Lucy’s Family History
Old photos from Lucy’s collection
Lucy had been a primary school head teacher and we first met when I went to visit teacher training students on placement in her school. She had got to know about both my history obsession and my slightly nerdy perfectionism, so when she retired one of the first things she did was ask me to investigate the maternal side of her family tree.
Lucy spent large parts of her childhood with her maternal grandparents, hearing their stories about how they had met as children in very rural Hertfordshire. It was clear how much they loved each other and she always wondered about their early lives and their backgrounds. Lucy had absorbed many of their values and beliefs and wanted to know more about where these came from.
The baptism certificate of Lucy’s grandmother
Lucy decided to commission both a Book of Ancestors and a bespoke history tour. She particularly wanted to know whether two family legends were true – did her great uncle really work on the Flying Scotsman and did her grandfather really serenade her grandmother, Cyrano de Bergerac style, by throwing stones at the top floor window of the stately home where she worked as a servant.
By examining railway employment records the former was confirmed to be true, but the latter proved far harder to determine. A documentary chase through numerous country houses eventually confirmed both that her grandmother did indeed work as a servant and also where – the beautiful stately home of a stocking millionaire, merely a brisk walk from the home of Lucy’s grandfather.
The marriage registration of Lucy’s great-grandparents
Lucy suspected that her grandparents came from poor rural backgrounds, but the records confirmed astonishing levels of poverty and associated challenges, including crime. Large numbers of her maternal ancestors had spent long periods in workhouses – some, including her great-grandfather, had died in them.
But what also came through in the family stories was of tight-knit and hardworking families in strong rural communities, something that really helped Lucy to understand the strong principles she lives her life by. It also brought into sharp focus why she had a burning desire around building a career in education – she knew from her own family history just how important that can be and how withholding it from people can have a life-long impact.
Crumpsall Workhouse, c1895
Lucy really loved the book, but for her she felt it particularly all came together in the history tour, where we visited the remote country villages her ancestors came from. Personally, I’ll never forget walking into a local churchyard when she suddenly spotted the grave of her great-great grandfather and burst into tears over a man she had never met.
Locating the resting place of her relatives, whom she now knew so much about, including both struggles and achievements, brought a strong emotional connection to them, the lives they led and the legacies they passed on to her. They were tears, not just of sadness, but also of appreciation and of kindred association to a long gone ancestor.
Lucy at the grave of her great-great grandparent, William Angell