Hello and welcome to my second newsletter! There have been many new subscribers since the first newsletter—welcome! If you’re interested in reading the first newsletter, which I’m sure you are all desperate to do, then here is the link: http://goo.gl/k84tg0 |
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Book 4 in the Forensic Genealogist series The next book in the series is coming along very nicely, currently standing at 77,788 words—over the three quarter mark. I tend to find that the writing of the final quarter happens fairly quickly…fingers crossed it will happen that way this time. I’m still not 100% set on the title, so not quite ready to share it with you, yet—hopefully by the next newsletter I will be able to reveal it. |
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Interviews Last week I was visited by a lovely journalist from Kent Life magazine as part of a feature on Kent crime authors. We had a good chat for almost an hour, covering a variety of subjects, for example, how I got into writing, my inspiration, etc. One question threw me for a moment or two—under which Kent building would I bury a fictitious body? I’ll let you know after it is published in November which building I chose! I’m pleased to say that it isn’t something I’ve contemplated before… |
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Writer’s Cabin As you can see, my cabin has moved on since the last newsletter. It is now clad in sweet chestnut and, since last Saturday it has a floor, so no more acrobatics on the joists for me! The next stage is plastering and electrics… Will it be usable before the next newsletter…? |
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Belgium At the beginning of April, I visited Belgium for a short break away, returning to some favourite old places, such as Brugge and Ieper. I always find it poignant that in the Flanders area of Belgium you are never far from a First World War cemetery. Some are tiny, containing just a few war graves, whilst others are disturbingly huge. In the largest Commonwealth cemetery, Tyne Cot, I found this grave which has an unusual inscription. |
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Family History I have found some time, at last, to work a little on my family tree, this time concentrating on my maternal great-great-grandmother, Louisa Roakes. She has been a bit of a mystery to me… and still is, although I have made some progress in recent days! She was born in 1871 in St Helena (a tiny island off the west coast of South Africa) and there married my great-great- grandfather, Samuel Angus Ellingham in 1888 before the couple settled back in England. Unfortunately, however, the records on St Helena are a little patchy and I couldn’t be certain that a birth entry that I had found was hers: Elizabeth Everton and Edward Roakes (watch repairer) had a female child on 21st July 1871. But then I looked Louisa up on the 1939 ID Card Register and confirmed that she was born 21st July 1871. Marvellous! Except…I have been in contact with another gentleman who descended from a Louisa Everton, born 1871 in St Helena. She too married a soldier on St Helena before settling in England. This other researcher had claimed that the birth entry (above) was for his Louisa. I was mid-way through a polite email to tell about my findings in the 1939 ID card register and thought that I would try and locate his Louisa in the same register, demonstrating that her birthdate was not the 21st July 1871. Guess what? She was born 21st July 1871! Back to the drawing board with Louisa, then… I have also had my maternal grandmother’s DNA tested with Ancestry. Her results came back surprisingly close to mine (62% West European, 28% Irish, 4% British). What is interesting, though, is that I have traced several of her lines back into the 1600s and so far don’t know of a single West European or Irish connection! |
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Website updates Hmmm… Not much to report here, unfortunately! I received several messages following the last newsletter about suggestions, which I will be working on in due course. Thank you and keep the ideas coming in! |
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Pinterest For those of you have an interest in some of the locations and research used in my books, you might wish to check out my boards on Pinterest—just make sure you’ve finished reading the books first or you might find a spoiler or two on there! uk.pinterest.com/dylan0470 |
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Competition In the last newsletter I asked for your own family history mysteries, the three best entries receiving a copy of any one of my books. Here are the winners! I always knew somehow that I was related to Sir Henry Havelock of the Indian Mutiny (my great grandmother was his brother’s child). I started recently to extend that tree and found that I am related also to Winston Churchill, Princess Diana and all the royal family. Also my great grandfather was on the Cutty Sark and then went on to pilot a famous boat in Brighton called the Skylark for the Prince Regent. If you have ever heard the saying up with the skylark this originated from him, as he used to shout this from the beach every morning at 6am. Terry My family mystery is my Irish grandma's missing child! She had at least one child born 1934/5, a boy we think she called Michael. The child was the product of a relationship with her first cousin! We strongly suspect that her elder sister brought him up as her own, but he died in 1992 so we have no way to check for sure. She wasn't the only one! Her half-brother James is suspected of being the father to his paternal cousin's child! He was shipped off to Canada aged 15 as a British home child. I have made contact with the grandson of the child and we are now looking at having our DNA tested—be fun to see the results!! Karen My 2x great grandfather, Joseph Springell, born 1814, lived on Radnage Common near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and died 1863. A death certificate was issued on 29 June, five weeks after his death, on information from his illiterate son. It recorded that Joseph died on 22 May at Radnage with son present of ‘Effects from injuries accidentally falling from the chair-van. Not certified’. Joseph’s job was recorded as chair maker. Joseph was buried 25 May before a death certificate was issued! The local newspaper reported his accident occurred at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, some 40+ miles away. Another, earlier, death certificate was issued at Hitchin on 28 May on information from the coroner after his court hearing. This recorded that Joseph had died on 21 May, at Hitchin Infirmary, with the cause ‘Fall from cart, Skull fractured, lived 17 hours’ and his job as chair maker. A coroner court witness stated Joseph had drunk a lot at a local upholsterer’s premises then at a local pub before setting off to ride his cart to Shefford, some 10 miles away. Another witness said Joseph climbed steadily up onto his wagon but lost his balance trying to climb over the boarding leaning out from the cart side and fell back onto the road. Witnesses reported Joseph said “Oh dear, oh pray” and was in great pain. They took him to the nearby Infirmary. The Dispenser there reported that Joseph was admitted at about ten minutes to nine and that he considered him to be suffering from drink and gave him an emetic, when be brought up a quantity of beer or porter. Joseph then became sensible and in the morning drank some coffee. At twenty-five minutes to nine he seemed worse and died at five minutes to two. A surgeon reported he’d found a five inch long fracture at the base of Joseph’s skull sufficient to cause his death. My retired Consultant Anaesthetist cousin, his GP daughter and her Radiographer consultant husband all agreed that Joseph had definitely died from an ‘Extradural Haematoma’, a bleed and blood clot in the space between the brain lining membrane and the skull. His scenario is still a major problem today, was his confusion the result of intoxication or head trauma? It’s classically called ‘walk in and die’ and ‘talk and die’ because of the common periods of lucidity involved. This all left several questions unanswered. Why no report of profuse bleeding, as would be expected with this injury? Why the second death registration five weeks after his death? Why did it contain obvious errors? Why was he buried before a death certificate had been issued? My cousin and I suspect that Joseph was either wearing a thick scarf and heavy overcoat with the collar turned up against the night cold, which stopped his head actually striking the road surface and damaging his skin, or he had a thin skull that fractured easily. All the questions are now unanswerable leaving Joseph’s death still an enigma which I like. Brian Thank you to Terry, Karen and Brian for your family history mysteries! Very interesting! |
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That’s all the news and updates for this newsletter. Best wishes, Nathan |
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