rosneath

One of my interests is family history but I seem to have hit brick walls in some lines.  I use all the usual websites for help but still haven’t got anywhere so I thought I might list the ‘blocks’ on here and see if any ring a bell!

Maternal ancestors

Walter Davidson b? d 1748 married twice.  He was a farmer in Kennethmont Aberdeenshire.  My family is descended from the first marriage but no-one can find her name!  It seems the minister of the parish at the time did not record her name at the children’s baptism.  No marriage recorded anywhere we can trace either.  One son fought and died at Waterloo.  The second marriage was in 1735 to Elizabeth Clerk and I have been in contact with her descendants.

Edmund Cotter b 1795 d 1870s was whisked away from Youghal Co. Cork age 3 to avoid the repercussions and reprisals of the 1798 Rebellion.  His father was supposedly hanged for being a United Irishman but this name and his mother’s are unknown. He was apprenticed as a tailor in London around 1810 and at some point changed his name to Edward Cotter but no record of the apprenticeship can be found at the Guildhall.   He definitely was a tailor as he spent his last years in a guild almshouse.

Isobella Ker lived in Portsburgh Edinburgh and was the daughter of John Ker, Officer of Excise.  I can’t find any information about them before her marriage to John Wilkie in 1787.  They subsequently lived in Maxton Roxburghshire and Dean Street, Fetter Lane London but both seem to have died before 1841.

Paternal ancestors

Thomas Cosgrove, a shoemaker to trade, joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1842, age 24 and a native of Co. Down.  He married Isabella Geelan in 1844 and had a family.  That is all we know about him except for his service history.

Nicholas Radcliffe attended Queens College, Oxford in 1688 and apparently went to Ireland after graduation.  We can guess that he was probably of the Radcliffes of Crosthwaite, Cumberland and they are well documented.   However, the early years in Ireland are vague (what a surprise) and links to the Cumberland Radcliffes are hard to prove.

Other early Anglo Irish connections are Benjamin Stacy who was taken hostage in the 1798 Rebellion and killed at Vinegar Hill; his daughter Elizabeth married Robert Armstrong and we can find no history of him or her father. 

Of course, that may be exactly why these guys went to Ireland in the first place!

Any bells, anyone?

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 I came back from a whirlwind weekend to find that my blogfriend Kate has written some extremely nice things about me on her blog and awarded me a gold cup!

the deal is that I have to pass it on to 5 other bloggeurs who then have to work out how to put it in their sidebar and pass it on to 5, etc., etc (sounds a bit like the cat on the old Dubonnet bottle label to me!)

so here I go …

my first is to Zinnia Cyclamen for her lovely view on life (!) - she always seems to know exactly the right thing to say in any situation and can write so well about it … I am always dropping in on her to see the latest.

second is to Past Imperfect - she has loads ‘n’ loads of awards on her sidebar and deserves every one!  She is in the middle of telling her life story and gets out-and-about so much that I cannot believe she has the time to visit all her regular readers and make encouraging comments - thank you for always looking on the bright side when I am feeling down!

third would have been to third person singular to cheer her up because enidd has recently moved continent, thinking it would be bliss and it has definitely not turned out that way.  in fact life is so awful that she has taken her blog down so I can’t give you a link to it.  Instead, and please don’t take offence, Joy, it is a spot of t because she lives in Canada, my favourite place after home, and has a crazy sense of humour!

fourth is to betty’s utility room (the Digbeth coach station of blogging) who is off the wall and always makes me lol!  She always responds to every comment too - that is dedication in my book!

last, and by no means least, is a new way of life.  I think she and I must have been separated at birth.  We always get the same answers to ‘what blogthing are you … ?’ and seem to have the same outlook on life.  I don’t often go there but she also has a life story page and a blog of beautiful photographs.

Cheers everyone - have a cyber glass of bubbly on me!!

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It has rained like it was going out of fashion this morning!  And it would be the morning that I had to take the train so am sitting at my desk like a sodden rag.

