Sentimental Sunday – Completion of Restoration of my ancestors’ Table Top Tombs

Having been away from my blog for such a very long time, which was never meant, looking after my 104 and a half year old Aunt has taken over our lives so I just haven’t been able to post here as I wanted to.

Today I had some wonderful news so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to post on my blog once again.  I can’t stop smiling 🙂

I am placing this under the Blogging Prompt of Sentimental Sunday because to me this is very sentimental.

I am sooooooooooooooooooooo delighted, excited, thrilled, happy and all sorts of things in that mood 🙂  🙂  🙂 Please bear with me while I explain and add lots of photos!! Many of you know I have been researching my family tree (for almost thirty years now) and have my Read family back to the 1500s. Many of my ancestors are buried in what I call the Read Plot at Nether Winchendon, Buckinghamshire and in the plot are three tabletop tombs. One contains my 6 x great grandfather Cozens Read and his wife Elizabeth, another contains his son William Read, William’s Wife Mary, their daughter Mary and Mary’s husband John Moores. The third tabletop tomb contains another of Cozens Read’s sons, Michael Read and his wife Martha.

A few years ago, in 2007, my other half Paul and I visited the Plot and cleared and tidied up and repaired these and other Read gravestones – pictures of this follow. Two or three years or so ago, William Read’s tomb collapsed and I was informed that the church was going to restore it. I tried to get grants for restoring it but that took such a long time, waiting waiting waiting for decisions and in the meantime the church and the villagers managed to organise a Lottery Heritage grant.

Last year I was told they were going ahead with the restoration and asked my thoughts about it. I was very pleased of course. Anyway, today, I found out that yesterday the restoration is complete! They have restored all three table top tombs and here is a link to the BBC news item about it – They even mention me!!!! 🙂
http://www.bbc.co.uk/n…/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-32829542

I am thrilled because they have found that Cozens Read has six children buried with him and his wife, these are those of their 20 children who did not survive to adulthood and I can find no burial record for them apart from that of their first child. I have searched for these children for years thinking they must be buried elsewhere as they are not in the Nether Winchendon parish register.

Now I know exactly where they are! These children were buried long before Cozens Read was buried in 1783 (the news item has the date wrong, they say 1720)!

I am so excited by all this as it means so very much to me 🙂

Here are some of the photos we took in 2007, before and after pics on that day, which can now be compared with the pics in the BBC News item.

This is how the table top tombs looked when we arrived that day in 2007.

 

This is William Read’s table top tomb. This one was the worst one for needing to be repaired and cleared of the plantlife and even small tree that was growing from the inside!  This is the tomb that eventually collapsed a few years later.

 

This is Michael Read’s tomb which contains him and his wife Martha.

 

Here lies Cozens Read with his wife Elizabeth and as I have just discovered, six of his children.

 

And here is how it all looked that day, after we had been clearing, cleaning and repairing the table top tombs and some of the graves.

I’m so so so so so happy and very very grateful to the villagers who took such an interest in long-deceased members of my family. So thrilled 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

 

 

Apologies to those leaving comments!

I must apologise to all those of you who have left comments for me, which have been held up for me to moderate (to stop spam etc., being added).

I have been away from my blog for such a long time and have found many comments from lots of “new” cousins which I am delighted about, but you have probably all given up on me as some of the comments go back to 2013 !!!!

I am going through them to add here and will add a comment to those in answer and hope you get to see it.

So sorry 😦

Wow! So very very long since my last post!!!

I knew I had very sadly neglected this blog, mainly due to looking after my Aunt who is now 104 and a half years old and although we love having her here with us, much of our time is spent looking after her.

I had fully intended keeping up with posts but time has just rolled on and it is now such a huge gap since my last post.

I discovered some wonderful news today which is what has prompted me to most definitely add a post today (which will be under Sentimental Sunday) and although I can’t promise to post regularly yet, like I used to, I will really try not to leave it so long before getting back here.  🙂

Sorting Saturday: I’m Back – And Goodness, I’ve Some Sorting To Do!!!

