We have two female common pheasants in our garden at the moment. I can tell they are female as they are brown and, for such large birds in this context, surprisingly inconspicuous. The male pheasant is larger and more conspicuous, and plays no part in the raising of the young. I read The Selfish Gene… Continue reading ‘Good Decoys’ Sexual dimorphism and differential predation
Author: john
Robert Harden Champion – Sweet success
This is a work in progress – posted before it is complete to share some of the information I have. Robert Harden Champion, my Great-great-grandfather, was born at Berrow in January 1845, eldest son of James Harden Champion (1821-1895) and Jane Hawkings (1820-1884). He married Ellen Horseman (1845-1926) at St Barnabas, Bristol in 1868, and… Continue reading Robert Harden Champion – Sweet success
Dynastic Unions
There are several cases in my family history of siblings from one family marrying into their in-law’s families. In the days of large families, and no Internet Dating it made sense, and presumably the elders of both families approved. In some cases it might throw some light on how some of the couples met. This… Continue reading Dynastic Unions
A visit from Parson Pobjoy
Margaret Box, my Great-aunt, trained as a nurse, and joined the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, towards the end of the First World War, working primary in what was at the time Serbia. By March 1919 she and other nurses and doctors were working in a hospital in Sarajevo, which had been converted from a school to… Continue reading A visit from Parson Pobjoy
Winding up Sarajevo Scottish Women’s Hospital
Margaret Box, my Great Aunt went to Serbia with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals during the First World War. By March 1919 the doctors and nurses, who had been running a hospital in Sarajevo were winding down the hospital and preparing to return home. Miss Willis, secretary of the London Unit, wrote to Margaret’s father to… Continue reading Winding up Sarajevo Scottish Women’s Hospital
May see you next month, Norah
My Great Aunt, Magaret Ada Box, had four sisters, Rose, Dorothy, Edith and Norah, and a brother, Leonard – my Grandfather. In February 1919 Margaret was in Sarajevo, working as a nurse with the Elsie Inglis Unit of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. She wrote a letter to Norah, who was now living at a new… Continue reading May see you next month, Norah
Norah Box at Leale House
My great aunt, Norah Constance Box (1896-1987), youngest sister of Margaret Ada Box (1890-1986), who went nursing in Serbia in World War 1 with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, had her own foreign adventures. Unlike Margaret, whose letters I have, I do not have any direct documentation from her, so this is all from research, but… Continue reading Norah Box at Leale House
A parcel and a party
Margaret Ada Box, my Great Aunt, wrote many letters home during her time as a nurse in Serbia with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals during and after the First World War. By the time this letter was written the war had ended and the nurses, doctors and other women of the unit were thinking about their… Continue reading A parcel and a party
OpenStreetMap on Boox Nova3Color
I have a Boox Nova3Color, which is a Android based tablet with a colour E ink display. Unlike many electronic devices this can be read outdoors in sunlight. As an E-reader it allows me to take more electronic versions of Field Guides and/or travel books with me than would fit in the same space as… Continue reading OpenStreetMap on Boox Nova3Color
Spring in the Serbian air and a famous visitor
My Great Aunt, Margaret Box, was nursing with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in Serbia during the First World War. Her diary and some of her letters home have been passed to me and I am reproducing them here. By February 1919 she was working in a hospital in Sarajevo which had been converted from a… Continue reading Spring in the Serbian air and a famous visitor