Moments in time

As you turn the pages of the book of time, there are moments that stand out

In 1800 the Quaker society of Friends in Sibford remarked of my Ancestor Mary Holtom that she was a woman worthy of note. As I uncovered the story of her remarkable life I found I totally agreed with them. However as I climbed further up the family tree I began to find that she was not alone, and that there were others on different branches that also led remarkable lives. From the picklet seller who wheeled her cart through the streets of Birmingham in order to keep a roof over her families head and her children out of the workhouse.  To the mistress of a King who trod an even harder path in order to keep her head when her family lost theirs.  Along the way we may stop by and visit with the brave world war one soldier who avenged the death of his beloved brother at the battle of the somme or uncover the skeletons in the cupboard of the Proud family matriarch to whom appearences where everything.  You may pass by the bloody steps which ran with the blood of the poor victim of a heartless murderer or stop by the gamekeepers house where his widow is left to raise her children in poverty after the murder of her husband. As each story was revealled to me through the mists of time I began to realise that each person had a remarkable story and that I owed it to them to try to pas it on to future generations. The only problem was how. At first I tryed to write down their biographies, to copy the style of the Lamb branch of our family who had a family geology published and distributed in 1800.  However I soon realised that I owed my subjects much more than a chronological list of births marages and deaths.  Instead I wanted to bring their storys alive again if only for a few moments.  Throughout my research I was so lucky to have chanced upon a large amount of photos; documents and letters and it came to me that if I could tell each of my subjects story from the point at which the photo was taken or the letter written I would be able to tell their stories more fully and for this reason I have concerned myself on how they would have felt at this point rather than just a list of historical events. As such I must excursise a certain amount of Litricy Creativity, as I have based my stories primally on the research I have gathered, but have had todraw some conc.ushions that I will never really know the truth of.If I have missed out anything or gone astay I can only apologise and if you tell me about it will put it wright.More evdence becomes availble to us each day and   I hope that future generations will be able to go even further.  Until then I hope this blog serves to preserve the stories of the remarkable people I have met along this journey for they are surely worthy of note.