Book of Me, Written by You, Prompt 37

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Julie Goucher


Today is week 37 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that week’s Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.

This week’s prompt is -Feeding the Ducks (Animals)

Think back to your childhood. Did you feed the ducks?
Do you remember the excitement of the event?
Were you scared of the ducks?
Who were you with?
Do you perhaps still feed the ducks?

Of course you substitute the ducks for farm animals or pets

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Medical Records – Part One

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Julie Goucher





This gorgeous picture of my late Mum and the post about Medical Records can be found over at the In Memory of Quilt ~ A Memorial Project

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Introduction to Merrow Parish Records

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

Over the years I have gathered various bits of information about Merrow. The parish is situated just a few miles from Guildford. From about the late 1880s part of my family resided within the parish.

Back in 1996 when I started looking at the records for Merrow Surrey, the archives were split between three establishments

  1. Guildford Local Studies Library (GLSL) situated then on the top floor of the library. Here the parish records were held on microfilm
  2. Guildford Muniment Room (GMR) attached to part of Guildford Museum
  3. Surrey Records Office at Kingston Upon Thames

Once the Surrey Records Centre was built at Woking, all three archives merged into one wonderful building!

This is an index of the material that I researched:

GMR 22nd May 1996

  1. Baptisms 1889-1921 – PSH/MER/4/2
  2. Marriages 1847 – 1929 – PSH/MER/3/2
  3. Burials 1896 – 1910 – PSH/MER/5/1
  4. Baptisms 1922 – 1948 – PSH/MER/4/3
  5. Burials 1911 – 1918 – PSH/MER/5/2

GMR 30th May 1996

  1. Marriages 1930 – 1939 – PSH/MER/3/3
  2. Burials 1887 – 1902 – PSH/MER/5/3 (This was a rough notebook of Burials and Baptisms and was transferred to the main Register)
  3. Marriages 1939 – 1949 – PSH/MER/3/4
  4. Marriages 1946 – 1952 – PSH/MER/3/5

School Admissions Records 1882- 1905 – PSH/MER/14/1

School Admissions Records 1913 – 1932 – PSH/MER/14/2

A Microfiche of the earlier Births, Marriages and Deaths (1538 – 1875) is available from the West Surrey Family History Society. Surrey Records are now available on Ancestry.co.uk

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Merrow Baptisms 1890 – 1921

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

PSH/MER/4/2 – Transcribed 22nd May 1996

  1. 1890 27 July: Minnie Amelia dau of John and Amelia BEAGLEY of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  2. 1892 28 Feb: Lilian dau of John and Amelia BEAGLEY of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  3. 1895 14 April: Cecilia dau of John and Amelia BEAGLEY of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  4. 1895 11 Aug : Louisa dau of Henry and Mary BUTCHER of Merrow. Father’s occupation Gardener
  5. 1897 26 Dec : Ellen Mary dau of Henry and Mary BUTCHER of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  6. 1898 4 Sep: Harry son of Mary MATTHEWS of Merrow
  7. 1899 23 April: Charles Edwin son of Henry and Mary BUTCHER of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  8. 1901 27 Jan: Rosey May dau of Alfred and Rose ELSTONE, of High Path Road Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  9. 1902 23 Feb: Minnie dau of Henry and Mary BUTCHER of High Path Road Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer  (Born 13 Oct 1901)
  10. 1904 25 Sep: Edith Minnie dau of Alfred and Rose ELSTONE of High Path Road Merrow. Father’s Occupation Labourer (Born 6 June 1904
  11. 1909 27 June: Lilian May dau of Alfred and Rose ELSTONE of High Path Road Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  12. 1917 25 Feb: Louise Mabel dau of Alfred and Rose ELSTONE of High Path Road Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer at Powder Mills
  13. 1919 20 April:  Rosamald May dau of Frank Herbert and Catherine Jane MATTHEWS. Father occupation Police Officer at Merrow
  14. 1920 25 July: Lilian Alice dau of Albert and Louisa GOACHER of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  15. 1920 25 July: Alice Irene dau of Alfred and Rose ELSTONE of Merrow. Father’s occupation Labourer
  16. 1921 3 April: Monica Audrey Jean dau of Frank Herbert and Catherine Jane MATTHEWS. Father occupation Police Officer at Merrow.
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Merrow Marriages 1903 – 1907

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

PSH/MER/3/2 – Transcribed 22nd May 1996

  1. 1903 May 30, Albert Henry NEWTON, Aged 30 Bachelor of this parish. Labourer. Son of James NEWTON, Carter to Anna Maria BUTCHER, aged 32 Spinster of this parish. Daughter of John Butcher, Shoemaker. Both signed. Witnesses Kate Adelaide BUTCHER & Alice Marion NEWTON
  2. 1905 Dec 25, John Charles ALDER, aged 23 Bachelor of this parish. Soldier. Son of Daniel ALDER, gardener to Annie BUTCHER aged 22. Spinster of this parish. Daughter of Henry BUTCHER (Deceased, a general labourer). Both Signed. Witness Frank BLAKER and Lizzie BUTCHER
  3. 1907 May 18, William KNIGHT 45, Bachelor of this parish. Gardener son of George KNIGHT shepherd to Mary BUTCHER, 48 Widow. Daughter of James WEST (deceased labourer). William KNIGHT signed and Mary BUTCHER signed X. Witnesses George William and Mary HOUGHTON (X)
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Merrow Marriages 1897 – 1900

