Dead man walking?

My grandad Archie never spoke to me about his family. It was his death, only six months after that of one of my grandmothers, that first sparked my curiosity about where I came from. After all, his surname is my middle name.

Archie was born in 1920 in central Glasgow, in a tenement. Nearly 40 years later members of the extended family were still in the same tenement when my mother visited Scotland as a child.

Archie had an elder half brother, Robert, and two younger half brothers who had the same father, John and Joseph. Sadly, we don't know who Archie's father was.

Among his effects was a scrap of paper bearing the the address in Rutherglen of 'Mr and Mrs Miller'. Apparently, grandad had once told my grandma that this referred to his uncle. We knew absolutely nothing more.

Research I undertook several years ago revealed that Archie's mother, Jeanie, was herself illegitimate, born in 1895 to widow Helen Scossa (born Helen Miller). Helen died in 1939 and so my grandad Archie would have known and lived with her until he left Scotland to fight in WW2.

Scossa is a very unusual surname (certainly not Scottish!) and so it was straightforward to find Helen's wedding to Arnold Scossa on New Year's Eve 1884. The location - Plymouth - was somewhat of a surprise, given that Helen's family didn't seem to have ventured outside of the Glasgow area for decades! Arnold was a waiter and so perhaps Helen was also involved in hospitality.

Helen was six months pregnant and the child was born back in Scotland at the end of March 1885. His name was Archimede Scossa - who was known as Archie Miller (and after whom my grandad Archie was named), the 'Mr A Miller' on the paper among my grandad's belongings.

In April 1895 Helen had a daughter - my great grandmother, Jeanie - whose father was John McCaul. Jeanie's birth certificate records that her mother was the widow of Arnold Scossa who died in New South Wales in 1886.

I've just discovered that Arnold Scossa emigrated as an unassisted emigrant from Plymouth - describing himself as British and single - on 21 August 1885, arriving in Sydney on 5 October. And then an Arnold Scossa died in South Balmain district, New South Wales in 1905.

So, it seems that Helen was not widowed until 1905.

As with all genealogical answers, it throws up more questions! Why did Arnold leave England when his son was just 6 months old? Why did he describe himself as single? What sort of life did Arnold make for himself in Australia? And did my grandad's uncle know any of this - or did he believe that his father had died in 1886?

Jarvis reunion

On 15th August, over 100 people gathered in Corpusty, Norfolk at a family reunion of the Jarvis family. This year marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of James William Jarvis, who had ten children and was my great x 3 grandfather.

James died in 1912, and my grandfather's cousin Kath told me she remembered him. Not bad - a first hand memory of someone born in the reign on George IV.

I wasn't able to get to Norfolk for the Jarvis reunion, so I printed out a descendant family tree including all the people I have in my database who share James William as an ancestor. The tree covered 37 A3 sheets!

I hear that the reunion - or 'frolick' as such events are called in Norfolk - went very well and that several people brought photos and documents to share. I look forward to seeing those and adding more flesh to the bones of the Jarvis tree.

Parson Woodforde Society Committee

I am delighted to be co-opted on to the Committee of The Parson Woodforde Society.

I joined the Society as a Life Member when I was 18, having already had one research feature published in the quarterly Journal, its members' newsletter. A second feature followed...and then I never got round to writing more. However, on my mind's 'to do' list are at least two features that now I am to take some responsibility within the Society, I really should commit to paper.

First, I'd like to write a follow up to the article I wrote about my own direct ancestors whom James Woodforde knew and wrote about in his diaries - John Bates the carpenter and Mary Dunnell and her sons Harry, Thomas and Barnard.

The aim would be to correct some mistakes from previous features and shed new light on some Woodfordean characters.

Then, I wish to turn my attention to the entwined relationsips of several Weston families, including Andrews and Engledow. I have yet to establish that I am directly descended from the Andrews family, but I've discovered that my great x6 grandmother - Woodforde's 'Mrs Dunnell' - was born Mary Engledow and that her sister Bridget was stepmother of Stephen Andrews 'the Elder', one of Woodforde's closest neighbours and a key diary figure.

