#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 11: 'Lucky'

Week 11 Prompt: 'LUCKY'

Mum’s Uncle Claude had a ‘boy’s adventure’ life and many lucky escapes. 

Claude Laidlaw PALMER born 04 Feb 1880 in Jindivick, Gippsland, Victoria. Australia.  

However, he must have been born with a rambling spirit.

When his mother died in 1898, Claude was 18 and he went to work with a baker to learn the trade - but Claude had his eyes set on seeing the world. 

Whilst the Boer War was on over in Africa, Claude signed on as a deckhand on the ‘Thetis’ of Dundee, Scotland,  a sailing ship loaded with wheat, bound for Valparaiso, Chile, South America.  As Claude said: “My first time on salt water.”

After a rough trip, they arrived and then had the slow work of unloading using hand winches causing blisters, cuts and bleeding.  In off times they were lowered down in the punt/barge to clean, chip and scrape the iron rust off the ship.  Here Claude met Jack, another Australian lad of similar age and together they plotted to get away from the ship.  The Ship steward overheard them and demanded they include him too.  So on Sunday morning they lowered the punt and landed safely.  However, as soon as they beached they were arrested on suspicion of smuggling.  They were freed and a West Indian Negro rushed them out into his cab and whipped the horses to go fast.  He explained that the court could change its mind quickly and they needed to get away to somewhere safe.  They arrived at a sailor’s boarding house and had a good sleep.  The Boarding Master was impressed with the two young sailors behaviour and shouted them attendance at a bullfight and all meals.  Claude said he enjoyed it although it was a cruel sport. 

There was a search on to find the boys and take them back to the ‘Thetis’ as Jack had been signed on by his mother and father and the Captain was responsible for him.  But the Boarding Master had arranged for them to join the ‘Holt Hill’ of Liverpool, a 4-masted barge and work there with the crew until the ‘Thetis’ had sailed.  Their pay had risen from $2.50 per month to $2.50 per day.  Claude learnt all about shipping in Valparaiso, as the other men were keen to teach him and he was very keen to learn. 

'Thetis of Dundee' Photo by "Bugler" from the Coast Guard History website. Source: Robert Hurst.  navsource.org

'Thetis of Dundee' Photo by "Bugler" from the Coast Guard History website. Source: Robert Hurst.  navsource.org

Claude had a fear of climbing the rigging which he overcame slowly.  Each evening he pushed himself to tackle the high climb and beat his fears.  After a couple of weeks, he was able to go up and down the mast as well as the yardarms and loved the exhilaration.  He was always first from then on to go aloft when the order was given which brought him an upgrade from ordinary seaman to able-bodied seaman. 

His next trip was on the full-rigged ‘Hollyrood” which travelled around Cape Horn on a slow journey to Rotterdam carrying saltpetre.  Claude enjoyed the sightseeing in Holland. 

He then boarded a small steamboat to London and on to Cardiff in Wales.  From there he joined the ‘Falls of Holladay’  and rounded Cape Horn again.  Claude deserted ship in Iquique, Chile, and later shipped out on the ‘Country Anglesea’ and returned to Rotterdam, and back to London and Wales on the Channel boats.

Next big trip was on the ship ‘Scerra Cadena’ bound for the Indian Ocean, East of Africa.  They had a gas blow up in the hatches to deal with and not long after, were almost hit by a typhoon.  Still, they landed safely at the island of Marrich out in the Indian Ocean and took down all the sails and some yards.  

Here again, Claude deserted ship along with three other men. They hid out in the hills and ate fruit, mostly bananas.  For three weeks they would sneak down to town at night to Abdul the storekeeper, and swap some of their clothes for bread, but one night they were caught. The court ordered they help the Captain till the ship was ready for sea, which took about a month.  The ship was filthy from unloading Welsh coal, and the next day the Captain told them they were bound for Rangoon, India to pick up a cargo of rice and he would cut a deal with them   If they cleaned the ship up to A-1 standard for the rice - he would not dock their pay from being onshore, and pay them off at the next port if they wanted. 

