April 24th

We have just one event today - a marriage.  On April 24th in 1784 Sarah Glover married Richard Dexter.  This is going way back in time and back to Castle Donington, the cradle of our Glovers.  Sarah was the daughter of John Glover and Mary who are your 5th great grandparents.  Sarah herself is your 5th great aunt.

Sarah was 25 when she married Richard Dexter in Castle Donington.  I don't know much about the couple or what Richard did for a living but they had at least one child, Mary.  Most of the information I have is from the very detailed will, the original of which I saw in Castle Donington in 2016, of Sarah's father, John Glover.  Dad left his daughter some money with the proviso that it was for her alone and should not be used for any benefit to her husband.  This maybe suggests John wasn't too keen on his son-in-law.

These events (birth of Sarah, Richard and their daughter were all before civil registration and so it is more difficult to confirm facts.

St Edward King & Martyr church where Sarah and Richard were probably married

April 23rd

On this day, April 23rd 1887, Elspet West died.  She is your 5th great aunt - being the sister of 4Xgreat grandfather Alexander West.  Elspet was the 11th of eleven children of Ferryden fisherman John West and Janet Simpson.

I reported on Elspet's birth earlier this month.  She lived her whole life in Ferryden.  She married a Ferryden fisherman, Robert Anderson and they had eight children.  She died of Phthisis (tuberculosis) which she'd had for two years.  She'd been a widow for three years.  She was 66 years old.

Ferryden from the harbour today

April 22nd

On this day in 1859 - 160 years ago - Adam Tawse was born.  He is your 1st cousin 3X removed.  He was born in Monquhitter in Aberdeenshire - the fourth child (of nine) born to blacksmith James Tawse and Mary Donald.  Mary is your 3Xgreat aunt.  Interestingly enough there is another Adam Tawse from the same area who left Aberdeenshire and came to Manitoba.  But I'm pretty sure it's a different person - though likely related.  Another line of research to pursue!

Another birth on this day is that of Flora Anne Page Glover.   She was born in 1919 in Newcastle upon Tyne.  She is your first cousin 2X removed.  Her father is Archibald Ritchie Lawrence Glover -  the brother of William Fisken Glover - my dad's dad.  Archibald was a bank clerk.  Flora's mum was Caroline Anne Page.  Flora was their second (and last) child.  Her older brother is also called Archibald (Archie) - and he's the fellow who married Grace Marie Igel's daughter Pauline (made famous by the BBC's A House Through Time which you'll see sometime soon).

The Westgate Road in 1920 - West End of Newcastle - fairly close to where the Glovers lived.

April 21st

On this day, April 21st, we go way back to 1795 for the birth of James West who is your 5X great uncle!  The name WEST means we're on Grandma's side of the family and in Ferryden.  James was the first of the eleven children born to Fisherman John West and Janet Simpson.  (it seems to me that I have written quite a few times about families with 11 children.  Just couldn't make the round dozen I guess).

Next we have a marriage on this day (and a death actually - see below).  In 1860 Helen Morrice married James Lamb.  Helen is your first cousin 4X removed and James is also your first cousin 4X removed!  Yes, Helen and James are first cousins to eachother (their mothers are sisters) and you are connected by blood to both of them through the Christie/Donald/Matthew line.

They were married in the manse of Monqhitter.  James was 22 years old, a bachelor and a farm labourer.  Helen was 33 years old - never previously married.  They don't seem to have any children but they lived and worked on Graystone Farm in Monquhitter, Aberdeenshire for four plus more decades.  Helen died in 1905 but oddly enough, James died on this day - April 21st in 1913.

And finally, on this day - in 1933 - Francis McNee West was married. He's your first cousin 2X removed (he was a first cousin to grandma).  I bet you're thinking WEST!  Must be Ferryden!  But no.  As we get into more recent times, a lot of the Ferryden folk have moved away from the east coast.  Most to the west side of the country - to Clydebank and Glasgow.  Francis married Rose Dolan in the Church of Our Holy Redeemer in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire.  He was 38 at the time, a bachelor and a butcher's salesman by trade.  She was a spinster aged 26 and worked in a garage.

I'm interested in pursuing a bit more research into this family unit.  Francis and Rose seem to have had twin daughters.  And there was movement to New Zealand via Australia by one of them, if not both - and also Francis.  A grandson in New Zealand was in contact with me a while back.  Not sure what happened to Rose the bride of this day 86 years ago.

April 20th

Your 4th great grandfather, Alexander West, was born on this day in 1799 in Ferryden.  He was the third child of the eleven born to fisherman John West and Janet Simpson.

Robert Christie Paterson, who you "met" on March 5th (date of his birth) got married on this day in 1938.  Robert was a 25 year old  farm servant in Aberdeenshire when he married Christina Clark Crighton Cheyne.  Christina was 20 years old and a domestic servant.  They were married in the Club House at Fyvie.  Robert is your 1st cousin twice removed.  Robert and Christina had six children and lived in Turriff, Aberdeenshire.

Of some interest is that Robert, a few months before his wedding, was hauled up before the sheriff.  He and a friend were accused of stealing 32lbs of apples from an orchard.

April 17th

And I wonder who on our family tree has a birthday today????


Ainsley is not alone.