As some of you reading this will have already realised, I have been away from this blog for a very looooong time!!  I did a little post at Christmas (2011) to explain the reason for not being able to keep up with the blog and it has taken this long to make a start on getting back here.

I decided that Sorting Saturday was a really good and very apt start!!  The reason for that is because I wanted to get back to the Daily Blogging Themes to help get into the swing of things again.  But, I realised that as it has been so long since I properly posted here, I had forgotten a lot of who I had written about and what I said.

So, some sorting was required.  It also meant that I had to sort much of my genealogical files and folders on my computer, laptop and in my Dropbox because quite frankly, I had stuff all over the place and in order to find anything to blog about I would have to go through it all to find what I wanted.

Now I have the computer more or less sorted with all my genealogy items in one place (for the moment).  Now I know where to look for everything although there still is some sorting to do to make it a better system.  I’m hoping my One Note notebooks will be good for that!!

OK, so getting back to the blog.  I’ve been checking what I have done here already, and re-reading most of my posts.  I’m horrified to see that my “Coming Soon” section has had three topics sitting there for what must be more than a year!!!  Oh my goodness!!   So, I think a priority is to actually write the posts for those three topics very soon, and add different items to the “Coming Soon” section and actually do them soon after that.

I was going to add to my Family Tree Charts here but now have the wonderful TNG programme to add to this blog, once I finish adding all the details to it.  I think it will be a much better part of the blog and am really looking forward to setting it up here, hopefully soon.

I see some of my other sections such as the Old Documents, Photos of Ancestors, Want Copies? and so on need to be updated too.

There are so many things here that need attending to and I suppose I should be thankful for the break away as it has meant that I have gone through everything with a fresh eye and have been able to spot the things that need attention, whereas before, they were added to the blog and then left.

So, I must do some sorting, sorting and even more sorting and really make a concerted effort to get back into the swing of things.  I’m looking forward to it and also to “meeting up” again with my geneablogging friends and all the new cousins I found through this blog.   🙂

Christmas Wishes and apologies for neglecting this blog!!

I know that it is such a very very looooooong time since I was able to post on my blog and am amazed it really has been ages since my last post.

Due to illness in the family and later a sudden change with things in September I really have not had the time to be able to devote to any family history research or this blog or much of anything else!!

I apologise to those of you who have been popping in to see something new but found it just the same as months ago.  I just hope you will come and visit again.

Since September we have been looking after my (then) 100 year old Auntie Lucy (she is now 101 years old).  She lived on her own, was completely independent and able to do everything for herself.  She would go to her art group meetings twice a week and was still exhibiting her paintings in September.

Then she had a fall and was a bit unsteady on her feet as a result of that.  Her doctor told us that he thought she had had a little stroke.  So we took her home with us and have been looking after her ever since.  She has fluid on the lungs, and has had a couple of infections (all cleared up now), but she has become very very forgetful and unless kept an eye on, could easily hurt herself because she is now unaware of things like hot cooker rings, and will stick her fingers into a toaster while the bread is toasting and picks up red hot plates and bowls but does not realise they are so hot.  So although she likes to do her own breakfast and lunch, we have to watch her and make sure she does not hurt herself.  We cook dinner so she does not have to do any of that.

Anyway, it has become very obvious that she can no longer live on her own so she is staying with us on a permanent basis.  That means that we have to be alert 24/7 to make sure she is safe and comfortable and she tells us she is happy staying with us.

It has meant that we have even less time now to do the things we would normally do, which is why it has become such a long time since I posted to this blog.  Now we realise that Auntie Lucy will always be staying with us I am hoping to get our routines done in such a way so that I can at least have more time to be able to get back to this blog and some lovely family history research.

As it is now Christmas time I have made a little virtual Christmas card for my family and friends (haven’t had a lot of time to do real Christmas cards) and want to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful, happy, healthy, and successful New Year.

