Wallflowers

 

I've found that the wallflowers in the narrow bed around the conservatory have done better than those in pots. Only these two out of ten have flowers. A hint for next year.

Shrubs under the leylandii

 

Now that the tall leylandii has been trimmed, the bushes underneath look far better. I could not remember that I had planted so many and how they have survived and grown in hardly any soil under the trees. Here they all are. I counted ten.

(Just to say, now the leylandii have been trimmed, the grass cut, and the silver birch is coming into leaf; I could not be more pleased.)

Our hawthorn bush in spring

 

On the 12th of August last year, I posted about the hawthorn tree at the very far end of the garden and how it had survived being completely removed. Today it is now a beautiful bush that should be even better in the years to come.

Below is a picture of how it looked last year.

Garden at the beginning of April

 

The glorious weather this week has brought all the spring flowers into bloom. The one above is actually a shrub, the Viburnum opulus "Roseum", in the front border. 

The tulips below are called "Flamin Hot" and they are my favourite. I just love the mixture of red and yellow. My favourite narcissi are the white ones at the back, called "Paperwhite". See previous post.

Yesterday I replanted the hostas "Fire and Ice" with new compost.

The red tulips have flowered in the bedding border.

Last of all is a picture of the Leylandii hedge that was trimmed last week. It looks far better now that the tall part at the end (in the last photo) has been levelled. It was our hedge after all.

I have just planted two small perennials in the main border: a lupin called "The Govener" and an erysimum "Bowles Mauve".

Family History Revisited Part 5 - Interesting Stories

 

The last part of my Family History Revisited collects some stories about my ancestors. There are many posts on this blog about family members and places where they lived. Hopefully these are the final few.

Stanley Boyd Roberts

Let's start with my grandfather, whom I never met. He died in 1937 at home. His is the photo above. See my post dated 6th November 2009.

Vincent Littlewood Roberts.

There are two or three photos of my great-grandfather on this blog. The above is just one of them. See everything about Vincent on my post of 1st February 2023.

John Shearwood Roberts

Vincent's father John Shearwood Roberts is described on my post of 17th November 2010. His father Sidney Roberts and his father, the last of the Jacob Roberts, are both described in that post.

Ellen Roberts

My great-great-grandmother's grave was found at Highgate Cemetery. See posts of the 13th and 14th of September 2015.

Charles Hoyland, Jonathon Hoyland and Charles Haywood Hoyland ("Twig")

The ancestors of my grandmother, Edith Hoyland, are featured in my post from 22nd June 2009, "Visit to Sheffield," as well as in the posts from 22nd March 2013 and 19th September 2025.

Edith Haywood Hoyland

My father's mother. See post 6th May 2012.

Edith Agnes Leather

My other grandmother with her husband on the right and my mother on the left in the photo above. See my post of 4th February 2011.

George Robert Leather

Our star footballer ancestor and Edith's father. See post 11th July 2022.

Isabella Askew

This post came as a result of my searches for George and Jane Askew (my great grandparents). See post 18th February 2022. 

Askew, Ascough or Ayscough

My post of the 5th December mentions Ruth at the Lincolnshire Family History Society, who solved the problem of the spelling of my ancestor's names. This was followed by my post of 7th December 2011, where it all came together in one of my most important finds.

The Ascoughs of East Fen

My post of 6th January 2022 is the record of how I found my Askew ancestors.

The records followed these posts:

The George Askew Story Part 1 - Five Generations of Agricultural Laboureres

See post 26th December 2015.

The George Askew Story Part 2 - Their Lives 

See post 15th August 2016.

The Ascoughs of East Fen

See the post of 6th January 2022.

The Ascoughs – Life on the Border – The Sources

See post of 23rd November 2017.

The Commoners of East Fen – The Petition of 1784

See post of 5th November 2016.

https://the ascoughsofeastfen.weebly.com

See the post from 3rd April 2018.

Publications

The books I acquired on this part of the Lincolnshire Fens:

Maps of the Witham Fens – edited by R C Wheeler

Old and New Landscapes in the Horncastle Area by Eleanor and Rex C Russell

Postings on my Family History

On 5th September 2011, I listed all my posts on my ancestors up to that date. They are:

2/7/2008     Jacob Roberts

27/8/2008   Three Generations of Cutlers

1/12/2008   The 1937 Family Tree - Charles Augustus Roberts

27/1/2009    Louisa Maria Brooks

23/2/2009    Three Generations of Brush Manufacturers

24/3/2009     Eric S Roberts

22/6/2009     A Visit to Sheffield

10/8/2009     Hannah Mayor

11/8/2009     Edith Wynne Mathison

14/8/2009     Vincent Littlewood Roberts MA MD

25/8/2009     The Shearwood Sisters

25/1/2010     Roberts Family Tree

1/2/2010       Derek Finch Roberts

3/2/2010       Charles Hoyland and Hannah Selina Wynne

3/2/2010       William James Gibson Boyd and Ellen Cundy

11/7/2010     William Boyd of Berwickshire and Hull

16/8/2010     George Boyd of Stichill

17/11/2010    John Shearwood Roberts

22/11/2010    Newfield Hall (residence of JSR)

19/10/2011    Kate and Isabel Hoyland

I should have added "Sheffield Silversmiths" on 2nd July 2008.

