothing sadly so it is hard to judge what happened over 100 years ago when standards were higher and discipline was instilled into children from an early age much more rigidly.  I wonder what Emily thought when he had to explain why he was short by 7 days wages! 
 
Once again it proves to me that when finding these documents about your ancestors you should read them carefully and thoroughly because you never know what gems of information about their lives you may find which is over and above the usual information you expect to find.      

​The theme for #52Ancestors this week is Education and I thought I would tell you about the links I have with Punnetts Town Community Primary School in East Sussex. 
 
Punnetts Town is the village where my brother and his family and my sister and her family live, my mum grew up and my grandparents and great grandparents lived.  The school opened in May 1879 and at least 4 generations of my family have attended through the decades.  The latest two are my two youngest nephews.  During the 1940s to the 1960s one of the teachers and then Headmistress was Mrs Eva Pilbeam, my great Aunt, she was married to Sydney Pilbeam, my maternal grandad’s older brother. 
 
I don’t know the exact dates of when she was at the school but past pupils put her time there between the 1940s and late 1960s.  She was a well liked teacher and Headmistress from the early 50s it is believed, so much so, they had a memorial bench erected in her memory.  I  believe the bench was put into place when one of my nieces was at school there.  

​My mum remembers her as a strict but fair teacher who used to walk everyday from Rushford Farm in Three Cups to the school, which is the other end of Punnetts Town village and presumably walk home again at the end of the day.  Not a huge distance but very different from these days where there is a scrum of cars outside the school twice a day, because nobody walks anywhere anymore.
 
She taught more than one generation of children from Punnetts Town and attended a school reunion held on 11 May 1985 at the school along with a number of past pupils who had been at the school between 1928 and 1940.  I was sent a picture of her cutting the celebration cake along with other past teachers.

I put a call out on a Facebook group for memories of her and these are some of the comments I received back:
 
“She was there when I left 1967, she was a very good head although we might not have always appreciated it.”
 
“I was there from 1953 to 1959 and Mrs Pilbeam was the main teacher.  Mrs Hewitt was the secretary and Mrs Smart was also a teacher.  I loved my time there!”
 
“My 2 boys Malcolm and Steven had Mrs Pilbeam as head teacher till Miss Banner took over when Mrs Pilbeam retired, when she was older, I went to her as a home carer.  She was so lovely.  Mr Pilbeam gave me a big bunch of lilac from the tree by the gate.  The scent was wonderful.  She also taught my boys in the Rest Chapel Sunday school.  So she was part of our life so much when my boys were young.  Precious memories.”
 
Precious indeed.  I think I have a memory of her teaching me in Sunday School on one of the many occasions that I stayed with my grandparents during school holidays and went to the Rest Chapel on a Sunday.  I didn’t meet her often during my life but I remember her as a quite short, but very sweet old lady with a broad smile.  I also have a memory of a school trip to the farm when I was about 8 years old and she showed us around the farm house, including a look at the wattle and daub on the stairs.  That has stuck in my mind for years.
 
“Mrs Pilbeam’s grandson Andrew was the same age as my Steve.  Andrew had to wear glasses.  Mrs Pilbeam was highly amused when my gentle little Steve said to him ‘if the big boys laugh I will punch them up’, he was certainly not a fighter but Mrs Pilbeam often told me that little tale.”
 
“Mrs Pilbeam was Headmistress during my time at PT School 1952-58.  I think she must have been made Head after Mr Booth moved to Maynards Green which was in the late 1940's!  I enjoyed my time there and I remember Mrs Pilbeam reading last period on a Friday "The Travels of Marco Polo".  It fired my imagination for travel and over the years have travelled parts of the Silk Route, mainly in Uzbekistan and Pakistan!  The Court of Kubla Khan conjures up exotic locations!”
 
I love that last comment, how many of us can say we were inspired by a school teacher?
 
Village schools are an important part of a community and can be important to some of the families within the community.  Punnetts Town School is important to our family that has lived in Punnetts Town for some generations and as some of my blogs have proved to me, some members of my Pilbeam family have been important members of the community in their day.  Long may that continue and long may the school continue!

Lastly I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who shared photos and comments on facebook.  As a genealogist I feel it very important to keep the history of our families, and the places they lived in, alive by documenting our memories.  Thank you!

This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Out of Place and I decided to write about John Buxton, my Great x5 Grandfather and his mother Elizabeth.  He like many other people in the 19th century, ended up in London, coming from all parts of the British Isles.  His story is believed to have started in Norfolk 1761 when he was born illegitimately to Elizabeth Buxton, possibly in Diss.  I have not managed to trace her roots yet and I will be returning to research her further at a later date.  Unfortunately I find nearly 20 years after starting my research I don’t have any way of proving my John was the John born in Norfolk except that his mother was definitely Elizabeth for reasons I will share later.  A search on Ancestry of a John Buxton born 1765 +/-10 years with a mother of Elizabeth Buxton brings the one born in Diss, Norfolk as the most likely. 
 
