Search results

Wonderfully written Chris, I could imagine the entire scene. What is it with all the great writers and poets on this site? It's uncanny. It is a pleasure to read your accounts. I wish my parents would write about their wartime experiences. When I write about these things, I am only conveying...

Thanks Michael, I will run it by my mother, the name should ring a bell. I was only there from about 4 until I was 6, I believe. I can still remember the long walk past all the factories, but there were hardly any cars about. Seems surreal, now. I also remember some old guy walking along the...

Hi ChrisM Feelings of anger and defiance well up within me, and I wasn't even alive during the war!! My mom Sylvia Bayliss, was not evacuated during the war. When the Germans planes would come over, they would all get into a shelter in the garden. Her old and stubborn grandfather, George...

Thanks Alf, marvelous picture. Those Keith Berry photographs of Brum are outstanding!

Hi, Does anyone know the name of my old nursery school that, I believe, was on the corner of Wheeler and Farm streets in Hockley during the 50's? I lived in Frankfort street in the late 50's and early 60's. If memory serves me well, the school was not too far from our house, perhaps less than...

Hi Kandor, I have read your marvelous boyhood recollections (and those, too, of Cromwell and Alf, and others), with fascination. As I imagine a scene of empty streets, of dust, debris, and derelict houses, one nagging question comes to mind, a question that begs an answer: where did all the...

Cromwell, I would love to see your library. The resources you have at your fingertips (or so it seems) are extraordinary, Di. Poppitt, you may already know: for the Burial index, you can go to the following site. The index is constantly updated there, whereas the cd's are static, of course...

Great map, Chris, very useful, thanks!

You have a right to be proud, JJW. ...age 37; shot in the cheek...died in 1919. Your ggrandad made a great sacrifice for his country, and his family must have suffered tremendously, but I thank God such men were fighting for Britain.

Thanks astonian. I will check out those names. I have a large blank spot in my research between the years 1901 and about 1960, due to my grandparents having passed away, and my family emigrating to America in 1968. It is frustrating when one meets unexpected difficulty trying to find what...

Great read, everyone. Do you recall an Ernie Fellows (born in 1903), ex Navy man, lived at 120 Richmond place, St Marks street, for "donkeys years", until he died in 1958.

Hi everyone, Thanks for all your time seeking this one out. I was about to let you know what street the Inn was on (according to the census, stonehouse Farm rd), when Cromwell's map beat me to the punch. Well done! And Colin B, thanks for that super nugget of information on the Inn's founding...

Anyone know if the California Inn still survives? Any pictures available? A distant rely George Hughes and his wife Harriet lived there from about 1860 to 1890, and adopted a Kate Fellows b 1880 (thus my interest) she went on to live at Shendley Court Farm, Northfield. Thanks

I noticed your Great Uncle grew 5 inches in height and put 6 inches on his chest, during his service! Good food and lots of excercise? ;)

Very nice, Mike. Interesting read. I like the way you put the chronology together. It's great to learn more about our relatives, especially those who gave such service to their country. Are you able to get ahold of more records for your great uncle, besides what is on the National Archives site?

How about a "cup of char" My grandad used to say that all the time. From his days in India, perhaps? Oh, and food was "Grub"--"Eat yer Grub!" And how about the macabre "Go outside and play with the traffic" (I hope that wasn't just in my family).

Hi Imperial, My mother, Sylvia Bayliss attended Bierton Secondary Modern in the 1950's. She said it was on Bierton road, Yardley. Is that the same school as you have mentioned? I will try to get more information out of her, about the school i.e. headmaster, teacher's names, etc

Hi, Does the book include the battle of Alamein? My grandfather, Harry George Fellows, RAFVR (Mechanic, et al), born and bred in Birmingham, fought in that battle, before moving onto the Italian campaign.

A Brave New World I abhor such a policy, it seems so bureaucratic, so efficient, so irreligious, impersonal, and uncaring. Besides, it wrecks havoc on one of the more interesting means of satisfying one's genealogical aspirations! There is plenty of available land in Britain for burial...

A couple more that come to mind: "Our" as in "Our Kev'" or "Our Pat", and the affectionate monikers "Aunty" and "Uncle" as in "Aunty Pat" and "Uncle Kevin" when referring to close friends of the family (perhaps this is more of a British habit rather than just a Brummie trait).