Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 10, Honfleur, France

Monday, 28 July 2014

The Marco Polo docked at the Honfleur Cruise Terminal early in the morning, under a dark threatening sky and strong winds.

Honfleur is an ancient town in north west France and is located on the south bank at the mouth of the Seine River. It is known for its old picturesque port with its houses of slate covered frontages, and has been painted many times by famous artists, including Claude Monet.

St Catherine’s church which has a bell-tower separate from the church is the largest  wooden church in France.

Many tours had been offered for those who wished to go ashore, from ancient towns to D-Day Landings in World War II.  However, before we could disembark we had to retrieve our passports from Reception, so we could enter France.

We had booked a tour to the ancient town of Bayeux, where the famous Bayeux Tapestry is displayed. It was over an hours bus ride to the town. We had a local guide who gave an interesting commentary on the history of the area, from Roman times to World War II, as we passed through the various villages and towns. By the time we reached Bayeux the weather had cleared to a fine warm day.

In fact the ‘Bayeux Tapestry’, is not a tapestry, but a beautifully embroidered linen cloth some seventy metres long. Wool yarn, coloured by vegetable dye, was used for the embroidery and the work is divided into fifty panels. The story begins with Edward the Confessor sending Harold Godwinson to Normandy, and ends with English troops fleeing the battlefields at Hastings. About six metres of the ‘tapestry’ is missing. These scenes were probably centred around William’s coronation.

It is believed to have been commissioned by William the Conqueror’s half- brother, Odo, who was bishop of Bayeux and Canterbury, and may have been created in Kent, by monks in the 1070’s some years after the conquest.

Originally it was hung in the Bayeux Cathedral, but is now housed in a specially built museum in the old abbey complex near by. An audio explanation is delivered by headphones as you walk along the glass panelled exhibition.

We also visited the awe inspiring Bayeux Cathedral and were able to take lots of photos, both inside and out.

In the afternoon we returned to the ship via a route that allowed us to view the ancient part of Honfleur.

I had made arrangements to meet with Eileen O’Duill in the Research Help Zone to find how I could access on-line, some of the ‘movie clips’ she had used in her presentation. There is much of this kind of material available to help family historians understand  important events in history.

Two sets of lectures were presented in the early evening. ‘Manorial Records’, by Paul Blake and ‘Ideas for researching non-conformist ancestors’, by Jackie Depelle. I found choosing between these two difficult, as I needed to go to both, but finally decided on ‘Manorial Records’ and made many notes to follow up on in the National Archives the following week.

In the second set of lectures we had the choice of ‘How to reopen and work a genealogical cold case’, by Lisa Cooke and ‘Matchmaking and marriage customs in  19^th Century rural Ireland’, by Sean O’Duill. I went to Lisa’s presentation, as I’m always opening ‘cold cases’ and trying to move my research forward.

After a break, Eileen O’Duill delivered the last of the Unlockthepast lectures. ‘Mrs Fancy Tart is coming to tea: Making sense of family stories’.Eileen used one of the stories in her own family history, on her father’s side. It was many years before she could solve this little mystery, and it was all down to her father’s interpretation, as a small child, of the unusual surname of his mother’s visitor. Delivered with warmth and gentle humour, this presentation was excellent and really enjoyed by all present. A great way to wrap up a big ten days of wonderful presentations.

We rounded off the night with a cocktail party where prizes were drawn, photos taken and a wonderful time was had by all.

We were not able to sit on deck after dinner as the weather had turned dark, wet and windy, and we needed to pack and put our suitcases outside our cabin door, to be collected by staff ready for disembarking the following morning. Our cruise was coming to an end.

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Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 8, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly

Saturday, 26^th July 1914

Isles of Scilly are an archipelago off the south-west tip of the Cornish coast of England. The five main islands, St Mary’s, Tresco, St Martin, St Agnes and Bryher, have a varied and interesting history.

We had been advised by the Cruise Tour Director that St Mary’s would be a tender port , but not those belonging to the ship, as previously used, but local boats from the harbour itself. We were not sure what to expect.

