Mystery Ancestors 2014

Eight mysteries were revealed at our 9 Jan meeting, seven stories from which are presented here. Where the descendant and ancestor share a surname, the surname was redacted from the meeting version. Some stories had deliberate clues that those with sharp eyes or diligent reading might catch; e.g.:

• • the descendant's name appeared in the ancestor's obituary,

  • the descendant's given name was in a citation

  • the descendant wore a purple turtleneck matching the colour of her storyboard and the name of the notorious gang to which her (thankfully) distant relative belonged!

Research Chair Emma Gregg won the prize for identifying correctly the most mystery descendants: five of eight.

• • Cochrane, Brenda: Stanislova (Stella) Skowerska, my Mother-in-law

  • Holden, Tom: The Short Prime of James Holden, Esq.

  • Randall, Richard: Tracking Information of My Uncle: Veteran and Casualty of W.W.I

  • Sandham, James: Humble Start in Alberta

  • Smith, Ron: Early Cobourg Settler

  • Sterling, Peter: Ann Mary Dawes

  • Tryon, Anne: Summary of a Blue Collar Worker's Life

Several of our presentations were covered in a series of three articles by local newspaper columnist Cecelia Nasmith in Northumberland Today, one of which is still accessible online (as of 3 Jun 2021):

• Ancestors were devastated by war