After a month’s rest, it took two more months at Rangoon to load 100 lb bags of rice to take to Rio de Janeiro, South America. Claude spent all his spare time watching the elephants at the teakwood sawmill ashore from the ship.  The elephants rolled the logs out of the river and up to the sawmill.  

Whilst at Rio de Janeiro they heard cannon fire and thought there was a war - but apparently, Yellow Fever had broken out and all the nations ships were leaving with the fort guns saluting them.   Whilst ashore one day Claude and three mates found they couldn’t get back to their ship as the warehouse access was locked.  A fight broke out locally and some the natives attacked Claude’s group.  They had to jump off the pier and swim from dock to dock, a block apart. Arriving at their ships dock they found the ship was gone and the dogs were released. So they had to fight off the dogs as they climbed up. One of the men drove a sheaf knife into Claude’s leg. Luckily some of the crew on board saw them and they lowered a boat and pulled them up. 

Leaving Rangoon they could see the reflections of the volcano at Sumatra and passing the island of Celone they saw the wreck of their sister ship ‘Cerra Cadena’ lost on a coral reef a year ago.   

In Brazil, they were all quarantined against Bubonic Plague. They struck rocks going into Rio as they passed a French warship.  Claude couldn’t do much for a week or so with his injured leg and was soon fed up. So come Saturday night, Claude lowered himself down a rope into a rowboat and deserted ship once more. At the sailors Boarding House he was hired by the Red Cross to drive a team of horses drawing a large wagon to collect the dead from the Yellow Fever Plague. He had 11 days work and chose not to be paid for it at the end. He was given quinine medicine.  Claude’s limp was much better so he took on the job of house runner. This entailed finding sailors and getting rid of sailors for the ships lists.  It was a hard time as so many men had died from the plague.

After a few months, Claude shipped out on a Nova Scotia barge - the ‘Austria’ for Barbados and eventually on to Pascagoula, USA.  Claude then picked up different jobs to pay for feed and accommodation as he worked his way around. He spent some time on a shrimp boat in the marshes, before heading off to New Orleans and joining a Spanish barge loaded with lumber for Argentina.  

Claude was offered a job as captain of a lumber barge and worked at that for a few weeks before realizing it was a con. So moving on quickly he got work building a small gauge rail line and then worked in Alabama in lumber yards and as a fireman on a locomotive until he went back to Biloxi, Mississippi for the shrimp.

On 16th April 1910, Claude married Theodora Celeste Desporte and they had a family of four boys and two girls. 

Claude finished up as a Paddle Boat Steamer captain on the Mississippi River.

Reference: 'Some of The Life of Claude L Palmer' autobiography.

#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 10: 'Strong Women'

Week 10 Prompt: 'Strong Women'

Mary Ann WALL was one of my GGGrandmothers on my mother’s side and I believe was a strong woman. 

She married Esau PALMER on 01 June 1841 at the Ross Baptist Chapel. Mary Ann was 28 and Esau 34 - so an older couple for those days.  They are found on Census night 06 June 1841, at The Hill Hotel in Bakewell, possibly on their honeymoon.       It was not unusual for wealthier couples to take a "bridal tour", sometimes also accompanied by friends or family, to visit relatives who had not been able to attend the wedding. (Wikipedia)  I do  not know if this was the case for Mary Ann and Esau but I would like to think that they had a nice break before the busy and sad times ahead.

Esau was a tin man/brazier and worked in his father-in-law’s ironmongery business and warehouse, which he later ran.  

Mary Ann and her family were devout Christians belonging to the Baptist Church. 

They lived in 37 Broad St (the main street) Ross on Wye, above their ironmongery.  

They had nine children in ten years, and I wonder if something happened that there is a gap in 1848 !  

When Esau died on 3rd January 1857 from dropsy, Mary Ann was 44 years old and she became the Ironmonger taking over the ironworks.

At the time their oldest child Mary Sophia was 15 years old and the youngest Herbert William only six.

Notice in local paper. 10 Feb 1857

Mary Ann only lived until 6th April 1862, five years longer than Esau - but I think those years would have been very tough or her.  Bringing up all her children by herself,  living and working in a man’s world in those days and towards the end being in pain from her illness.