The best bit of information we have about Elizabeth is her marriage as a spinster, ten years later to Peter Averillo on 17 October 1771 at St Leonards, Shoreditch.  He was a widower, it was his third marriage, born in Tavistock, Devon and he was a Barrister.  

There is a wonderful mention of him on the Old Bailey online website where he was in court as a victim.   On the 4 December 1776 he was violently threatened by John Salter in a highway robbery.  His statement reads as PETER AVERILLO sworn.
​
‘I was in the coach: we were stopped about eight o'clock by a single highwayman near Shepherd's-bush; a pistol was put into the coach; as soon as the blind was let down, I heard a voice say, 'Give me your money immediately, 'or I will blow your brains out;' I put my hand into my pocket, and found I had a shilling; I had between my legs a brass blunderbuss, and before the man had robbed Mr. Haywood, the other person in the coach, I discharged the blunderbuss as directed by the voice, for it was so dark I could not possibly see the person; then I bid the coachman drive on; a person on the coach bid him not drive on as the person was shot; we got lights at a house near; the candle blew out, then we saw two lights upon the road near the place where this happened; we went up to those two lights and lighted our candles at them; we found one was part of a stock and a metal buckle, the stock was bloody and on fire; we searched but could not find the person, then we went on.’
 
John Salter was found not guilty.
 
Elizabeth died in 1787 in St Leonards, Shoreditch and was buried in the churchyard there and the record stated she was 50 years old which puts her birth at about 1737.  

Peter Averillo died in 1792 and was buried with Elizabeth at St Leonards, Shoreditch.  He made a will and it stated that
‘I give unto John Buxton (my said late wifes Son) now living with John Dyer of Wormley in Hertfordshire Labourer the sum of ten Guineas  And I also give to the said John Buxton’s wife two Good Gowns I also give unto the said John Buxton all my wearing Apparel of Woollen (not the suit of velvet and laced waistcoat and Black velvet Breaches) and also six plain Shirts the Ruffles to be taken off from those  I shall have by me at my Death and also six pair of Worsted or other Stockings and some of Religious Books’
 
From this bit of information we can place John Buxton in Hertfordshire where he had married Hannah Ford in 1789 in Wormley and he was the son of Elizabeth Buxton who had married Peter Averillo.  John and Hannah had three children, Maria born 1789 in Wormley, Thomas born 1791 in Wormley and James my Great x4 grandfather born 1793 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.  Hannah had two children illegitimately before the marriage, John born 1783, father George Harris and Sarah born 1785, father unknown. 
 
James, my great x4 grandfather moved to Hackney and married Alice Timms in 1816 in St Dunstans, Stepney.  He appeared on the 1841 census in Abbots Street, West Hackney with his family and a John Buxton aged 78 years who was presumably his father.  John possibly died in the Workhouse in 1845 but the age stated on the death certificate is 77 which if he was born in 1761 is not accurate, but we can presume he was born sometime between 1761 and 1768.  The 1841 census mentioned above puts him at 1764. 
 
There is more research to be carried out on this family but what we know so far is that John was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Buxton who married Peter Averillo in 1771 as a spinster, 10 years after John was born.   
 
One of James’s daughters Emma married William Henry Baldwin in 1852 and their first son William James Baldwin born 1854 was my Great x2 Grandfather.  

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Favourite Photo and I have picked the photo of my paternal Grandad and his two brothers.  Unfortunately it is quite faded.  Alfred Sidney Baldwin (centre) my Grandad was born in 1916 and his older brother Bill or William James was born in 1914 (left) and his younger brother Len or Herbert Leonard was born in 1920.  I really don’t know much about my two great uncles at all but my grandad could be quite brusque, a spade was a spade and he was a no nonsense man.
 
This photo shows Bill and Alf in uniform, I believe Len didn’t join the services for WW2 but his jacket looks similar to those of the other two boys so I’m not so sure.  But I think it may be something to do with the lack of stripes on the shoulders.

Grandad was in the Royal Sussex Regiment and fought through North Africa up into Europe via Italy; Monte Casino.  I would like to get hold of Grandad’s Service Record as I would like to know more.  He really didn’t talk much about his involvement in the war, I remember being quite surprised at his funeral at the history we were told. Typically when he was alive I wasn’t really that interested and didn’t really listen if he ever did talk about his War. 
 
When I look at this photo I always think what handsome boys they were and how I would have liked to have known them then when they were young.  We only ever know grandparents when they are old, or at least older and as children we never think about our relatives as being young and the lives they lived before we came along.    

​The start of a New Year and the first #52Ancestors theme is I’d like to meet.  I knew instantly which of my ancestors I would like to meet.  James Traies who was my Great x 5 grandfather on my Baldwin side of the family.  He was one of my luckiest or unluckiest ancestors depending on your perspective as he had 5 wives!
 
