Latest Granny's Tales

This month I have added the story of my search for the parents of my great great grandmother, Mary Cardell. This fruitless search has taken me nearly fifty years and although I am fairly certain who Mary's parents were, I am looking for additional evidence before I 'ink them in'. You can read my account here. Do get in touch if you can help; it is quite a challenge!

I am also working with a new group to help members write their own biographies. This is giving me the motivation to complete the parts of my own biography that haven't yet been completed. This month, I have added my memories of 2020, the year we locked down; you can read this here.

Meet Thomas and Fanny

I have managed to upload two stories to the Granny's Tales website this month. The first is the story of my great great aunt, Fanny Amelia Ellington née Woolgar. No one spoke of Fanny, although much was said about her siblings. She was born in Highgate, grew up in Dulwich, married in Hastings and then returned to south London. During her life, she spent time in three different asylums. She leaves no living descendants. The second story is that of Thomas Baker. I discovered Thomas recently, when I was trying to identify how I was connected to a DNA match. Thomas was my 3x great grandmother's brother and they grew up in rural Sussex during the agricultural depression of the early nineteenth century. Thomas was transported to Tasmania for life in 1830 and so far, is the only transportee that I have found on my family tree.

You can read their stories here.

Latest Additions to Granny's Tales

It has been a bit of an effort but there are two new additions to the site this month. The first is the story of my great-grandmother, Clara Dawson, from her birth in 1858 until her marriage in 1886. Mrs Beeton's instructions to housemaids feature. You can read it here.

I have also put together all the school and Sunday school prizes that I was able to find still lurking in family possession. The story is here.