I played X-box for the first time last night. The gameboy thing keeps me out of trouble on a Sunday night, but I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about with these big fancy toys. I was mildly rubbish at Crazy Taxi, but I'm sure I wasn't the first New York cab to drive on the pavement. I was at 33 Gold st visiting John Tarbet, so I had to play Halo 2. I used to look down my nose at shooting games, but once I got the hang of it (well, not really, I still spent a lot of time looking at the ground or spinning around) it was wicked fun. I even finished with more kills than little NYC Bro on the second game!
Uh-oh, now when I come home this summer I'll be begging to go to Demetri's as well.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
New toy
Commercial radio is unmitigated crap. They torture me with it at work (although it's not been so bad of late). Seriously though, if I worked at the post office, they'd all be dead by now. So I've been listening to internet radio for a while. BBC 6 is pretty good, but I really like radio stations you can play with. Pandora let's you set up different radio stations based on an artist or music style and then plays songs it thinks have similar "genetic" characteristics. You can skip through a lot of songs, and if they play a song you don't like, you can tell it to banish the song forever. Today I had to kill a Death from Above 1979 cover of Bloc Party's "Little Thoughts". It was just getting on my nerves.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Irish origins
O'Brien: "This family derives its name and descent from Brian Boru, King of Ireland, who was slain at Clontarf, in the year 1014. By his victories over the Danish invaders and their Irish allies, Brian raised his clan, the Ui Tordealbhaigh [probably pronounced "Davis" or perhaps "Johnson"], to a position of pre-eminence among the Dalcassians, and laid the foundation of the greatness of his posterity, who became not only the ruling family in Thomond, but one of the most powerful in Ireland. Some of them were kings of Munster, and some of all Ireland. Their possessions included the whole of Co. Clare and large portions of the counties Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. They divided into several branches, the principle of which were: the O'Briens of Ara, in the north of Co. Tipperary, whose chief was known as Mac i Bhriain Ara; of Coonagh in the east of Co. Limerick; of Podelbrien, now the barony of that name in Co. Limerick, whose chief stronghold was Carrigogonnell, on the Shannon; and of Cumaragh, in Co. Waterford, who had extensive possessions along the Cummeragh mountains comprising the valley between Dungarvan and the Suir. O'Brien is now one of the most common surnames in Ireland. "
from Woulfe, Patrick. Irish Names and Surnames. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd., 1923, p442-3.
Mulherin: "des. of Maolciarian (servant of St. Ciarin), the name of an ecclestiastical family who were erenachs of Eaglais beg, at Clonmacnoise, and of Ardcarne, in Co. Roscommon. A branch of family seems to have settled in Donegal sometime before the end of the 16th century. The name at that period was most frequent in Westmeath, Roscommon and Donegal". p 597-8.
I guess some of them then wandered into Co. Mayo.
Roche: "in Irish Roiste, Norman 'de la Roche', Latin 'de Rupe', i.e. of the rock, from residence beside some proiminent rock; an old Norman surname. Families of this name settled in different parts of Ireland, but the best known were those of Cork, Limerick and Wexford. In the first named county, the Roches obtained by marriage the district about Fermoy known as [something in Irish I couldn't transliterate], or Roche's Country; the head of this family was Viscount Fermoy. The Roches of Limerick were a wealthy and respectable merchant family."
p 274-5.
Costello: there are too many appearances of Costello in the book to pinpoint the origin, but there is a Barony of Costello in Co. Mayo, which is where I'm hoping to place Mary Costello.
from Woulfe, Patrick. Irish Names and Surnames. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd., 1923, p442-3.
Mulherin: "des. of Maolciarian (servant of St. Ciarin), the name of an ecclestiastical family who were erenachs of Eaglais beg, at Clonmacnoise, and of Ardcarne, in Co. Roscommon. A branch of family seems to have settled in Donegal sometime before the end of the 16th century. The name at that period was most frequent in Westmeath, Roscommon and Donegal". p 597-8.
I guess some of them then wandered into Co. Mayo.
Roche: "in Irish Roiste, Norman 'de la Roche', Latin 'de Rupe', i.e. of the rock, from residence beside some proiminent rock; an old Norman surname. Families of this name settled in different parts of Ireland, but the best known were those of Cork, Limerick and Wexford. In the first named county, the Roches obtained by marriage the district about Fermoy known as [something in Irish I couldn't transliterate], or Roche's Country; the head of this family was Viscount Fermoy. The Roches of Limerick were a wealthy and respectable merchant family."
p 274-5.
