Shadows But As Lights Unfolding: 01/01/2014

Stanley-Ethel Wedding Picture Deconstructed

Here is the same breakdown (lots more people this time) for Stanley's and Ethel's wedding photo. I will fill in the names as I go.

Note:

Another "page break" for this posting - click on Read More (directly below) to see the rest of this.

I've taken Lily's and Lionel's wedding picture and given each of the 19 people a number, so that we can eventually figure out with some degree of certainty, who each person is. I'll put this onto the "Meadows" page as well, so as time goes on and this posting is pushed way down the blog and infrequently viewed, we will easily be able to see the progress on the Meadows page. Then, I will do the same thing with Stanley's wedding photograph later.

It's thought that these are all Meadows family members in this picture, and that Lionel Waller was estranged from his family for some unknown reason. Once again, we wish that someone had written down all the stories that my maternal grandmother used to tell, because no one now knows any more about the history. There is one sister of my grandfather still alive in England (Lily's & Lionel's youngest daughter|),so there is still a chance that we will find out a bit more.

Note:

In order to stop this post going on and on from the 'home' page, because it's very long, I have inserted a new trick: a "page break" and you must click on Read More (directly below) to see the rest of this posting.

Lily, or Another Sister?

The young woman in the left picture is most likely one of Lily's sister in her wedding party. And the woman on the left could be the same sister in 1914 or (I think), it is Lily. Her husband, Lionel Waller, would have been back in uniform in late 1914, as Britain was at war, so that explains why he is not in the picture. I shall ask Cousin Joy what the date of the wedding was.

Lily's and Stanley's Sisters?

Are these two the same person?

And these two?

Sara Meadows?

This lady gets her own posting, because she was not in the 1904 photo, but is standing next to Frederick Martin Meadows in the 1914 photo. There is such an overwhelming resemblance to a couple of my immediate family members, that I think she has to be Sara Plowman Meadows, Lily's mother. She lived until 1919, so where was she in 1904 ?

Frederick Martin Meadows

This fellow is quite clearly the same person, and given his prominence in both wedding photos, we can safely assume that he is the father of Lily Maud and Stanley Arthur Meadows - Frederick Martin Meadows.

One of the Grandmothers?

All right. I will do this one person at a time so that there is a separate posting to refer to for anyone wishing to comment, either in agreement or disagreement, or, hopefully one day, someone coming across this who knows with certainty who is who. I always live in hope.

The pictures on the left will be from the 1904 wedding of Lily Maud Meadows and Lionel Percy Waller, and the pictures on the right will be from the 1914 wedding of Stanley Arthur Meadows and Ethel (surname to come).

I think these two characters might be one and the same. And probably one of the grandmothers? I haven't got dates of death for either of them, but Sarah (Payne) Quinton is the more likely candidate as she would have been 73 and 83 when the photographs were taken, and Mary Ann Meadows would have been 86 and 96.

Stanley and Ethel Meadows

Here is the first of the information on the Meadows' family from cousin Joy.

Her grandfather, Stanley Arthur Meadows, who was born in 1889, married Ethel (will get last name) in 1914. Here is their wedding photograph. It appears very much to be taken in the same spot as his older sister Lily's wedding picture. Joy thinks it is either the sloping garden behind the family house at 239 Cavendish St. in Ipswich, or possibly the parkland that used to be opposite before houses were built on it.

Stanley and Ethel only had one child ten years later, a son, who is Joy's father. Ethel died in childbirth, and this son was brought up by some of his aunts and uncles who all lived together in Cavendish St. From the sounds of things, they were a rather lovely family, and Mum and A.R. remember them all very well too.

Here's Lily's and Lionel's wedding picture again (below). My next project is to match the faces that are in both of the photographs and see what I (we) can work out.

Weather... feh.

After hearing about the weather in the U.K. on the last CBC radio news report, I went to the BBC website to see how the Dorset relations were faring. Here was the first thing I read: There are currently nine severe flood warnings - meaning "danger to life" - for Gloucestershire, Dorset and Wales.

The other main news stories on the BBC World News were all to do with the snow storm battering the North East U.S. and slowly descending upon us in Atlantic Canada. The video clip from Ohio informed me that our Ohio relations are up to their ears in vile weather.

Then I saw this, and found out about how our Aussie cousins are doing in direct comparison to Canada this week - they're experiencing an extreme heat wave: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25590234

Short of hurricanes in Hampshire and Hereford, or an unanticipated tsunami washing away my brother on Vancouver Island before the end of the day, there is not much left in the meteorological department that is not being unloaded upon members of my family today. Yes - I know tsunamis are not weather-related, but you know what I mean.

And now, it's time for another hot cup of tea at my end. Good luck one and all!

Long Overdue Meadows Update

Last July, I had a wonderful surprise in the form of contact through the blog from a relative on the Meadows side of the family (and I really should take the time to figure out all this third-cousin-twice-removed business, but even if I did, I am not sure how many family members reading this would know what I'm talking about). Simplifying medical jargon all day for people, I learned long ago that it's much better to use language we all clearly understand and to forgo terminological exactitude on occasion.

Therefore, let me introduce you at last to Cousin Joy, who is the granddaughter of my great-grandmother's brother. Looking at the Meadows page, you will see that Lily Maud Meadows (Granddad Waller's mother) had a younger brother named Stanley Arthur Meadows. He's the chap. It is his granddaughter, Joy, who contacted me and not only gave me all sorts of new information on the family, but also sent an old photograph of her grandparents' wedding in 1914 with many matching faces to Lily's and Lionel's wedding picture of 1904.

More on this in the next posts. It is another horrible day outside the igloo, so I will be staying indoors again and working on the blog. And counting the days until spring.

Here are some other pictures I have of Lily and her younger sister Nell (Ellen). They were taken at Lily's and Lionel's 50th wedding anniversary celebration, which would have been Christmas Eve, 1954. None of the other Meadows siblings were in the few photographs I have. Sorry about the grainy quality, but I had to enlarge them quite a bit.

Nell & Lily

Auntie Nell

Lily & Lionel

New Year's Day

Happy New Year to all the far-flung, extended family.

It's a bitterly cold day outside my igloo, so the quest for a Snowy Owl is on hold for a bit longer. This year's New Year's Day bird count is solely for the insane and the cryo-impervious. I have been told of a place nearby where a Snowy has been seen for the past three nights, so I will head up there later, in the warmth of my car, to check that out.

When I let the dogs out for a very brief time earlier, I decided to try taking pictures of the ice that's still coating the trees through a #14 welder's glass (the kind recommended for solar viewing, if you are a complete geek and not only know these things, but have gone out and bought the goggles and the correct glass insert). The result is pretty neat. Here's a the same tree photographed without and with the welder's glass held in front of the lens.