Mary Ann wrote out in her neat handwriting, a three page Will on 10th February, two months before she died suffering from cancer. This ensured that, on the youngest child attaining the age of 21, all children would reap equal benefits from her business and assets and that in the meanwhile, they had the family home to live in and were assisted through apprenticeships, where chosen. 

Broad Street, Ross on Wye

The Ironmongery was on the left where the street kinks out.

(Photos courtesy of Kath Gillespie)

#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 9: 'Where There's a Will'

Week 9 Prompt:   'Where There's a Will'

We have quite a lot of 'Wills' in my father’s side of the family.

William Pearce 1700 - 1757

Richard 1734 - 1824

Richard’s brother -  William Pearce 1778 -

Richard 1803 - 1877

William (Will) Pearce 1838 - 1914

Francis George brother - Frederick William 1866 - 1924

William Louden Pearce 1904 - 1982

William Joseph Pearce 1941 -2004 

Alexander William Philip

Will Flynn Hayes and then William  - the newest little Will only 2 months old

Then there are all the Williams who are sons of brothers etc.

But this is not my story.

I am going to write about a Will which brought new meaning to my Shanks family on my mother’s side.  I had many years of trouble trying to get to the bottom of the Shanks girls who came out from Co Down in Northern Ireland.  

I finally got onto a bit of a trail when we visited the Poyntzpass (Pp) area and met with Kathryn Stewart who was a Shanks. I had found that the Shanks owned farms at LIsnabrague just out of Pp, which was also where Kathryn’s family lived. 

She did not know who the Samuel and Margaret Shanks were who were buried in the Presbyterian Church in Pp.  I was hoping they were mine as they were the names the girls had given as their parents on their marriage certs, but I was unsure of the dates. 

We were unable at that time to make a connection between Kathryn’s and my families.  We have kept in touch and done quite a bit of work since and have other Shanks descendants overseas and in other parts of Australia and New Zealand, who we are all trying to connect up.  

I slowly worked my way through the Shanks girls - purchasing their BDM’s and then found a couple of wills. In the second will, the daughter Mary whose married name was McConnell, left money to purchase a memorial headstone for her mother’s grave back in Pp at the Presbyterian Church.  Samuel and Margaret Shanks.  EUREKA.  As the stone was erected some time after their deaths, that could explain death dates being out. It seems the dates are both one year out from the Death certificates in Ireland.  But at least I now knew they were mine.  I also discovered that there was another sister in USA I hadn’t known about and I then found info on her and her descendant. And so the family unfolds…

#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 8: 'Heirloom'

Week 8 Prompt:   'Heirloom' - I am including a story I wrote for the Uni subject 'Place, Image, Object' about a family object. 

Family Object.

My brother was born in 1941 and as a baby suffered from extreme eczema.  Anything against his skin caused irritation and worsened the rashes he experienced. 

My mother was at pains to try and keep his skin cool and comfortable.  My father tried to purchase soft material in town and due to the scarcity of material goods called at the local second hand dealer.  The canny second hand dealer, thinking outside the square, offered Dad a large supply of silk. 

To my mother’s surprise Dad arrived home with a whole ex-forces parachute.  My mother was overjoyed to have such an abundance of lovely natural fabric that was so soft and lightweight and set about to make a whole range of clothing for my brother.   Before the clothing could be made however Mum had to unpick and cut carefully along the seams to remove all the green cording.  This way she was able to obtain the largest pieces of uninterrupted material ready for cutting out the shapes for the garment.

Green parachute cord

The green cords were also utilised.  I still have some tucked away tying up an old box.  The cord was so strong it was used around suitcases, large packages and in our children’s play.  After all this was a great time for re-cycling - everything that could be, was used over and over and our family certainly lived by the motto “Waste not, want not”.



