What’s it matter? Was the unsaid question, after repeated tellings of the same stories. So blokes, generally, aren’t impressed by the whole thing. But girls are!, Why, because Mum’s and their female wains, at the ‘female’ chores - washing clothes and dishes and floors - were the true story tellers that kept families intact, on the social scale of things. Boys, on the other hand, working wae their Faithers , in their sheds and workplaces, heard only about ‘Male’ things - fixing and building push bikes, motor bikes, fixing cars and driving them. The ‘Manly things’.
However; in the society that i was brought up in, no-one really had any money, so, consequently, boys learned from their Fathers, things mechanical, even sometime digging/planting gardens, very reluctantly, for spuds for dinner, so to exist!
So, in this pottage of blethers o’ yir Faithir. Whit does it all mean?
WELL, because rich people have lawyers to record their property rights, they have a larger share of the spoils; e.g., Land, property and all that that entails in building wealth, denied to the workers. And a large part of thIs is slanted to PROPERTY RIGHTS-ONGOING. Where, land is the means of production for generations to come. And, recording those rights is the means of including generational ownership.
Family history of, and, for the beneficiaries is absolutely important. Lawyers do this for the wealthy. Working classes have to rely on Family History for their place in the scheme of things. you can work this out for yourself, when thinking about where you are in life.
Women, are truly the ‘keepers of 'family history' That’s where my love of family history began.
It was, in fact, a method of ‘documentation', of the rich and powerful, as to their claim to land. This then also became the ‘working classes’ methodology of similar claims. Tho most of us have very little claim to anything except by union type cohesion and action.
When MAW, came out tae Aussie, she told me stories of our family.
Noo, at first I thoght that this was a ‘lot of time wasting garbage, wimmins blethers’. But as i listened to Maw, I realized that what us ‘modern day’ people didn’t realise, that oral history of all the ‘Maws’ of the world was important. It is the listener who has to understand that ordinary folks, in times gone, had no easy access to written material e.g. births, deaths, marriages, except for the ones of their own family. Mainly to satisfy legal requirements, in case needed, e.g. births, deaths, marriages , that satisfied some legal issue e.g., ID needs for the undertaker, etc.
It informed me enough to start taking notice of Maws stories to understand my ‘place in society’, hence my union involvement, in fighting for workers rights
Noo whether it be strictly correct was another matter, as oral history was the only way that ordinary working class people had to any inheritance. WHY? Because ‘land rights’, as our Aboriginal people keep reminding us, that they are the first peoples of Australia, was important in this proof. Their history was not written down, but oral. Wee Westerners, seem to have been ‘slow learners’. And' the consequence is, ‘betrayal of Aboriginal rights'.
Be that as it may, family history also documents such things as mental and physical health issues.e.g.,try getting buried without the doctor’s death certificate.
I hope I haven’t lost you in my rant?
Now that you’ve got your head around my rant, you might be fortunate to have had the luck to have a granny who started all of this history for your Daft Dad. just keep in mind, that Economic history, that i slaved over for years at Night School, then Uni, helped me better understand social and economic needs that i continually champion today. Education and Understanding humans history means bettering our existence.
The attachment is a part of the Bastables coming up from England to Scotland as show people, and eventually your Dad’s birth. Some journey!
Thanks for listening
Lovesyas
Dad
Below is the text from the attachment. Also Dad had posted a version of this on Ancestry.com
http://newsfeed.rootsweb.com/th/read/SCOTLAND-GENWEB/1998-04/0891691712
To Lisa and Dianne
Open the above http and get a potted version of the family of Maw’s mother, Eliza Bastable[Your GtGrandmother], as told to me by Maw when living here in Australia
You can see where your flair for theatre comes from!
Send on to the wanes.
Luvsyas
Dad
TEXT FROM DADS DOCUMENT
Home
GFE’s MAW’S
STORIES OF HER FORREST-BASTABLE FAMILIES - INCLUDING THE RESEARCH THAT GFE DID
TO FLESH OUT MAW’s brilliant memory, as a child, of events at her Maw’s [Eliza Forrest
ms BASTABLE] side.