When we arose next morning we in for a surprize. We had anticipated that it would be a fine, clear morning, as it had been previously, however the ship was wrapped in a thick sea-mist or fog. Although we could still hear the ship’s engines throbbing below us, it was difficult to know if were still moving as there were no reference points on land or sea.

The pilot- boat appeared suddenly at the ship’s side and disappeared just as quickly after the delivery of the pilot.

There was a hushed silence as those passengers on deck, spoke quietly amongst their shadowy selves. Suddenly the ship announced its presence with a long blast on its horn. It was not long before it was answered by horns and bells, somewhere on shore, both on our port, as well as starboard. Then there was a whole musical interlude as the pattern of blasts on horns and the clanging of bells spoke to each other in the fog and guided the Marco Polo to its anchorage in St Mary’s harbour. It was easy to imagine how it was in days gone by, as sailing ships inched their way into port.

It wasn’t long before the Tour Director announced the first of the tender boats had arrived to take the passengers off for the tours. We watched from the deck above as those below embarked from the ship’s loading platform into the open boats. The water was a little choppy and the boats heaved up and down making it difficult to judge when to take the step aboard. This was made easier by the crew assisting, who gave instructions to either ‘wait’ or ‘go’. When the boat was full it disappeared into the swirling fog.

After some minutes the announcement was made, that although the ship was still surrounded by fog, it was clear on shore and the tour groups for the other islands, such as the Tresco Abbey Gardens, could proceed. In an hour or so the fog had cleared to reveal a beautiful picturesque town laid out along the shore.

 

We went on shore late in the morning and wandered about the town, until we joined our tour in the afternoon. This was a walking tour conducted by an elderly, but very fit local husband and wife team. The history of the island was explained as visited all the landmarks, from the ancient castle fort on the hill top to the extensive naval defences on the shore for World War II.

We returned to the ship soon after 4 pm, as I had made an appointment with Paul Blake in the Research Help Zone,to discuss records held at the National Archives at Kew ( London), that I planned to research the following week. I had all the catalogue references, sorted in numerical sequence and printed out. As my time there would be limited, I sort Paul’s advice on the most efficient way to locate, order and use the material. I also asked him how I might go about finding records on my Irish soldier in the 18^th Century.

There were two sets of lectures offered by Unlockthepast in the evening.

The first was’The Tithe: its history, records and administration’, by Paul Blake, and ‘Using ScotlandsPeople effectively’, by Marie Dougan. I heard Paul’s talk on the ‘tithe’, as I have researched many rural villages in England, I knew what an important factor this was in parish histories. A few days before sailing on the cruise, I had visited the manor farm where some of my ancestors had lived in the 16^th Century, and the huge ‘Tithe-barn’ is still there today.

The second set of talks were ‘On-line Newspapers’ by Rosemary Kopittke, and ‘Reading the original; hints and tips for deciphering old documents’, by Jackie Depelle. I listened to Jackie’s advice on how to decipher old documents, as I’m finding reading 17^th Century wills, I have been able to locate for some of my families, very challenging when transcribing. I learned that there is no easy way, but patience and practise is the key to success.

After dinner we sat on deck in the hazey twilight and watched the commercial sea traffic passing all around us, as we were virtually at the ‘crossroads’ in the English Channel, where the ships crossed to sail up the western or eastern coast of the English mainland.

Our day at St Mary’s had been a pleasantly casual one, and I wondered as I went to bed, what our next port, St Peter Port in Guernsey would be.

Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 4, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

Day 4, 22 July 2014

The wonderful thing about this cruise was that we went to bed, and while we slept, the ship took us to the next port,.

We arrived in Kirkwall early in the morning. The weather was a little over-caste, but the town looked beautiful in the morning light, as we patiently waited for the port authorities to complete their work, so we could go ashore on our next adventure. By then the sun had come out and it was a glorious day.

The shore excursions offered at Kirkwell were very different to what had been offered at Invergordon the day before. Most were about 4 hours and offered an option to visit the sites either morning or afternoon.