I have to go to a funeral later today so was restricted in my dress and now I have trousers wet up to the knees.  LOML and I are heading off to south London this evening so we have had a complicated travel/pick up operation to put in place - hence me being on the train.

Heading off now to work underneath the hot air dryers in the loos!

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… that weekend was a bit of ‘did … ‘ and ‘didn’t … ‘

Didn’t …

take any pictures - as the battery gave up on camera - stupidly forgot to charge it before I left - so all pics on here are from the Google Image library - sorry, I know it’s a cheat!

walk up Goat Fell - weather was bad and it was socked in - couldn’t see the top until we left the island next day!  If I had taken a picture you would only have seen cloud!

keep to my WeightWatchers points - well, really, who cares about that but I was doing so well!

spend much money - for a change!

do much touristy stuff - but did fail to go and check up on the cat at the local shop that last time decided my shoulder was the place to be …

Did …

find some good bargains - why I didn’t spend much money!

have a picnic on the beach

get sand between my toes - paddling and rock jumping

see the Standing Stones - well, three or four - most have fallen over!

beachcomb - not only some lovely shells but also found a discarded unbroken shelf unit that matched one I have that is broken - swiped the unbroken bit to repair mine!

stay on deck of the return ferry without putting a coat on - if you know MV Caledonian Isles, you’ll know how rare this is!

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John jnr became a Chartered Engineer like his father and served in the Royal Engineers - 244 Company 53rd Welsh Division - during WW2.  He has a claim to fame for his part in the 1944 liberation of the Dutch city of s’Hertogenbosch where he is still honoured.

After the war he put into practice his childhood passion for model trains and joined the Highland Railway in Edinburgh, soon to become British Railways.  In 1956 he joined Western Region and was based in Reading until he transferred to British Railways Board in 1962.  His sphere of interest was materials handling and a legacy of this that we (of a certain age) know is the blue goods trolleys which he introduced to all BR stations. 

He also did work on such projects as the APT tilting train and the Channel Tunnel (first time round for both!).  I don’t think it was anything to do with him that they both got cancelled!! Funny how both projects were resurrected and are now operational!

One of the Radcliff sisters, his Aunt Nellie, died in 1961 and left him a legacy which was used to take us all to Vancouver!  A ‘holiday of a lifetime’ as my sister and I were told frequently at the time.  We went on two aeroplanes to get there - here we are on the big one that took us from Amsterdam to Vancouver.

North Vancouver in 1962 was a very different place to now.  First Nations were not celebrated as they are now; Canada wasn’t sure if it was part of the Commonwealth or a cousin of the USA; Vancouver itself was only 76 years old; no culture; no multi-national population (except for China Town).  We stayed at this house ….

We took the train back - you could then - 4 or 5 days on board with a sleeping compartment, restaurant and observation lounge. My father used his influence and travelled part the way on the footplate!  All gone now for passenger travel, but we left from Vancouver’s Waterfront Station

on board The Beaver, stopped off overnight in Banff and gazed in awe at the newly built Timberline Hotel; froze on the platform at Winnipeg; were woken up in the middle of the night to see a place called Medicine Hat; arrived in Ottawa to see Uncle Willy.

We went to Niagara Falls - I can still remember the spray, the noise and the smell! - before going to Montreal to get a liner home SS Empress of Britain … oh that was exciting, leaving the dockside with a band and loads of streamers that stretched and stretched until they broke - how symbolic!

I shall have to see if I have any pictures of all this to scan - I think not …

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apparently a host server has been down over the weekend so impossible to upload or access images which prevented this post from being created as I wanted.  Things are OK now so here goes …

In theory next weekend we are supposed to be walking up Goat Fell on Arran but neither of us have done much exercise recently.  We thought we would do a hill walk this Sunday to get us in the mood!  We consulted our trusty 25 Hill Walks book and chose one close to us in the Campsie Fells.

