Category Archives: Brown

#52Ancestors #51 the search for Jane – a hunch about Hindmarsh

Recently I’ve been writing about the Brown family. My G-G-G-Grandfather Joseph Brown was a horse-breaker born in 1838 in Northumberland, he married a mystery girl called Jane and they had seven children including Joseph 2nd.

That son Joseph Brown, a soldier and later a carpet fitter, married Alice Hedley and together they had six sons. Four of these sons had names which were likely to be surnames, pointers, remembrances of loved ones and three I’d identified:

JJ Hedley, named after Alice
Michael
James Denholm, named after Joseph’s married youngest sister Elizabeth and brother-in-law James
William Hindmarsh
Thomas Henderson, named after Alice’s married oldest sister Mary and brother-in-law Thomas
Albert Edward

So that leaves Hindmarsh. So I’ve been thorough, and now I’m going to try something. Let’s see if his mysterious grandmother, Jane, with whom the trail goes cold, was a Hindmarsh. I know from the census she was born in 1802, in Allington/Ellington, spelling has varied a lot.

FindMyPast has a set of records transcriptions made by the Northumberland & Durham Family History Society; that collection was one of the reasons I took out a subscription.

So. Type in Jane’s name and year, hit return. Only 66 results offered, with only one of those a baptism. And it’s her. My husband goes deaf as I scream across the room. She’s living in Carshope parish of Alwinton and I now have her parents’ names, even her mother’s maiden name, and her home.

But best to double-check. And there’s her marriage to Joseph Brown, a year before their first child was born. So much easier to search for a Jane Hindmarsh than a Joseph Brown! So happy.

Jane’s Story

Bellingham Church interior

It appears then that Jane was born in Carshope, probably a farm/small-holding, just south of the Scottish border near Alwinton in 1802 in the reign of King George III. Her father William Hindmarsh was a hill man according to the 1841 census. Her mother was Margaret Grieve, and I found 2 other baptisms on FindMyPast for Jane’s brothers Adam and Alexander.

Alwinton at that time had a population of 102 souls, a Norman church (St Michael and All Angels) for spiritual needs and a pub for worldly ones (the Rose and Thistle, some lovely views on their website). Now part of the Northumberland National Park, it looks like the area was beautiful but that Jane would have have had to get on with hard work in all weathers. The Rose & Thistle website describes the nearest market town as Rothbury to the south east; and Cragside stately home is nearby (I’ve found family members working on that estate).

Ponteland Church, Northumberland

Jane’s path, however, led south-west rather than south-east as at the age of 20 she married in Elsdon, east of Otterburn, then moved further on to have her 7 children in Bellingham where Joseph worked as a horse-breaker. I was looking at the area on Google maps and see both are towns on junctions of roads across the hills.

Later the family moved east, living near Ponteland (1841 & 1851) and Bulman Village, Cox Lodge (this now appears to be an area of Newcastle Upon Tyne) in 1861 and 1871. Jane died in summer 1871, aged 69.

When pulling together all information I knew about Jane I googled Alwinton to see if there are any specific sites for it, Genuki, or perhaps A Vision of Britain Through Time. And yes, there are both. But the very first item that came up on my search results was the Hindmarsh Family Tree page. Wow, just wow.

The site owners have obviously pulled together the findings of years of time and effort onto this website and have consulted some specialist sources. There seem to be a whole wider family network of Presbyterian Hindmarshes. And on this site it lists Jane’s baptism, correct parents and also six of her brothers and sisters’ baptisms. These include Adam on whom I have some reliable info, and Alexander. Alexander’s been a bit of a mystery, with confirmed information floating in a sea of possibles and probables.

And there are mentions of the likely origins of the surname and its variants; early recordings of the name, mainly in Northumberland. Now I get really chuffed when I manage to trace someone back into the mid-18th century. This site includes reference to some much earlier instances of the names around the area, albeit some info and links unconfirmed. I still have to work out the link to specific Hindmarshes in the area the author writes about so that will be something for 2015.

© Text copyright Lynne Black 21 December 2014
First published: https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/jane-hindmarsh/

#52Ancestors #50 – Thomas Henderson Brown – the best man and the bride’s sister

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Thomas Henderson Brown, born 1881, was the fifth of six brothers and he’s the final one I’m featuring in my blog. The sons of Joseph and Alice Brown, in order, were JJ Hedley, Michael, James Denholm, William Hindmarsh, Thomas and Albert.

