Meet Alfred Sayer.Born 1869.Master Plumber and specialist in Artesian Wells and church lead work.
Other interests: Growing prize Chrysanths and showing them at the Cheltenham Flower Show;
Bell ringing at St Michaels church ,Gloucester.
Married to Amelia Kate (nee Sterry)
Married to Amelia Kate (nee Sterry)
Two daughters, Elizabeth Kate (born 1894) and Hilda Frances (born 1896)
Sadly, Alfred died in 1903, after an accident at work, leaving Amelia to bring up their daughters on her own. Amelia was also a seamstress.
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Hilda Frances was my Grandma. She's the younger child in the photo.
Apparently, so my mother tells me, I have her eyes!
I have also inherited her love of books (she was frequently seen at the second hand book stall in Gloucester market, when she was older.)
When I was 6 or 7 years old I was allowed to spend regular holidays with her.
She would take me around the lanes near Kingskerswell, Devon, where she lived. She taught me the names of the many wild flowers growing in the hedgerow.
She also loved her garden.
And of course, she was an excellent cook, not to mention her sewing and knitting!
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Elizabeth Kate..now that is a different story.
Very musical,very clever,voice trained, played the piano..she eventually went on to be a teacher.
She had no children and was only married for 10 years, when her husband died.
She taught in Twerton, Bath.
She was one strict lady! I met her a couple of times and was terrified!
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And there you have it.
The Sayer family.
And this is the photo on my dresser, at which I occasionally glance as I pass by.
That is until a month ago..! ;-)
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About a month ago, before my mum was unwell, she asked me to investigate her family tree on her mother's side.
This I happily did. But of course once you start something like this...!!
I discovered that Alfred Sayer was one of 11 children!
(Imagine having to give birth 11 times!!)
And here's the lady who did it:
Thomas and Sarah Sayer - Married 1862 Gloucester.
I have managed to trace the Sayer family back to 1770..so far!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I left a message on a message board re The Sayer family.
4 weeks passed and noone replied...until yesterday!
And the email was from the great granddaughter of Alfred's brother, Emmanuel!
So I have a newly discovered third cousin...I think that is right as we have the same great great grandparents .. Thomas and Sarah Sayer! She kindly sent me the photo of them.
Phew! It's hard to get my head around all of this.
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I then started to investigate the Sterry family! ;-)
I have so far traced this family back to 1660!
But that is for another time.
And that is just my mum's side!
My dad's will just have to wait!!
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That's really interesting Sal! I've done some work on my family tree - it's very addictive, isn't it? Have you tried Genes Reunited? I've made some helpful contacts there.
ReplyDeletex
How lovely, my husband discovered a long lost reltion in South Africa who had managed to trace the family back to the 1600's, many of them still live in the same village to this day.
ReplyDeleteI think now you've started this you'll get hooked! I believe it's very addictive tracing family trees.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's amazing. Have wondered about doing this myself as I have a load of old photos which noone else wanted when my (maternal) nan died. My mum knows who some of them are but not sure on others. She actually began to research her family but didn't get too far. I might give her a nudge to try again as it would be something she could really get her teeth into.
ReplyDeleteOh, how exciting! My sister is researching our family tree and has tracked down various cousins on my dad's side, including one who was in the same regiment as my Grandad during the Second World War!
ReplyDeleteApril xx
What a wonderful photo and fascinating story. Good luck delving into your family tree
ReplyDeleteKimx
I love that photo! So now you have another hobby researching family history to take up your time as well as blogging!!! Luckily my sister and dad are into tracing our family history so they do all the hard work and pass the information onto me. Some of my ancestors come from North Devon!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is fascinating and it is so wonderful that you are doing your family history. Thanks for sharing that with us.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Are those Scabiosa flowers “pincushion flower” at the top of your blog? Love them and I did grow them one year and they did pretty good. I also loved your geranium photo that you also had. Love them too. Well, I do not think there is a flower that I don’t like. : ]
wow that's fascinating stuff, I have done a bit of digging on Genes Reunited about my family and it's pretty addictive ! I love the photo.
ReplyDeleteTwiggy x
It is wonderful to think of all those connections out there like invisible spider webs.
ReplyDeletefamily history is fascinating isnt it! They are really lovely old photographs.
ReplyDelete11 children, hey?..ouch!!
I find family trees fascinating and your family history is no exception..
ReplyDeleteI would love to find out more about my mother's side of the family.
I do know that there is a street named after my grandfather in Belgium.. he was a political prisoner during World War II.
Michelex
How interesting to find out about your family past. It must take such a long time to put it all together! I would love to find out more about my family.
ReplyDeleteCarol x
ooh how wonderful. I love all the photos!!
ReplyDeleteMy Granny lived near a family where there were 24 children!!
ReplyDeleteFamily history is fasinating...
Lovely photos:)
Don't you just love the Internet, when it comes to research? All these fascinating old photos like little mysteries, and now it is ever so slightly easier to solve them. (I realize there is still a lot of work involved!) Some cousin or other began work on our family tree and the parts I've heard are so cool!
ReplyDeleteOh! I love that last picture of your great-grandfather?! He looks like a sea captain or something. Isn't it fun tracing your ancestors?
ReplyDeleteI did a little genealogy myself recently. Suffice to say I WON'T be publishing the details on my blog!
ReplyDeletefantastic Sal! i find family trees fascinating and loved catching a few of the , Who do you think you are' programmes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name Hilda is!
Good luck with the rest of your quest and further discoveries i am sure of more relations.
ginny x
Hi Sal! It's been awhile since I've visited. I loved this post --I enjoy geneology but I am unable to go back very far in my family line. It's wonderful you can go back to the 1700's!
ReplyDeleteI love old books too --I posted about that today on my blog.
Hi Sal
ReplyDeleteyou've won an award from me, check out my blog, when you have a minute
Twiggy x
You've done so well to have traced your family back so far. They say every picture tells a story, and yours certainly do that. Such fantastic old photos, way too nice to be forgotten about. x
ReplyDelete