One of the tours took you along the sea front overlooking the historic Scapa Flow where HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1939, with heavy causalities. Then there were the Churchill barriers built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. They also built themselves a chapel constructed from Nissen huts, plasterboard and other available material at the time. The little Italian Chapel is an amazing building with delicate wrought tracery, and frescos. The  artist, Dominico Chibocchetti, returned in later years to restore his original work.

Just out of Kirkwall is the unique Highland Park Distillery , the most northern distillery in Scotland, and  founded in 1798. A nice tour for those who love whiskey.

However, most of the tours were of Orkney’s Neolithic World Heritage Site of the Standing Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brodgar, Ness of Brodgar and Skara Brae.

 

Then there was Skaill House, a manor house built by the powerful bishop, George Graham, on the site of an ancient graveyard, in 1620.

In its 400 year history, twelve generations of the same family have lived there. Wonderful family history if you happened to be connected to this Graham family.

We took a morning tour of these sites, and the lecture by Lesley Silvester, the day before, gave some a good background to really enjoy them.

We were back on-board for lunch, and I took the opportunity in the Research Help Zone to talk to Lesley Silvester about Irish records. I was hoping she might have come across sources, which I hadn’t. Although she couldn’t come up with any new ones, she did remind me I should go back and review many of the records, as the National Archives of Ireland, had introduced better cataloguing of their resources, and have placed them on-line. I made a list of resources she suggested, and will check them out when back home and have the time.

Everyone had to be back on-board by 5pm, so there was plenty of time to hear the Unlockthepast lectures before dinner. The only catch was we had to choose between, Lisa Cooke on “Evernote: and how the Genealogist can remember everything.”and Paul Blake on “British army records 1660-1913”. Evernote is a free ‘app’ and a great help to the dedicated family historian. As I use it to save much of my on- the- spot research, I went to Lisa’s talk and found it most interesting and helpful. I was sorry I missed Paul’s talk, as I have recently found one of my Irish ancestors was in the army. I made a note to ask Paul about this topic, when I made an appointment with him during the Research Help Zone.

Having these experts available at these extra periods of time is invaluable to the family historian. They are completely free and are part of the Unlockthepast conference package.

After a short break we had to make the choice of the Unlockthepast panel explaining many of the new features of several Genealogy computer software programs, or Sean O’Duill with a talk on the Irish Language. As I already use a Genealogy program,( which I am happy with), for recording my family history, I went to listen to Sean on the Irish language. As we have so many Irish ancestors, no doubt some would would have spoken ‘Irish’, perhaps all their lives. Although I had no plans to learn the language, I hoped that at least hearing a little of it, I might have gotten some clues to track down some useful material.

The time after dinner was rather special in that being so high in the earth’s latitudes, (59 degrees N) and up towards the Artic Circle, the twilight was so long. I  wondered how it affected the people of Orkney, to have such long warm summer days. Such a contrast to the long cold nights they endure for many months in the winter.

Unlockthepast 5th Genealogy Cruise- British Isles, 2014-Day 2, At Sea

Day 2 Sunday, 20 July

 

It is normal for the second day of any cruise, for it to be ‘at sea’, without calling into any ports. To whether it is a medical requirement to make sure the passengers have not brought a sickness on board, as many infections show up within 24 to 36 hours of exposure, or it is just to allow passengers to get their sea-legs, I don’t know.

The sea was calm and the weather fine. 

To the Unlockthepast participants and lecturers it meant a great day of lectures and interaction.

However, we knew it also meant no internet. Throughout the cruise we relied on free wifi, when we visited the onshore towns. Some lecturers and Unlockthepast team members purchased pre-paid usb mobile services, which worked well when in most ports, but of course not at sea. In an emergency we could have used the ships satellite internet connection, but it was very expensive and definitely ‘out’ as far as using it for family history research. All online research would have to wait.

The ship’s Cruise Director and staff had an information morning on the up- coming shore excursions, which we attended in the Marco Polo Lounge.

I had booked our tours many weeks before, but I wanted to check them out, as this was the time I could change them if necessary.