MOTHERS ARE THE
REEAL HISTORIANS, NOT FATHERS
NB MOST OF WHAT
MAW TOLD ME, WAS HERE IN AUSTRALIA, AFTER MY DAD, GEORGE REID ELLIS, DIED. I
WASN’T REALLY INTERESTED IN FAMILY HISTORY, AS I THOUGHT, CONDESCENDINGLY AND
SEXIST, THAT IT WAS ALL JUST ‘AUL WIMMINS BLETHERS’
HOWEVER, AS A
MIGRANT I STRATED TO REALISE THAT I REALLY KNEW NOTHING OF OUR FAMILIES!
When Maw [GFE’S
mother] was born 2 July 1911, her G Grandmother, Eliza A Bastable, was written
to, to tell her that Maw was going to be named Elizabeth after her. Maw’s Gran
wrote back and emphasized i.e. underlined twice in the letter, if it was not
Eliza, then Maw was not therefore named after her. Consequently Maw is named
Eliza.
But
interestingly enough, in July 2000, when Maw died, Aunt Mary had a Postcard
photo of Maw at 2 months. The back of the postcard had written on it;
‘2nd Sept 1911 the year that I Elizabeth
Forrest was born taken at 2 months.’
Now this would
be Maw that wrote this some time earlier when say MY Grannie Forrest had the
photos. When Gran died all of her belongings were left to Aunt Mary. So Gran
died 1970’s. Maw must have wrote this before then. And had written ‘Elizabeth’,
not ‘Eliza’. What a puzzle!
________________
Hello Richard,
[WOOLAVINGTON TOWN CLERK-I THINK, FROM 2018 MEMORY]
My name
is George Ellis. I am currently researching my Great Great Grandmother; Eliza
Ann Bastable [ms Hamlin][died 27 July 1815] married to a Samuel Bastable [died
Aug 1889] and her family from Woolavington
Just a
wee bit of info about me;
I was born and
brought up in Scotland, where my Mum, Eliza Forrest, was born to her Parents
William and Eliza Forrest [ms Bastable]
My Grannie told
Mum of her parents’ life in Woolavington. Mum
________________
My wife and i
visited Woolavington ca 1990, doing research about Gt Gt Grannie Bastable
[buried in the Woolavington churchyard], and her family, of Show-folk, who
eventually settled and are all buried in Stirling Scotland
When my wife
and I migrated to Australia, joined by Mum, after dad died in Scotland, Mum
would relate tales of her mother, her mother's 3 brothers and of course of the
village of Woolavington.
Subsequently,
my wife and I visited Woolavington in the 1990's, What a beautiful
village.
___________________
We located the
Schoolhouse where Grannie and her 3 brothers were educated, which is now a
private residence.
At that time
the couple that owned the old school were kind enough to give us some
information re the Bastables.
The lady of the
house was a librarian at Bridgewater library and she was very very helpful, for
which we are very grateful
What I would
like to ask, is information in your local council of the Bastables, of the time
period pre 1900
A story Mum
told us was that Gt Grannie Eliza Ann Bastable [ms Hamlin], being a big woman
of height and girth, died at her upper story cottage and that the undertaker
had to take out the upstairs window to allow her coffin to be taken down to
ground level to be buries in the local church cemetery ground.
1] Would
you have records of the house that Gt Grannie Bastable owned/rented? She was a
'comfit' maker [Sweets, as far as i am aware] and sold them at the local
markets, being conveyed there in a 'pony and trap' - seemingly towed by a very
large dog
2] Do you have
any records of burial et al?
3] Are there
any other 'Bastable/Hamlin' records/photos etc. available? From a local history
group?
Many thanks, in
anticipation
George Ellis
____________________________________
From: WoolavingtonPC@aol.com
Date: 17 November 2014 03:03:08 GMT+11:00
To: gellis@bigpond.net.au
Subject: Re: Mr. Richard Young - Parish Clerk - Re BASTABLE family
in Woolavington
Dear Mr. Ellis
I have now had
the chance to look through the Parish Records for mentions of the Bastable
family
I have found
the following, which I hope, will be of use: -
Burials
Samuel Bastable
27.8.1889 age 51
William Henry
Bastable 26.4.1892 age 4
Dorothy
Bastable 26.6.1905 infant
Eliza Ann
Bastable 27.7.1915 age 73
Eliza was
living at Stretcholt - about 4 miles from Woolavington - at time of death. She
was buried in grave x168 in the west section of the Churchyard. There is no
memorial but I could take a photo of the spot and forward it to you if it would
be of interest. I am not sure if Samuel is in the same grave but it is likely
as several other graves in that area are from the late 1880s.