Brown family wedding, possibly Thomas & Clara’s wedding in 1919

In 1910, at the age of 28, Thomas was a witness at his younger brother Albert’s wedding to Miss Fanny Swallow. Fanny was the third of six sisters: Amy, Ethel, Fanny, Clara, Ida and Elsie. Ten years later in December 1919, by then aged nearly 40, he married Fanny’s younger sister Clara.

My Dad and I are currently playing photo detective with a couple of wedding photos. I’m sure Thomas’ older brother (my great-grandfather) Michael is the man in the black hat – he was obviously very fond of that hat as he’s wearing it in other photos! So there we go, another photo of Michael, and also perhaps my great-grandmother Sallie next to him, although in most of her photos she looks wistful rather than happy so I’m not 100% sure.

And I think that Thomas may be the groom, although I would appreciate views of any historical clothes experts out there in case it’s actually the 1910 wedding of Albert and Fanny. Although two of the men are in military uniform they were reservists so would have had uniforms before the war.

Like Albert Thomas worked in the clothing industry, unlike warehouseman Albert, Thomas worked as a clothier’s cloth cutter.

I don’t know what happened to them after their wedding, no clue!

First published: https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/thomas-henderson-brown/

#52Ancestors #49 Albert E Brown, clothiers’ clerk and soldier

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Albert Brown, the youngest of six sons of Joseph and Alice Brown. He was born in Newcastle in 1884 but by the age of 6 the family had ’emigrated’ to Yorkshire and he was living in Leeds, so perhaps he had a hybrid accent.

His wife Fanny was the third of six daughters of a commercial traveller and book keeper called Fred Swallow. Fred and his wife Ann (nee Holdroyd) seem to have travelled round a lot after their childhood and marriage in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Attestation of Albert E Brown witnessed by BSM Michael Brown

By 1901 Albert was 16 and working as a clothiers’ clerk. However, like his brothers, he saw service in the army. At the age of 24 in 1909, whilst working as a stockman for J Hepworth & Sons he attested for four years service with the Royal Field Artillary, 151st West Riding Brigade. I was looking at his sloping-back signature when I noticed that the witnessing signature on the line below was that of his older brother BSM Michael Brown, my great-grandfather. Well that should have made it easy for Michael to be sure that Albert’s information was accurate!

The following year Albert and Fanny married in Leeds, with Albert’s older brother Thomas as one of the witnesses. Their honeymoon baby Mona was born a month before the 1911 census.

Albert was working as a stock-keeper and warehouseman by the time his daughter was born. However during the first world war Albert was away with the 49th Divisional Company, Royal Field Artillary in France.

My grand-father’s hand-drawn family tree notes that Albert died in 1980, I don’t know when Fanny passed away.

© Text copyright Lynne Black 7 December 2014
First published: https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/albert-e-brown/

#52Ancestors #48 James Denholm Brown and Ellen Howell

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James and Ellen Brown and family

James was born in Newcastle in early 1878 and grew up in its Byker area with his parents and five brothers.

His father Joseph was a carpet fitter, but had previously been a soldier, like James’ two older brothers JJ Hedley and Michael. His mother Alice had been a domestic servant before her marriage. James had three younger brothers, William, Thomas and Albert.

James was working as an office boy by the time he was 13. By the time he was 21 in 1899 he was working as a clerk.

Runaway Horse story, Yorkshire Evening Post 1894, from FindMyPast’s British Library Board’s records

He married Ellen Howell in St John’s Parish Church, Leeds that year; she was the daughter of the late James Edward Harvey Howell, a cab proprietor (see newspaper story). The 1891 census intriguingly stated her occupation at the age of 16 as a school teacher, but her wedding certificate did not enter a profession against her name. James’ older brother Michael was a witness, as was Ellen’s younger sister Ada and a Henry Howell.

James and Ellen had their first daughter Alice in 1900, a Victorian; Hedley Harvey born in September 1901 and Dorothy, who arrived in 1905, were born in King Edward VII’s reign. In 1901 and 1911 James was working as a woollen manufacturer’s clerk; Dorothy’s baptism record in 1905 describes him as a cashier.

