Various articles online reveal that Lambeth in Victorian London had rapidly changed from a rural setting to an industrial centre with its population increasing by hundreds of thousands. Many of the new dwellings built to house the growing population were unsanitary. Streets were filled with garbage, cesspools and open drains. With this population explosion came … More Is Byrne a Better Bet?
My journey to find info on the Wakefield family that came as Byrne Settlers to Natal was a lot more comfortable than theirs. It is much more comfortable travelling around the world via cyberspace rather than in a leaky wooden sailing ship! Thankfully much quicker too! The Wakefield family hailed from Lambeth in London England. … More Wakefield, Who and Where?
Thomas Green in his reminiscences of early Natal (see previous post) gives a delightful account of the reaction of the men in Natal to the arrival of emigrant ships with eligible young women on board! He specifically mentions, albeit with the wrong year (s/be 1849 not 1848), the ship that carried Polly’s bride to be! … More Polly’s ‘Wife To Be’ Arrives In South Africa Aboard The “Henry Tanner”
Natalia , the Journal of the Natal Society, once again provides some insight into Polly’s story. In vol. 22 which I found online there is an article which contains extracts from the “Reminiscences of Thomas Green” originally recorded in 1896 and now housed in the Natal archives as part of the Bird Papers. “ In … More Thomas Green Remembers Polly!
Well, Annie is proving to be a little more elusive! According to her marriage certificate which I found on Familysearch, Anne Maria Shortt aged 23 married Alfred James Kavanagh aged 22, a bricklayer of Burger street, In Pietermaritzburg on the 8th of October 1870. According to the certificate she was living at Longmarket street at … More And What about Annie?
Would I ever be able to find out what happened to these two daughters of Polly? Well, if you hunt around in cyberspace for long enough, you never know what you might stumble upon! First I looked for Elizabeth:- According to an article published in Vol 23/24 of The Natal Society’s journal, Natalia, among … More What Became Of Elizabeth and Annie?
Back To Polly and His Progeny! I know little to nothing about Polly’s childhood and the next time I can find him he has already become a Father! Perusing baptismal certificates on line, I came across a couple tucked away in the Register of St Peter’s, Pietermaritzburg. There are two early entries for baptisms on … More Back to Polly and his Progeny!
Yep, here they are, The power of friend Google never ceases to amaze! My first port of call was the site http://www.Gendata.co.za where I happened upon some transcripts by Trudy du Bruyn of baptismal certificates from the Boonzaaier collection housed in the Cape Archives ( Ref A2039). I searched under Polly’s mother’s name Goodrick and … More The Cape Town Christening of Polly and Walter
Let me explain. Polly Shortts is a hill, a rather large hill in Natal, that many marathon runners from all over the world can relate to! But how do I relate to it? ( I can hear my friends and family remarking that it certainly can’t be because of my exercising prowess!) Sadly this is … More What a curious title I hear you exclaim!
Finding Polly Shortt - It's an Uphill Climb! 