I took a leaf out of Little old me’s book (blog?) and took my camera for once.   (Good excuse to stop and catch my breath - ‘just taking a picture’!)   I’m no good at capturing the wildlife but not bad at views so here are my shots of the Campsie Fells and beyond …

The wildlife that we saw were horned sheep, a fox and loads of lapwings.  I only got close to the sheep!

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I feel like having a blether (or ‘news’ as they say in the North East) but there’s not much to blether about …

It’s coming up to Glasgow Fair and the River Festival at the weekend – however this year very few craft have arrived on the river outside my office window as yet (10:30 am Thursday).  If tall ships and HM warships are to be here they are leaving it very late!!  

Over the last few weeks, the River Authority have been working hard to dredge the river, put in permanent pontoons and generally tidy the place up a bit.  It’s made for excuses to be distracted from boring work …

The dredger was doing this with the gunge from the river bed here:

This was at the same time as a rare species of dolphin was seen right outside our building and we thought the dredger was looking for it!!  Don’t think it was really …

I have been giving myself a very hard talking to about weight.  I must, must, must try to lose some. 

It isn’t so much that my clothes are feeling tight but the health aspects.  I’ve been getting painful heartburn recently and see from my research that weight is a contributory factor to this – I know that’s right because when I lose a kilo or two, the pain stops and comes back when the weight goes on again.  I have dodgy knees from years of ski-ing and the bike accident last year – they can’t possibly benefit from having to carry an extra 15kg (that sounds better than 33lbs or over 2 stones).  On top of all that, I read that one of the major causes of post-menopausal breast cancer is being overweight. 

Intellectually it must dawn on my rather small brain that it would be good for me … so why is it so hard?   I start off with good intentions and then something happens or the weight doesn’t come off quick enough and I seem to ditch whatever regime I am on this week! 

Has anyone found something that really works for them?

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Late edit - some boats did arrive - I took these from the office window so apologies for any reflections ….

These came up on my system as question marks so heaven knows if you can see them!

Oh, and I have decided that Weight Watchers is the way to go - thanks Joy T!

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Oh I have so much to tell you! 

 South Shropshire was as remote as I expected - no mobile signal, unclear whether you were in Wales or England, 40 years behind the times, friendly and welcoming.  We arrived at the local hostelry in Clun at about 17:30 on Friday to find it heaving with the après travail crowd but these were not the City types you might find elsewhere, it was all local farmers etc.!

A musical entertainment was planned so we sat in the bar and sang along to all those old Rolling Stones songs that you thought forgotten but somehow all the words come back to you!  We staggered to bed upstairs at about 00:30.  

Next morning we toddled round Clun, looked at the 15th century packhorse bridge and the ducks, the church and the 2000 year old yew, the Domesday castle and watched a tandem triathlon ride through town (don’t ask, I’ve no idea, either)

Clun High Street

Clun church from the castle

Clun bridge - before the rain

Now, in my mind, I had thought that since we had never actually met these cousins, it would be most appropriate to slip into the back of the church, keep a low profile and perhaps not attend the evening do if we did not get a chance to touch base with anyone.  We were going to lunch on Sunday with the family and friends anyway so would not miss out on introductions.

However, my cyber cousin had organised that we would share a taxi to the wedding and back at midnight with an old friend of his, also staying in Clun but at the posh hostelry.  So we meandered up to the posh hotel in our posh gear (and umbrella as it was tipping it down) and met the first of the complete strangers of the day!  They were fun and made us laugh all the way to the church.  There, I was taken up to the front and introduced to cousins as the ‘long lost cousin’ and found that seats had been reserved for us 3 pews back - gulp!  Loads of chat ensued about who I was and who they were which is so complex (we are 3rd cousins) that no-one really quite ‘got it’.  So much for my low profile!!  We ended up dancing the night away until midnight and having a nightcap at the posh hotel before rolling home in the rain at 01:30!  No early nights here!

Next day, we found the rain had done this ….

After the rain 1

Grass not water!