During the war James served as a Lance Corporal in the 14th Northumberland Fusiliers, and was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

In 1931 he was the witness at his daughter Dorothy’s marriage to Cyril Short in St Stephen’s Church, Leeds. Dorothy was working as a typist when she married, I always like it when I find out women’s occupations outside the home. His son Hedley married Constance Pickard in 1936; I don’t know the end of their sister Alice’s story.

James died on 1 March 1964 at the grand old age of 86. I suspect Ellen died before him as she wasn’t named in his will.

https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/james-d-brown/

#52Ancestors #47 J J Hedley Brown, acting with distinction in the Boer War

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J J Hedley Brown

John James Hedley Brown was the oldest of six brothers who grew up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland. He was the older brother of my great-grandfather Michael. Their father Joseph had been a soldier before becoming a carpet-seller, and so far I’ve discovered 5 of the 6 brothers also served in the Army.

Hedley’s preferred name was his mother’s maiden name – Alice Hedley was English but had grown up in Scotland. But hers is a different story.

The 1891 census finds Hedley working as a clerk – woollen [manufacturer?] However in 1892, aged 18 years and 9 months, he attested as a Private in the 3rd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment. He was 5′ 9″ weighing almost 9st, of fresh complexion with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

I’ve come across a significant number of events in Hedley’s life from exploring the military records.

In 1893 he joined the Royal Engineers, by then he had a scar on his right eyebrow and his right forearm. In 1895 Hedley was stationed down in Portsmouth. One day when off duty, he and another soldier were setting up some goalposts, when out of a silent sky flew a golf ball, hitting him on the head behind his left ear and knocking him to the ground. He felt groggy but carried on, but quarter of an hour later he returned to the barracks and was carried to the hospital. There was an enquiry – no-one had been heard to shout a warning when teeing off. The golfer had offered compensation immediately after Hedley had been struck but Hedley turned it down, but the golfer then promised to cover the costs of his engineer pay lost while Hedley was in hospital. The medical notes say that it “will not in all probability affect his future efficiency as a soldier” Fortunately this proved to be the case.

In March 1900 he was promoted to Corporal, promoted to Serjeant in December 1900, became Mecht Staff Serjeant in August 1901. In March 1904 he was re-engaged to complete 21 years service. In January 1905 he reverted at his own request to Sergt; in December 1905 he was promoted again to QMSjt [Quartermaster Serjeant]. In July 1908 he became QMSgt (Instructor) and promoted again to Sergt Major in August 1911. In 1912 he was transferred and appointed Sgt Maj (Instructor).

An extract from [Boer War] Army Orders from Pretoria, South Africa, dated 16 July 1901 was also included in Hedley’s file:

The G.O.C-in-C has been pleased to sanction the promotion of the under-mentioned NCOs and men for distinguished gallantry in the field.
13 December 1900. Seach Light Section, R.E. to the Serjeant.
On 13th Decr 1900, proceeded alone, though the Boers held all the intermediate country strongly, to repair the telegraph line from Rietfontein and Rustenburg, and got it through. Also for conspicuous courage in blowing up a mill under heavy fire.

The report of the gallantry of these N/C/Os has been received with much satisfaction and has been duly noted. A Corps Order is enclosed herewith confirming these promotions.

This then had earned Hedley the promotion from which he later reverted; he was 26 and maybe didn’t feel ready.

There are also records of Hedley becoming increasingly skilled as an electrician – Skilled in July 1894, Superior in December 1894 and Very Superior [great title!] in March 1896.

The military records also mention that in 1902 he’d married Florence Roberts in Leeds, his brother Michael was witness at their wedding, and that together they had 3 children: Florence Mary, William Hedley and Eric.

I found another mention of of Hedley in the British Newspaper Archive. In November 1933 there was a public appeal for a new hospital in Leeds, Hedley had made a contribution which was specified in the Yorkshire Post.

Hedley died in the spring of 1953.

© Text and photo copyright Lynne Black 23 November 2014
First published: https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/j-j-hedley-brown/

#52Ancestors #46 William Hindmarsh Brown – facing the tiniest of foes

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Bermuda at sunset, photo by DPA Watts, Morguefiles

Like his father Joseph and older brothers Michael and Hedley, William had been drawn to the military life.

