Prayer cards, which appear to be mostly a catholic tradition, are printed to commemorate someone who has recently died. I was lucky enough to find the ‘In Memoriam’ or ‘prayer card’ of my great grandmother, Gabrielle Minne, in The Friends of the Poperings Archives’ online collection [De Vrienden van het Poperings Archief vzw (VPA)]. PRAY … Read more On a Wing and a Prayer Card
In 1901, Thomas Henry WHEELEY and Ann ROGERS had been married for 23 years and had had 8 children together. They were living on Dalkeith Street in Walsall – a row of terraced houses built alongside the Walsall Locks less than ten years before (in the early 1890s). Thomas was a ‘brown saddler’ living in … Read more Persistent Cruelty
Poor little Eva Rogers. Not only did she die at just 3 years of age, but she was buried under the wrong name! To be fair, this error is likely confined to the burial register – a slip up by the rector confusing the names of two sisters – but I can’t help but feel … Read more For Eva
I previously wrote about the brief marriage between William Henry Marston and Blanche Emma Wheeley in the post, Wheeley Interesting. I have just discovered that five years after their unhappy relationship broke down, there was a development… Basically, the amount of support Marston had to pay Blanche had been dropped to 7s.6d (approximately £29.46 in … Read more Wheeley Interesting Sequel
There was a story told by my Belgian grandmother, that she was named after Queen Astrid, who was also her godmother due to a royal tradition. I remember her telling me that as a child, she was once invited to play with the princess, who was of a similar age, but that they fought over … Read more A Queenly Godmother