The End

So what is next? Maybe a last read through of these five posts and then buy a couple of storage boxes to keep all my files. And then those can go in the loft. Maybe I will look at them again some time in the future.

Family History Revisited Part 4 - Visits to Sheffield, Rotherham and Lincoln

 

Visits to Sheffield

My first visit to Sheffield was on the 29th of December 1999, now described in Part 1. 

However, my main visit to Sheffield, described in my post of 22nd June 2009 (nearly ten years later), was extremely valuable. Particularly for finding the burial of all those ancestors in the Roberts tomb in that prominent position outside the Church of All Saints, Ecclesall, as the photo above.

Visit to Rotherham

In my post of 22nd June 2022, I described Rotherham Parish Church, where my father and mother were married and where I was baptised by my uncle. The font is still there. I also saw the house where my grandmother lived and the Herringthorpe Playing Fields where we used to play as boys.

Visit to Lincolnshire

On the 4th September 2017, I set out to explore where my mother's Askew ancestors lived. My post of 11th September 2017 described visiting the fens, Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints. See Part 3 for the Ascough Burial Records. Then the next day in Lincoln itself, and the searches at the city library.

Family History Revisited Part 3 - Publication of Records

 

Family Historian

My post of 15th October 2008 has the title "Family Historian 3.1.2". This is the programme I used to enter all the data of my family records. There are also references on my posts of  15th October 2008, 1st December 2008, 29th December 2008, 21st October 2009, 26th September 2011 and 16th November 2012. 

Freepages

I then found that I could transfer all my data to the web using Family Historian. The link to my father's family "The Ancestors of Peter Roberts" is:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~davidbbroberts/family

Ignore the link to "sites.google.com" and click on Index.

Then to my mother's family:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~davidbbroberts/genealogy

Again, ignore the link to "sites.google.com" and click on Index.

There may be some problems finding the above link on the internet. However, a search for Hannah Elizabeth Boler normally brings up her parents' "Family of Samuel Leather and Mary Ann Lindop". Again, click on Index and all my mother's ancestors should be there.

Family Tree Print

Some time ago I took a CD of the Roberts family tree to be printed. This is now an enormous sheet of paper that was in a roll and is now folded into a manageable size. 

SanDisk Memory Stick

The following documents are on the blue memory stick. 

Askew Word Documents

Family History

Family Photos

George Askew 

George Robert Leather

Helen Shearwood

Mum and Dad

Roberts Family History

The Story of the Ascoughs

These used to be on my old computer that I then transferred to an external hard drive. The information they contain is pretty much all over the place, but there are some important files that were the basis of many of my blog posts. For example, in the first file below (Askew Word Documents), there is a file with the title "Ascough Burials at Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints". On my visit to these villages in Lincolnshire, I discovered the church records of our Askew ancestors.

ASCOUGH BURIALS AT TOYNTON ST PETER AND TOYNTON ALL SAINT

John Ayscough (1758-1844)       Buried at Toynton All Saints 1844 (Age 85)

Son of Thomas Ascough born approx 1735

 John Ayscough (1781-1846)       Buried at Toynton All Saints 1846 (Age 64)

Son of John Ayscough above

 James Ascough (1806-1878)      Buried at Toynton St Peter 1878 (Age 69)

Son of John Ayscough above, father of George Askew

 William Ascough (1808-1880)     Buried at Toynton All Saints 1880 (Age 72)

Son of John Ayscough born 1781 and brother of James

 Lucy Ascough (1815-1854)         Buried at Toynton St Peter 1854 (Age 39)

Possibly wife of James Ascough and mother of George Askew, born Sharpe

 Elizabeth Askew (1761-1826)       Buried at Toynton All Saints 1826 (Age 65)

Possibly daughter of Thomas if unmarried, or wife of an Ascough male

John Askew (1834-1895)              Buried at Toynton St Peter 1895 (Age 61)

Unknown relation

 Samuel Ascough (1848-1848)      Buried at Toynton St Peter 1848 (Infant)

Possibly brother of George and son of James

 Thomas Askew (1859-1864)         Buried at Toynton All Saints 1864 (Age 5?)

Possibly brother of George