Tag Archives: politics

Family history, Procktor, Theatre

Wild-&-artsy second cousins – William Thomas Procktor’s great grandchildren

Looking into my 2nd great grandfather’s time in Canada in the 1870s, I filled in a few blanks on my family tree on Ancestry. A couple of the names rang a bell as ones my mother had mentioned, but I didn’t know how these people were related to her. I don’t recall ever meeting them, but in researching the family connection, it’s not surprising that my mother knew of them. It’s not clear how well she knew them, but it turned out she and they were second cousins – all three were great grandchildren of William Thomas Procktor who sailed to Canada in search of work in 1870.

Continue reading Wild-&-artsy second cousins – William Thomas Procktor’s great grandchildren →
Family history, Politics, Poulson, Shepherd

Edwin & John Walden – “…determined to carry the election at any cost”

Knottingley, Yorkshire
Knottingley, Yorkshire

John Walden Poulson – the Wastrel – was growing up. At the very end of 1889 the 19-year-old became a married man, and in May 1890 a father. By the 1891 census he was Pottery Manager, versus just  clerk on Emily Muriel’s birth certificate in 1890. In the Summer of 1891 his second daughter, Nellie Gwendoline was born and he was living next door to his father Edwin on Marsh End in Knottingley.

Over the next 5 years,  business and political affairs appeared to be progressing for John Walden. In December 1892 he was elected to the Ferry Fryston (Ferrybridge) school board and was involved in Liberal politics in the Pontefract district – following his father Edwin Llewellyn Poulson.

In February 1893, Pontefract (the district in which Knottingley and Ferrybridge was situated) had a by-election for Member of Parliament – the current MP resigned when his father died, making him Lord St Oswald… Continue reading Edwin & John Walden – “…determined to carry the election at any cost” →

Family history, Overview, Poulson

Family stories: Tales of a wastrel, immigrants, personation, mottying and so much more!

In 2007 I spent some time with Ancestry and the census records for family on both sides of the pond. There were all sorts of interesting bits and pieces I was able to unearth about Sznarwakowski, Tibstra, Poulson, Jenkins, Forster, Williams, Shepherd and other parts of our family trees. Given the time limits on release of some data – such as census records, which are held for 100 years in the UK and 72 in the US – I soon ran out of available online information and moved on. Continue reading Family stories: Tales of a wastrel, immigrants, personation, mottying and so much more! →