Grandpa – The Mikado

From every kind of manObedience I expect;I’m the Emperor of Japan —” The Mikado, Act II During fighting at Armentières on 9th February 1916 my Grandfather, George Edward Lines, was wounded in the leg and sent back to England to recover. By April he was in Keynsham, staying with the Stevens family, where a local… Continue reading Grandpa – The Mikado

Stoke Newington – where family history and literature meet.

As well as in interest in family history, I like to read. The American Boy, by Andrew Taylor is one of the books I am currently reading. This historical drama is set around 1818 in Stoke Newington. This is a work in progress. Some sections are merely skeletons The American Boy The main character of… Continue reading Stoke Newington – where family history and literature meet.

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

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