Notes of Life

We think this photo is of my Great Grandmother Ann Trow and her daughter Jane (known as Ginny). On the back of the photo are some numbers which looks to be the date 23.2.93.

My Great Grandmother was born Ann Tye on 14th March 1853, the first child born to Thomas (a labourer) and Elizabeth Tye in the rural parish of Bettws-y-Crwyn, Shropshire, England. However, she spent most of her life living just over the border in Wales.

By the age of 18, Ann was working as a servant/nurse for Edward Morris and his family at Gwern-y-Go, near Sarn in the Parish of Kerry, Montgomeryshire.

On 10th May 1876 Ann married John Trow, a farm labourer from Churchstoke, and a year later they had their first child, Elizabeth. Ten other children followed (including Ginny and my Grandfather).

Sadly, only 5 years after this photo was taken, Ann died from a hemorrhage after giving birth to daughter Edith. She died at home in Churchstoke, aged only 43.

I don’t know much else about my Great Grandmother Ann, I wish I knew more.

Yesterday was such a nice day (for a change!) that Dad & I decided to go for a drive. When we got in the car we hadn’t made up our minds where we wanted to go, other than it had to be somewhere on the coast. A few miles down the road, I made up my mind. We were going to Aberaeron.

We used to visit Aberaeron when I was a kid. I had narrow feet (and to some extent still do), so we would travel all this way (around an hour and a half) to get school shoes for me from Dad’s friend Fred who ran a shoe shop there (I believe his daughter runs the shop now).

We arrived in Aberaeron just in time for lunch, yesterday. We headed to the New Celtic Restaurant for fish & chips, before going for a walk around the town and getting a honey ice cream from The Hive on the Quay (a must if you’ve ever in Aberaeron!). The weather was beautiful and everyone was out enjoying it.

After leaving Aberaeron, we headed through Devil’s Bridge (which is, in fact, made of 3 bridges on top of one another!) and onto Cwmystwyth. 150 years ago Cwmystwyth would have been bustling with miners and their families, but no more. Now the ruins nestle in the valley.

But what a view… It would have been even more beautiful before the mining.

We carried on through the Elan Valley (another place not to be missed!), stopping for tea at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre on the way home.

Should you ever be visiting Mid Wales, there are just a few of the places you should visit!

This afternoon I travelled along a winding road through Cwmystwyth (Ystwyth Valley). These roads are more often than not ruled by sheep… Just because you may be driving on the road, it doesn’t mean the sheep will move for you! This one, however, was having a bit of a rest and didn’t seem to mind me getting out of the car to take a few photos.

Camera Critters – Why not join in?!

As the sun was shining (for a change!) I ventured out into the back garden with my camera to capture the last of this summer’s flowers and here’s what I found…

Camera Critters – Why not join in?!

As you might know, I often upload my photographs to Flickr. It saves my webspace and offers the ability for viewers to leave comments.

This morning I have been looking around Flickr and found a few groups and members that may interest some of my readers.

The first of these is Who are these (unidentified) people? Flickr members are invited to post photos from their photo collections where they can’t identify the people. So this is certainly a Flickr Group that would appeal to family historians and genealogists. When adding a photo, remember to include as much information as you can. I don’t know if any people have been identified through the group, but if you don’t take a chance then you may never know. It’s worth a try, right?

Forgotten Faces is a Flickr Member rather than a group, but he uploads old photos and postcards of (you’ve guessed it) forgotten faces. There are many interesting photos of groups, families, weddings, children, soldiers etc and information about the images is included. The pictures are uploaded by Rob who has his own blog, also called Forgotten Faces.

Next up is The Smiling Victorian where members are invited to submit photos of smiling Victorians (and Edwardians). As I’m sure you know, a lot of portraits from back then show the sitter with sober or stoic faces (even in happy events such as weddings), so these photos are a refreshing change.

Finally, we have Mysterious Vintage Photos. This group shows and asks for antique and vintage photos which are full of questions such as “What’s going on here?” or “What is the purpose of this?”.

Enjoy!

If you have know of some Flickr Groups or other websites that may be of interest do let me know!