Thursday 10 November 2011

Parents have Parents, and Grandparents!!

There is not much going on in the allotment now that Autumn / Winter is upon us so I thought it would be a good opportunity to pass on some information regarding the Nickisson Family Tree.

For the next few weeks I will be looking at the Direct Line from myself to the oldest Nickisson, John Nickisson born about 1690, my 5xGreat Grandfather.

* A little boy liked nothing better to do than to sit on his grandfather's knee and have stories read to him.  One day after a story about Noah's ark, and how Noah led pairs of animals to the safety of the ark. 
The little boy asked, 'Granddad, you are very old, were you in Noah's ark?' Gosh no', said Granddad.' In that case, how come you didn't drown when the flood came?'

Back to the Blog!

Now that I have added names to the Nickisson Family Tree, you will see from the Direct Line Chart below that information/proof is needed to identify some of the Births, Marriages, Deaths etc. For example, I have recently added John Nickisson who married a Catherine? This information was found from a Family Tree website on the Internet. So my next step is to research their names at the Stafford Record Office to determine; are they my family? If so, when and where were they born, married and when did they die?

Until the research starts, I thought it would be of interest to pass on information from the chart below that has been proven. This is found from Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates and Registration Documents, Parish Records, Military Service Records and even British Phone Books.

For this Blog I will look at my parents, Victor Nickisson 1919-1981 and Lilian Byatt 1923-2002. See the chart below.
 
* Having one child makes you a Parent; having two makes you a referee



My father, Victor Nickisson was born in Bridge Street, Mount Pleasant, Fenton, Stoke on Trent on the 13th September 1919 and was christened on the 19th October 1919 at the United Methodist Church, Mount Pleasant. He married my mother, Lilian Byatt at Christ Church, Fenton on the 14th September 1946 whilst living in North Street, Stoke. The witnesses were his brother Eric Nickisson and my mothers sister Winifred Byatt.
My twin brother and myself were born in 1947 and lived in North Street, Stoke, until we moved a few miles away to Blurton, finally moving to Cemlyn Avenue, Blurton where three more children, all girls, were born between 1948 and 1963. My mother and father lived in Cemlyn Avenue until my father died in 1981.

My father served in the second world war from 1939 to 1946 as an artillery gunner. He enlisted in Rhyl on the 15th December 1939 and joined the Royal Artillary Regiment  and saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Palestine, Italy, Greece and Austria. He left the service on the 23rd of July 1946
He earned (top row ,left to right) the War medal 1939-45 (Single Oak Leaf clasp) - the Italy Star - the Defence Medal (Silver Laurel Leaves clasp. King's Commendation for Brave Conduct. Civil) (bottom row, left) the 1939-45 Star (Battle of Britain clasp)  - the African Star (showing the 1st Army bar).  When my father left the army he worked in the pottery industry, mainly in the production of sanitaryware.
My Mother, Lilian Byatt was born on the 16th September 1923 in York Street, Fenton, Stoke on Trent (renamed Dimmock Street in the 1950's) to parents Alfred Byatt (1881-1953) and Esther Riley (1888-1964). She worked in a sweet factory and as a tea packer until she married and became a housewife and mother to the five children. When my father died my mother eventually lived with my sister and finally moved to Fairbourne, Gwynedd, Wales, where she died in 2002.
In my next Blog, I will look at my fathers parents, my Grandparents, Ernest Nickisson (1885-1943) and Florence Ada Smallman (1884-1976).


* Parenting is the only job, that you don’t know if you did a good job, until it’s too late
* Two young boys were spending the night at their Grandparents. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his voice. "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE... I PRAY FOR A NEW PLAYSTATION... I PRAY FOR A COMPUTER..."
His older brother leant over and nudged his brother and said, "why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf." To which his little brother replied, "no, but our Grandparents are!"
See you soon

Saturday 5 November 2011

Times are changing

Times are changing! Clocks were put back last weekend but times are moving forward!

  • Changes to the Nickisson Family Tree.
  • Times have changed at the allotment.
  • Times have changed from our house of 22 years,
  • to a temporary home for the next four months.


* Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once



  • Changes to the Nickisson Family Tree.
I mentioned in my last Blog (October) that due to changes in my email address I needed to create this new Blog. In that previous Blog, (if you would like to familiarise yourself with it, please go to: http://growingfamilytreesandvegetables.blogspot.com) I decided to introduce into the Nickisson Family Tree information regarding my great great great grandfathers possible parents, brothers and sisters. This was because I could only presume that the information I had was correct but not fully proved.

So I introduced into my tree;
My new great, great, great grandparents:
Charles Nickisson (1771-1852) married (1799) to Elizabeth Stubbs (c1775-1850),
Their children:
Henry Nickisson (already in the Family Tree)
Sarah Nickisson (1802-?)
Charles Nickisson (1805-1864) married (1832) to Elizabeth Oseland (c1805-?)
George Nickisson (1811-1842)
William Nickisson (1816-1866) married (1842) to Mary Ann Parkes (1823-1904
Mary Ann Nickisson (1821-1840)
Their children:
Robert Nickisson (1837-1880)
Charles Edwin Nickisson (1845-1871) married (1865) to Mary Elizabeth Hallam (1846-1905)
Alfred Parkes Nickisson (1840-?) married (1874) Harriet Frances Hancox (1854-?)
Ellen Nickisson (1845-?) married (1866) Edwin Willis (1842-?)
Elizabeth Nickisson (1847-1891) married ( 1871) Carl Casper Franklin (?)
Frederick Nickisson (1857-1941)
Louisa Nickisson (1863-1875)
Their children:
Charles Edwin Nickisson (1869-1870)
Polly Nickisson (1866-?)
Alice Jane Nickisson (1867-?) married (1906) James Howard Small (1860-1915)
Fanny Emily Nickisson (1871-1910) married (1892) John Harvey (?)
Joseph Arthur Nickisson (1876-?)
Frederick W Nickisson (1878-1878)
Herbert S Nickisson (1879-?)
Alice Eva H Nickisson (1882-1882)
Louisa Nickisson-Corbett (1884-?)
Carl Frederick Franklin (1872-1936)
Mary Louisa Franklin (1874-1875)
Ellen Elizabeth Franklin (1878-1931)
William Edward Franklin (1876-1937)

As you may be aware I have been really busy over the last few months and this has meant that the Family Tree has been a little neglected. Now that we are a little more settled and the winter months are approaching, I will start to look for more evidence / proof that will connect the above family members more closely to the Nickisson Family Tree.

I enjoy this part of genealogy


* Time is a great healer, but it's also a lousy beautician

  • Times have changed at the allotment:
from this;
A full allotment, to this;
All the produce has been harvested and since these photo's were taken the remainder of the potatoes have been dug up and stored in the allotment shed. All that remains in the ground are Leeks (that will be harvested next year), Strawberry plants that have been thinned out and replanted into a bigger plot and Rhubarb that will now lay dormant over winter. All the plots have been dug over and some of the plots have been covered to reduce weed growth. Onion sets will be planted in the next few days to produce next years crop.

Times have changed in the greenhouse / Conservatory:
From this;
To this:
Empty now other than the remainder of the Onions,
and the Grapevine is now ready to be wrapped in fleece to protect it through winter.
We had a small but really good crop of Grapes, there should be a lot more next year.

The allotment is now ready for my daughter Joanne
and my grandson Joseph to take over next year.

I will miss the allotment - Vegetables in Australia? Hope so!!!!!!


* Time is like money: you can either spend, waste, or invest!


  • Times have changed from our house of 22 years, to a temporary home for the next four months.

Emotions were high when we left our home of many years and we moved into our temporary accommodation before moving to Australia in March next year.

Times have changed to an empty Foster Court;

The lounge
The Kitchen
The main bathroom
The small bedroom
The main bedroom
Large attic bedroom
Smaller attic bedroom

 
To Highfield Drive
The small lounge.
The only room that looks like somewhere to live, no storage boxes etc
The study come
TV room come dining room come box storage room
The small kitchen
The main bedroom with rails to store clothes
Another bedroom with rail storage of clothes and boxes

There is another small bedroom but could not photograph it due to not having enough room to focus the camera.
Although small, it has now become a comfortable home for the next 4 months.

Times have really changed.

* Time is relative... The mind makes it slow, the heart makes it fast, our friends make it worth while, and words... make it timeless

See you soon