Nikki-ann

While looking for Christmas presents for various friends and family members, I have come across this book that looks to be a must-read.

Potty, Fartwell and Knob: From Luke Warm to Minty Badger - Extra Ordinary But True Names of British People

It’s written by Russell Ash.  He’s trawled through 900 years worth of parish registers and census records to present us with quite unlikely but true British names (you have to feel sorry for some of these people!). Each name has been checked for authenticity and it’s source is given, including extra notes where further fascinating illumination is possible.

It was published in hardback format (256 pages) on 14th November.

ISBN: 9780755316540

This

This might be worth checking out. Tin Man (you may recognise the character’s name from The Wizard of Oz) is a new mini-series about to be shown on the Sci Fi Channel in the US. After spending time looking around the website, I’m hoping it comes to the Sci Fi Channel (or any other channel) in the UK. It looks to be a lot darker than the original book/film, but that doesn’t stop me wanting to sing “We’re off to see the wizard….”!

A colleague recently went to see Wicked the musical in London and has been raving about it, so I’ve got a bit of a feeling for all things Oz at the moment. I’d love to see Wicked and from what I’ve seen and heard, it’s well worth going to see.

That

I’ve been looking through the 100+ photos I took at Take That’s concert on the 17th and decided to upload two or three more.

The rest can be found over at Flickr and here.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is Wish Lists. So here’s my Genealogy Christmas Wish List:

Dear Santa,

1. Great Grandfather Alfred’s birth certificate
I have found birth certificates for several of his brothers, including his eldest and youngest brother, yet Alfred’s birth certificate seems to escape me. I know it was in the early days of registration, but surely his birth was registered if his brothers’ births were registered. The closest thing I have to Alfred’s missing birth certificate is a copy of a Parish Register page which includes his baptism. I also have a family bible in which Alfred’s birth date is noted, but it was written in many years after Alfred was born and the birth year looks to have been edited. I’m guessing he as baptised the same year he was born, but still I can’t find his birth certificate.

2. For my Great Grandparents’ Gravestone to be restored
When I found my Great Grandparents’ (Alfred & Mary) gravestone in Malpas, some of the letters were missing. I would dearly love to restore the headstone to it’s original condition.

3. Great Great Great Great Grandfather James’ death certificate
I only recently discovered James, but I would dearly love to find his death certificate. He disappears from the census records and his wife Jane remarried, so I have a window to work to, but I’ve still not been able to find the right death certifiate. I ordered one a few weeks back, but it turned out not to be his. Why did he die young? If you could find it for me, could you send a copy to my distant cousin in Australia who would also be very grateful.

4. To be able to put names to photos
I have a big box containing photos of family, soldiers and friends of the family. Dad can put names to some of them, but who are the others?

5. A time-machine
Imagine how much research I could do with one of these!

I know one or two of these wishes are impossible, but maybe one or two could be completed. I have tried to be good this year.

Yours faithfully,

Nikki-ann.

What would you put on your wish list?

Submit your Genealogy Wish List here.

What a great weekend this is turning out to be! Yesterday I went to see Take That at Birmingham NEC and today it’s snowing! It’s been snowing for a couple of hours now. It isn’t sticking to the roads at the moment, but it is starting to stick to the roofs, cars and fields.

So, last night… was amazing! Take That just keep getting better and better. They’ve always put on a good show, but they always manage to out-do themselves.

Take That had 2 support acts last night, the first of which was Brown:Music. They’re a talented band and certainly worth checking out (Tash is Jason’s vocal coach). The second support act was Sophie Ellis Bextor. As Sophie is already a well established artist it’s quite surprising to see her as a support act, but she was certainly welcomed. If only we could all carry off the dress she was wearing!

I had a brilliant seat (Block A Row G) made even better by the shape of the stage, but even those sat near the back had a great view because once again Take That had a ‘B’ stage in the middle of the arena. Those in aisle seats had it even better… Take That walked from the ‘B’ stage to the main stage through the crowd. They obviously didn’t mind being groped when they did it last year!

Take That certainly put on a show. They had plenty of dancers (including Gary’s wife, Dawn), flames (they even set fire to various parts of themselves - covered in fire-proof clothing, of course), and sang old songs as well as new. They just keep getting better and better!

I took plenty of photos (of course), so I’ve picked out the best and uploaded them to Flickr.

Nordic Blue has tagged me for a meme, so here goes!

The Rules

Pick up the book you are reading, turn to page 161, and divulge the contents of the sixth sentence on that page.