The patterns were made from My Aunt’s boy’s hand-me-downs picked apart and the resultant pieces copied onto paper.  The large pine kitchen table lent itself to having big pieces of silk laid upon it and the drawn up patterns chalked around ready for the cutting out. Mum had a Singer treadle machine and her Uncle (a Singer mechanic and sales rep) upgraded the foot treadle into an electric machine for her. wedding present  This made it a less tedious task than treadling and keeping the strap from flying off the wheels.Love, time and effort were poured into these garments in the mothering task of caring for my brother.  Mum said she washed the silk garments gently with Velvet laundry soap in lukewarm water and then a little vinegar in the rinsing water to prevent yellowing.  Careful immediate washing removed any stains and it dried quickly on the verandah line.

As the younger siblings my sister and I also had a turn of the silk garments that were considered suitable for girls.

Family were surprised where the silk came from but understood that damaged parachutes could not be used by the pilots again and were pleased it could be re-purposed for such a need.  More parachute silk became available after the war had finished, but Mum never needed to buy more as there was so much in that one parachute.

This shirt is only one of very many items she made. It would have fitted him at about one year old. It has some shirring with decorative smocking on each side of the front and she has used the colours blue and light brown for the embroidery which were accepted colours for boys in those days.  The shirt is of simple design with a collar, loose short sleeves, front buttoned placket and buttons at the waist to attach to pants or overalls. 

The silk has lasted well - still that parachute creamy colour and very soft to the touch.
As this is a short sleeve shirt I believe it would have been worn less than the long sleeved shirts which helped prevent him scratching, so it has possibly stayed in better condition with less wear and tear. It has been kept in a cardboard box wrapped in tissue paper.

Summertime was hot in Victoria and when my parents moved out onto an orchard the dust from the orchard roads and fluff from the peach skins were further irritants to my brother’s body.  My mother said that the parachute silk was a ‘saviour’.  Cotton, a natural vegetable fibre was harder on the skin and wool, a natural animal fibre caused heating and rubbing.Other health advice was not to drink cow’s milk - so it was goat’s milk for him from then on.  Despite all the care and alternatives for my brother his skin problems persisted and when he was about ten years old the Doctor advised to ‘get him off the orchard’ the decision was made that he go to boarding school in Melbourne 120 miles south of our home.  This did seem to give him some relief, but brought sadness to us - his two younger sisters.  I now wonder how this affected my brother, mother and father.

There were hard times during and after the war for some years.  Stories have come to light about other people using parachute silk for all sorts of things including pants, bras, petticoats, blouses, christening gowns, evening and wedding dresses. Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War, by Julie Summers, March 2015, London, UK, Profile Books Ltd. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=RdmiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PP143&lpg=PP143&dq=Parachute+silk+second+world+war&source=bl&ots=naSH_kD6-M&sig=4kQU-omnMs-LPqcrmPRJ-AJ6AQ8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_8oXnuqfOAhVImJQKHcbdCGk4ChDoAQhfMAs#v=onepage&q=Parachute%20silk%20second%20world%20war&f=false

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INFORMATION ABOUT SILK & PARACHUTES
Silk is a natural product from SILKWORMS https://texeresilk.com/article/silk_making_how_to_make_silk  Silk is an animal protein fiber produced by certain insects to build their cocoons and webs.Cultivation of the silkworm (technically a moth pupa) is known as sericulture. Although many insects produce silk, only the filament produced by Bombyx mori, the mulberry silk moth and a few others in the same genus, is used by the commercial silk industry.Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Natural Fibre, raw Material, 

CLASSIFICATION AND PROPERTIESlahttps://www.britannica.com/topic/natural-fiber#ref236460Encyclopaedia Brittanica:Below: y_circle_oNatural fibres tend to yellow upon exposure to sunlight and moisture, and extended exposure results in loss of strength.  All natural fibres are particularly susceptible to microbial decomposition, including mildew and rot. Wool and silk are also subject to microbial decomposition by bacteria and holds and damage by moths and carpet beetles.  

