General Chat

A Genealogical Gathering Earlier this year, a group of avid family historians came together for a casual chat about their personal experiences with genealogy. Daniel Longman went along to find out what goes on. On the afternoon of February 25, a collection of amateur genealogists from all over the country descended upon the town on Middlesbrough for a get-together commonly known as a Meet. At these Meets, members of the popular genealogical website GenesReunited, who have become well-acquainted via the company’s General Topics Board, congregate and amongst other things, discuss their family history. Barbara Readman was our very hospitable host. She had spent many hours organising the day, making sure our transport, meals and accommodation were all arranged. I arrived at Middlesbrough station at one o’clock after a long but nevertheless pleasant journey from Birkenhead. Once there I was met by three fellow historians, Glynis Preston, Sue Smith and the hostess herself. We drove to the initial meeting point where we had lunch and met with the majority of the members who would be taking part in the discussions. After brief introductions we sat and ordered our food. Over the clatter of cutlery and general banter, I could hear snippets of information regarding all manner of interesting stories, each being related between hungry mouthfuls. I was keen to follow up these cases later that afternoon and discover the interesting details that lay beneath them. By four o’clock we had moved on to the Newlands Lodge, a small but pleasing guest house where we commandeered the lounge and claimed it as our own; now I could investigate the stories in depth. The first tale was recounted to me by retired secretary Mary Orton, and she showed me her father’s military medals. George Simey, who was born in 1906, had always been interested in the Army. So much so in fact, that he ran away from home in an unsuccessful attempt to sign up during his teenage years! However, as soon as he was old enough, George achieved his patriotic ambition and joined the Coldstream Guards. Mrs Orton recalled how her father was very proud of the fact that he had stood on duty outside Buckingham Palace and also at King George V’s lying-in-state in Westminster Hall “It was a memory he always cherished” she told me. With the outbreak of war in 1939, George was called to fight for his country and served as the Regimental Colonel’s batman, his personal servant. His time in the army took Private Simey to North Africa, chasing Rommel, and then later into Italy where he took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino. “My father survived the war but unfortunately the experience did not do his health much good.” explained Mary. She went on to describe how he suffered from terrible memories of his active service which continued to haunt him to his dying day in 1961. Mary was obviously very proud of her father and his dedication to his king and to his country. Next to inform me of a facet of her findings was former zoo café manager Glynis Preston. Her research into the Davies side of her genes led her to discover some startling contrasts in the coffers of her ancestors. Ann and Emma Davies, Glynis’ great, great aunts were born in 1831 and 1835 respectively. Despite their virtually identically upbringings, the two sisters would go on to lead very different lives. “Emma married and was living comfortably in a lovely house in Kemberton. In later years Thomas Gough, her husband, paid for six separate burial plots, side by side, for his whole family. It must have been at quite a price!” Mrs Preston went on to tell me that she found her sister to have enjoyed a somewhat less favourable lifestyle. “Ann had a baby, Martha, in 1850, however she was illegitimate. For at least three years Ann and her daughter lived on her parent’s farm in Wellington, but by 1861, things had changed. They had moved out of the family home and ended up in a poorhouse, living in poverty.” Nowadays Glynis reflects sombrely on the hardships of her family’s past. “It made me think how different paths in life can lead to a family becoming socially divided, and that because of a pregnancy out of marriage, a woman could be treated as a public disgrace.” It was certainly a thought-provoking end to a story awash with disparity. As I sat listening, dictaphone in hand, a lady by the name of Ann Lazenby tentatively approached. She was keen to tell me of a short maritime tale that she had uncovered in her own family tree. “My fifth great uncle, William Guy was a lifeboat man, and on Christmas day 1836, he received a distress message.” Ann informed me how the forty-one year old was forced to hurry from church and out to the shore as news of an awful wreck spread about the town of Redcar. “He was washed overboard trying to save souls!”

Hope you enjoy reading and get a sense of the day. I had a really great time.