My great great aunt Alice grew up in Redbourn, Hertfordshire, where her father was a baker. She first worked locally as a silk winder before giving birth to an illegitimate son in her brother's house in London. After emigrating to Detroit, Michigan, she married and had two further sons, the first later joining them there. … Continue reading Alice Ephgrave (1882-1945): Silk winder, servant, unmarried mother; emigrated to the USA
Wood workers
Horace & Elizabeth Brown: Beds to London via Essex
My maternal grandparents married in Sandy, Bedfordshire in 1923. There were no photos of the wedding, but a local paper described the happy event. Family photos and newspapers also provide insights into family life with nine children before they set up a hardware shop in South London. What kind of a picture do they show? … Continue reading Horace & Elizabeth Brown: Beds to London via Essex
Horace Brown (1901-1994): A bad lad of Sandy?
My mother's father was born in 1901 in the small Bedfordshire town of Sandy. Both he and my grandmother were still alive when my interest in family history was piqued, so I was able to hear about their early lives and families at first hand. Was Granddad Brown really a 'bad lad', as Nana Brown … Continue reading Horace Brown (1901-1994): A bad lad of Sandy?
Great grandmother Phoebe Caroline Gibson: A comfortable North London childhood?
My Dad's maternal grandmother Phoebe Caroline Gibson was born in Hornsey, a North London suburb, in 1877, the daughter of a Looking Glass Frame Maker. The few records from her childhood give little insight into what life was like. Can I find out more about the areas and houses she lived in? From Hornsey to … Continue reading Great grandmother Phoebe Caroline Gibson: A comfortable North London childhood?
My Stocking Roots 