HISTORYThe manufacture of silk and silk products originated in the highly developed Chinese culture; the invention and development of sericulture (cultivation of silkworms for raw-silk production) and of methods to spin silk date from 2640 bc.Natural fibres’ actual share of the market has decreased with the influx of the cheaper, synthetic fibres which require fewer man-hours for production.
How Products are Made; Ref: MadeHow Volume 5, 

PARACHUTES 
On researching parachutes I found that “the parachute is a device used to slow the movement of a person or object as it falls or moves through the air. Used primarily for safe descent from high altitudes (e.g: …a person or object dropped from an airplane), 
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Parachute.html

Historically there is some evidence that rigid, umbrella-like parachutes were used for entertainment in China as early as the twelfth century, allowing people to jump from high places and float to the ground.

“Da Vince wrote about and drew the first known account of a parachute concept C.1495.  It consisted of a cloth material pulled tightly over a rigid pyramidal structure. Although da Vinci never made the device, he is given credit for the concept of lowering man to the earth safely using a maximum drag decelerator.”Others further developed the idea and built and tried out their models.

From World War I to the early 1930's, conventional round silk (now known as solid cloth) parachutes remained unchanged in structure.”  

German pilots used parachutes in the final year of World War I but American military pilots only started using them as standard equipment after 1918.  

“Parachute canopies were first made of canvas. Early canvas was woven from hemp or linen fibres.  Silk proved to be more practical because it was thin, lightweight, strong, easy to pack, fire resistant, and springy. During World War II, the United States was unable to import silk from Japan, and parachute manufacturers began using nylon fabric. “(The advantages of Silk as a parachute were what also made it such a suitable apparel for a child with skin problems).

“Parachutes were widely used during World War II, not only as life-saving devices for pilots, but also for troop deployment.”

“Historical Review”Excerpt from Sandia Report SAND85-1180, ”An Introduction to Deployable Recovery Systems” by Jan Meyer,  August 1985http://www.parachutehistory.com/eng/drs.html

Future Storage and Clothes Moth Prevention for SilkStore clean and dry – to prevent moth larvae feeding on food stains and the residual from perspirationStore neatly folded in breathable cotton storage bags and in non-acidic tissue paper or hung in clothing covers in a dark, dry place.  Avoid sealed plastic containers that may cause moisture or yellowing of the silk.  Moisture will significantly increase the risk of any moth eggs that may be present being able to survive and develop into damaging moth larvae.  For long period storage periodically shake the clothing and air in non-direct but bright light to deter any potential moth larvae settling.

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#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 7: 'Valentine'

Week 7 Prompt:   'Valentine'

Ooh !  I thought when I saw this one.  Our family has never really done 'Valentine's Day'.
I have no-one named Valentine and no-one was born or married on that day.  What can I come up with ???

I started to think what the celebration is all about and thought well really it's a chance for people to express how they feel to the love of their life.

Then I thought I think I have a love letter between ancestors - but you guessed it - I couldn't find it :(
So stretching my mind further I thought I could tell a story about my parents meeting - the first flicker of love which lasted until they died. It is historical fiction, so it has facts in it but I have woven them into a little tapestry of their own.

“Mum how did you and Dad first meet?”

Lilian was breathless  “Lucy you’ll never guess what?  Tonight I was so late for choir practice I ran in the back door, tripped over a felt hat and hit the floor.”

Lucy interrupted:  “Oh no.”

Lilian continued: “Well, this new man was there and he’d left it on the floor. He was so apologetic and… so sweet.  He had this strong Scottish accent, a twinkle in his blue eyes and he called me ‘lassie’ as he helped me up.  My stomach dropped and I felt so shaky and strange.  Lucy, I couldn’t think what to say.”

“This is so exciting Lil.  Sounds like you were knocked off your feet in more ways than one. Now tell me more about this young Scotsman.” 

“Oh Lucy...My heart was racing and I’m sure my cheeks were red. I wasn’t brave enough to look towards the tenors, where he sat.  I felt guilty singing in church with the stained glass figures, the cross and Mrs Webb on the organ watching.  I knew I shouldn’t be thinking of anything but the words, the music and of course watching the conductor.  But my mind kept wandering as we practiced Sunday’s hymn list.

After choir, he was off home on his gig before I made it outside.  The girls were chatting about him and said he comes all the way in from Orrvale and he’s an orchardist there.“

Lilian finished up: “I doubt that he thought any more of it though as he has such a pure voice and I’m just one of the chorus. The lead sopranos will all be noticed well before me.”

