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x Mile Cross
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After a friend and I were talking recently, we commented on how kinda unusual it was that he was originally from Mile Cross in Norwich, and I was from Three Mile Cross, near Reading.
"What happened to Two Mile Cross?" we wondered. It's in Aberdeen, apparently.
Which got us thinking: how many other "Mile Cross"es are there out there?
Losing my mum, five years on
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I'm starting this post with a content warning. This article is a way of getting my feelings out, so if reading about death, grief, cancer, or the pandemic isn't for you, feel free to pass on by.
I started writing this article at the start of 2020, with the intention of talking about the loss of my mum six months after her death. However, I think we all know what happened that year and it just felt inappropriate.
Pound Cottage: Memories of a hub of family activity
- 52 Ancestors 2024, week 42: Full house
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When I saw the topic of 'full house' for #52Ancestors, there was one place that immediately came to mind: Pound Cottage.
Pound Cottage was where my maternal grandparents lived, where my mum, aunt, and uncles grew up, and where I have many memories of family gatherings.
Read more: Pound Cottage: Memories of a hub of family activity
Love and (the first) marriage
- 52 Ancestors 2024, week 18: Love and marriage
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Anyone can tell a love story. About how they or someone they knew met, fell in love, married, and lived happily ever after.
But how many can say their marriage was the very first to be held in their local church?
That's something my great-uncle Jack and his wife Mary were able to lay claim to.
Ancestors at War
- 52 Ancestors 2024, week 17: War
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Thankfully not at war with each other, although I'm sure there've been quite a few domestic barnies over the years! As with any family, there are various ancestors of mine that I'm aware were involved with the military.
I'll be honest, I don't really know that much about any of their stories but I've taken the time to research as many of them as possible just for this article.
Let's start with my paternal grandfather, Bob.
Interesting occupations, Reading's 3 'B's, and a dairy research institute
- 52 Ancestors 2024, week 6: Earning a living
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For this post I thought I'd start by taking a dive into the data sitting in the genealogy software I use.
One piece of data that's commonly collected - from census returns to birth records - is an occupation. The individual's occupation, their parents' occupations, sometimes who they work for. All of that is stored in my family tree database and some of them are a little bit interesting.
Read more: Interesting occupations, Reading's 3 'B's, and a dairy research institute
Ruth Logan and the sinking of RMS Lusitania
- 52 Ancestors 2024, week 4: Witness to history
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On the first of May 1915, the RMS Lusitania left New York on a return sailing to Liverpool. Unlike many other passenger ships, Lusitania hadn't been called up for frontline duty in World War I. Instead, she was given a grey paint job and kept her regular route between England and the United States, assisting with the war effort by conveying personnel and small arms across the Atlantic.
The atmosphere aboard was probably a little nervous throughout as the Imperial Germany Embassy had placed advertisements alongside those of Cunard's reminding potential passengers that "a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies" - including the waters around Great Britain.
And, whilst the passengers may have felt a little more comfortable knowing they were just off the Irish coast and mere hours away from Liverpool, sadly any concerns they had were to become a reality.
Hi, I'm Chris. I run the online shop for one of the UK's largest charities.