Halesowen SOUTHWELLS et al.

[simmadonna]

I'm feeling gratified to have found the footprints of my Black Country grandmother, Edith Mary SOUTHWELL (b. Bloomfield St., Hawne 1896), before she boarded the Lusitania in 1911 (aged 16) with her mother. Alice Jane Farmer Southwell (b. Halesowen 1873), brother Charles William (b. 1905) and sister Hilda (b. 1900) to join her father, Charles SOUTHWELL (b.Walsall 1873, son of Wm. Southwell b. Hawne Halesown 1852 and Jane Holloway b. Hasbury Halesowen 1852; Edith's paternal grandparents were William Southwell b. 1815 and Mary Hackett b. 1818) in the mining town of Jerome, Pennsylvania. Charles had sailed ahead of the rest in 1910 on the Mauretania. At this point, I am mainly interested in connecting with anyone who knows about or is related to any of these Halesowen SOUTHWELLS, HACKETS, FARMERS or HOLLOWAYS . Also, if anyone sees errors in the ancestry I've listed above, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

About me and my paternal grandparents: My name is Shelley Hall; I'm 51 and live in a small town about 40 miles west of Boston, Massachusetts. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is the area to which my grandmother (Edith Southwell) and her husband, Arthur HALL (a miner she met in Jerome, PA) moved when Art retired from the mines. I believe they made the move in order to be closer to their three children: my father (William Arthur Hall) and my two aunts, Mrytle and Mary Jane, all of whom were married with children by that time. Of the three, only Myrtle is still living (in California) and she's well into her 90s. Through my father, Edith has one grandson, three grandaughters (including me), one great grandson and one great grandaughter, all living. Through Myrtle, she has one grandaughter, one grandson, one great grandaughter and two great grandsons, all living. Through Mary Jane, she has one grandaughter and one great grandson that I know of, both living (my family didn't stay as close with Mary Jane as we have with Myrtle). If anyone cares to add any or all of these US descendents to their family trees (the living without names), they should please feel free. I'd be happy to put together the documentation.

It's been fascinating reading about some of the social aspects of Black Country and connecting some of the stories my grandmother used to tell with people and places. One thing that has stayed firmly in my family is a group of verbal expressions she taught us and that we still use reguarly. For example, Birmingham was always "Brummijum" (I'm not sure how it should be spelled) a pronunciation I recognized when I read about in this site's language forum. My all-time favorite, though, is a word for which I've never found a better substitute and it is one she learned from her grandmother, Mary HACKETT, and passed along to us. The word is "brevitin' " (again, I'm not sure how it should be spelled) and it's a verb (always used by my grandmother in the continuous -in(g) form) that means rifling or rummaging in an uninvited manner through stuff that isn't yours--something like "snooping." Can anyone tell me if this is a common local expression or whether it might have been Mary Hackett's own invention (if it was listed in this board's language forum, I missed it)?

I apologize for the length of this post but I hope it will be of interest to someone.
Thanks for reading,
Shelley Hall

[Northern Lass]

Hi Shelley thanks for posting that
lot of info in there

Do add that phrase to our useful phrases for further discussion and outtin the meaning of it!

We have Southwells on the BCC tree which you know about
let me know if you are interested in adding yours to that and I will let you know the procedure

[linell]

Hi again Shelley, you are connected to me here on this line:-

Wm. Southwell b. Hawne Halesown 1852 and Jane Holloway b. Hasbury Halesowen 1852; Edith's paternal grandparents were William Southwell b. 1815 and Mary Hackett b. 1818. This family is all on our Black Country Tree. I grew up in Hawne, around the corner from Bloomfield Street, know it well. Linell.

[linell]

Here is the link from BCC:-

http://bcconnections.tribalpages.com/tr ... =935593473

William and Jane Southwell, were instrumental in the building of Short Cross Methodist Chapel Hawne. I have an article about them and a picture. Wm helped build it, all in his own time. I will try and find the book Linell.

[simmadonna]

I grew up in Hawne, around the corner from Bloomfield Street, know it well. Linell.

That is so cool it makes me shiver. Did you go to the grammar school there? My grandmother did and told me some hair-raising (literally, since the schoolmaster picked her up out of her seat by the hair) stories about it, although I''m sure practices that were the norm in her day are now history.

I have an article about them and a picture. I will try and find the book :?: Linell.

Thanks for the offer and I would be very excited to see them it it's not too much trouble for you.

[linell]

Hi Shelley, if you send me a PM with your email address I will send you a picture of Wm Southwell and Jane nee Holloway. I have a few connections to the family, Jane was the daughter of Sarah Willetts, sister of my Gt Gt Grandmother Elizabeth Willetts, Elizabeth Married Arthur Hackett who is descened from Mary Hacketts family. Southwell if you trace the family back were Southall in 1780. One of them was my 5X Great Grandfather on the other side of my family tree. Yes we all went to HGS my Nan was one of the first girls to go there, that was about 1905, my Mom was there about 1936.

I've never heard the expression 'brevitin' but 'Brumagum' is always used by near enough everyone I think

Will wait to hear from you from Linell.

[simmadonna]

Oops. I made a mistake. See the statement highlighted in purple below:

I'm feeling gratified to have found the footprints of my Black Country grandmother, Edith Mary SOUTHWELL (b. Bloomfield St., Hawne 1896), before she boarded the Lusitania in 1911 (aged 16) with her mother. Alice Jane Farmer Southwell (b. Halesowen 1873), brother Charles William (b. 1905) and sister Hilda (b. 1900) to join her father, Charles SOUTHWELL (b.Walsall 1873, son of Wm. Southwell b. Hawne Halesown 1852 and Jane Holloway b. Hasbury Halesowen 1852; Edith's paternal grandparents were William Southwell b. 1815 and Mary Hackett b. 1818

Wm. Southwell (b 1815) and Mary Hackett were Edith's great grandparents, not her grandparents. Her grandparents were Wm. Southwell (b.1852) and Jane Holloway.