Unfortunately this presentation clashed with the first of the Unlockthepast lectures. This was about “The mystery of the standing stones-Orkney, Lewis and Ireland”, by Lesley Silvester. To quote from her biography, “Lesley from Western Australia, is a Londoner who came to Australia with her family in 1961. Her expertise and knowledge of history is wide ranging and her topics of her lectures during the cruise reflect this from the Lesser known records of research in London to the mystery of the Standing Stones in Orkney and the Outer Hebrides.”

As I love archaeology, and all that it encompasses, I would have loved to have heard Lesley’s presentation, but I couldn’t be in two places at once.

After a short break Rosemary Kopittke presented on ‘Government and police gazettes’, which are an amazing resource for family history, followed by ‘TheGenealogist:what’s the difference’. This is a subscription site particularly strong in non-conformist records in Britain. She compared it with other subscription sites. I have had a subscription to this site for several years and have found some amazing leads for some of my families. A little information on Rosemary from her biography. “Rosemary Kopittke, from Queensland is part of the Unlockthepast team who regularly gives presentations not only on Unlockthepast Cruises, but many other events throughout Australia. She is also an author and editor for many of the new Unlockthepast publications.”

After a quick lunch in the Bistro we were ready for the afternoon lectures. First up was Eileen O’Duill with ‘Introduction to Irish genealogy:where do I start?’ Although I have been doing research in Ireland for many many years, I love to hear what other people have to say on the topic, not only to check my own research methods, but to see if new resources have been released. From her biography we learnt that “Eileen lives in Ireland and has been a professional genealogist for many years, specialising in legal and probate research. She has lectured at national and international conferences and on this cruise was speaking specifically on many aspects of research in Ireland, which many people find very challenging.” As we have about ninety percent of our ancestors coming from Ireland, researching there is challenging, but also very rewarding when you make that breakthrough.

Eileen was followed by Lisa Cooke on ‘How to create exciting interactive family history tours with Google Earth.’ Lisa was from the United States of America, and owns a genealogy and family history multi-media company. She was scheduled to give several talks on how to use the latest technologies in our family history quest. As I am a great fan of Google Earth, and have invested in much of the new technology, I found Lisa’s presentation very interesting and inspiring and bought her publications as e-books to supplement my notes.

There was a another short break before Paul Blake presented his talk on ‘British probate records:an introduction to sources.’ Paul who came from England is a full-time researcher, lecturer and writer. He was to present several lectures on records from manorial to army.

Although I have been working in British probate records for years, they are very complicated, especially trying to locate where and what has survived. I had been having difficulty locating some 17^th Century wills, so I was on the lookout for new strategies or resources to locate these.

Marie Dougan was next and she spoke on ‘Families moving between Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.’ “Marie is from Scotland and is a professional genealogist who also uses technology to deliver lectures worldwide by webinars. She is also a tutor in a range of genealogy and family history courses at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her presentations on the cruise were on families migrating between areas throughout the British Isles, to resources at the National Archives of Scotland.”

After another break, where several of the lecture team were engaged in Research Help Zone, which was very busy, we had the last two lectures before a late dinner. The first was by Mike Murray on “Crofts and crofting-a unique way of life in the Highlands and Islands”.Mike is from Western Australia and works as a professional genealogist helping people trace their roots. One of his passions is Scottish peoples migration and immigration, which he presented on, as well as tips on-line researching.

The last lecture for the day was Sean O’Duill’s “Death and burial: peasant Ireland in the 19^th Century. Sean is the husband of Eileen and comes from County Mayo in Ireland. He is fluent in the Irish language and works as a researcher at The General Register Office in Dublin looking into Irish Folklore. On the cruise he presented on the Irish language and Irish Folklore concerning medical cures; marriage customs and burial customs.

As preparation for this cruise the Unlockthepast team had put on their cruise website the full program as well as biographical material on the presenters, some of which I have quoted here to give you some idea how ‘top notch’ this cruise conference was.

It was a formal night for dinner and the Captain’s ‘ Welcome’ cocktail party. Many of those on-board went, but we decided to have dinner in the Bristro and then retired to bed to read. I was getting quite a collection of books by this time, and welcomed the opportunity to delve into some of them.