Digital card made by me December 2011 - copyright 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.  Hoping to catch up with you more in the New Year.  🙂

Tombstone Tuesday: Sarah Read of Lower Winchendon

For today’s Tombstone Tuesday I am showing the tombstone of Sarah Read who is the wife of Joseph Read whose tombstone was in last week’s Tombstone Tuesday.

Sarah was Sarah Smith from Ashendon, Buckinghamshire when she married Joseph Read (the grandson of my 6 x great grandfather Cozens Read), on 22nd October 1835 at Ashendon.

They had five children and Joseph died in 1844 after only nine years of marriage to Sarah.

Sarah’s husband was a farmer and she took over the running of it after he died.  She kept the farm going right up until she died aged 76 years.

Original photograph taken by me at Lower Winchendon in 2000 - copyright 2011

 

The transcript of this inscription is as follows:

In

Memory of

Sarah widow of

Joseph Read

Who died Feb. 10th 1884

Aged 76 Years

“For so He giveth His beloved sleep”

Ps. 1. ..(?)  2

_____

Also of

Ann Read

daughter of the above

Who died May 15th 1871

Aged      (the rest here covered by long grass and another tombstone)

 

Sarah and Joseph’s daughter Ann was 31 years old when she died and never married.

As Sarah’s maiden name is Smith and she was from Ashendon, Bucks it makes me wonder whether she was related to Martha Smith of Ashendon who married Sarah’s husband Joseph’s uncle Michael Read?  I’ve not done much delving into the Smiths of Ashendon, so this will be another search to add to my “To Do” list!!

I think Sarah did wonderfully well to keep the farm going as a young widow and then as she became older.  One of her sons lived with her and only married after she died, when he was in his forties.

As mentioned last week, the farm is now a successful stud farm owned by the famous jockey Pat Eddery.  I have sent an enquiry to the farm to see if it is possible to obtain photos of it, especially if some of the original building still stands.

(Edit:  My cousin Marion has kindly given me the information that I could not see on this tombstone and it is as follows:-  The line of verse is actually from  Ps. 127. 2.  and the age for Sarah and Joseph’s daughter Anne is given as 31 years.  I already had Anne’s age from other sources but could not compare it with her age given on the inscription.  Thanks to cousin Marion for her help).

On The Street Where They Lived: 73 Weston Road, Aston Clinton

For this first post in my new topic theme of On The Street Where They Lived, I am focusing on the family of my great uncle Frederick Read who was born in 1866 at Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire and died in 1908 at Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire.

I have mentioned great uncle Frederick before in the Tombstone Tuesday section.  He was a champion duck breeder and was the originator of the famous Aylesbury Duck.  (I have a pet duck, Demelza – her hubby Donny died last year), I wonder if great uncle Frederick is where I get my love of ducks from!!?

Great uncle Frederick married Annie Sophia Ridgway ( and it’s through her family that I have found a connection with the footballer David Beckham – but that’s another story)!!  Frederick and Annie (1868 – 1955) married 22nd February 1888 at Weston Turville, where Annie was from and went on to have ten children.

Here is a photo of Annie outside their house at 73 Weston Road, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire.

Copy of original photograph in my private collection - copyright 2011

 

I know the house had the name of Roseheath, because that is the information supplied to me when I was also given a copy of this next photograph which is of the same house.  I don’t know the dates of either photographs but I am thinking that this second photo is a number of years earlier!

Copy of original photograph in my private collection - copyright 2011

 

I’m not sure who the gentleman in the photograph is, but it is more than likely one of my Read ancestors.  I think he looks a little like George Read (1864 – 1949) who would be great uncle Frederick’s brother.

This next photo shows great uncle Frederick’s wife Annie with their children, after he had died.

Copy of original photograph in my private collection - copyright 2011

 

This photo was taken about 1918.  I’m sorry that, as yet, I haven’t found a photograph of great uncle Frederick with his family.  But, it is good to see this – I just so love to see ancestor photos!!

Here is Frederick and Annie.