He was born in Exeter, Devon and was baptised to Samuel and Jane on 29 May 1785 in St Mary Major, Exeter.  He appeared to be listed in 1803 aged 18 on an Exeter Militia list.  His occupation was Tin Man.  The name before his on the list was Robert Gaul, Tin Man who we find James apprenticed to in 1798 on the UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 list on Ancestry. 
 
After 1803 there is no sign of James in Exeter but he appeared in Hackney in Middlesex.  The reason he was lucky or unlucky and the reason I would like to meet him was because he had 5 wives.  Hannah was possibly his first although all we have for her is her burial record in 1818 on 8 March at the age of 39.  The couple had 4 children, Jane in 1809 and died in 1810, Ann in 1810, and James in 1816 all baptised to James and Hannah including my Great x4 Grandfather, Samuel in 1812.  No marriage has been found for James and Hannah yet and I do wonder if they married in Devon rather than London where we have been looking. 

​In October 1818 James married Ann Sutton in St Johns, Hackney.  She died in 1830 in Westminster.  This means she must be the mother of Henry born about 1819 although no baptism has been found for Henry so far.  Jane was born 1823, Hannah in 1826 and Emma in 1827 but again no baptism records have been found.  Emma appeared to be the last child born to James. 
 
The records for Hannah and Emma in particular are few and far between, for Emma just the 1851 census where she appeared with her father and was born in Marylebone.  Neither she nor Hannah were with their father on the 1841 census.  Hannah married Robert Hunt in Paddington in 1853.
 
After Ann Sutton, James married Martha Looker in 1831 in Hackney and she died in September 1842 of disease of the brain.  That is a bit vague and she was aged 48.  He married again just two months later in November 1842 to Jane Berry and she died in 1856, I have just ordered a copy of the death certificate as I realise I don’t have a copy and it would be interested to know how she died.  The last marriage was to Mary Jones in June 1857 and she died in October 1861 of paralysis.  James did not marry again and he died in 1878 and his death was registered as natural decay, he was 93 years old which is no mean feat at the time.  

​I have never found any evidence that he was ‘doing away’ with his wives, but he does seem quite unlucky with them.  But I would like to know his thoughts on his many wives, his story has always interested me and the research has excited me.

​The very last #52 Ancestors and the theme this week is Looking Forward.  It has been a fun year, writing this weekly blog has been a lesson in itself, the themes have helped although I substituted a couple, like Yearbooks, I had nothing to write on that subject.  On the whole though, I have enjoyed writing them and I hope you have enjoyed reading them.
 
I discovered a few things about my family history along the way, like the connection with Jersey and the Huguenots which is ongoing research and in fact I gained a lot of research to be done along the way.  I also confirmed the fact that I have been favouring my local research above that of my more distant ancestors, which meant one side of the family was researched more than the other, the Baldwins.  Looking forward I will be spending more time during 2023 researching the Baldwins and the families that married into them.  I also like to look more at the Baldwins in Canada and having recently done a DNA with Ancestry it may be that I can connect with some Baldwins descended from that family.

2022 has been an interesting year for my genealogy, not only was forced to spend time on each week and to be quite systematic about the research I carried out I met a new relative, Dad’s cousin which just goes to show that the unexpected can happen to anyone, even the seasoned genealogist who thinks they have made all the discoveries they can.  Also taking a more indepth look at the lives and the residences of some the ancestors I thought I had fully researched has been interesting, I have made discoveries about places local to me and the lives my ancestors lived there.  
 
Using newspaper reports has been enlightening and I will definitely continue that, I advise anyone and everyone to get a subscription to either the British National Newspaper website or Findmypast and start looking for your relatives in the papers.  It is amazing what you can find.  The trial of the young servant of John Catt and Hannah Oliver brought some interesting information to light, the first clues to the relationship of the two of them, through the evidence brought by Hannah’s daughter.  #52 Ancestors - Wrong side of the Law - Sussex Genealogist

​Back in April I wrote about the MAF survey I had for Rushford Farm, Three Cups near Heathfield, Document - MAF WW2 survey - Sussex Genealogist which forced me to actually get the document out of the folder and give it more than a cursory glance.  I studied it and thought about the implications of the information on the document.  This is good training we should use for reading all documents even census returns.  How many of us go back and find an interesting tit bit we have overlooked on first viewing?  The grandchild who was not with their parents or servant who is a cousin and links another side of the family. 
 
I have really enjoyed looking at ancestors in a new light, studying one aspect of them in order to write on a theme and putting the information I have found on them together to write a little of their life story. 
 
If you are interested in giving it a go yourself, visit Amy Johnson Crow’s website, 52 ancestors and sign up.  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Amy Johnson Crow  I have signed up for another year but I am not sure how far I will get, I have other irons in the fire!  But I have enjoyed the experience so I will carry on as long as I can and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my research blogs.