Another find in old newspaper. 

I first wrote about my grandmother Edith Butler in 1912 Edith Butler

This newspaper story is a sad one which is often on my mind.  This article is from a Sheffield Newspaper and was written to advertise an insurance policy they offered at that time.  My mum was only 3 so too young to know anything about the story at that time and knew very little as she got older. She always said that her dad must have loved her mum so much that he wouldn't talk about her as it upset him too much.  I wouldn't have know any of this either if not for the Sheffield Daily Independent  dated Tuesday 17th November 1925. 

Such a sad thing to happen to anyone but he was a man who had fought and suffered gassing in the trenches in World War 1.  Nothing was known about PTSD at that time but I would think that must have been affecting him.  He had not been married long and must have just been starting to get over it with a new home and a small daughter in their lives.  Then this tragedy hits.  Luckily both him and Edith had very supportive families nearby to take care of my mum Kathleen.  He did marry again when Kathleen was 5  and she went back to live with him and his lovely new wife Evelyn who I always knew as grandma. 

Second cousins once removed, May and Beryl Ingham

I have blogged about May and Beryl before in April 2012 https://sheilasancestralthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/04/beryl-ingham.html. 

They were a clog dancing duo from Lancashire in the early years of the 20th century century and my 2nd cousins once removed on my dad's side of the family. 

I've recently been spending a lot of time searching old newspapers online to see if I can find any interesting articles to add to my family history.  What I already knew was that Beryl was  married to George Formby and knew a lot about her from a biography of George (George Formby a Troubled Genius),written by David Bret. 

I found a couple of articles about the marriages of the sisters.  The first to be married was Beryl who, at the age of 23, was the youngest sister to marry in September 1924.

May married at the age of 27 in November 1926

The sisters had previously had their names in the newspaper in 1920 and had appeared in theatres all over Lancashire after this.

 Ann Selina Mycock  (21st August 1848 - 12th May 1927)

Ann Selina Mycock was my paternal great grandmother.  She was born in the middle of the 19th century and lived well into the 20th century to the age of 78 which was a good age for that period. 

She had 14 children but sadly not all survived infancy.  The family lived in the village of Romiley from the middle of the 1880s which is where I was born and brought up.

I accidentally came across the following article from a local newspaper whilst doing some family history research.

It's not surprising to learn she had so many grandchildren who would all be my dad's cousins.  I wonder if he knew them all?  I doubt there would have been birthday cards and presents all round on birthdays and at Christmas.  I don't think it was the thing in those days and she wasn't a wealthy lady.  

Would have been lovely to know her but even my dad wouldn't have remembered her well as she died on the day before his 7th birthday.  I only knew a handful of the people listed in the article but remember them fondly. 

 Another sad story from my meanderings.  It's almost 25 years now since I started my family history research.  It brought me back in touch with my cousin Valerie Whitby who emigrated to Australia in 1968.  

I found out that she had been involved in the same hobby for a few years by then.  She passed on information to me along with little snippets of information from her mother Nora who was my dad's sister.  Sadly my dad died in 1969 so I was unable to learn about the family from him. 

This is the story about one of my paternal grandmother Sarah Mycock's elder sisters Hannah.  Hannah was 5 years older than Sarah being born in 1875. 

Hannah married Herbert Cubitt on 13th September 1902 in Stockport. Witnesses to the marriage were her sister Sarah and Berties Cheetham. Berties was either Sarah's boyfriend or fiance as she later married him the following year.

Herbert and Hannah had 3 children, Fred born 5th April 1903 Mary Edith born 17th September 1904 and Millicent born 29th October 1907.  

The sad story from  my aunty Nora was that Fred drowned in the canal in the village of Romiley where they lived.  Today while looking through old newspaper records I searched for Fred.  

On 18th September 1918, 15 year old Fred and some other boys, who were on a breakfast break from their work at Chadkirk Print works in Romiley, were playing football when their ball went into the river Goyt which was flowing fast due to flooding.  Fred went into the river to retrieve the ball but was carried away by the fast flowing water.  Another boy Peter Beswick jumped in to attempt to rescue him and was almost carried away too.   Sadly he was unable to rescue Fred.

The newspaper article I read was about an award made to Peter for his very brave attempt to rescue Fred.   He receive a certificate and a very handsome watch.

Very tragic for the family but the sad part to me is that there is nobody left of the family to remember Fred.  Both his sisters lived to a good age but neither had any children so that line of the family ended.

I knew both ladies well but don't remember them ever speaking of Fred.  They were my dad's cousins and I always called them aunty.  Aunty Edie was my godmother and I used to like spending time at her house listening to her gramophone in the late 1950s.  Her favourite record was Softly Softly by Ruby Murray. I used to stay there in my early teens when I didn't want to go on holiday with Dad and mum.

I didn't see aunty Millie as often but  one memory is of the corner shop near her house always comes to mind when I watch Open all Hours.  Her husband, uncle Norman, was a policeman and he was very tall.  She made a lovely potato hash with left over turkey at Christmas.

• World War 1 Family Loss

I often wander off  from searching for direct ancestors and so discover family stories rather than just names.  This is sad story I discovered accidentally. 

His mother Mary Emma Swindells was a sister of my grandmother Sarah Ann Cox. This means that William Swindells was my first cousin once removed.

I assume he died following injury in a WW1 battle but don't know which or how to find out but I will start searching.  

There are no family members left to ask about it.  My dad, who died in 1969 wasn't even born when this happened so he never knew his  cousin.

Didn't take me long to find out that he died in action in France and Flanders.  So sad!