Beloved Eleanor

Thanks to some lovely online (mostly Flickr) help, I now know the location of the church.

It is St Mark’s Church, Talbot Village, Bournemouth.

Thanks to everyone who helped.  Mystery solved!

TV joy, that’s who.

After the recent barren wasteland of historical TV, (or maybe that’s just my perception, lol) I have lately been treated to no less than 3 historical TV programmes a week.  Albeit, they haven’t all been about technical accuracy – but fun all the same.

For the past several weeks (finished tonight, boo) there has been the Supersizers Go…  For the uninitiated that’s a food critic (Giles Coren) and broadcaster/I don’t know what (Sue Perkins) try out food and lifestyles in different eras.  This is the second series.  They tried:

• The Eighties (a bit dull this one)
• Medieval (Cockantrice anyone?)
• The French Revolution (For the outfits alone!)
• The Twenties (Laxatives)
• The Fifties (Horse meat, ack)
• Ancient Rome (What’s worse rotten fish or duck tongues?)

It’s also worth seeing if you can find the episodes from the first series and the Edwardian programme.  Hilarious stuff, plus you might even learn a thing or two.  Just don’t watch Giles eat, and watch out for retching.

Hmm, what loveliness next?  The genealogical kind of course.  Who Do You Think You Are?  is back tracing the family trees of the famous.  Episode one with presenter Davina McCall was quite interesting, but episode two with DJ Chris Moyles was a tiny bit dull, but hopefully it will be back on form this week with presenter Kate Humble.  Always a quality show, even if they do make genealogy look super-fast and easy.

Last, and by no means least is Desperate Romantics.  Most of you will be aware that I love the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, namely Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Holman Hunt and John Millais.  This is a drama with a funky, humourous feel based on their lives.  The first episode was excellent, and I’m looking forward to the next one tomorrow.  Will it stick completely to the facts?  Perhaps not, but then I’m ok with that.

Enjoy, everyone.  I will be!

After my recent Austria related  post, the Mum and I decided to curl up with a chocolate egg or three and The Sound of Music DVD.  You can blame her for this – she saw the film three times in London when it came out, and we’ve watched it on high days and holidays ever since.

Not that I particularly mind that is – a chance to drool over Austrian scenery and a good sing-along?

It got me thinking though.  I knew that the film was only very loosely based on the life of Maria von Trapp, and a lot of the details had been changed.  I did a little more reading recently, and discovered the following family information (which I have abbreviated):

Georg Ludwig von Trapp (1880-1947) first married Agathe Whitehead (who was of English descent) in 1911.

Georg’s parents are August von Trapp and Hedwig Wepler.

Georg and Agathe had 7 children together, they are -

Rupert von Trapp (1911-1992) m in 1947, 2 sons, 4 daughters, later divorced and m for a second time.

Agathe von Trapp (1913+)

Maria von Trapp (1914+)

Werner von Trapp (1915-2007) m in 1948, 4 sons, 2 daughters.

Hedwig von Trapp (1917-1972)

Johanna von Trapp (1919-1994) m in 1948, 3 sons, 4 daughters.

Martina von Trapp (1921-1951) m in 1949, stillborn daughter.

Georg’s wife Agathe died in 1922 of Scarlet fever.

Maria Augusta Kutschera (1905-1987) came to the von Trapp household in 1926 to tutor the second oldest daughter Maria, who was still recovering from the Scarlet fever which killed her mother.

Maria and Georg married in 1927, it was – for want of a better term – a marriage of convenience as Maria loved the children, and Georg wanted a mother for them.  The pair grew very fond of each other, however.

Maria and Georg went on to have the following children:

Rosmarie von Trapp (1929+)

Eleonore von Trapp (1931+) m  in 1954, 7 daughters.

Johannes von Trapp (1939+) m  in 1969, 1 son, 1 daughter.

(NB, I do have the names from the children’s marriages, but have chosen not to disclose them, as many are still living.)

The family left Austria to tour, later settling in the USA, where Johannes von Trapp still runs the family resort in Vermont.  You can visit their website here.  Has anyone ever stayed there, it looks lovely and I’m curious!

There are also some interesting books out there, some by Maria and Georg themselves, plus there is a really interesting article about The Real Story of the von Trapp Family, complete with photographs from their Declaration of Intentions in 1944 from the National Archives, USA.

Some of you however, may just like to take a trip down memory lane, and enjoy bits of the film again.  Here is the original trailer, enjoy!

In the course of my research, I have come across the photo shown below.

It is not inscribed on the back, but comes with other pictures of a tomb previously unknown to me.  The person I believed, was located in a mausoleum in Scotland.

It is very important to me to find out which church this is, and its location.  If you can help, please leave a comment or email me.

All I know is that it is in England, and I strongly believe that it is in Sussex.  Any ideas appreciated, thank you!