Then we explored Bishop’s Castle but they were preparing for their carnival that afternoon and seemed to have started the celebrations the night before so it was VERY QUIET!  It was then about time to head to Chapel Lawn for the lunch.  We went the back way and got completely lost!  Eventually we followed our noses and arrived at the right place.  Then, it was time to give the wedding present.  Now, what would you give a distant cousin who said they had no need of gifts?  Hard one, eh?  What I did was to find the earliest and first joint ancestor who was in the Royal Irish Constabulary.  His service record made an interesting document to mount and frame.  Hardly had my cousin torn the first bit of paper off it than he said ‘I know what this is!’

If you have been following my Canadian History story (which I need to update, I know) these cousins connect in to that.  Do you recall John whose wife Emma emigrated to Canada on her own?  John had a younger brother Robert who was also in the RIC.  Robert had a large family who gravitated to England around the time of the first World War - there were 4 boys and these cousins are the grandsons of one of them, Frank.

In the evening, one of my cousins, his wife and son joined us for a meal at our pub.  We were all planning an early night as the last two days had been pretty full-on.  Then the landlord produced a mic and we thought it was going to be a karaoke evening - no such luck, it was Quiz Night!  We joined in as a team and wondered how we were going to handle this - we felt we couldn’t win as it would be impertinent to appear from nowhere, grab the winnings (£13 and £7) and go.  I felt that coming second would be OK and acceptable.  However, all this goes out the window when the competitive edge sets in, doesn’t it?  We were hopeless at the picture round so did not expect any result.  Imagine our discomfort when we won by a huge margin - we got 50 out of 60 and the nearest competition got 46 with everyone else at about 40 or 41!  Prize winnings paid for our dinner!

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I know this is in the wrong order and a post on the mini-break is to follow ….

I spent yesterday wielding the hoe, edger and shears in an effort to tidy up the front garden.  The roof and window men used the lawn as their equipment and materials dump from which it has not recovered - and this is the  third summer since all this started!

The lawn edges had descended into more of a lawn slope, caused by builders’ boots slipping.  The soil (joke!) was more of a resting place of broken slates and pieces of window.  My planting had got out of hand and the bed was over-run by creeping geranium and ladies mantle.

Creeping geranium

 

Ladies mantle

I had decided that the front bed should be just rose bushes and bulbs in an attempt to follow the ‘less is more’ edict.  To make things easy for me, I treated the geranium and stuff to a dose of Round-Up.  Unfortunately, in spite of due care and attention, the roses seemed to get the treatment too!  So a month or so ago, I had a bed of dead geranium and very unhappy looking roses!!

Yesterday, I pulled out the dead stuff; turned over the topsoil; fed the roses with TopRose and sprayed them with soluble food.  Then I recut the lawn edges; trimmed the edges; reseeded the bald patches and trimmed the hedge.

I am very pleased with the results.  From wanting to tarmac the whole thing over, it now looks quite respectable and there are a few rose blooms.

As you can imagine, I fell into a hot shower after that lot and had to take to my bed!  Recovered enough to get up for a gin and tonic, though!

Forgot to mention, this bed is 60 feet long so not just a walk in the park!

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we are heading off to *Shropshire for three nights tomorrow so I will be quiet on the blog front.  Shropshire seems to be the most remote English county, full of places you’ve never heard of like Clun and New Invention!  So, if you don’t hear from me by Wednesday 9 July - send out search parties!

We are going to stay in this place which has a musical entertainment tomorrow night - handy as it is LOML’s  birthday.  Then we go to a long lost cousin’s wedding on Saturday which will be fun as we have only ‘met’ through email and we won’t know anyone else!  Unless of course the 6 degrees of separation work and we find people we know there that we didn’t know knew my long lost cousin.

We join them again on Sunday for lunch where we can talk about being long lost cousins etc.  Hopefully peace and quiet Sunday evening and then head north on Monday.

I have a day off at home on Tuesday so will be wielding the garden implements.

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