Baptisms
1867 Frederick
Robert Bastable s of Samuel & Eliza Ann
1889 Ellen
Bastable d of William & Ellen (travellers)
1902 May d of
Frederick Robert & Sarah Ann Bastable
1903 Florence d
of Frederick Robert & Sarah Ann Bastable
1905 Dorothy d
of Frederick Robert & Sarah Ann Bastable
Marriages
18.4.1862
Samuel Bastable (hawker) s of John Bastable & Eliza Ann Hamlin (a minor)
i.e. under 21 d of Robert Hamlin
29.9.1886 William
Frederick Bastable 22 (a traveller) son of Samuel Bastable & Ellen Reader
24 (a traveller) d of William Reader.
The 1891 census
gives the following information:-
Bastable Eliza
A. Head Widow 48 F General Dealer (shop) place of birth Chilton Polden
Bastable
Frederick son Unmarried, 24 General Dealer (shop) place of birth Woolavington
Bastable
William grandson, place of birth Topsham, Devon.
The 1881 census
gives the surname spelt Barnstable and abode of Knowle Lane (now Crancombe
Lane) - they were all described as general dealers:-
Eliza Ann wife
married 38
Frederick son
13
William son 15
No mention of
Samuel who could have been away on census day
In 1871 they
were again Barnstable and Eliza was "Elizabeth Ann" still living at Crancombe
Lane
Elizabeth Ann
28
Frederick
Robert son 3
Samuel 34 a
quarryman
William
Frederick son 5
In a village
history book there are the following mentions of Mrs. Bastable
Memories of
Frederick George Haggett 1881-1975
"I mind
well old Mrs. Bastable, the gingerbread and comfit maker, she was the fattest
woman I ever did see. She was buried at the back of the Church tower. I helped
dig the grave, it was the biggest you ever saw, and about 3ft across."
Village Fair
"One of
the most colorful figures at the Fair was Mrs. Eliza Bastable, who lived in
Crancombe Lane and took her gingerbreads and delicious brown rock to all the
Fairs in the district. She was a colossal woman. so big she had a job to keep
herself clean. She was so huge it was said that she wore jerseys for stockings.
If not too pure in person, one need have no fears about eating her wares as her
pots and pans were kept sparkling clean and she was very particular about her
cooking"
I hope this
helps you in your research.
Best wishes
Richard Young
Clerk,
Woolavington Parish Council
_______________________
Dear Mr. Ellis
I attach a
photo of the western section of Woolavington Churchyard. (See the email photo
download on Geo’s mac for Dec 2104]
Eliza Bastable
and probably her husband lies just to the left of the rear of the modern
headstone in the centre of the photo i.e. in the foreground of the photo to the
left of the area devoid of grass.
I hope that
makes sense!
Kind regards
Richard Young
Clerk,
Woolavington Parish Council
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Woolavington Go back
No-one visiting this large and friendly
village today could imagine the picture it would have presented only 60 years
ago. It was a small, isolated rural community; the Levels flooded and were
unusable all winter, and there was no bus service.
Woolavington was possibly founded by one Hunlaf, at about the end of the 9th century. He found a strategic place, about a mile below the busy trading route built by the Romans and above the flood line of the Levels - useful for fishing and wood!
The church has a Norman door and although the exact date is not known, it must have been there by the end of the 12th century .It is at the centre of the old village and is the focal point for much activity.
Although life was hard and work long and arduous, the villagers enjoyed a lot of fun -mostly of their own making. The Fair, charter granted in 1777, was eagerly awaited on October 18th each year in the square. Horses were in Tapps Lane, sheep in the main road, cattle in the square. Naptha flares lighted the stalls.
Mrs Eliza Bastable, a local lady, sold her gingerbread and brown rock at all the fairs. She was a colossal lady and it was said she had to wear jerseys for stockings! Buried here in the churchyard, her coffin was 3 feet across. The last fair was in 1914.
Very few changes happened until 1940 when a new estate was built on Woolavington Hill to accommodate workers at the nearby Royal Ordnance Factory. A drain was constructed on the Levels to supply the factory with water. This turned the marshy levels into rich pasture land, available to farmers all the year round.
