My paternal grandmother’s sister, Mary Hay Clark, was born in Peterhead on 25 July 1878 and was just 12 years old when their mother, Barbara McDonald, died in 1891. In an earlier post [see Migration] I hinted that a cousin, Christina Hardy, had an important role to play in the life of one of my… Continue reading Reunion
Author: Emma Maitland
Military
In May 1917, my great grandmother, Ruth Pursglove, wrote some poignant words in a letter she sent to my grandmother: “Poor Mrs Norfolk, what must her grief be - I picture myself in her place if I lost both my boys” Sadly, within just a few months she was to experience exactly how it felt… Continue reading Military
Wheels
James Maitland, my 3x and 4x great grandfather, was a Royal Mail coach driver - this illustration, dated 1808, was engraved by William Henry Pye and shows the type of coach he would have driven: Mail coaches were first introduced into the UK in 1784 in a bid to speed the woefully slow and inefficient… Continue reading Wheels
At the Library
In 1891, Thomas Hardy published one of his best known novels, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, which was inspired by the tombs of the real life Turberville family in St John the Baptist church in Bere Regis, Dorset. The Turbervilles were an ancient and powerful family who were Lords of the Manor of Bere Regis for… Continue reading At the Library
Institutions
In the only photograph that I have of my paternal grandmother, Flora Clark, she is dressed in a nurse’s “walking out” uniform – I have already included the image in an earlier post [see Challenge] but am re-posting it here for ease of reference. A Service Register held by the Hampshire Records Office reveals that… Continue reading Institutions
DNA
I had my DNA tested in March 2023, and currently have the results loaded on four sites: Ancestry, My Heritage, 23andme, and FamilyTree DNA. As well as discovering where my ancestors came from, I hoped that DNA would enable me to verify my paper-based tree, break through some brick walls, and perhaps find some of… Continue reading DNA
Oldest Story
I only got to hear first-hand stories from one of my grandparents: my maternal grandmother, Mildred Howe, who was born in 1896. My father’s parents were both long dead by the time I was born and my paternal grandfather, Jack Cullingford, died when I was a small child. I always loved listening to my grandmother… Continue reading Oldest Story
Big Mistake
My 3x and also 4x great grandfather, James Maitland1, appears in 81 family trees on the Ancestry website, and almost all list his father as Johnathan Maitland. Not one of them has provided a source for this, and there is a very good reason for that because Johnathan Maitland was a figment of my imagination,… Continue reading Big Mistake
Language
There is not a single person amongst my direct ancestors who was born outside of the UK, so the short answer to “what language did they speak ?” is pretty simple: English ! The exception to this may be those who were born in Aberdeenshire in the 18th and 19th centuries, although even here it is hard… Continue reading Language
Home Sweet Home
When I look at all the places my ancestors have called home, one address stands out: Harley Street in Portsmouth, where four generations of the Maitland family lived for almost 80 years. The street was in the Landport area, which now forms the commercial centre of the city but was originally a residential neighbourhood housing… Continue reading Home Sweet Home
Sleuthing Notes 