Your first cousin 4x removed, Margaret Coull, was also born on this day - 145 years ago.  Coull is one of the Ferryden names.  Margaret - or Maggie as she was known - was the fourth child of the five born to the fisher family of David Coull and Elspet West.  Elspet is your 4th great aunt being the daughter of your 3xgreat grandparents, John West and Helen Pert.  She was born at 2:30 a.m.




Also on this day, in 1964, Adam Christie Riddel died.  He is your first cousin 2X removed.  When his mother, Jean Christie (your second great aunt) left Aberdeenshire with her husband and a baby in 1890 they settled in Barre, Vermont - the area of the granite industry.  Within a couple of years of being in the states, Jean and husband George Riddel had Adam Christie Riddel.  He was followed by four more children.

Adam Christie Riddel - World War One

Adam Christie Riddell lived in Vermont all his life.  He began working in the granite industry.  He was drafted to fight in World War I.  His attestation papes describe him as slender, grey eyes,light hair.  After the war he married Mary Ethel Morris and they had three sons.  A neice of one of these three sons was in contact with me some years ago.  I got the hint that all was not happy in her world.  Some bitterness as to how her uncle had been treated by someone or ones or other.

Adam continued working in the granite industry and he and Mary were able to buy their own home - the address was happily 43 Home Street in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Adam was one of those guys who ended up fighting in two world wars.  He signed up in 1942.  Here he is described at 5'7", 140 lns, blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion.

Adam died on this day in 1964 in Brattleboro of subacute monocytic Leukemia.  He died in hospital after 10 days.  He was buried a few days later in Morningside Cemetary in Brattleboro.  He was 71 years old.

🎈🎈🎈And to complete what was started above ;  it was on this day in 1987 - the fifth annivesary of the charter a/c to Grant - Ainsley Catherine Mitchell was born.  She was the youngest of three daughters born to Grant Mitchell and Catherine Lambeth.  She started out very very tiny but quickly became  strong of body and mind and often leaves the rest of us in her wake!  Today she is 32 years old - married to you and the two of you are wonderful parents to our lovely Isla.  Happy Birthday Ainsley! 

April 16th

A few days ago we noted the death of David Fisken and I mentioned that he shares a grave in Stamfordham, Northumberland with his brother William "plough" Fisken and his sister Margaret.  Today marks the 137th anniversary of the death of Margaret Fisken.  Margaret is your 4th great aunt.  She was born in Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland and grew up on Gellyburn Farm just outside of the village.  In fact she lived there until at least her mid forties.  Being the only female on the farm, she would have been the housekeeper.  Her brother James was the Fisken who took over the farm from his parents.  James remained a bachelor until 1856 when, at age 45, he married.  I imagine there wasn't room for two leading ladies so Margaret left Scotland when she about 50 years old and went and lived with brother William in Stamfordham, Northumberland.  She became the housekeeper of the manse (William was the minister of the presbyterian church in the village).

It was at this manse that Margaret died of heart disease.  She was 79 years old.

Another great aunt died on this day.  Hellen Christie.  She is your 3rd great aunt being a sister of your great great grandparents Adam Christie and Isabella Donald.  Hellen was the 2nd child of the ten born to crofter John Christie and Helen Gordon.  She was born in Banff, Scotland.  She went onto be a farmer's wife when she married James Barclay at age 23.  They had seven children and the family continued to live on various farms in Banffshire.  She died in Alvah, Banffshire of heart disease.  She was 70 years old.

Now we go to a birth and to the U.S.A.  It was on this day in 1926 that Preston Daniel Riddel was born.  He is your 2nd cousin once removed.  He is a second generation American being a descendent of the family which came from Aberdeenshire to the granite industry of Barre, Vermont.  Preston was born in Barre and was the only son of Charles Perry Riddell and Florence Marlowe McGovern.  His father was an auto mechanic.

I'm going to report on the death of Joseph Paterson on this day in 1953.  Joseph would not normally have been included in this blog as I am doing just the ancestors we are related to by blood.  But Joseph has the distinction of bringing the Paterson name onto the family tree.  And we've now got tons of Patersons!!  Joseph married Elspet Christie - your 2nd great aunt - a sister to your grandma's dad.  They had eleven children..  Joseph was a farmer/ploughman.  He died in Chalmers Hospital in Banff (although he lived in Turriff, Aberdeenshire) of acute myocarditis and prostatic obstruction.  He outlived his wife by 15 years.  They are buried together in Cuminestown Cemetery along with three of their children who died young (6 months, 3 years and 9 years).  Joseph was 80 years old - despite what the gravestone says; he was in his 81st year but hadn't had his birthday yet.

And the last person for today's blog is someone you knew.  On this day in 2004 Catherine Christie - Auntie Cathie (as you called her) - died.  She was 73 years old and despite the fact that I was there, I don't really know what she died from specifically.  She had heart disease and cancer.  Cathie was born in 1931 in Newcastle - the first of three children for Uncle Jack (grandma's brother) and Auntie Annie.  She became a nurse and, over the years, she plied her trade in various parts of England and Scotland.  She was very much the person who held the family together when her dad was ill and unable to work and then after he died.  I'm really not too sure of what the main impetus was for her to emigrate to Canada at age 44.  But she did so in 1975.  Her sister Anne was living in Winnipeg at the time so I assume that's why she came to Winnipeg.  After Anne left the city (which was just a matter of months after Cathie's arrival I believe) she remained in Winnipeg and had a good career in two of the city's hospitals for over 20 years before retiring.