William and Lilian on their wedding day

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Resource: Personal Knowledge of my family:

Lilian Agnes Cottam (my mother) b 24 Aug 1913 Kew Victoria Australia d 02 Aug 1996 Tweed Heads, NSW

Lucy - girlfriend who lived with the Cottam family for awhile, maiden surname unknown.  Married Ross Thomas Martin.

William Louden Pearce (my father) b 29 May 1904 Peebles Scotland, d. 20 Apr 1982 Tweed Heads NSW

Choir at Scots Church, 134 Maude St, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia

Photo: Author's Personal properety. Marriage 23 March 1940, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia

#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 6: 'Favourite Name'

Week 6 Prompt:   'Favourite Name'

I had a little laugh when I discovered the names of two of my ancestors who married on 12 February 1733.  They are my 5 X Great Grandparents on my mother’s side.

Richard COWMEADOW and Hannah BULLOCK.

I wonder was it an outside wedding on the lawn ? 

Just kidding – actually they were married in St Nicholas Church of England in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.

The church is a well known architectural structure as the tower is not straight.    Some call it ‘The Leaning Tower of Gloucester’.

St Nicholas Church, Gloucester, England. Photo Permission: Sue C Smith.

I have put some documents in – for interest – but also because I love that old writing, particularly when you can read it !

Hannah’s Baptism on May 08, 1705 (Ancestry.com)

Richard’s Baptism – Jan. 22, 1705 (Ancestry.com)

 

Richard’s marriage entry on February 12, 1733. (Ancestry.com)

Hannah's marriage entry with transcription - a more legible reading.

 Now, a little interesting history about English names. 

The feudal nobility and gentry were named in preparation for the Domesday Book in 1086, following the Norman conquest.

However early European names for families developed over time from the use of nicknames. They were reference to different occupations, personal characteristics, physical appearance, resemblances to animals and birds, ways of dress, etc.   

Eventually when the Poll Tax was introduced in England in 1275 people required a surname.

‘Bullock’ and variations of the surname  

Bullok/Bulloc/Bulluc/Bullocke are of Anglo-Saxon origin. Early mentions of the family name are: Walter Bulluc, 1170, in the ‘Records of Hampshire’ during the reign of King Henry II; Robert Bulloc in the 1195 ‘Feet of Fines’; and Richard le Bollocherde (as in bullock herd) in the Eynsham Cartulary, Oxford, 1281.

 Source: Name Origin Research 1980 -2017, http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Bullock#ixzz5607yjYMV

‘Bullock’ Name Meaning

English: from Middle English bullok, bullock and Old English bulluc, referring to a young bull rather than a castrated one, probably applied as a nickname for an exuberant young man, or an occupational name for a keeper of bullocks.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press, https://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/

‘An exuberant young man’ - This could have been a worry.

Memorial Stone, Toby Bullocke, 1641, St Nicholas Church, Gloucester, England. Photo Permission: Sue C Smith.

‘Cowmeadow’ - variations of the surname and meaning
It is a harder name to track down.  It appears to be English and could be from an area called ‘CowsMeadow’ that is now one of the ‘Lost Mediaeval Villages’.  When these places disappeared they only left behind a surname with a local family.

Some thoughts though are that the prefix ‘Cow’ could have come from the Norse ‘Kaus’ meaning Tom-cat, and so ‘Kausmeadow’.

The earliest finding stated on this website is John Cowmedow at St Olaves, Southwark, London, 21 Feb. 1733. Different spellings include Cowmeadow, Cowmedow, Cowmadow and Cowmedon.

Source: Name Origin Research 1980 – 2017,  http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Cowmeadow#ixzz560FsYtcD

NB:      On some of the documents for my ancestors the name is spelt Cowmedow.

            Hannah was born in 1705 and her parents are listed including her father John Cowmedow – earlier dates than listed on the website.

Sometimes names come together that make one smile as these two did for me.

Question is: Did the family way back, live in CowsMeadow? 
keep cows in the meadow?
or was it a Tomcat camping there?