A 1910 local newspaper commented that my great grandmother, "Mrs Brown ... has had a hard struggle to bring up her large and young family and several times illness and other misfortunes have befallen them". Born Lavinia Seaby, she was widowed in 1904 when her husband Charley Brown died of cancer. What other records give … Continue reading Lavinia Brown: Family struggles and a lost son
Sandy
Charley and Lavinia Brown: A short marriage
My maternal great grandparents Charles Brown and Lavinia Seaby married fairly late in life; he was 30 and she was 32. Both had had careers before marriage, he as a soldier in India, she as a Cook in London. Their marriage was sadly cut short by Charley's early death. What do we know of their … Continue reading Charley and Lavinia Brown: A short marriage
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
Elizabeth Sarah Fage (1901-2002): Musicians, malnutrition and misadventure
My maternal grandmother lived to the grand age of 101. In her 80s, she told of being Nanny for the children of well-known 'theatricals' in London and being starved by another employer. A man climbed through her bedroom window when she was working for an elderly couple in Biggleswade, leading to her appearance as a … Continue reading Elizabeth Sarah Fage (1901-2002): Musicians, malnutrition and misadventure
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?
Charley Brown (1862-1904): A soldier in India?
My maternal great grandfather Charles Brown was said, in family circles, to have served with the Indian Army. Could I find any evidence? I knew his birth year and place and father's name from other records, and also knew he married as a Labourer, aged 31, comparatively late in life. There was a family photo … Continue reading Charley Brown (1862-1904): A soldier in India?
My Stocking Roots 