March for the Monarchy

This week I thought I’d give you a list of all the births, marriages, deaths, burials and coronations that have occurred for the Monarchs and Consorts of England, Scotland and the United Kingdom.

1st:

Birth month, or it could be April, of future Queen Margaret of Scotland, 1283, Tonsberg, Norway.

Margaret Maid of Norway. Attributed: By Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=18837762

Birth of future Queen Consort Caroline of Ansbach, 1683, Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire. Consort of King George II.

2nd:

Death of Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, 1619, Hampton Court Palace. Consort of King James VI.

Death of Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, 1619, Hampton Court Palace. Consort of King James VI.

Birth of future King Robert II of Scotland, 1316, Paisley Abbey.

3rd:

Death of Queen Consort Matilda of Bolougne, 1152, Hedingham Castle, Essex. Consort of King Stephen.

4th:

Death of Queen Consort Joan of England, 1238, Havering-Atte-Bower, England. Consort of King Alexander II of Scotland.

Coronation of Queen Consort Phillipa of Hainault, 1330, Westminster Abbey. Consort of King Edward III.

Reign 1 ends of King Henry VI after being deposed, 1461.

Reign 1 ends of Queen Consort Margaret of Anjou, 1461. Consort of King Henry VI.

Reign 1 begins of King Edward IV, 1461.

5th:

Birth of future King Henry II, 1133, Le Mans, France.

Burial of Queen Mary II, 1695, Westminster Abbey.

6th:

Burial 1 of King Richard II, 1400, Kings Langley. Moved to Westminster Abbey in 1413.

8th:

Death of King William III, 1702, Kensington Palace.

Reign begins of Queen Anne, 1702.

Reign begins of Consort Prince George of Denmark, 1702.

10th:

Marriage of King Edward VII to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, 1863, St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

16th:

Death of Queen Consort Anne Neville, 1485, Westminster. Consort of King Richard III.

17th:

Death of King Lulach of Scotland, 1058, Essie.

Birth of future King James IV, 1473, Stirling Castle.

19th:

Death of King Alexander II of Scotland, 1286, Kinghorn Ness, Fife.

End of reign of Queen Yolande of Dreux, 1236, consort of King Alexander II of Scotland.

Reign begins of Queen Margaret of Scotland, 1236.

20th:

Divorce of King David II of Scotland from Margaret Drummond, 1370

Reign ends of Scottish Queen Consort Margaret Drummond, 1370.

Death of King Henry IV, 1413, Westminster.

Reign ends of Queen Consort Joan of Navarre, 1413. Consort of King Henry IV.

21st:

Reign begins of King Henry V, 1413.

Death of former King Henry VI, 1471, Tower of London.

The Tower of London. Image courtesy of ancestryimages.com

22nd:

Coronation of Queen Consort Matilda of Bolougne, 1136, Consort of King Stephen.

23rd:

Birth of future Queen Consort Margaret of Anjou, 1430, Pont-A-Mousson, Lorraine, France. Consort of King Henry VI.

24th:

Death of Queen Elizabeth, 1603, Richmond Palace, Surrey.

Reign begins of King James VI, 1603.

Reign begins of Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, 1603, Consort of King James VI.

Death of Dowager Queen Consort Mary of Teck, 1953, Marlborough House, London. Consort of King George V.

25th:

Approximate start of the reign of King Malcolm II of Scotland 1005

Reign begins of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, 1306.

Reign begins of Queen Consort Elizabeth de Burgh, 1306, Consort of King Robert I.

Coronation of King Robert I, 1306.

Coronation of Queen Consort Elizabeth de Burgh, 1306, Consort of King Robert 1.

Coronation of King James II of Scotland, 1437, Holyrood Abbey.

Burial of Queen Consort Anne Neville, 1485, Westminster Abbey. Consort of King Richard III.

26th:

Possible birth date of the future King Malcolm III, 1031, Scotland.

Coronation of King Robert II of Scotland, 1371.

Coronation of Queen Consort Eupemia de Ross, 1371. Consort of King Robert II.

Burial of King Richard III, 2015, Leicester Cathedral.

27th:

Death of King James VI, 1625, Theobalds House.

Death of King James VI, 1625, Theobalds House.

Reign begins of King Charles I, 1625.

Reign begins of King Charles I, 1625.

29th:

Burial of King Alexander III, 1286, Dunfermline Abbey.

30th:

Death of Dowager of Queen Consort Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons, 2002, Royal Lodge, Windsor.

31st:

Burial of Dowager Queen Consort Mary of Teck, 1953, St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

So that’s March covered for you.