The Book

I’m currently reading ‘White Night‘ (The 9th book of ‘The Dresden Files’) by Jim Butcher. To tell the truth, I’ve been reading it for a while now. I usually can’t put The Dresden Files books down, but I’ve been so busy with work in the past few months that I’ve just not had the energy. Still, as usual, Jim Butcher has excelled himself. His books just keep getting better and better. Some of you may have seen the TV series on the SciFi channel (it’s a shame there won’t be a 2nd season), but you really should read the books. I definitely recommend them!

Page 161 - Sixth Sentence

“Elaine just stared at the women for a long moment, then at Thomas. “Olivia,” she asked. “Is he telling the truth?”

I know that’s slightly more than a sentence, but I thought I’d bend the rules slightly!

Tags

Now I’ve got to tag 5 people. I choose:

• Karen
• Craziequeen
• Bobkat
• Simply Pink
• Miss M

All done!

As today is Remembrance Sunday, it’s only fitting that I remember men who fought during the Great War. These men did not die during war, but they survived a hell and had to live with the memories for the rest of their lives.

Granddad Charlie was called up for service with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers on 5th March 1917. He served as a Lewis Gunner on the Western Front, I believe in the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres). We have been told he was rescued by another man in the field, but I don’t know any details (I can only be eternally grateful). Sometime in 1918 Granddad was reported as missing, but in October of that year the family received a postcard from the British Red Cross stating that though wounded he was reported as a Prisoner of War (Camp not stated). Granddad was repatriated on 4th December 1918 and transfered to Army Reserve on 22nd October 1919. He was given the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service in the Great War.

During World War II, Granddad Charlie served his country once again, this time in The Home Guard. Granddad was certified as having attended a practical examination at a Bombing Range and was qualified to assist in the throwing of live grenades (although I would have thought his time in the Great War trenches would have qualified him for something like that). During this time, my Grandparents also took in a number of evacuees.

As with most Great War veterans, Granddad never said much about his time on the Western Front. I can’t imagine what he’d been through and he probably didn’t want to think about it either. Granddad Charlie died at the grand old age of 86.

Joseph Groom wasn’t family, but he was close enough. I’ve been told my Great Grandfather Alfred took him in at a young age.

As far as I’m aware, Joe had joined the Army before the Great War. He certainly saw battle by November 1914. Joe was in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and by August 1915 was fighting near Hooge, Belgium. While there, he earned himself a Distinguished Conduct Medal. The London Gazette announced people who had won this prestigious medal and on 15th September 1915 they listed Joe and an account of why he’d been awarded the DCM. It says:

For conspicuous gallantry on the 9th August, 1915, during the attack on the Hooge trenches, when he was ordered to reinforce the captured trenches with a machine gun. In the advance he came under heavy shell fire, the gun was damaged and several of the gun team wounded. Although wounded himself, he bound up his comrades’ wounds, returned to Headquarters and reported, and successfully took another gun and team to the firing line.

A well deserved medal, in my opinion. I also know that he won the British War Medal, Victory Medal and the 1914 Star Medal. He also served in the Nigeria Regiment in West Africa during the Great War.

Joe achieved so much at such a young age, but sadly didn’t live much beyond the Great War. Regimental Sergeant Major Joseph Groom D.C.M. died on 7th April 1919 of “Acute bellow atrophy of the liver”, aged just 23 years old.

May they rest in peace.

For ease of use I’ve decided to set-up a new blog (e.g. here). I’m still ironing out one or two wrinkles so do let me know if you find something that doesn’t work as it should. My old blog is still in place as I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with the rest of the website, at the moment.

After the disappointment of not seeing Meat Loaf live at Birmingham NEC (the tour was cancelled due to Meat Loaf’s ill health), I was excited to receive an email announcing Bon Jovi’s 2008 UK tour. I was less excited, however, to discover the £75 price tag for a “Golden Circle” ticket, especially as I’d only paid £50 for one last year! Bon Jovi are an excellent band, espcially live, but I’ve seen them a few times now and I’m just not willing to pay for a ticket that’s had a 50% increase since last year.

I do have good news though. In April 2008 I’ll be going to see John Barrowman at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff! It will be John’s first solo tour and he’ll be singing songs from his new album, Another Side. The album includes songs such as Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ (a favourite of mine) and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’. John has a wonderful voice and is a true showman, so I’m sure it will be a great night out.

Anyway, we’re having visitors in a little while, so that’s all from me for now. See ya!