Archive for November, 2009
A wife for Benjamin Coles?
The London Metropolitan Archives are in the process of digitising their genealogical resources in association with Ancestry.com. These resources are being progressively made available, and having recently upgraded my subscription to Ancestry, searches for Benjamin Coles have uncovered some new information.
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People: Benjamin Coles (c.1767-1815), Elizabeth Adam (1772-1849), Elizabeth Boyd, John Adam
Places: Camden, Cannongate, Edinburgh, Islington, London
November 2nd, 2009
LONDON — I thought I’d go back to the Westminster City Archives this morning but on arrival found that they are closed on Mondays. So as it was such a beautiful day I thought I’d take a flight on the London Eye as last time it was such a drizzly grey day. The ticket also gets you in free to the new London Eye 4D Experience. The wait was longer but well worth it. At first I wondered what all the fuss was about as the film looked like any other—until the seagull flew in from over my shoulder!
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November 1st, 2009
LONDON — This morning was wet. The weather is supposed to be clear and dry tomorrow but rain is expected to return on Tuesday. I went to the Natural History Museum this morning and arrived in the rain to discover that they were very busy and that I could expect to be in the queue for up to two hours. As it transpired I only need to wait in the queue and the rain and the occasional gust of wind for about twenty minutes.
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October 31st, 2009
LONDON — Today I returned to the British Library. Now that I knew the date of Benjamin Coles’ death, I reasoned that I would be better able to select documents more likely to yield a positive result. I requested five and it was in the last that I viewed that I found what I was looking for. So after four hours of searching I put in a request to have a couple of pages scanned, and I now have to return on Monday afternoon to collect my copy.
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Benjamin Coles joins the East India Company
Today I finally found a reference to Benjamin Coles in the records of the India Office held at the British Library. Benjamin was appointed as a labourer in the Tea Warehouse on March 10, 1802. His appointment is recorded as entry no. 292 in List of Laborers Appointed, 1801-1832 (IOR:L/AG/30/5). He was nominated by T. T. Metcalfe, Esq.; his previous occupation was recorded as servant; and he was 33 years of age at the time. This would reckon his year of birth as about 1769.
October 30th, 2009
LONDON — Today I went to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. I had visited the Gallery on my previous trip to London and enjoyed it so much I just had to return for another look. And it didn’t disappoint. I still can’t get over how bright and vibrant the colours in the paintings are, especially those from the 15th and 16th centuries, when compared to what you see reproduced in books. And the other thing you don’t appreciate from the books are the relative sizes of the paintings. Some are tiny, and others are simply enormous. There is nothing like seeing the original paintings.
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