Although William was born circa October 1879 in Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne, he’d moved to Leeds with his family before the age of 12. His father Joseph Brown was a soldier and later a carpet fitter; his mother Alice, nee Hedley, had worked as a domestic servant before marriage.

In his teens William joined the Volunteer Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment. Many of his brothers were clerks but William’s education was noted as ‘2^nd class’ [nice!] and perhaps the idea of sitting in an office wasn’t appealing. He must have enjoyed his time in the Regiment as on 10 September 1897, in Halifax, he enlisted with the Royal Engineers and in early 1898 was posted as a sapper.

William was a fairly tall lad of 5’ 8½”, of fair complexion with brown hair and blue eyes. Intriguingly he’s recorded as having scars on both knees.

William was posted to Bermuda, where he arrived in December 1898. His records (found via FindMyPast) show him as receiving a slight injury to his right hand which probably frustrated him an engineer and soldier.

However it wasn’t that which defeated him in November 1902, it was something still feared by millions: typhoid.

We have a family record of his memorial card which was handed down through his brother Michael’s family to my dad, William’s great-nephew. It reads:

In Loving Memory of
William Hindmarsh Brown
(3rd Company, Royal Engineers,)
The beloved son of Joseph and Alice Brown
Who Departed this life, Thursday November 20th, 1902 Aged 23 years

The last post has sounded:
the solder sleeps
Till the night is ended
And the morning breaks

William was interred in one of the cemeteries at St George’s parish in Bermuda, info on these available at http://bermuda-online.org/britishmilitarygravesbda.htm and http://bermuda-online.org/britarmy.htm

© Lynne Black, 17 November 2014
First published: https://starryblackness.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/william-hindmarsh-brown/

#52Ancestors #45 BSM Michael Brown, Inspector of Postmen

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Sgt Michael Brown c1906

Michael Brown is my great-grandfather. My Dad knew him, and was evacuated to his house during the war where he recollects Michael would listen intently to the war news on the radio, but Michael died long before my time.

He was the son of Joseph Brown and Alice nee Hedley and was born in 1876, the second of six brothers. These were Hedley, James, William, Thomas and Albert and four of these six I know to have been in the army. All were born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, but at some point in the late 1880s the family moved to Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Michael was a sharp-shooter in the army cadets and we have a collection of newspaper reports such as this one about inter-Brigade shooting competitions.

Shooting match report, 4 November 1899, Yorkshire Post

He became a reservist and served in the 69th (West Riding) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. I have a huge amount of information about Michael’s military career thanks to my dad who’s doing a fantastic job learning about the various horrific battles and near-death situations Michael survived.

Hopefully we’ll get it made up into a book, so I’ll not go into too much detail.

Image of paragraph listing DCM information

Information about Michael Brown’s award of the DCM

However I will just share this: Michael was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1918 “when the battery came into action direct from a very long and trying march, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.” Sadly the medals are no longer in our possession, they were sold at Christies as part of a package which included a photo of Michael marching at the head of his battery. Maybe the photo will suddenly display on a WW1 website or magazine.

My great-grandmother, Sarah E Halliday

Michael’s other, civilian, life-long profession was that of postman. By the age of 16 in 1891 he was working as a telegraph boy in Leeds and by 1901 was the town postman.

He married Sarah Emmaline Halliday in 1902. ‘Sallie’ had been born in Leeds but was descended from a Gateshead family. They had one child, William ‘Bill’ Halliday Brown, in 1905.

In 1911 the census records his occupation as “Town Postman Acting As Asst Inspector Of Telegraph Messengers”. After the war they continued to live in Leeds and by 1931 when Bill married, Michael was the Inspector of Postmen. In 1936, or just after, he and his fellow post office workers were awarded the King’s Silver Jubilee Medal.

Michael was clearly very loyal to his regiment as in April 1939 he obtained permission to open a recruiting office in Roundhay Road to recruit to the 69th (West Riding) Field Regiment R.A. (T.A.).

Michael died in London in 1951, a year after his wife Sallie; they had been staying with Bill and Phyllis who’d been taking care of them.

