I recently visited the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. The site is spectacular, being on a hill with a clear view across to Lincoln Cathedral. Surrounding the Memorial Spire, there are 271 panels containing the names of all the Bomber Command casualties from the Second World War (pictured below). That is nearly 58,000…
All posts by Keith Stanley
Where are the Benson trees?
The name Benson has appeared in my research before. (see ‘Kane cluster’ and ‘Able to find Kane’) Jane Kane was the mother of George Benson who was born in Ireland in (approximately) 1816. I have followed the Kane name via DNA and the published trees of those linked to me. There appear to be connections…
A legal matter
Family folklore records the visit to Brighton of (still unidentified) relatives of Patrick ahead of his proposed wedding to Edith in 1920. The story is that they endeavoured to ensure that Patrick’s bride-to-be would convert to Catholicism and that subsequent children would be raised as Catholics. The exact nature of Patrick’s response is not known.…
Able to find Kane
In ‘Kane cluster’ I remarked on the fact that the surname Kane appeared in three family trees in one cluster where DNA is shared. I have revisited the search, and delved more deeply. I am presenting the findings in date order. These people were all born in Ireland. Jane Kane married Patrick Benson. Their son,…
A good theory – while it lasted
First published in 1687, in Latin, the ideas contained within ‘Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ are better known as Newton’s Laws of Motion. These laws work extremely well in most cases. Over time, certain minor discrepancies began to be noticed. For example, the orbit of Mercury does not quite accord with the theory. Einstein came up…
The quick and the dead (and the living)
I have been unable to find any evidence that there was a formal training scheme to help disabled ex-servicemen become hairdressers. The most usual route into the profession was to be trained by a skilled man. I have a picture of Patrick standing outside his place of work. The Gloster Toilet Saloon was situated at…
Labourer to hairdresser
The fact that Patrick is missing from the 1921 census (see The Irish Pimpernel) is doubly frustrating due to the amount of information recorded on that occasion. The occupation and place of employment are both part of the census return. For example, his brother-in-law Ernest Delves worked as a Suction Gas Plant Attendant at John…
From Dewsbury to Brighton
Following my visit to the back-to-Backs in Birmingham, I started to think about Patrick’s accommodation in both Dewsbury and Brighton either side of the First World War. In 1911, Patrick, following eight years’ service in the Army, was living at 20 Elmwood St, Dewsbury. He shared the house with his widowed sister Mary Muldoon and…
More back-to-backs
Despite being (virtually) on my doorstep (less than 20 miles, or 30 km away) I had not visited the Back-to-Back houses in Birmingham until recently. That oversight has now been remedied. As mentioned in ‘Back to backs’ these particular houses were left standing, almost by accident. This type of development was generally deemed as unfit…
The problem with names
The earliest dates in the ranges for my Y DNA matches predate the consistent use of surnames. The blacksmith in a village might be known as John the Smith (to distinguish him from John the Miller or John the Farmer) and eventually this can become John Smith. But he may end up being called John…