Hello fellow genealogy fans!  Those of you based in the UK, or with access to BBC TV will be pleased to know that the programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ is back this Wednesday 13 August, BBC1 at 9pm (repeated the next day).  The first episode is about the family of the actress Patsy Kensit.

For those of you that haven’t seen it before, it is a programme tracing the genealogy of celebrities.  The last few series have been very high quality indeed, so I am looking forward to this one.

More details about the show can be found here.  The BBC website also has some handy tips and tools for the beginner.  Why not start tracing your family tree?

If, like me, you’ve been fascinated by the Titanic since they found the final resting place back in 1985 the Encyclopaedia Titanica could be the very place for you!

I stumbled upon this by accident recently whilst doing some research.  I’ve read quite a few books over the years, many of them not very satisfying in detail, but the detail on this site is amazing.  It could potentially be really useful to you as a genealogist also.  Have any of your relatives disappeared on or around 1912?  There are passenger and crew and survivor and fatality lists here amongst other things.

I like what they have achieved in giving both the poor and the rich that were on the ship as much of a face as possible, with photographs, family details and what possessions they were carrying that fateful night.

It’s funny, when they found the ship I was delighted by the idea of it being raised and any remains being put to rest, or belongings returned or preserved.  Over time, my wish is now to leave it in peace.

It is, anyway, a most engrossing site.

I just stumbled upon a video about Lt. General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser, who was the father of Colonel Charles, who I’ve spoken about several times here.

Alexander is a famous military hero, who sadly died before his time.  A quick warning about the video, as it’s nice to see him honoured, there are a few errors and omissions which I’ll correct here.  Please also note that some photographs do not relate to Castle Fraser.  I suspect that these images are more about the Fraser clan in general, i.e the Lovat branch.

• I’m not sure where the first ruined castle is (anyone want to email me about it?!)
• The book cover image is of Craigievar Castle (which did not belong to Frasers)
• The brother in law of Alexander was Francis Humberstone Mackenzie, the Earl of Seaforth
• He actually died of Walcheren fever, which is a type of Typhoid
• He was certainly very well though of, there is a letter from Wellington himself in the Castle Fraser Collection
• The sepia toned photos appear to be from an old copy of the castle guide.  The first is of the Worked Room (if you squint you can see Miss Elyza Fraser’s portrait on the wall) the second is of the Dining Room
• Alexander’s portrait does indeed still hang in the Great Hall, though it is not the original
• Don’t know which cathedral?? that is
• Sir Vicary Gibbs was actually another relation and he went on to look after Alexander’s orphaned children after his death
• Don’t know the location with the highland cows either
• The next one I suspect is another Fraser family seat, again the sword/gun display I suspect is to do with other Frasers.

All in all, it was nice to see another engraving of Alexander and his signature though.  Oh, and repeat after me: “Castle Fraser, not Fraser Castle.”  No, I don’t know why it is that way round.  It wasn’t the castle’s original name.

A little addendum: I see you, yes you, the person who keeps stealing little bits about the castle from my posts.  I know you’re doing it, so stop it now.

Some of you may remember my mentioning the Prince Edward and his wife Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, who I found as the hosts of Frederick Mackenzie Fraser during the night of the 1881 census.

I discovered that Prince Edward, or to give him his full name, Prince William Augustus Edward of Saxe-Weimar (Wilhelm August Eduard Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) married Augusta morganatically in 1851. To follow on from that I can now give some further details.

Prince Edward was born in 1823, the 4th child of Karl Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (the principal Duchy of Saxony) and Princess Ida of Saxe-Meningen. He appears to have been born and lived most of his life in England, joining the British Army in 1841 as an Ensign. His army career covers a large period, including the Crimean War, until 1897 when it ended, his final rank that of a Field Marshal. He died at his home in London in 1902 of complications arising from appendicitis. He is buried at Frogmore, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire.

Lady Augusta Katherine Gordon-Lennox was born in 1827, the seventh child of the 5th Duke of Richmond. (The first Duke of Richmond was one of the illegitimate sons of King Charles II.) She married Prince Edward in 1851, but it wasn’t until 1866 that she was made Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar in England. She remained throughout her life the Countess von Dornberg in her husband’s home country. They were to have no children, and Augusta died of pneumonia, also in London, in 1904.

I have also found evidence that Prince Edward was engaged before Augusta, a lady only referred to as Miss Lane-Fox who died either at the end of 1849 or early 1850.

So it seems, maybe there was no great scandal with the couple after all.

King Edward I or ‘Longshanks’ was born on the 17/18 June 1239 at the Palace of Westminster, London. He succeeded his father King Henry III as King of England on 20 November 1272 (whoops, sorry Edward, just missed your anniversary there!).

As was the custom, he was married as a child to Eleanor of Castile (also a child, I believe they were aged 15 and 10 at the time), daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile and his second wife Joan, sometimes called Jeanne D’ammartin. Eleanor was born in around 1244/45, no recorded date is known for her birth or baptism.