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

PSH/MER/3/2 – Transcribed 22nd May 1996

  1. 1897 16 Oct: Henry William BLAKE, 21 and bachelor. Labourer of Merrow. Son of William BLAKE to Mary BUTCHER, 19 and a spinster. Daughter of Henry BUTCHER, Labourer. Both Signed. Witnessed by Henry STONARD and Emily BUTCHER
  2. 1899 11 Feb: Alfred ELSTONE, 23 and a bachelor. Labourer of Merrow. Son of James, a Labourer to Rose BUTCHER, 19 and a spinster of Merrow. Daughter of Henry BUTCHER. Both Signed. Witnessed by Henry BAILEY and Annie BUTCHER
  3. 1900 1st Dec: John MATTHEWS, 25 and a bachelor. Labourer of Merrow. Son of John MATTHEWS and Mary Elizabeth ELSTONE, aged 21. Spinster of Merrow. Daughter of James ELSTONE, Labourer. Both Signed. Witnessed by Alfred ELSTONE and Eliza PARSLOW
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Merrow Marriages 1847 – 1887

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

PSH/MER/3/2 Transcribed 22nd May 1996

  1. 1847 3rd Jan: George BUDD aged 26, bachelor and Labourer of Merrow. Son of William BUDD to Hannah STEDMAN aged 21, spinster of Merrow. Both Signed.
  2. 1849 9th July: John NORMAN aged 23, bachelor and Labourer of Merrow. Son of John NORMAN, bricklayer to Sarah ELSTONE, aged 21, spinster of Merrow. Daughter of John ELSTONE Pensioner. Both Signed. Witnessed by James SMITH and Mary SMITH
  3. 1857 21st April: Richard DEWITT of Full Age. Bachelor. Occupation Nobleman’s steward, of Merrow. Son of Francis DEWITT, Farmer to Sarah ELSTON aged 20. Spinster. Of Clandon. Daughter of Farmer ELSTONE. Both Signed. Witnessed by Samuel ELSTON and Hannah ELSTON
  4. 1887 20th Feb: Henry MATTHEWS, aged 30, bachelor and Labourer of Merrow. Son of John MATTHEWS, Labourer (deceased) to Amelia SEAL, aged 30, Widow. Daughter of George PITT, Gardener. Both signed. Witnessed by George SHEPHERD & Martha SEAL.
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North Street, Guildford circa 1911

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Julie Goucher

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Royal Artillery Attestation Papers (1883 -1942)

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Julie Goucher

A day or so ago, I wrote about the Royal Artillery records that FindMyPast have just released. You can read that post HERE.

Later on I was involved in a conversation via Twitter with +Seonaid Harvey Lewis about the various purposes of the columns on the document.

Courtesy of FindMyPast

What a great conversation that was, but I also thought how useful it was. So I am sharing the explanation of the information below.

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Six degrees of Separation, a meme

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Julie Goucher

Several of my blogging buddies are taking part in the meme called Six Degrees of Seperation hosted by Annabel Smith and Emma.

 Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963 by…The way the meme works, which is based on the six degrees of separation theme is to start with the nominated book for the month, in this case The The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and then link to five other books. You link how ever you see fit and I have put the rules to the meme at the bottom of this post.

 The Bell Jar is familiar to me, yet I do not think I have ever read it, but it is now added to my library list. As I did so I noticed that I had another of Sylvia Plath book’s on the list. Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-  1963.

 Mrs. Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise…That in turn reminded me of a fiction and debut novel, Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase by Louise Walters. The story line is based on two entwining lives. A young girl who works in a book store who loves to read the notes and things found in books. The second character is her grandmother who changed the course of family history and experienced love. The timeframe works, firstly modern day and secondly set during the second world war. My review is still awaiting to be written, but I read this book in about two days.
Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller's…

That in turn reminded me of Handwritten Recipes: A Book Sellers collection of Curious and wonderful recipes by Michael Popek. The author is a book seller who often comes across some fascinating finds in the books he sells. This is the second book Michael has written. 

 Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's…In turn this reminds me of Michael’s first book, Forgotten Bookmarks: A Book Seller’s collection of odd things lost between the pages. That I received for Christmas a few years ago from my Mum. 

 60 Postcards: The Inspirational Story of a…In turn I was then reminded of a recently published book by Rachel Chadwick, called 60 Postcards. I have read the book and absolutely loved it. My review is to follow.

 Serendipity is a strange thing. I spotted this book just after I devised and planned the memorial project, The In Memory of Quilt in memory my late Mum.

And here are the guidelines if you want to play along- 

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Next month the book to start off with is The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton on 7th June

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