Having decided on a genealogy blog, I wondered who might read it. First, I find it useful just to write out what I am learning - so at least keeping this blog is good for me!
In the next place I'm thinking of family; so if you're family do please pass the link to others who might be interested to read some of our genealogy. Family lines from my grandparents on back are Stuart/Kapadias, Strouds, Blacketers and Peterkens, Greens and Richardses. And then from my stepfather's family, Tilleys and Byrnes; and then family lines from in-laws and ex-in-laws (would that be out-laws?); certainly my children might be interested in those.
Lastly, there may be readers who are not terribly interested in my family - or family members who have little interest in some lines. For those, I intend to include details of the techniques I have tried in tracing ancestors, which may turn out to be useful. Also, I will occasionally delve into history and how that is reflected in the historical record of individuals.
I have long been fascinated by genealogy. In 1981 or so, Nan Green and I took the bus to London to do some family research . Before leaving, we had sat down and sketched a family tree of her mother's parents and siblings, and then added what we knew about Nan's family and so on down to my own. First we visited the registar in Poplar to see what record they had there of Thomas Blacketer (Nan's father), the Mayor of Poplar 1930-31 no less. We then took the Tube to the Records Office then at St Catherines House and browsed census records (probably 1871 and 1881) of the Peterkens (Nan's mother's family) on microfilm. The result was a hand-drawn and somewhat partial family tree that grew over the next couple of years as I learned more about more distant Peterkens.
The following is excerpted from a letter written to Denis Peterken in 1981, from George F Peterken of Oundle, Peterborough:
First, he [George F’s father] has an old family Bible which records a Henry James Peterken, born in 1811 and married in 1835, who lived at the east end of London. He had nine children, all of whom were christened at Poplar church. In order of birth these were Elizabeth, Mary, Henry, Jane, James, William, Octavius and Emma. (Obviously I missed one out taking down the details, but I can easily find the omission.) Evidently I am descended from Henry through his son Henry George; his first son George Henry; and his first son Stanley George, my father. This leaves open the possibility that James, William and Octavius all had families from whom descendants might still bear the surname, but my father knows nothing about them. He has a vague recollection of “Uncle Tavy”, but not of any family he might have had.
Uncle Tavy was my great-great-grandfather, so George F turns out to be my fourth cousin and Denis’s second cousin twice removed, while Denis and I are first cousins twice removed.
Here is the family unit for Henry James and his wife Mary Simpson. This reproduces days of work searching the database of the Latter Day Saints website some 12 years ago. It took a couple of hours on ancestry.com beginning with Octavius and his parents, following hints to find census returns, birth, marriage, death index entries, as well as baptismal and marriage records from parish churches. I have not found an 1891 UK Census return for Henry James, but according to BMD Death Index he died the quarter ending Jun1900 Poplar 1c 401 Age: 89.
Henry James Peterken born 17 March 1811, baptized at St Anne Limehouse, 4 August 1813.
(Parents: Thomas, a baker, and Jane)
Married to Mary Simpson Whitehead at St George Middlesex, 23 January 1833
with his wife Mary (age 30) and children: Elizabeth (5), Henry (2), and Jane (5 months).
Prior to this Mary had been born and died in 1837, as well as an unnamed son in 1833 (the one George F had missed).
Census 1851: Henry James Peterken (40), Printer at 208 High Street, Poplar
with his wife Mary S (40) and children: Elizabeth (15), Henry (12), Jane (10), James (8), William (6) and Octavius (2).
Census 1861: Henry J Peterken (50), Compositor and Printer at 268 High Street, Poplar
with his wife Mary (50) and children: Jane (20), James (18), William (17), Octavius (12) and Emma (9).
Elizabeth is visiting with the Cromb family in Bromley St Leonard.
Census 1871: Henry Peterken (60), Printer at 70 Sussex Street, Poplar
with his wife Mary (60) and daughter Emma (19). Jane is staying, at least for Census night with her Uncle Archibald, Henry James’s brother. The others had all left home. At this point, Elizabeth, Henry (Jr.), William and Octavius are married.
Census 1881: Henry J Peterken (70), Master Printer at 70 Sussex Street, Poplar
with his wife Mary S (72) and daughter Jane (36, Tiemaker). Jane was back to help them (perhaps sensitive about her age, while Mary was past caring?), and Octavius now lived with his family at 69 Sussex Street.
All in all, a nostalgic journey, not simply into the documentary record of Henry James Peterken, but for research into names made familiar in conversations with Nan Green.
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