Edward and Eleanor married between 13 and 31 October 1254 at the Abbey of Las Huelgas, Burgos, Castile and had the following children:

Eleanor 1264-1298
Joan 1265
John 1266-1271/2
Henry 1267/8-1274
Alice
Juliana or Katherine 1271
Joan 1272-1307
Alfonso 1273-1284
Margaret 1275-1318
Berengaria or Berenice 1276-1279
Mary 1278-1332
Isabella 1279
Elizabeth 1282-1316
Edward (later Edward II) 1284-1327 (murdered)
Beatrice 1286-? (died young)
Blanche 1289/90-? (died young)

Queen Eleanor died on the 28 November 1290 leaving Edward bereft. It was after her funeral procession to her burial in Westminster Abbey (which happened in December 1290) that Edward planned and eventually had erected the 12 crosses in the places where her body had rested overnight.

Edward I eventually married again in 1299 to Margaret, daughter of King Philip III of France. He died on 7 July 1307 and is also buried in Westminster Abbey.

My interest being piqued by my recent work on Mackenzie Fraser marriages, I remembered that I have an electronic copy of the complete 1881 British census and thought I would try and see what as many of the family who were still living at this time were up to.

Firstly, I looked at Fred and his second wife Theodora. I couldn’t find them in Scotland, which was not unusual for them as they travelled a great deal and let Castle Fraser frequently. I then decided to search for Theodora on the name index as hers was a more unusual name.

I found Theodora staying in Brighton, East Sussex. The houses’ principal family appears to have been the Nixons, but it isn’t clear what Theodora was to them. It isn’t listed as a hotel, but the family appear to have fairly humble origins and are still listed as ‘head’. Interestingly, listed with her is an Elleanor Darby, as a sister-in-law. Though this term has a couple of meanings, I’m assuming for now that she would be Theodora’s brother’s wife. As I don’t know anything apart from her parents names this is another line of enquiry should I look further into her life.

Fred, meanwhile, was staying at the house of the Governer of Portsmouth, Hampshire and who was a Prince no less. The Prince wasn’t at home at the time, but his wife was. She is listed as Augusta Weimar, and a quick search on that name brings up Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, who later became the first German Empress, and mother-in-law of Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. So I wasn’t on the right track there, as this lady was born in Boxgrove, Sussex, which I found odd indeed for a Princess.

More digging produced a little melodrama all of its own. Augusta was born Lady Augusta Gordon-Lennox, daughter of the 5th Duke of Richmond and Gordon no less (a descendant of King Charles II). She married Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar in 1851, but as the marriage was morganatic she was only recognised as the Countess of Dornburg in Germany. It was Queen Victoria who granted her the title of Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar in England. I wonder if this was quite scandalous at the time? I want to know more!

Augusta Charlotte and her husband Robert Drummond were living at the smart address of 1 Palace Gate, Kensington, London. With them their sons Charles and Wingfield. Charles had already followed his father into banking and Wingfield was on holiday from Oxford University. Where were Sybil and Kenneth you ask? Sybil I found in Fearn, Edderton, Ross-shire, Scotland. Here she is head of the household, with just 2 servants for company. At 22 years old, with no personal income that I’m aware of, I can’t help but wonder why this is. Was Sybil pensioned off for a misdemeanour of some kind? She certainly isn’t listed as an invalid. Kenneth wasn’t a huge leap of the imagination to find. There here was, as a Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Berkshire which is still around and revered today. Another point of interest for me is that Sybil, Wingfield and Kenneth are all listed as being born in Scotland, Sybil at Castle Fraser. I’m assuming for now that they were all born at the Castle, which I’d always imagined the Tomlinsons to be.

Lastly, I searched for the Tomlinsons. Well Ellie and May that is, with 2 little surprises thrown in for me. Ellie and May were comfortably settled at 3 Hans Place, Chelsea, London (not far from the Drummonds and an area I know extremely well spookily) with a personal income. Surprise number 1? Both were born in Valetta, Malta. That was a curve, I hadn’t heard that before. Well then, I thought, just one last little search for George their brother. I doubt that I’ll find him, as he is rumoured to have died young and the last account I have of him is at about the age of 10. Firstly, nothing much to identify him, so I tried as a last resort the full name index. Nothing there, but hold on a moment, there’s a George born in Malta! The year of birth was out by only one year too, so I’m as sure as I can be for now that it’s him! He was living at 1 Chiswick Cottage, Devonshire Road, Chiswick again with a personal income and servants.  So yes, he still could have died young, but he made it to 23, which is more than I’d anticipated.  Still, I find the address slightly odd, like that of Sybil Drummond.

So, there we have it for now, more questions. Genealogy, though is ever both pleasure and pain.