Lest we forget

100 years since the break out of WW1. To acknowledge this horrific, yet defining moment in our history I'm going to find out more about my ancestors who fought in the war.

As far as I know my only direct ancestor who fought in the war was on my mom's side - my great great grandfather, Luke Mizon, who I believe was based here, actually in London. Whether he ever went abroad I'm not sure, it may have been because of his age he was posted here rather than abroad.

One query I have is why my great grandfather on my dad's side, Henry Edward Smith, wasn't called up, he would have been within the age bracket to be called up, but why he wasn't I'm not sure. His job was in the family business of Sausage Skin Makers (a German company...) can't quite see it was a reserved occupation!

I do know that my granddad's eldest brother fought, in fact my granddad, John Lovelock, was born in 1915 whilst his brother was in the army...a big age difference!

Other family members include ancestors on my Nan's side - The Johnsons.

I plan to spend a little time looking into their stories and piecing together their time in war, the difficulties they faced and overcame. I am not aware of anyone who died in battle, they all survived, luckily - but were they 'ok' after it all?

 

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The Workhouse

Has anyone seen Secrets of the Workhouse on ITV? Well, it's been interesting to see what exactly went on (mostly quite horrifying), the treatment of people... in some ways they had a potentially good idea for a place the poor (completely destitute) people could go, but I think a lot of 'looking down' on people and social rebuking, not dealing with the root problem, but getting it 'out the way' took over and led to a great fear of being in the workhouse.

Through my family history research I have found a few members linked to the workhouse. As yet I haven't seen records as to why they were admitted, but my great x2 grandmother was born in St Luke's workhouse infirmary and my great x3 grandfather died in Shoreditch workhouse aged 80.

I have gone into more detail with tips on tracing your own relatives on my family history page.

Descriptions of the workhouses are generally dire, as well as the areas surrounding them where people lived in lodgings, however it may have appeared to those creating the workhouses that were offering a lot to the poor:

Workhouses varied enormously in size, with the smallest such as Belford in Northumberland housing fifty inmates, while the largest such as Liverpool could be home for several thousand. However, all workhouses were essentially a self-contained — and often largely self-supporting — community. Apart from the basic rooms such as a dining-hall for eating, day-rooms for the elderly, and dormitories for sleeping, workhouses often had their own bakery, laundry, tailor's and shoe-maker's, vegetable gardens and orchards, and even a piggery for rearing pigs. There would also be school-rooms, workshops, nurseries, infirmary and fever wards for the sick, a chapel, and a dead-room or mortuary. Workhouses were also highly compartmentalised to separate the various classes of inmates, with the yards between the various buildings being divided up by eight-foot-high walls.
Quoted from http://www.workhouses.org.uk/life/inside.shtml

Layout of St Luke's c1873

St Luke's Workhouse, London c1879



These large imposing & foreboding buildings went through great overhauls until it was acknowledged this was not the way to help the poor. Great injustices were committed and the stigma of the workhouse lives even to this day - we all know it's a place you want to avoid.