Recent content by Boatwoman

Hi Ted. Sadly there is not a David Harris in the family, as far as I can tell. My family would have been in Park Road in around the late 1930's. From Mum's diary it said 1938 which was the year she was born. I hope you find someone who knows of your Harris family. Kind regards Jo.

For some reason I got it into my head their ground was at the bottom of my Nan's road :-). My mum went to Handsworth New Road Girls School.

Hi Nick. Now I maybe remembering it wrong, but was the old Aston Villa Football ground nearby?

Hi Nick. The photos are amazing and it bought back memories of visiting my Nan and going up the entry to the back of her house. I remember the house, it was basically a two up to down, with the toilet at the bottom of the yard. Nan painted stones to line the path to the toilet, so we could see...

Hi Mikejee. Thank you for your reply. I have found a piece of paper which says Sept 1938 5/150 Park Road, Joseph Harris, but not sure what that applies to. Mum was born 1938 and It also says she moved to George Street West when she was about eight and a half and then onto Piddock Street. Her...

Carolina back to backs is mentioned, along with sharing toilets and the brew house for the washing. I also recall when visiting her mother, we would go up the back entry and the toilet was at the bottom of the yard.

In my mum's diary it said Park Rd, Hockley. But they seem to have moved a lot. Just read they were in Prescott Street and Piddock Street as well as George Street.

Hi Carolina. Thank you for your reply. Do you have a link for them?

Thank you for such a quick reply. Just looking there is a number of 5/150 park road, but not sure if that relates to where they lived. Mum sadly has not written it up to well, so I am having to sift through things and piece it together :)

Hi. I am working through a hand written diary of my mum. Sadly she died last August aged 82. From reading her diary she was born in Park Road in 1938, but there is no house number. Her parents were Doris and Joseph Harris. Joseph was a metal spinner, before joining up and Doris was a post woman...

Not sure if anyone is still following this, but I also have Harris in my family. My grand-father was Joseph Harris Born 1910 and his father was William John George Harris born about 1882. He married Rose Ellen Stanfield around 1903. I am looking for his father?

Hi Mikejee. Wow. Thank you for sending me this clip. What a dreadful thing to happen. I will see if it fits with my family. But there cannot be that many John Edward Ryders out there who are also boatmen and in Birmingham. I do not have a second wife for him though, so I will have to investigate...

According to the 1911 census John Edward Ryder and Millicent were living at 134 Wellington Street, Birmingham, which is not far from the Soho Loop, which we have been round many times. Millicent was helping with the coal business.

Viv for 10 years we carried and sold coal from our boat. We packed up in 2016, so I have some idea how hard the work was, but we had the luxury of having our coal in bags :-). I always thought I can boatmen in my family somewhere and so i am so pleased to find out it is true. I also discovered...

Thank you. Yes that is a very good thought.