Archive for October, 2013
October 22nd, 2013
LONDON — Today I travelled south of the river to Lambeth to visit the Lambeth Palace Library. There was a document that I had found in their online catalogue that referenced San Hancock that I wanted to take a look at. To gain access you have to go to a door in the wall and push the button and request to enter. You are then requested to push the door open, step into the courtyard and wait until a librarian comes and escorts you inside. The traffic noise on Lambeth Palace Road made it very difficult to hear over the speaker.
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October 21st, 2013
LONDON — Today I went to the London Metropolitan Archives. Started out inauspiciously by travelling the wrong way on the Circle Line so it took me longer to get there. LMA has changed considerably since I was there four years ago with a complete refurbishment—lots more computers and less microfilm machines as most of the data on microfilm can now be found on Ancestry. They still had my application for my History Card on their system but it hasn’t been completed, so I got that done but the card printer wouldn’t work the first couple of times!
Found one reference to Elizabeth Coles where a James Williams was bound over to keep the peace especially with respect to Elizabeth for the sum of £4. Not sure if it is my Elizabeth Coles or not but what drew my interest was the reference to James Williams being a tinman.
October 20th, 2013
LONDON — The day started with a heavy downpour but by the time I left the hotel the clouds had cleared to reveal a lovely blue sky. Headed to Tower Hill to take a look at Royal Mint Street ( formerly Rosemary Lane) and Blue Anchor Yard where another of my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers was a proprietor of several houses. The houses are now long gone but it is nice to be able to say I’ve been there.
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October 19th, 2013
LONDON — This morning I headed back north to Enfield to try and find a memorial to David and Jane Draper, my great-great-great-great-great-grandparents. Took the underground to Liverpool Street station and changed to a regional rail service to Enfield Town. Once in Enfield it was just a two-minute walk to St Andrews. It wasn’t long before I managed to locate the memorial.
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October 18th, 2013
LONDON — This morning I embarked on a mission to Colindale and a visit to Hannants, a model shop. Unfortunately the item I was after had sold out and would probably be back in stock in a couple of weeks. Fortunately the shop is right next door (almost) to the RAF Museum so on the way back I stopped for a visit.
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October 17th, 2013
LONDON — It was back to the British Library first thing this morning to get a photocopy of a document I forgot to get in 2009. The first surprise was that the catalogue said it was on open access which I thought quite strange considering its age and condition. On enquiring at the reference desk I was told that the catalogue was in error and that a manual request would need to be filled out. Once that was done the librarian went to the stacks to retrieve the volume but came back empty-handed—apparently another staff member had it out.
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October 16th, 2013
LONDON — Today it was back to London for the last leg of my trip. I managed to effect my escape from the old prison/hotel just before noon and took a taxi to the railway station. I didn’t feel like a twenty minute walk through the rain and the fare was, I thought, very reasonable at £4.00. Waited at the station for about an hour for my train. It was less crowded than the one I took to Truro so long ago and there was plenty of room in the luggage rack this time round. It wasn’t raining on arrival in London so I walked to the hotel. Finally a hotel room on the ground floor!
October 15th, 2013
OXFORD — As forecast, it was the perfect day for a walk around Oxford. Started by leaving my key card in the hotel room. I began by following a map the hotel had provided with a circuit for runners—except that I walked. It went past Christ Church so I took the opportunity to visit and saw the Great Hall and quadrangle and cathedral. I managed to tag on the end of a tour around the cathedral which was very interesting—especially a fascinating and very colourful Burne-Jones stained glass window that was very un-Pre-Raphaelite.
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October 14th, 2013
OXFORD — No prizes for guessing that it was raining this morning. Thankfully it came in showers with some dry spells. The SatNav told me my journey to Oxford would take two hours which meant I had about another two hours to kill before the car was due back with the rental car firm. I decided that I would start the trip and see what came up along the way.
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October 13th, 2013
LEICESTER — Today was a wash-out. I don’t think it stopped raining all day, and as a result I didn’t get to see as much of Leicester as I would have liked. I walked into town and stumbled across the Leicester Central Corps of the Salvation Army and, as the morning service was about to start, I took the opportunity to enjoy some warmth out of the rain. Afterwards I went for some lunch and then walked around Leicester some more. The drizzle was unrelenting, and it wasn’t very warm either, so it was back to the hotel for an afternoon nap!