Fitzhenry Family

My Great Grandmother, Jane Fitzhenry, married my Great Grandfather, Joseph Lines on 30th June 1877 the parish church of St Andrew in Holburn. Her father was Michael Fitzhenry, recorded in census and some other records as being born in Bristol in 1809. There is however no record of his birth, or who his parents were,… Continue reading Fitzhenry Family

William Williams Box , Solicitor – unexpectedly interesting

The family William Williams Box was born on 15th July 1851, the son of William Braund Box and Rosina Williams (whose story is told in Whatever Happened to the Williams Sisters). He had an elder brother, John Robert Box (1849-1926 – my Great Grandfather), and sister, Christina Elizabeth Box (1848-1875). His younger siblings were Frederick… Continue reading William Williams Box , Solicitor – unexpectedly interesting

Mr Acid Rain and our Interconnected World

My father, Roger Lines, was a research forester, working for the Forestry Commission. When, in the early 1970’s, I did my Statistics O-Grade I was fortunate to be able to help with some real research at the, then fairly newly established, Forestry Commission Northern Research Station. I was chopping young Sitka Spruce trees, grown under… Continue reading Mr Acid Rain and our Interconnected World

From Salonica to Sarajevo

My Great Aunt, Margaret Box trained as a nurse and, towards the end of the First World War went as a Red Cross Volunteer with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals to join their life-saving work in Serbia. She had been working in Skopje, but the unit was no longer needed there, and they had been sent,… Continue reading From Salonica to Sarajevo

We had a very jolly Xmas 1918

Margaret Box, my Great Aunt, spent the Christmas of 1918 far from the rest of her family, working as a nurse with the Elsie Inglis Unit of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. On the 28th of December 1918 the unit, including Margaret, were assigned to the hospital in Sarajevo, from where she wrote to her mother.… Continue reading We had a very jolly Xmas 1918

Terra Incognita, Mr Box – 12th December 1918

The Scottish Women’s Hospitals wrote to my Great Grandfather, John Robert Box, on the 12th of December 1918, sympathising with his frustration that he had to communicate with his daughter, my Great Aunt, Margaret Box by way of Salonica (Thessalonica) in Greece, when she was working as a Red Cross Nurse in Sarajevo, over 300… Continue reading Terra Incognita, Mr Box – 12th December 1918

Scottish Women’s Hospitals to Mrs Box – December 6th 1918

During the First World War Elsie Inglis, a Scottish Doctor, realised the urgent need for medical assistance to treat the wounded, but as a woman, her offer of assistance was declined by the War Office. Undeterred she established the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, and recruited women to go and and tend the casualties of war. My… Continue reading Scottish Women’s Hospitals to Mrs Box – December 6th 1918