Patrick Stanley (1883-1961) was my paternal grandfather. He is the focal point of these blogs. I have looked at the place where he was born (Roscommon, Ireland) and places where he spent time (Dewsbury, South Africa, India, the Western Front and Brighton). I have tried to understand the events and conditions that shaped him and his family. I have researched the family, both forward and back in time.
There is something here for you if you have connections to Ireland or relatives that fled the Great Famine heading to North America or England. If your relatives left the poverty of life as agricultural labourers to end up in a back-to-back house in an industrial town, then I cover these themes also. If a line in your family was cut short by the Great War, then we have common ground. This is social history as much as family history.
I want to share the results of my research. There are now three lever arch files full of paperwork. There are still significant blanks in the story. Publishing online is the only way that the information will reach a wider audience. My findings may help you. In turn, your research may help me. I have many unanswered questions. An apparent dead end to one person may be a useful line of enquiry to someone else. Please tell me if I have helped you. Please tell me if you can correlate my conclusions.
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