John Palin

The wails could be heard all down the street that cold grey morning.  Every one stepped out their front door wondering where it was coming from.  They could see the telegram man on his bike riding away in the heavy fog and wondered whose house he visited and also thanking the Lord above that he did not call on their front door.

The horrors of war at home was the dreaded telegram informing all within that their love one was dead or missing in action.  The young bride with 3 young children, the widow that had already lost a child.  There was no racial discrimination here.  It did not matter the financial status, religion or the colour of the skin, all risked their lives.

We have many young men in our family tree that gave up their lives fighting in the wars and did not make it home.  Thankfully we have more more that did come home.   This is the story of one of these men whose family at home experienced both sorrow and joy.

Annus Horribilis

Annus horribilis, a horrible year, when everything that could go wrong does and then it when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.   The only saving grace it normally does not last more than a year.  We all have had them and if you don't know what I am talking about,  count your blessings.

I came across some articles that by themselves are not great – but when you add them all together I think you will agree this Palin family had an annus horribilis.

Spare the rod.....

I am still going through the Northwich Guardian looking for mentions of our Palins.  There are quite a few articles that mention where a Palin has won an award for best flowers, best pie or something at school.  I have also come across articles where a Palin has been fined for being drunk or for swearing.  There was even a charge for not having a licence for a dog!

DEATH OF AN OLD NORTHWICHIAN

Very exciting news today – findmypast has just uploaded The Northwich Guardian newspaper.  We have many Palins that lived in that surrounding area in our family tree.   There were 1378 articles listed when I did a general Palin search, so who knows what I may come across.

Today’s article comes from May 19, 1910.  I have uploaded a scanned image of the article, but it is hard to read and so the transcript follows.

Soap Box Rant with a Twist of Egg in my Face

I could not begin to tell you how many times in the past I would write to people online to advise them that they had some wrong information in their family tree.  Did I ever hear back from them - no.  Did they change their tree - no.  Did I give up trying - yes.  I hate to admit it, but yes I finally gave up.  I thought the most I could do was to make my tree open to the public and site sources and then any researcher doing their due diligence would find the tree and the sources.

So many times I have found the infamous "Portrait Palins" being the parents of people born in Staffordshire, and Shropshire and we all know that the children were born in Cheshire and baptised in Aldford.  Was it because of the "portraits" that people wanted to claim them as their own?

Never in my wildest imagination would a DNA test pick up a match with an incorrect tree!  This is what I got this week.

Week 50: Head Scratcher

Sometimes when searching for family members in the family tree, it is not as easy as connecting the dots.  There could be all kinds of brick walls that a genealogist could face from incorrect dates of birth to names being misspelled.  Sometimes even the first name is given incorrectly. 

Week 19: Nantwich's Oldest Tradesman

About two months ago I did an almost 2 hour long video chat with a lovely lady from findmypast in England.  Her objective was to find out what the users think of the site and it resources and what could make it better.  I said that there were so many sites that already offered civil and census records but none of them offered those records and a huge selection of scanned newspapers.  So please, please, expand on the newspapers and especially small town newspapers.

I was absolutely thrilled to find the Nantwich Guardian has just been added.  I am sure to find all kinds of mentions of Palins there, everything from the typical births and deaths to who knows what!

So, I quickly stopped what I was doing and went to do a broad search – no first name just any Palin listed in that newspaper.  The very first one that came up was complete with picture, which is very rare to find.  I have transcribed it here for you.

Week Two: Disinherited

So strange the things you find and the deductions that it can lead to.

Thomas Palin born in 1800 was farmer in Warmingham and died in 1874 but wrote a will in 1872. He lists his two sons as beneficiaries and a neighbouring farmer as executor.
James Palin  born 1830
Thomas Palin born 1837

The strange thing about this is Thomas also had 5 other children, four of them still living.

Week One Balaclava Jack

John Palin 1828-1901

Every once in a while I come across something about someone in the tree that takes my breath away.  This is definitely one of those people that I wish I could go back in time and ask him a gazillion questions.

John Palin was born in Malpas, Cheshire in 1828 to Thomas Palin and Eleanor Moile and baptised Feb 11 1829.  His father’s occupation at the time of his baptizing was glazier (plumber).  A brother Thomas was born in 1830, then sister Eleanor Jane in 1832 and finally another sister, Anne Elizabeth was born in 1834.  All the children were baptised in Malpas.

Pretty humble beginnings for a man who experienced what many only read about.