So - time to get writing!

Friends - and family?

Twice in the past month I have been chatting with long term friends and got onto the subject of family trees (I tend to wait for it to emerge in conversation organically rather than being all evangelical about it!).

On the first occasion I offered to show my friend Mrs J the online sources I use. One thing led to another and within 40 minutes she was hooked - and we were back to the 1851 census...and a BMD marriage reference including a Bates from Norfolk. There was a pregnant pause as we looked at the screen and considered the ramifications - could we be related?

A little extrea research showed that while my Bates family come from near Norwich (and were probably called Betts before the 1730s), Mrs J's Bates family were from far west Norfolk. So if there is a link, it is way, way back.

Then yesterday I had a vino catch up with Mrs L, a Scottish friend. Talking about her mother's upcoming 70th birthday party she went on to mention her Glasgow grandfather, Tom - Tom Daly.

"Er...any relation to Fred Daly?", I asked.

Fred was my grandad's stepfather, father of uncles Joe & John who both still live in sunny Scotland.

Daly is a relatively common Irish Catholic surname in Glasgow, linked with the shipyards. But could there be a link that makes us not just friends, but family?

Mum's memories

Family history doesn't have to be lists of names from centuries ago. My mum shared some of her childhood memories with me this weekend. We went for a pint in Blackburn and chose a pub that is opposite the shop that she grew up in in the 1950s.

The paper shop that her parents managed (along with 2 more in Blackburn and 3 in Bolton) is now a fastfood takeaway and a cab office. Mum grew up above the shop and played with the local kids in the bank next door while it was being cleaned. She met my dad in the Mecca Ballroom round the corner in 1967 - 'those were boozy days' she said!

She recalled moving to a flat further out of town when her parents got fed up of managing the six shops. Her dad got a job in Matthew Brown brewery (where he stayed until his retirement in 1985) and her mum (after a brief spell making slippers) got a job at Queen's Park Hospital where she stayed until her retirement in 1985. Then they moved to a semi near Shadsworth, and she recalled visits by her Scottish cousins (who ahd a sort of camper van vehicle) and even her Great Aunt Rose from Canada (I had no idea mum had ever met her).

Some great pictures of Blackburn can be found here.

Mum also told me about how she and my dad had to hide their engagement. And how I was taken to visit my own great grandmother and great, great aunty (left) in Lincolnshire as a baby in 1976.

Suddenly the family tree felt very much alive and we had another pint of dark mild.

The joys of genealogy

Sometimes I do feel a bit of a genealogy geek. Everything about family history enthrals me and I am genuinely passionate about it.

So, when asked to research a friend's family tree I jumped at the chance. They offered to cover costs of certificates, printing etc. and even offered to pay for my time. I agreed to conduct two hours of research...ten hours later I was as hooked on theis person's tree as I ever have been on my own!

Today I presented my findings and talked my friend through her family tree, complete with names, dates, information on occupations and locations. I'd even unearthed a link to an infamous Highwayman!

Much more than any financial reward, her looks of absolute amazement, joy and wonderment made all my time and effort worthwhile.

Giving someone their family tree makes a really great, personal gift.

Scotland

My maternal grandfather was born in Glasgow in 1920 but headed south to Lancashire upon his return from the Far East in World War 2 to settle in Bolton. I've never really traced his family - although he had three half brothers, I had met one of them once (at my grandad's fuenral) and spoken to another on the phone once.

Then out of the blue I got a call from my great aunt, wife of one of these half brothers. She said she'd heard that I had done a family tree and could she have one for her husband (now 80!)?

So I wrote up a little story about my great grandmother, mother to the four brothers. And decided to invest a wee bit of cash in finding out soem more about the Scottish clan. I used ScotlandsPeople and found the marriages of my grandad's brothers and the births of their children - my mother's first cousins. I also went back a few generations. All for about £18.

It's grand to see that I carry the same given name as several direct male ancestors, and to see how my middle name came down to me.

If various illegitimate births had been legitimate, by rights I should have Scossa as a middle name!