Luther's War

Finally got around to starting my "Luther's War" post on my wiki page.  Luther Paxton was my great uncle and served in the Green Howards in the First World War.  I'm lucky enough to have a volume of photographs from the time he spent in hospital after being wounded in France as well as a "Book of Efforts" containing paintings, drawings and the names of soldiers and nurses he met at the hospital. I've been meaning to digitize these and share them for a while!

Stanley Hollis VC

Today I found out about the Stanley E. Hollis fund who hope to raise £100,000 for a bronze statue of the Green Howard who won a VC on D-Day (the only VC won that day). Can't believe I had not heard of this before. Its easy to donate to this worthwhile cause.

See this link

http://www.stanleyehollisvcmemorial.co.uk/index.php

Grade II Listing for War Memorial

I was really pleased to hear this morning that the Brompton-on-Swale War Memorial has been given Grade II listing by English Heritage. I hope that this will ultimately help in it's continued preservation for future generations. It was nice to see my research being listed as the main source for details of those commemorated in the report.  I would also like to thank Eric Branse-Instone, the English Heritage Designation Advisor for his work on this project.

Brompton-on-Swale War Memorial





 

Christmas Books

I was lucky enough to receive a number of books for Christmas including
Bill Cheall's Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg - A Green Howard's Wartime Memoir.
Once I've read it, I'll post a short review here. Its available from Amazon. Currently 33% off !!

I also was lucky enough to get the History of the Green Howards: 300 Years of Service by Geoffrey Powell

Upper Dales Family History Group

I've just joined the Upper Dales Family History Group.
Hopefully will help with all those lead mining Hodgsons!

Must try to get to a meeting in 2013.

Related Link:
http://www.upperdalesfhg.org.uk
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The Cowtons - North Yorkshire

I managed to find time to photograph the East Cowton cemetery and the St Mary's churchyard South Cowton in 2012. I've now transcribed the grave inscriptions and uploaded all the photos and the details of each photograph to my wiki spaces web site.

http://hodgsonhistory.wikispaces.com/home

Wiki spaces are an easy way to share information like photos and files.
Your first 0.5Gb of space is free.

Happy New Year 2013

Brompton-on-Swale War Memorial

I've just finished an initial draft of a wikispaces site detailing research into the War Memorial in the village of Brompton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire.

http://hodgsonhistory.wikispaces.com/Brompton-on-Swale+War+Memorial

I've detailed those who are commemorated including as much as I can find out about their service records. Both First and Second World War names are inscribed, including two civilians who died in the large ammunition train explosion that happened near the village in 1944.

Wikispaces seems a great way to put together this sort of project. Its free!

Mrs Columbus Goes to Sea

One of my recent research projects relates to a diary.
It was written in 1948 by Elsa Ingebretson from Walworth, Wisconsin, USA.

Elsa had married George Paxton, a native of Richmond (my Great Uncle) and part of a large family of Paxtons in Richmond. George had emigrated to the melting pot of Chicago before the first world war where he had met and married Elsa, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants in 1911.

George desperately wanted Elsa to meet his family back in England and to show her Richmond where he had grown up. Apparently he missed the old country a lot and was always going on about it! Things just seemed to get in the way of his dream however. It wasn't long before the First World War came along when George was drafted (although he did not serve outside the USA). After being de-mobbed in 1919 the couple tried to save up for the trip, but when the great depression wiped out their savings it was hard enough to make ends meet. Luckily George was employed as a foreman for the telegraph company but before they could make the trip, the Second World War began. Tragically, George passed away in 1945 without realizing his dream and it was left to Elsa to fulfil the promise that George could no longer keep.

So in 1948 Elsa made the long journey (by ship) to England.  She kept a diary of that time (July to October 1948) which is full of remarkable observations - Richmond and England through the eyes of an American who had never seen England before.  England was still a country under rationing and the 1948 London Olympics started the day after she arrived. She based herself in Richmond, at the house of George's brother Luther Paxton and his wife Amy - 17 Castle Walk (now an Estate Agents!). As well as lots of days spent in and around Richmond, Elsa spent time at Stokesley, Northallerton, Barnard Castle, Catterick, Redcar, Whitby and Darlington. Elsa also visited places further afield including Wakefield, Edinburgh and London (to see our relatives the Bowler family - of hat fame!). Its a really fascinating read.

One thing that shines through is how much Elsa fell head over heels in love with Richmond and England and her relatives. She returned at least once more some years later (by plane this time).

I have turned the diary from a plain typed up copy into an online web site with some appropriate illustrations and even a photo I managed to locate that Elsa took (below).  Elsa is seated in the middle.

You can read Elsa's diary here http://www.1948diary.com/diary.html
I hope you find it interesting.

Inspiration!

I'm hoping to use this blog to record some history research I'm doing around the Richmondshire area (mostly). For those that don't know the area, its centred around the North Yorkshire market town of Richmond in England where I grew up (and count myself very lucky to have done so).
If you know North Yorkshire, then I'm sure you will agree that it's a wonderful area and Richmond really is one of it's many jewels. If not, then I hope you can visit soon.

Why history? Well I was first inspired, as a child, by a cousin of mine - Michael Collishaw. A remarkable man, he moved to Richmond in his youth from another historic riverside town - Upton-on-Severn, before becoming a civil servant in London. He ultimately became responsible for planning Royal funerals including the Queen Mother's - it was a running joke who would outlive whom - she lost by 3 years - although he had retired by then! His visits back to Richmond were greatly anticipated. Widely travelled by the time I knew him in his later years, white-haired and friendly faced, he seemed to know the most curious stories and fascinating facts about everything and everywhere. Simply walking somewhere with him was an absolute treat - looking back it was like having your own Stephen Fry on hand - he was always ready to point out the interesting and obscure and answer any questions. He was a real enthusiast and loved Richmond passionately - "the first ... and best ... Richmond in the world!".

I cannot promise to be a regular blogger - full time job, full time family - but I hope anyone reading this finds it "quite interesting" ... or even "somewhat useful".

Thanks for taking a look. More soon (hopefully).