#52Ancestors #44 Joseph Brown, soldier and carpet fitter

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Font at St Mary's Church in Ponteland, Northumberland

Font at St Mary’s Church, Ponteland, Northumberland

Joseph Brown, my Great-Great Grandfather was born c 1838 in Ponteland, Northumberland, shortly after Queen Victoria came to the throne. He was baptised in November 1838, in this old stone font in St Mary’s Church. He was one of 7 children of Joseph Brown, a horse-breaker, and himself grew up on the land with the 1851 census finding him as a 13-year-old agricultural labourer.

However like many of the northern-England ancestors I’ve been checking out recently he makes a change of career and joins the army. The 1861 census finds him down in the North Camp at Aldershot, Hampshire, a Private with the 45th Foot (Nottinghamshire) Regiment.

Extract from record reading ‘Deserter with Protecting Certificate’

I would be interested to know where Joseph was in 1871, perhaps overseas, as I’ve not been able to find him on the census. I did find this entry from 1872 when he leaves the army, marked as ‘Deserter with Protecting Certificate’. Initially shocked then confused, I wonder what could have happened to him to have him leave the army suddenly in this way yet not be discredited for his life back home.

He married his English wife, Alice Hedley, on 20 August 1872 in Byker, where she was newly returned from childhood and domestic service in Edinburgh.

Together they had six children – all boys – four of whom also went into the military in some capacity, so whatever his experiences there doesn’t seem to be family apathy or dislike of military life. They were John Joseph Hedley, Michael, James Denholm, William Hindmarsh, Thomas Henderson and Albert Edward and I’ll tell some of their stories in the next few weeks.

I have done a fair bit of searching for the maiden name of his mother Jane – so far fruitless – and the names Denholm, Hindmarsh and Henderson were prime suspects. Denholm, however, appears to be from his brother-in-law James Jervie Denholm, who married his youngest sister Elizabeth. Henderson is the married surname of Alice’s sister Mary. Hindmarsh is still unaccounted for, so fingers crossed….

The 1881 census finds Joseph and Alice, with their first four sons, living in Byker, Northumberland, with Joseph working as a ‘Carpets upshot planner’, but by 1891 he’s found in Leeds, West Yorkshire, working as a carpet planner. He had retired by the time of the 1911 census.

Joseph died in summer 1920, back in Newcastle Upon Tyne registration district. Alice lived on a further 3 years until early 1924, when she died in Leeds.

#52Ancestors #43 Joseph Brown 1st – Horse-breaker of Bellingham

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St Cuthbert’s Church, Bellingham

Joseph Brown, my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, was baptised in Bellingham in April 1800. He was at least the third generation to live in that Northumberland village.

He married a girl called Jane from Ellington/Allington, Northumberland and they had their first child, Michael in 1823, who was baptised in Bellingham, in this ancient church with its ‘almost unique in England’ barrel roof.

One of my favourite things about Joseph is that when Michael was baptised the family were living in a place called Boggle Hole. Boggle Hole. Brilliant. In terms of place names that’s very hard to beat. I think it may have been where Bellingham Golf Club is now sited, or perhaps Hole Bastle. One to check out.

The other thing I love about Joseph’s life is that I know his precise occupation: more specifically than being an Ag. Lab. he was a horse-breaker, conjuring up images of him working in fields and courtyards. Overly romantic images of him working with horses in early morning Northumberland mists probably, but hey ho, they’re my images and better than picturing the lives of some of my other ancestors who worked in some pretty grim conditions down mines.

He and Jane went on to have 6 more children: Jane, Margaret, Elizabeth, Barbara, Joseph (my ancestor) and William. They moved east to what is now Newcastle-upon-Tyne, living in Cox Lodge and Elswick. Jane died in 1874; Joseph 7 years later in summer 1881.

This summer we’d hoped to go to Leeds, Yorkshire, to have a look in the villages where my Yorkshire ancestors lived. That didn’t work out as the weekend we needed coincided with the Tour de France and the only rooms left were unaffordable.

So we ended up in Northumberland, staying at the beautiful Leazes Head near Hexham. And I’m so glad we did; Northumberland was beautiful, and in family history terms it was also going back to my roots, seeing the villages and the old churches where they would have worshipped, maybe the pub we went to would have taken their money too. But I haven’t traced far enough back to confirm that any of the goods found at Hadrian’s Wall or the unbelievably vast Vindolanda Roman fort & village were family heirlooms!

