Today is the first anniversary of my blog. This year I have met other bloggers at conferences and had the opportunity to connect with my readers through their comments. I have even found a few new cousins in the process. Writing The Passionate Genealogist has been fun and I am looking forward to another year of learning new things and meeting new people. If there is a topic you would like me to examine let me know.
©2011 – Blair Archival Research
In my blog entry on penmanship the video link mentioned how handwriting analysis had become very popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I have a handwriting analysis for my Great Grand Aunt Edith Toppin.
Unfortunately it is not dated but Edith Toppin was born in 1874 and died in 1946 so if she was over twenty one at the time then it would be after 1895.
What I have is the form that “The World-Famed Graphologist” “Miss Wagner, Co. Cork, Ireland” filled in with the analysis. The form has a section down the side with “Press & Public Opinions” which includes one from Montreal and other parts around the globe. There is a list of “Bazaars and Fetes” where she will be appearing and magazines where I am presuming she was mentioned.
The fees for this service were 1/- (one shilling), 2/6 (two shillings six pence) and 5/- (five shillings). No explanation of what you get for each of those fees was mentioned. Edith provided Miss Wagner with a handwriting sample and signature. What the sample was and how she signed her name are not included. Here is the transcription of the deduced characteristics of Edith from her handwriting.
You are cheerful, persuasive, agreeable, affable & pleasing in friendly & social relationships Mental & philosophical sides of life appeal to you – Tastes are refined you are hopeful courteous, bright & impressionable – Intuitive in grasp of people – character & situations – skilful in managing – avoiding irritating – & getting on well with many met. Good sense of humour wit – fun & playfulness A merry heart – tolerance of what must be put up with or tactfully ignored for peace sake at times
Good sense – brains intelligence management – expenditure & results pleasing effects – with when required fairly thrifty outlay
A wish for harmony – proportion fitness – suitability & becomingness critical acumen – ideals & ideas good writers, musicians – artists – teachers & accountants – you can appreciate points in many ways, good domestic traits – the finely organised & artistic temperament – that helps to make a tasteful happy home.
Fidelity in life’s closets ties & relationships an uncongenial alliance would be fraught with serious & hurtful results for you you should be successful in making friends & way in the world – kind to pets & children your lucky gem is the turquoise bringing prosper
Your colours are gold & brown – typical of personal aspiration & pleasure in many things in daily life & existence – In some ways ease pleasure & loving – with as well tenacity that adds persistence & slight obstinacy in sooner or later arriving at intentions & purposes
Your flower is the holly bringing the seasons happiness – you should be accurate in aim & execution – enterprise & calculations
Ingenious in striking out ways & means a fix in & helpful in suggestions & ready assistance Quick & sharp in perceptions, inferences & diagnosis if the topic puzzling dilemma tc
[Some] love of being comfortable – Ready ability to imitate & reproduce what you admire – This should give you correct taste in household – personal & feminine matters – consulted in – [Frank] – believing in freedom of speech – Quick to [nite] weakest point in others armour – over activity – worry or restlessness would be injurious to health – Fresh air out of door life exercise in moderate degree are good
Some of these items sound like they would be expected of any female of the time. I wish I knew Edith to see if any of these traits were true and what she was really like.
©2011 – Blair Archival Research
The England Jurisdictions 1851 Map at Family Search is an invaluable tool for those doing research in England.
First you see a map with all the counties of England highlighted in colours. Click on your county of choice. I chose Cheshire. You then get a list of options such as: List all parishes in Cheshire, list all counties contiguous to Cheshire, search the Family History Library Catalog, search the FamilySearch Research Wiki and the option to remove selection.
If you click on list all parishes you get an alphabetical listing of the parishes in Cheshire. I decided to click Stalybridge, St. Paul, Cheshire. The map then hones in on Stalybridge and highlights the parish. There are three tabs: Info, Jurisdictions and Options.
Info tells me that it is an “Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Cheshire, created in 1840 from Mottram in Longendale Ancient Parish” I also get the years when records began. The parish register [PR] began in 1839 and the bishops transcripts [BT] began in 1782. If you scroll down further you find a listing of the Non-Church of England denominations in Stalybridge.
Jurisdictions tells me the place, county, civil registration district, probate court along with dates and names of the courts, diocese, rural deanery, poor law union, hundred and province. This information will help with further research.
The Options tab provides five choices: list contiguous parishes, radius search, search the Family History Library Catalog, Search the FamilySearch Research Wiki and remove selection.
The radius search is another great tool. You can do a radius search of Stalybridge for ¼, ½, 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 miles. I chose a five mile radius. The map now provides a red circle with the highlighted parish of Stalybridge in the centre with a cross marking the centre of the circle. On the left hand side of the page is a list of parishes within a five mile radius of Stalybridge. It gives you the distance of these parishes from Stalybridge. If you click on the name of another parish the map will move to that parish and provide information relating to it.
If you click on the centre of the red circle you get more options: move radius, search here, add another radius search of – miles, remove radius search.
On the left hand side is a tab called layers and you can add extra layers to the map. You already have parish (Chapelry and Extra Parochial) and county but you can add civil registration district, diocese, rural deanery, poor law union, hundred, province, division and ordnance survey. You can also decide to change the map to a Google Street Map or a Google Satellite map.
In the top right corner you have three options: zoom to selection, reset view and reset map. You can zoom into the map to get closer to the parish. This is really useful when you have Ordnance Survey map as the choice. It will only let you zoom in so far which means you can not get down to street level. To get to street level use the map navigation bars and zoom options on the left hand side of the map. The red background of the Ordnance Survey map does make it a little difficult to read the black lettering on the map. The purple highlight over the parish makes it even more difficult again to read the names and markings on the map.
You have the choice to link or print and save the map. There is a feedback option to help Family Search gather our comments on their products. The last option is a question mark for help.
When you click on search Family History Library Catalog it will show you if there are any records available in the library for that parish.
This is a great tool for any family historian researching in England. It provides information on available church records in England. I have family in Stalybridge but they are not always found in the records. This provides me with information on surrounding parishes and those parishes that are not Church of England but another denomination.
Why not go in and play with this map and see what new information you may be able to find about the area in England where your family originated.
