Nikki-ann : Journal




	30th September 2007 Sunday - 7.15pm : Another weekend nearly over, another month too. This is only my 3rd entry of the month - I must try better next month! I've been run off my feet at work and have just lacked the inspiration to sit down and write when I've got home. Yesterday, once the fog had mostly cleared, I headed over to the Stiperstones for a walk. I need more photos for my photography course and I decided the Stiperstones would be the perfect place for the "Land" subject. I'm not all that pleased with the photos I took, but I did enjoy the walk (even if my hip hurts today!). I was going to go for another walk today, but after getting up very early two mornings in a row to watch the F1 from Japan, I didn't really have the energy. I had a very productive evening on Thursday. I managed to find some information on an ancestor I'd previously only got 1 reference to. Until Thursday I only knew my Great Great Uncle William existed because he was listed in the 1871 census along with my Great Grandmother Mary (his sister) and their parents Thomas & Sarah. I haven't yet managed to find him on subsequent census records. However, a search on Ancestry did bring up some military records. It turns out he had been in the South Wales Borderers before the First World War and then in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Unfortunately, after years of service William was discharged due to illness in 1916, but it probably saved him from being one of the millions of casualties in the war. I now have 15 pages of information on William and I find them fascinating. They even provide a detailed description of him, including his height, weight, chest measurement, complexion, eyes, hair, tattoos and scars! What with family history not being the cheapest of interests (along with other hobbies such as photography!), I've had to find a way of gaining back some of the money I spend. Two or three months ago I joined a cashback cooperative website called Quidco and have so far received over £50 in cashback. All I have to do is go through Quidco when shopping online. Many of my usual online shopping haunts (such as HMV, Play and Arrowfile) are on Quidco so I'm still shopping in the same places, but I'm also earning cashback at the same time. Quidco over 10% cashback on certain purchases from HMV, which is handy because I often find HMV are the cheapest when it comes to buying DVDs and CDs. You're not always guaranteed cashback, but I think anything like that is a bonus! Certainly worth checking out and I'm sure other countries have similar websites. That's all folks! Just time for thanking the following people for commenting on the previous post... Cyberevolution, Andrea, Miss M, Jolynn, Apple and Janice. P.S. - Please wish Cyberevolution good luck on his new life in New Zealand! \| 17th September 2007 Monday - 10.45pm : I thought I'd share this picture with you - It's my Great Grandfather Alfred's pocket watch. We believe Alfred's eldest brother Francis gave it to him, which would make the watch at least 100 years old as Francis died in 1907. I don't have any photos of Alfred with the watch, only of the chain (which we don't have) hanging from his waistcoat. The watch has been passed down from Nan to Dad and I have been told that I will be it's next keeper. I like pocket watches. I don't know why, but there's just something about them. This pocket watch will probably be around in another hundred years time, but I doubt my wrist watch will be! I only wish I could time-travel. Imagine what you could learn from an ancestor. Those stories and bits of information that would fill the gaps. What would you ask? Great Grandfather Alfred would be nearly 160 today and how life has changed since he departed 71 years ago. No doubt he'd recognise the lane where he lived during the last years of his life - it hasn't changed much - but I doubt he'd recognise the rest of that village. His choice of transport was "Tiny" the horse and cart. I doubt he'd think much of the dangerous, noisy and dirty motorcars speeding down the road today. I wonder what he'd say....... Thanks to footnoteMaven, BreadBox, Bob-kat, Old Old Lady Of The Hills, Daystar, Miss M, Andrea, Tiffany, Kenneth, Utenzi, Apple, Hula Doula and Janice Brown for comments. \| 2nd September 2007 Sunday - 8.15pm : This afternoon I thought I'd better get started on the distance learning photography course I recently signed up to. One of the subjects for the first module is 'Sea'. So, despite the wet and windy weather, I decided to head over to Borth and Ynys-Las. It rained all the way there and all the way back, but did stay dry enough for me to take a few photos. I'm thinking of submitting this photo for 'Sea', but may just go back and take some more photos, if I have time. I need to submit 5 photos of varying subjects (for the first module) before the end of the month. Yesterday I bought the latest copy of Family Tree Magazine. I had every intention of buying it anyway, but before I got to the tills I was busy flicking through the pages. Why? Well, I had emailed the magazine a few months back about an article regaring a 'rare' marriage certificate where all the named participants shared the same surname. I had a marriage certificate just like that, too! The magazine had contacted me for more information and informed me it would most likely be in October's issue of the magazine (which just happens to be this month's issue, despite it only being September!). They have included a partial family tree showing everyone mentioned on the marriage certificate, along with details of the certificate. My Granddad's cousin Stanley has asked me to visit him sometime as he wants to talk about family history. I'll be taking everything I have on that side of the family and I'm hoping Stanley will be able to give me some useful information or family stories. This morning I decided to have a search through the British phone book collection (1880 - 1984) online at Ancestry. Phone books can provide valuable information by giving an exact address of a particular ancestor for a certain year. During my quick look this morning I found addresses for my Granddad, Great Nan and Great Great Uncle in the 1950s & 1960s - I don't think any of them had phones before then. I can also see when my Great Nan moved from the farm on the hill to the town, which turns out to be not long after Pop (my Great Grandfather) died. I wonder who else I can find in the phone books! Thanks to Tiffany, footnoteMaven, OldOldLady Of The Hills, Karen, David in the Mountains, Jolynn, Miss M, Andrea and Apple for comments on my last post. \| Archived Entries - 2007 January \| February \| March \| April \| May \| June \| July \| August Archived Entries - 2006 January \| February \| March \| April \| May \| June \| July \| August \| September \| October \| November \| December Archived Entries - 2005 January \| February \| March \| April \| May \| June \| July \| August \| September \| October \| November \| December Archived Entries - 2004 October \| November \| December