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From: "Sue" <>
Subject: Re: [GEN-TRIVIA-UNIVERSAL] English Trivia...
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:15:48 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
References: <200702120039.l1C0dPKX008722@smtp2.onvoy.com>


I live in England Nancy, and my paternal grandmother was born in Yorkshire,
in 1880 .. She was the 6th child of a farmer; of corn miller stock ..

Grandma was 65 when I was born, and I was only 16 when she died .. Oh, there
are so many questions I would have loved to have asked her, but never did ..
Foolish me ..

But, having said that, I think, (stand corrected), that this generation of
people saw the most changes .. It must have been an exciting time .. But
also a very poor time for many .. Child mortality was still quite high, and
people didn't live in luxury .. Although, I think farmers, back then, had
more money to go round ..

The family lived in a farmhouse on the outskirts of York .. Next door, was a
pair of houses, known as a 'cottage' .. Built around 1680, they were
originally built for ag-labs .. These were, at some itme, converted into one
building, and it still stands today, although extended (tastefully done too)
.. I have seen copies of photos of this property, showing it's extreme
bleakness, no electricity, and only a couple of gas lights in the whole
building .. Stone floors, and crude walls .. Tiny doors and windows .. No
running water, there was a well outside the kitchen door .. It took a lot of
work to bring it up to 1950s standard .. :-)) But, both this 'cottage', and
the farmhouse itself, were owned by the family, there was no rent to pay ..

The farmhouse is now gone, buried under a modern (1970s) housing estate ..
So it was lovely to be able to see the 'cottage' ..

My maternal grandmother was born in 1892, in Nottinghamshire, next county
south from Yorkshire .. She was the youngest child of 9; her father was a
lace maker ..

This family, never owned their own house, and finding rent & food for the
family, would have been difficult .. My gr.grandpa, born 1855, was born into
a poor family .. Not long after he was born, the family walked a couple of
Hundred miles in search of work .. This fete was repeated again, when my gr
grandpa had a family of his own to support ..

Making a good living wouldn't have been easy, and all the children would
have been going out to work before they were teenagers ..

Life might have been exciting for some, but it was a struggle for most ..

Social reform was at it's height during this period, and there are a lot of
books written about it ..

Votes for Women; Rights for Children .. The birth of the Labour Party, and
of Trade Unions ..

No wonder a lot of people chose to emigrate for a better life, and most, I
think, found it ..

Two of my maternal grandmother's sisters emigrated; one to Australia, and
one to America, and they certainly had good lives .. Although, not without
having to work hard for it .. But, the rewards seemed greater somehow .. I
guess there were not the same hangups to contend with .. Life was "new" in
these countries, no-one was better than anyone else .. That came later ..
:-))

Sue


Greetings To All,

I have hopes one day of visiting England. My Grandfather John Henry TOWERS
came from there in the late 1880's. He was only ten years old, but already
working in a factory before they left Leeds. They settled in Philadelphia
for about ten years and then came to Brainerd, Minnesota and stayed in this
state. Minnesota is where I live.

Is there anybody on this list who lives in England? Does anybody know what
life was like back in that time period?

Some years back I had such an interesting discussion on another list about
foods that were eaten in England. It led to some wonderful memories for me
of Yorkshire pudding, which my Mom always made. My Grandfather also always
had to have his Rhubarb Tonic in the Spring to 'Wash out winter". Then I
found out that Yorkshire is the Rhubarb capital of England. I never knew the
connection before. But by having general discussions about items of
interest, we complete our knowledge of our ancestors. And that, to me, is
fascinating.

Have a nice day.

Nancy



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