This was the turning point in the life of the village, from a maximum of 400 inhabitants before the war, in the next 25 years an extensive but controlled building plan, road improvements and other amenities turned it into a thriving place of some 3,000 people. Most of the farms have gone, but pleasant homes with pretty gardens have taken their place.
NB
The village information above is taken from The Somerset Village Book, written by members of the Somerset Federation of Women's Institutes and published by Countryside Books. Click on the link Countryside Books to view Countryside's range of other local titles.
Woolavington was possibly founded by one Hunlaf, at about the end of the 9th century. He found a strategic place, about a mile below the busy trading route built by the Romans and above the flood line of the Levels - useful for fishing and wood!
The church has a Norman door and although the exact date is not known, it must have been there by the end of the 12th century .It is at the centre of the old village and is the focal point for much activity.
Although life was hard and work long and arduous, the villagers enjoyed a lot of fun -mostly of their own making. The Fair, charter granted in 1777, was eagerly awaited on October 18th each year in the square. Horses were in Tapps Lane, sheep in the main road, cattle in the square. Naptha flares lighted the stalls.
Mrs Eliza Bastable, a local lady, sold her gingerbread and brown rock at all the fairs. She was a colossal lady and it was said she had to wear jerseys for stockings! Buried here in the churchyard, her coffin was 3 feet across. The last fair was in 1914.
Very few changes happened until 1940 when a new estate was built on Woolavington Hill to accommodate workers at the nearby Royal Ordnance Factory. A drain was constructed on the Levels to supply the factory with water. This turned the marshy levels into rich pasture land, available to farmers all the year round.
This was the turning point in the life of the village, from a maximum of 400 inhabitants before the war, in the next 25 years an extensive but controlled building plan, road improvements and other amenities turned it into a thriving place of some 3,000 people. Most of the farms have gone, but pleasant homes with pretty gardens have taken their place.
NB
The village information above is taken from The Somerset Village Book, written by members of the Somerset Federation of Women's Institutes and published by Countryside Books. Click on the link Countryside Books to view Countryside's range of other local titles.
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Welcome
to Bridgwater
Bridgwater is located on the
River Parrett, in the county of Somerset, approximately 163 miles west of
London and 9 miles north-east of Taunton.
The town has a population
of around 38,000. Administratively it is within the local government district
of Sedgemoor which covers an area of approximately 565 sq.kms.
It is an attractive market
and industrial town set in the dairy-farming lowlands beneath the Polden Hills,
with a twice daily tidal bore travelling down the River Parrett. Modern
developments have been well integrated with the town's Georgian and red-brick
architecture thus retaining its old world charm. There are some notable
historic buildings including the 14th century church of St Mary with its 175ft
high spire, and The Lions, an outstanding Georgian house on West Quay.
Bridgwater is a good base for touring the area, close to Somerset's seaside resorts;
the scenic Quantock Hills are just to the west and the quiet Somerset Levels to
the east.
The town's history dates
from its first recording in the Domesday Book (1086), and during the medieval
period it developed from a village into a major river port, before being
overshadowed by Bristol. During the Civil War the town was held by the
Royalists and as a consequence its 13th century castle was destroyed by
Parliament following the conflict. In 1685 it was the scene of the Battle of
Sedgemoor (3 miles outside the town) when rebellious forces of the Protestant
Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, were routed by King James
II's Catholic army. Â
Historically the town's
economy was based upon the cloth industry. Today it is the leading industrial
town in the county, attracting many new businesses and major retail parks.
Originally, Bridgwater was simply called Brigg, a Saxon word for
quayside. Following the Norman invasion, William the Conqueror gave land to his
nobles with Brigg being allocated to Walter from Douai in France. The town thus
became 'Brigg of Walter’, or Briggwalter. Over time this has evolved to
Bridgwater.
OH, I MISS MA MAW-
MAW GOT ME ON TO THE FAMILY HISTORY. I
THOUGHT THAT IR WAS ‘SILLY WIMMINS BLETHERS].
BUT AS I GOT OLDER I REALIZED THAT PEOPLE
NED ED TO BE ABLE TO RECOUNT THEIR LINEAGE TO PROVE LAND OWNERSHIP
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