New ways to track your ancestors

As we’ve all got to stay home and avoid social contact I thought I’d tell you about a genealogy idea I’ve had.

I was thinking the other day about different ways to record my ancestors. I was looking at a blank family tree and wondered if I could use this for chart for other purposes. There great for just having the names of your ancestors on but what else can they be used for.

Different way to use a blank tree

So I started by using the tree as a way to record the places where my ancestors were born. I followed the tree as you would usually complete it only adding where they were born rather than their names. This way I can track the migration of my ancestors. As you can see they moved around a lot. It gives you an indication as to the towns and cities they were in at birth. It shows all the moves your ancestor had to make to get to you.

I decided to take this further and use the same tree but I just used the counties my ancestors were from instead.

This is more of use if you’re showing your tree to others. You may know where places are but others may not. For example I wouldn’t imagine many people know where Tottington is, (or was as it is now on a military restricted zone). So if you use the counties method then you can see that Tottington is in Norfolk.

So I decided to follow this method and use it for where my ancestors died. It allows you see at a glance where you ancestors died and thus gives you a reminder as to where to search for their burials and death notices. You can also use the same method with counties.

Death place tree by place and county

Now here is where the trees can be used side by side. If you compare them you can see how your ancestor moved around the country. You could also modify the tree to show where your ancestors got married. This could give you a better view of where your ancestors moved around the country.

How about using the tree to record how your ancestors died. If you substitute a name for a cause of death then you can see at a glance how all your ancestors died as well as showing any patterns within families which could show and hereditary illnesses.

You could also make the boxes larger and combine all the information into one tree. So for example you would have your ancestor’s name, place of birth, marriage place, death location and cause of death. This would make the tree rather large, but it could be possible to do if you draw your own, or use excel like I did.

It’s not just trees you could do this with. You could use a fan chart in the same way. This would mean you could get more ancestors in one place and can see more trends throughout your ancestors. As the fan chart goes further out the boxes get much small so they can be more difficult to write in so you could use colours, numbers or shadings for each county or place. So in the case of Yorkshire you could use a different shade of blue per county, for example light blue for South Yorkshire, a mid blue for West Yorkshire, dark blue for North Yorkshire and denim blue for East Yorkshire. As long as you make sure to use a key you can use whatever you like.

So why not experiment with the charts and forms you use and try and find new and interesting ways to use them and honour you ancestors.

Happy Birthday Isabella Mayson

Know I bet your thinking what is she on about? Who is Isabella Mayson? Well you may know her better by her married name of Isabella Beeton.

Isabella Mary Beeton nee Mayson

Isabella Mary Mayson was born in London on the 14^th March 1836 to Benjamin Mayson and his wife Elizabeth Jerrom. She had 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. When she was 4 her father died and she went to live with her grandfather. She eventually went back to live with her mother. When she was 7 her mother married Henry Dorling the clerk of Epsom race course. Henry had 4 children of his own so it was a large family living at the race course. It got even bigger after Elizabeth and Henry had 13 more children. This taught Isabella a lot about running a large household and raising a family. To be honest most days must have been crowed control in the Mayson Dorling household. Isabella spent time at boarding schools in London and Germany and it was in Germany she began an interest in pastry which continued when she returned to Epsom.

Isabella married Samuel Orchart Beeton in July 1855 at St Martin’s Church, Epsom. Samuel was a publisher who made his fortune publishing Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Samuel encouraged Isabella to write for the women’s magazines of the day including The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. It was in the magazine that she encouraged women to send in their recipes which they published, usually unsourced. Isabella also translated French texts and had a cooker column. Isabella also had a column in the new magazine The Queen, The Ladies newspaper.

It was in 1861 that Isabella published her most famous work the Book of Household Management through her husband’s publishing house. The book was 1112 pages long and in the first year sold over 60,000 copies. All the aspiring women wanted a copy. The book held a wealth of information in it. The book held around 900 recipes most of which were the ones that were sent into The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. The book also gave information on how to run the household including how to manage the servants and look after the animals of the house. She also advocates the use of in season produce. There is also information on basic first aid and poisons. I’m not sure if it’s how to uses them or how to avoid them. Mind you the way I cook if it explained how to survive my food then it could help. Later editions of the book included pictures and the book is still in print today.

Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management

Isabella continued her work in the magazines and with her book throughout her marriage as well as being a mother. She gave birth to 4 sons and had several miscarriages. Her first son Samuel Orchart Beeton was born in May 1857 but he died in August the same year. Her second son Samuel Orchart Beeton was born in September 1859 and he died on New Year’s Eve of the same year. The couple’s third child was born in December 1863 and he was named Orchart Beeton and he lived until the age of 83 in 1947. Their final child was Mayson Moss Beeton who was born in January 1865 and he also died in 1947 aged 82. It may be that Isabella’s husband had syphilis when the couple married and it was this that caused the miscarriages.

Isabella died on the 6^th February 1865 aged 28 just 9 days after giving birth to Mayson. She died from puerperal fever or childbed fever. This is a bacterial infection and is similar to sepsis. It’s the same thing Queen Jane Seymour died from.

So just think how many of your ancestors have read this book since it was published in 1861. Did my great, great grandmothers pick up a book? I can just see Charlotte Weeds nee Voyce in her cottage in Norfolk with the book or Louisa Dent nee Payling in the Red Lion in Wisbech. How about Jane Jessop nee Wood cooking up a storm in Barnsley waiting for her slater husband to come home. How about Grace Elshaw nee Moor cooking for her family and running the household waiting for her forger son in law to come home. I may never know if they read it but maybe they did.

World Book Day

Today is world book day to promote reading especially in kids. These days we pick up our e reader and download the latest books or go to the book shop and get our hands on a proper book. We have books everywhere from the libraries to the shelves at home. We read everything from a good murder mystery to a political thriller to a good paranormal book. But what were our ancestors reading?

Now for me it would be a great paranormal book full of werewolves and vampires. But then there are the great books that combine genealogy, history and mystery. I love 2 series of these book, the Morton Farrier books by Nathan Dylan Goodwin and the Steve Robinson series based around Jefferson Tayte. There are more series out there but these are my favourite. Then there’s a good history book whether fact or fiction. I’m a fan of anything by Phillipa Gregory and Alison Weir.

In 1950 one of the best selling books was Animal Farm by Orson Wells (I prefer Orson’s farm the cartoon series). The book is basically a look at what was happening in 1940’s Europe told through the eyes of animals portraying the main political figures. For the younger reader the frankly excellent The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis was published. This is the story of 4 evacuated children who enter another world through a wardrobe and the side of good under the command of Aslan the Lion take on the evil side of the Witch.

If we go further back to 1900 the grownups could pick up a copy of The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud and for the kids it was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum. I’ll admit I’ve never read either but they were all the rage at the time. Maybe my Great Grandparents or Great, Great Grandparents picked up a copy.

In 1890 you could read the latest Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (he wasn’t knighted until 1902) or for the kids there was English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. This was a collection of fairy tales including some well-known ones such as Jack and the Beanstalk and less known ones such as The Fish and the Ring. If you’re interested you can read the book here: https://archive.org/details/englishfairytale00jaco

Let’s go back to 1880 where our ancestors may have settled down to read the latest Mark Twain A Tramp Abroad or for the little ones Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio.

Now in 1870 one of the most famous nursery rhymes was written in the Owl and the Pussycat. For the older reader they could read the latest by the French writer Jules Verne. They could descend under the waves on board the Nautilus and attempt to find the sea monster through Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.

Jules Verne

The 1860’s saw Wilkie Collins publish the novel the Woman in White which was a good old who done it. If this wasn’t our ancestor’s bag then maybe they would have reached for the new novel by George Eliot The Mill on the Floss which follows the lives of 2 siblings as they grow up.

1850 would have seen people reading for David Copperfield (the book not a person) by Charles Dickens and in 1840 Edgar Allan Poe published his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque which was a collection of short stories.

1830 saw the publishing of the novel The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck by Mary Shelley which considered that Perkin Warbeck was actually Richard of York the second son of King Edward IV. For the children why not the Chronicles of a School Room by Anna Maria Hall.

Back in 1820 the novel of the year was Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott which is set in medieval Scotland in the 12^th century. 1810 could have seen your ancestor’s reading the latest by Percy Bysshe Shelley entitled Zastrozzi which is a romance set in Germany.

Now some of these books are still loved today by some even if they just know the books by film and TV adaptations but they do still live on and can be read by us today.

I suppose what we should remember in all this is that we have access to books and we can all read them when we want. This wasn’t a luxury our ancestors may have had. They may not have been able to read and books would have been too expensive for them to buy. The central library in Sheffield didn’t open until 1934 so before then you would have to buy your books. So this world book day why not settle down with a book you’ve being bursting to read and lose yourself in the pages. Now will it be Freddy the Frog, Don’t Forget the Bacon or Eric Carle’s seminal work The Very Hungry Caterpillar!