Going themeless again (sounds risqué!), this post is about Nannie Tucker's grandfather, John Henry BRIDGES. John Henry was born on March 30, 1823 in Chillenden, Kent, England. He was the first child of newlyweds, Edward BRIDGES and Harriet ATKINS. They were very newly wed, in fact, married only 3 months before John Henry's birth.

By the time of the 1841 census in England, John Henry had 6 siblings, and he was an agricultural labourer in Linstead, possibly at the same place that his father worked as a horse keeper.

A few years later, he married Mary LAWRENCE in Great Mongeham, Kent. I found a copy of their marriage banns online. Married "by banns" in the parish church means their names were read out in the church on three consecutive Sundays. On the third, if no one has objected, they are allowed to be married. "Speak now, or forever hold your peace," I suppose.

They, too, started their family right away. They married on Sept 20, 1846, and Harman was born in 1847. They had moved to Dover by 1853, and eventually raised 9 children there, including Anne Marie (Ancestor 52-7).

Ah, John Henry Bridges. What a good, strong name (inherited from John BRIDGES and Henry ATKINS, his grandfathers). I can't help but picture him as a tall, broad fellow with big forearms. This mental image is somewhat influenced by the fact that he worked as a blacksmith for most of his adult life. 

Self-employed blacksmiths were known as general craftsmen, creating everything from tools to decorative items to horseshoes. If they worked as part of a larger operation, they often specialized. Here is an interesting old video about making anchor chains and anchors. It's kind of long, but be sure to skip to the end bit (7:10), with all of them in a circle around the anchor shackle pin.

Sometimes, however, even being strong can't save you. On October 29th, 1880, John Henry Bridges died of a stroke, only 59 years old.

I've decided to go "themeless" for Ancestor #8. Instead, I'll continue along the line of the Hutcheon family. Helen NEDDRIE (or NIDDRIE) was Gramma T's great-grandmother, and the mother of Alexander Hutcheon (Ancestor #5). I've only found some basic information about her, but I think that with some more research, I'll be able to fill in some of my blanks in the timeline of her life.

Wuv. Twu Wuv will fowow you foweva. 

There are many and various examples of Love in our family tree. This week's story is about the type of love that lasts forever.

The love of Annie Maria BRIDGES' life was George DUREY. 

Long distance relationships are tough, even in our modern age of telephones, internet connections, and airplanes that can take you almost anywhere. Imagine then, what it would have been like to be separated from your loved ones by an ocean for years at a time, with only the telegraph (expensive) and the mail (slow) available for communication. That's the way it was for many couples in the 1800s and early 1900s. 

Between 1900 and 1920, more than 3 million immigrants came to Canada. Sometimes, they came over as entire families, but there were also many men who had to leave wives and children behind until enough money could be saved up to pay for their passages.

Such was the case with my great grandfather, Roman MISCOVITCH. So far, I know little about his early life. However, after he immigrated to Canada in 1913, a few official documents were created, and they give us some interesting information.

In a family tree with many branches of farmers, I have found an ancestor who, on his marriage certificate, identified himself as a "ploughman". Alexander HUTCHEON was my Scottish great-great-grandfather. He worked hard, lived a long life, and (I imagine) saw many things. I missed meeting him by more than a quarter century - he died in Scotland in 1935 - but I have a memory of him. Actually, it is a "memory once-removed".

As we investigate further back in time, family lore and old photos become thinner on the ground. More imagination is required to picture what life would have been like for an ancestor. I don't know if my great-great-great grandmother, Emma TUCKER, was actually a tough woman, but based on the bare facts of her life, I have to imagine it to be true.

We called her "Babcha". I always thought it was an old country honourific, and so I called my great-grandmother "Old Lady" for the twelve years I knew her.

Long before I knew her, however, she was not an old lady. No, not at all. She was a young woman living in Poland in the early 1900s, yearning for a fresh start away from a stepmother she didn't like.

I'm going to join an online writing challenge this year. It's an interesting idea, and perhaps it will help me to consolidate my family history research of the past few years.