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*Archive 24hrs*Bell Family -Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:01 am
by kevinbell
Hello everyone, yet another newcomer here and an absolute beginner to boot, I am just starting out with this geneaology lark and tracing the Bell side of my family tree.I know that my g grandfather Thomas Bell was From Ecclefechan on the Scottish borders and Moved to Newcastle to become a miner. I suspect this was sometime around the turn of the century as my grandfather Robert Saunders Bell was born in Newcastle in 1906. hopefully if i get anywhere with this i will keep you informed although it is proving a little difficult at the moment due to my inexperience ( i hope)
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:24 am
by Rob
Join the club Kev but i tell you what they have some cracking genealogists on here so they'll help you along the,sometimes,headaching riddles of family trees!!
Just a thought Kev you're not from Brum are you?
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:39 am
by kevinbell
Hi Rob and thanks for the welcome, no I am not from Brum. Was born in Preston, Lancs, spent around 30 years in North wales before returning to Lancs following divorce.
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:12 pm
by Northern Lass
Hi Kevin
Welcome to the forum
I have Bells from Newcastle too
George Bell b 1854 Haltwhistle Northumberland
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:41 pm
by peterd
hi kev and welcome to the forum
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:39 pm
by linell
Hi Kev from Lancs, your not far from Pete then
Best Wishes from Linell.
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:12 pm
by mallosa
Hi Kev and welcome! I
am from Brum but whilst I don't know Kev, I've heard about him
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:15 pm
by Rob
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:32 am
by Maths girl
Hi Kev and welcome.
My advise keep asking questions.
Maths girl
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:58 am
by peterd
kevinbell wrote:Hello everyone, yet another newcomer here and an absolute beginner to boot, I am just starting out with this geneaology lark and tracing the Bell side of my family tree.I know that my g grandfather Thomas Bell was From Ecclefechan on the Scottish borders and Moved to Newcastle to become a miner. I suspect this was sometime around the turn of the century as my grandfather Robert Saunders Bell was born in Newcastle in 1906. hopefully if i get anywhere with this i will keep you informed although it is proving a little difficult at the moment due to my inexperience ( i hope)
hi kevin first thing you need to do is gather as much evidence and infomation from you family as poss the older generation will love telling you the stories
list of what you may come across
granparents names first and last name including your granmothers maiden names
dates of birth
dates of marriages
poss granparents brothers and sisters, births,marriages
if your parents are still around then they could remember there parents / granparents detials, even if you havent got any of this info poss go visting your older relatives and take a pen and pad with you,
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 12:17 pm
by Maths girl
A suggestion - Following the point of asking for info from relatives- I am finding with my mother than her recall of names is erratic - if she sits and thinks nothing comes but if I ask her to forget that and tell me about something else eg siblings, aunts, memories of where she was taken as a child she will suddenly say "Mary Smith" and that turns out to be the name she couldn't remember 10 minutes before !
It does mean that note taking is a bit chaotic as we keep returning to previous histories and I have to try to make sure I know which family she is referring to as she jumps about a bit. I leave plenty of space for added notes and then try to transcribe them later into a more manageable form.
You also need to warn them that when the name comes to them at 2 in the morning you would rather they wrote it down to tell you later than phoning you in an excited way because they have remembered it!