Bellingham has a Heritage Centre which we visited, and I got to try on old 17th century armour and wave round a pike (much to my son’s embarrassment). I found out that my distant relatives, Dodds and Armstrongs may have been descended from border reiver clans. Hmmm. And I did chat with Rob who works in the centre and was really helpful; I hadn’t known that there was a big network of railways, but it tied into some of the history of my family. Great few days altogether!

#52Ancestors #15: William Halliday Brown, seeing the world through music

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William Halliday Brown, c 1930

It’s my grandfather William ‘Bill’ Halliday Brown’s birthday this week, 12th April. He was born in 1905 in Leeds, the son of Michael Brown and Sarah Emmeline Halliday. He lived about 10 miles from me when I grew up and we would go visit him and my granny Phyllis Brown nee Broadbent on Sundays.

They lived in a bungalow, with paintings by Granny on the walls, a coffee table she made in the living room, and in the garden a bank of black-current bushes covered in netting to keep off the birds.

What I associated with Grandad, however, were different: a garage full of drawers of wires, springs, wheels and cogs which would put Wallace to shame, a freshly-baked [by Grandad] sponge or Battenburg cake every time, and his piano. I remember he would occasionally do a little tap routine in the style of Fred Astaire, his hero, and I sort of vaguely knew he had been a pianist on cruise ships once, although I didn’t quite get that grandparents could have been young at all ever, so I pictured him doing it at his current age.

When I said to Dad that I wanted to feature Grandad this week he sent me through a mini-biography and I was intrigued to hear, now I’m old enough to appreciate it, how he had played piano on various cruise ships for four years until he married, finishing his time on the ships with a cruise with star passengers: The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and Prince George, [the Duke of Kent rather than the later King George VI who had been called Prince Albert]. In later years Grandad would work as a pianist in the evenings to supplement his income.

Wiki even mentions the cruise in the Prince’s entry:
“From January to April 1931 Prince George and his elder brother the Prince of Wales travelled 18,000 miles on a tour of South America, voyaging out on the ocean liner SS Oropesa and returning via Paris and an Imperial Airways flight from Paris–Le Bourget Airport that landed specially in Windsor Great Park.”

Havana welcomes Prince of Wales; Prince George as Ship’s Pianist, Dundee Courier, 2 Feb 1931, reproduced with permission of BNA

At the weekend I discovered that there is currently a really good month-long subscription offer at the British Newspaper Archive so decided to go for it. Having the name of that last ship, the Oropesa, I searched for that and discovered a host of jolly fun stories about the Princes and their 18,000 mile trade trip to the Caribbean and South America, their time on board and the enthusiastic receptions they received in Jamaica and Peru. My favourite story didn’t actually mention Bill Brown by name, but I love this paragraph:

“Prince George, who is an accomplished pianist, has on several evenings during the voyage played accompaniments for songs by other passengers, giving much enjoyment to everyone.” [Dundee Courier, 2 February 1931]

I can just picture Grandad doing his Fred Astaire flourish moving aside for the Prince to take his seat at the piano. He kept a journal but didn’t go into detail, just pretty much the cruise start and finish dates – no royal insider gossip there.

I’ll try at some point to find out more about the Oropesa and the other ships he played on, and see if they have photos, but I get the impression that the cruise line no longer operates. Maybe some royal photo archive would have photos from the ship’s lounge? I’ll also try some of the hotels that he worked in after returning to the UK to settle down in late 1931.

Follow-up:
A have found this rather stilted conversation between the Princes and the Captain:

And this one about their visit to the Argentine:

What I did find disconcerting about the archive papers in comparison with the modern papers is that stories could be in an almost random order at time, with the big names and items given the same column space as day-to-day stories. For example, on 31 January 1931, under a story about the Princes’ trip, there was three column inches of “More Cotton Mills Close, 250,000 Operatives Now Out of Work” then the same amount of space for “More Rain – Weather Prospects This Week-end”. Back to the real world.

So I would really recommend trying the British Newspaper Archives offer, to look for a glimpse of what happened to shape your family’s lives, whether it be cruises with princes or life-changing events that affect thousands of people in the population. Even if you don’t have such an unusual search term, it lets you choose a likely publication (for me the Yorkshire Post) by year, month and date and just browse…