Hello everyone, I hope you are well. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today. Make sure you get nice and comfy, with a snack and a drink, while you read! It is important to take time for yourself each day.
I can’t believe it is 2025, I am going to turn 21 this year! I have high hopes for this year, and lots of goals! I am hoping that I learn how to drive, I have always wanted to drive but only managed to get my provisional licence recently. I also got a passport recently, my first ever one. I have never been abroad before, but I am planning on going to Ireland in the summer to see my family.
As for my genealogy research, I haven’t actually been doing too much recently. I have been ridiculously busy with uni, and I have been playing video games a lot too. The times that I have sat down to do my family history research, I have just been stuck on what branch/who to research. I recently purchased a 1 day subscription to RootsIreland and unfortunately didn’t have much luck. The majority of my ancestors were from Leitrim, and it has always been quite hard to find records for that county! On the website, I didn’t really find anything different from what I have found on other websites, which were free of charge. It was definitely worth a try though!
I am excited for the Irish 1926 census to be released next year. It is the first census my great-grandmother will be on. I am hoping it will also help me a bit with the confusion I have around her grandmother and great-grandmother. We will have to wait and see!
I did potentially find a photo of an ancestor who I have done a lot of research into, which was very exciting. Although I cannot confirm it, I am fairly confident it is her. I am in a Facebook group called ‘Kingsclere past and present’ where people share photos and talk about Kingsclere. Someone shared a photo of their grandparents wedding and stated their surname was Holley. That was the married surname of my 2nd great-grandaunt, Sarah Louisa Rolfe, who I spoke about in a previous blog post, The life of Eliza Lewington.
I looked at my family tree, and realised that the Grandfather in the photo was Sarah Louisa’s son. The wedding took place a year before Sarah passed away. I believe that she is sat next to her son in the photo. I commented on the post, sharing my relation to her grandfather, and the original poster asked me if I could message her about the family tree, of course I said yes. I told her all about Sarah Louisa, and plan to tell her about Eliza Lewington soon. She was very lovely, and it turns out we are 3rd cousins 1x removed! It is always nice to connect with a relative, no matter how distant.
I have visited Kingsclere previously, which if you didn’t know is a small village between Newbury and Basingstoke. It is so weird to think that this is a place where so many of my ancestors lived, and that I probably have lots of cousins who live there still! I visited the graveyard and church last time I went, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I visited the graveyard in hopes of finding the gravestone of Eliza Lewington, my 4th great-grandmother, but it appears she never had one. The majority of the gravestones have been moved from their original spaces, and placed around the path of the church. You can still find the plots of the original graves by looking in the burial book.
I also went inside the church, and it was really cool. I have only ever been in churches when I was young. I loved the windows and I found out the church was over 1000 years old! It is crazy to think about that, and how many people will have stepped foot in there before. There was also a tomb in there. I cannot remember the exact details, but the man in there had the surname Kingsmill and I believe his wife was in there with him. There was a marble figure on top, which I think was of him and maybe his wife too. It was really cool, and super tall.
While I was looking at records of Sarah Louisa, I started to become curious about where she worked. Interestingly, Eliza Lewington, her daughter, Sarah Ann and Sarah Louisa all worked at the same place. From what I have gathered from various census records, they all did sewing for things like sacks and clothes. In the 1911 census, the place of work was named as ‘cloth works and tarpaulin factory’.
I found a company, which was founded in Kingsclere in 1868, named J M Carter’s. I believe this is where they worked. The job of ‘sack sewer’ first appeared with Eliza Lewington, in the 1871 census, so the years match up. The company is still going now, celebrating their 150 year anniversary back in 2018. The current managing director, Peter Hallows, is the great-grand grandson of John Morton Carter, the original founder.
It is amazing to think that Eliza was likely one of the first people to work for this company. It was always a bit strange to see that the women in my family tree worked in a period of time where women didn’t really work. Sarah Ann was even working while married, which is even more unheard of for those times. She stopped working between 1911 and 1921, likely being supported by her children. She ended up living until nearly 100!
It is strange having the itch to do family history research, but not knowing what to research. I know that soon enough this will pass, and I will be down yet another rabbit hole, but I am just so used to doing family history research all the time!
Soon, I am planning on looking through lots of old photos with my grand-aunt. I ended up with a lot of photos from my grandparents house, after my grandad died in 2023. A lot of the photos appear to be from my grandmother’s side, however I do not recognise all the people in them. I am hoping that my grand-aunt will be able to help me. This will likely result in me doing lots more research too, looking into the people in the photos. I am very much looking forward to looking through these photos, especially as there is so many!
There was a photo, where I was able to identify the person due to writing on the back. It had the name Hilda Hunter and an address. I searched for her, and surely enough found her in the census records. After a bit of digging, I found that she was my great-grandmother’s first cousin. It was amazing to be able to find this photo of her, and know that she was likely in touch with my great-grandmother.
I also found a photo of two soldiers, seemingly father and son, and it has their names and regiment on the back. However, I haven’t been able to figure out who they are, nor how the photo came to be in my grandmothers possession. I hope this is something my grand-aunt will be able to help me with.
As for my life outside of genealogy research, I have been gaming a lot (as I mentioned before), watching TV, reading books, doing uni work and spending time with my brand new puppy.
At the start of December, my dog sadly passed away. She was 12 at the time. I was heartbroken, it is one of the hardest things I have had to go through, and I am still going through now. It still feels weird not having her around, and I miss her more than words can say.
I think one of the things I really struggled with was how loud the silence was. I was so used to hearing her walk around the house, and being greeted by her when I walked through the door. Just before new year, we decided to get a puppy. She is adorable, and funny. The house doesn’t feel so silent or empty now, however I still miss my dog a lot. I grew up with her, so it is definitely weird not having her around.
We spent her last day cuddling in bed, which I think is really special. I didn’t know that would be our last time cuddling in bed, but I am glad she spent her final day somewhere that she felt cozy and safe.
I have enjoyed training our new puppy, and taking her out on walks. She is quite a nervous puppy, and gets scared around other dogs and people she doesn’t know, but I am sure she will get used to it over time. I think going out into the big wide world can be quite overwhelming for young pups.
When it comes to TV shows, I have been watching a lot of Call the Midwife, which I love. I started watching it last year and have been hooked ever since. I am currently watching season 12, and hope to catch up soon. I really like the insight we are given into life in the 50’s and 60’s. I have always wanted to know more about how my ancestors lived.
I have also been watching EastEnders, which I love. The 40th anniversary week was very dramatic, and sad!
Playing video games seems to be what I have been doing most this weekend. I have been playing a game called Disney Dreamlight Valley, which is just so cute. It is fun and full of nostalgia. I have also been playing some Hogwarts Legacy. I love running around Hogwarts and feeling like I am really there. The escapism element of video games can be really good, especially when life gets overwhelming.
These past few months have definitely been overwhelming, with losing my dog and struggling a lot with my health. I really appreciate being able to escape from life sometimes, whether that be by playing video games, reading books or watching TV shows.
If anyone has any recommendations for books or TV shows that can give me an insight into how my ancestors lived, please share them in the comments! I would very much appreciate it.
I don’t have much left to say, so I think I will end this blog post here. I want to finish by thanking you for taking the time to read this, and I am sorry my blog posts are so inconsistent. I will try to post more regularly, but I can make no promises.
Again, thank you for reading and I hope you have a day as wonderful as you!
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