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:01 am
by kevinbell
Hi all and thanks for the advice, all good sound advice but my main problem is my dad is an only child and tho still living (none of my grandparents are) he had a stroke 18 months back and his memory isnt brilliant, he has helped me as much as he can and he was able to give me a little information that i didnt know. he has also passed on to me a large amount of old family photos and some certificates some of the photos do have snippets of info with then such as names and dates but the majority have no written information. i have my grandmothers birth and death certificate and also the certificate of her marriage to my grandfather. i also have my g grandmothers (on my grandmothers side )death certificate, so I have a platform to work from. so the information I do have is as follows my father Michael Henry Bell b Carlisle 1941. My grandfather Robert Saunders or Sanders Bell (i have seen both middle names mention in some of the paperwork which doesnt help) was born newcastle upon tyne in 1906. My grandmother Evelyn Blake b Newcastle upon tyne in 1908, they married in Newcastle in 1929 and had moved to Carlisle by the time my father was born. My g grandmother Eleanor dixon was married to Henry Blake both were from Newcastle I believe and were born around 1889 (dont have that info in front of me as i write), that is as far as i get along that branch for the moment. The Bell branch goes to my g grandfather Thomas and my info is as follows born in Ecclefechan in dumfries and galloway date unknown and was married to Matilda Boardman Harding, we think Boardman was her middle name. her dob is also unknown as is the date of the marriage and one of the problems I have is that i dont know when my g grandfather moved to Newcastle and if he was married when he moved or not. I have tried searching for all the above on the LDS familysearch.org without success. There are lots of Bells in and around Ecclefechan even a few Thomas's but none seem to tie in with the estimated dates, i tried 1880 +/- 20 years and also drew a blank when trying to find any of the Blakes. the few other bits of info that i have are my g grandfather Thomas worked as a manservant in "the big house" in Ecclefechan and moved to Newcastle to become a miner. I do know my grandfather Robert joined the army in September of 1926 i dont know for definate but believe the regiment could have been the Cameronians (scottish rifles) and that he served in and around the himalayas and khyber pass as i have photograpic evidence of this and also a certificate of him passing some exams which got him an extra £1 in his wages, I also remember a story from when i was a child saying he had to swim around the port in Cairo in full uniform and pack in order to get another £1 per week and even tho he couldnt swim he managed it with the help of his mates and by sort of crabbing his way along the harbour wall, but that is heresay and there is no certificate supporting this, but an interesting snippet all the same. sorry for the long winded post but any help or further advice would be gratefully received
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:15 am
by Maths girl
Sorry to hear about your Dad - that certainly doesn't make it easy.
I know you said he was an only child but did he have any cousins he went to visit as a child? any favourite uncles or aunts?
It might just give a few more names to work with.
The 1901 census is the other place to look for your GG grandparents if you haven't already looked and you grandparents should be on the 1911 one.
Hope this helps
Maths girl
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:25 am
by Northern Lass
moved to General discussion and title altered
Re: Absolute beginner saying hello
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:24 pm
by peterd
just going to break this up into bite sizes
kevinbell wrote:Hi all and thanks for the advice, all good sound advice but my main problem is my dad is an only child and tho still living (none of my grandparents are) he had a stroke 18 months back and his memory isnt brilliant, he has helped me as much as he can and he was able to give me a little information that i didnt know. he has also passed on to me a large amount of old family photos and some certificates some of the photos do have snippets of info with then such as names and dates but the majority have no written information.
i have my grandmothers birth and death certificate and also the certificate of her marriage to my grandfather.
birth cert could you give use full name, dob and parents including mothers maiden name please
death cert. date please, age if on, name of informant, and address
marriage cert date of marriage , address, fathers names, and witnessses
run with this first
*****************************************************************************************************************
i also have my g grandmothers (on my grandmothers side )death certificate, so I have a platform to work from.
so the information I do have is as follows
my father Michael Henry Bell b Carlisle 1941.
My grandfather Robert Saunders or Sanders Bell (i have seen both middle names mention in some of the paperwork which doesnt help) was born newcastle upon tyne in 1906.
My grandmother Evelyn Blake b Newcastle upon tyne in 1908, they married in Newcastle in 1929 and had moved to Carlisle by the time my father was born.
My g grandmother Eleanor dixon was married to Henry Blake both were from Newcastle I believe and were born around 1889 (dont have that info in front of me as i write), that is as far as i get along that branch for the moment.
The Bell branch goes to my g grandfather Thomas and my info is as follows born in Ecclefechan in dumfries and galloway date unknown and was married to Matilda Boardman Harding, we think Boardman was her middle name. her dob is also unknown as is the date of the marriage
one of the problems I have is that i dont know when my g grandfather moved to Newcastle and if he was married when he moved or not. I have tried searching for all the above on the LDS familysearch.org without success.
There are lots of Bells in and around Ecclefechan even a few Thomas's but none seem to tie in with the estimated dates, i tried 1880 +/- 20 years and also drew a blank when trying to find any of the Blakes.
the few other bits of info that i have are my g grandfather Thomas worked as a manservant in "the big house" in Ecclefechan and moved to Newcastle to become a miner.
I do know my grandfather Robert joined the army in September of 1926 i dont know for definate but believe the regiment could have been the Cameronians (scottish rifles) and that he served in and around the himalayas and khyber pass as i have photograpic evidence of this and also a certificate of him passing some exams which got him an extra £1 in his wages, I also remember a story from when i was a child saying he had to swim around the port in Cairo in full uniform and pack in order to get another £1 per week and even tho he couldnt swim he managed it with the help of his mates and by sort of crabbing his way along the harbour wall, but that is heresay and there is no certificate supporting this, but an interesting snippet all the same. sorry for the long winded post but any help or further advice would be gratefully received
hopefully this will make it easier to find them