Copy of original photograph in my private collection – copyright 2011

Copy of original photograph in my private collection – copyright 2011

 

I hope this first of my new theme has been interesting.  I think it is good to see the same house at different times over the years.  I shall have to take a photo of it as it is now, when we next make the journey to Buckinghamshire.

Something of Interest: New Theme – On The Street Where They Lived

 

As I celebrate my first year with today’s blogiversary, I have decided to use this celebration to announce a new topic theme I am adding here.

I have been thinking about it for a while and so have decided that I will do an On The Street Where They Lived topic.  I have some photos of ancestor’s homes and in many cases some full addresses are given on the Censuses and together with Google’s StreetView I can see and show at least the road where some ancestors lived, even if I don’t know the exact address.  It will be interesting to see how the homes have survived, or been altered, or have just disappeared!

I shall do the first post for this theme after I publish this post.  I hope it will be of interest to those popping in.  🙂

Something of Interest: It’s my first blogiversary!!!

 

Forgive me for blowing my own trumpet, but I am really rather excited to be celebrating my first blogiversary!!  It’s one year ago today that I started this blog and although there has been a couple of gaps because of the awful internet connection problems I was having (and which is still happening a bit off and on), I am quite amazed at just how much information and photos and such I have on here already!

I still have so very much to add, and still don’t seem to have any order as such with adding things.  I know I have badly neglected my Coming Soon section and my Ancestor Anniversaries, so as this blog goes into it’s second year, I will make an earnest effort to get those sorted and properly do posts for them!

As this is a special day, I am also going to announce a new theme for some of my posts, but will write about that in a separate post today.  😉

I want to thank Thomas at GeneaBloggers for adding this blog to the many already listed there, because it has been a turning point which has helped immensely with the items I have blogged about.  It was through GeneaBloggers that I came across the Daily Blogging Themes, and they are a great help to prompt as to what to write about.

I also want to thank all the new geneablogging friends I have made over this first year.  Many have visited my blog and commented, which is always appreciated.  I have visited their blogs and have found them so very interesting and it really doesn’t matter that their ancestors are not connected to mine!

Thank you also to my cousins who also have been popping in to see the blog and either commenting here or by email.  I’m delighted to have found some new cousins both for me and my other half Paul, through this blog. 

Onwards now, to look forward to my next blogiversary in a years’ time.  I wonder if I will have managed to get all the info I have on the blog by then?  More than likely not, as I have so very much and will probably gain even more copies of documents and Wills and photos as my new blog year progresses.

It’s been a wonderful year blogwise for me, and I hope you will find some items of interest in amongst the lot of chitchat I seem to do.

Yaaaaay!!!  A first for me!!  I’m doing a little genealogists happy dance just because it is my blogiversary, but hey, the first one is special isn’t it?   😉

Something of Interest: Gwennap

Today has been a gloriously sunny day, so we decided to go and do some research at Gwennap Churchyard, Cornwall and find the resting places of some of my other half Paul’s ancestors.

By the time we got there it had clouded over but it still gave a very peaceful feeling there.  It’s looking pretty with all the Spring flowers dotted about but it was a much larger place than I realised it would be!!

We will have to come back another time to really search for Paul’s ancestors, but while there, and seeing how well preserved many of the tombstones are, I decided that I would add Gwennap Churchyard to my Ancestors at Rest Graveyard Rabbit blog.  I am the Graveyard Rabbit on that blog for Mithian, Cornwall which is where Paul’s dear Mother and Grandparents rest (and which sadly is a closed church with goodness knows what will happen to the churchyard) and the church/churchyard at Lower Winchendon, Buckinghamshire where there are a large number of my ancestors including my 6 x great grandfather Cozens Read.

Gwennap Churchyard

Original photograph taken by me today 16 April 2011 - copyright 2011

 

The flowering Cherry Blossom tree dominates the churchyard at the moment and I am very pleased we went today and saw it looking like this.

I found many of the tombstones very interesting, even though they weren’t connected to Paul’s family and there was a lot of information on some of them and they seem to have withstood all that time and weather has thrown at them!