Costello: there are too many appearances of Costello in the book to pinpoint the origin, but there is a Barony of Costello in Co. Mayo, which is where I'm hoping to place Mary Costello.
Tales from the olden days
Jonathan enjoys stories from the past, or the "olden days" as he calls it. He and Lucy recently discussed one of the most famous episodes from English history.
J: Mummy, did Henry the Eighth have four mummys?
L: No, he had six wives.
J: What happened to them?
L: I think he divorced two, one died having a baby, one survived. The other two died.
J: How did they die?
L: Are you sure you want to know? It’s not very nice. Well, he had their heads chopped off.
J: Ewww, gross. That’s not very nice, is it? Hmm. And what about Ann? Did they break up?
J: Mummy, did Henry the Eighth have four mummys?
L: No, he had six wives.
J: What happened to them?
L: I think he divorced two, one died having a baby, one survived. The other two died.
J: How did they die?
L: Are you sure you want to know? It’s not very nice. Well, he had their heads chopped off.
J: Ewww, gross. That’s not very nice, is it? Hmm. And what about Ann? Did they break up?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
He's in the book
I found some directories for the city of New Bedford on Ancestry.com and I found over fifteen entries for Frank Paul and various family members. I knew great-great-great grandfather Frank had owned a grocery business, which I'd hoped to locate, and I knew he lived for several years at 128 Acushnet Avenue, near the waterfront, but I've found some exciting new information in these directories. This is the first one, from 1869. Frank owned two shops and it gives the addresses.
As I said, I have about fifteen of these. They're like a little travelogue of Frank's life, showing all the places he lived and worked.
In 1873, Frank had focused his business interests and had just the one shop. And he'd moved. Look at the bottom, Joseph Paul, a confectioner was occupying the other shop and lived with Frank. I don't know who this is, perhaps a brother.
In later years, the directory also includes Frank's children Charles, Emma and Florence. Florence started out as a proofreader and by 1908 had worked her way up to editorial assistant for the Standard (the local rag I assume). I guess proofreading is in the blood!
And the final entry for Frank, in 1917.
As I said, I have about fifteen of these. They're like a little travelogue of Frank's life, showing all the places he lived and worked.
Dad talked me out of Ohio
I wasn't actually there yet, he talked me out of going in the first place. So I might go to Madison, Wisconsin instead. I have to figure out if it's worth the cost of the trip.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Costello ain't no Italian name
For those who know little of the thrills of family history research (ye poor, wretched beings), I am sure you will be delighted to learn that although certain branches of a family can yield little or no information at a given time, often they appear to be a complete deadend, sometimes they suddenly explode and you start to uncover one thing after another.
The Costello clan (John Ducie's mother's family) are like that. We didn't know for the longest time what Mary Costello's nationality was for sure, and once I knew she was born in Ireland, I figured that was probably all I would ever know about her and her family. Not true. The Costellos are suddenly all crawling out of the woodwork. I tried again yesterday to find the main Ducie family's passage to the US from England in 1862. And again, I couldn't find anything. John's eldest sister Mary, however, hadn't come with them, she had gone to Ohio in 1857. So I looked just for her, and her I found, on a ship called the Jacob A Westervelt which sailed from Liverpool arriving in New York on 19 Oct 1857. That's the year she listed as her date of immigration on the 1900 census. The age matches as well, and the name on the passenger list above her is Patrick Costello. I know it's her, because three years later on the 1860 census for Chippewa, Ohio, Mary and her new husband John Schoenberger (of the Mary Ducie obituary) have a lodger named none other than Patrick Costello. Why did they pick Wayne County, Ohio? Two families above Mary, John and Patrick is the William Costello family. It looks like Patrick and Mary Ducie followed her family to Ohio.
And there's something more. I was looking at the 1861 census in England to see if any of Mary's Costello relatives had been living near them in Staffordshire in England. I found a Winifred Costello aged 70 living as a lodger in Rowley Regis, in the village of Bakersfold. I thought hang on, that's familiar, and so when I went to the page before, it was the Ducies. They had a lodger with the rather florid name of Malachy Gilleroy living with them, the last name on that page, and so I hadn't thought to look for more family over on the next page. Is that Mary's mother? Possibly. The point is, I now have all these Costellos to look into and if one of them had the foresight to record exactly where in Ireland they came from, then I have the place where the Ducies originated as well.
The Costello clan (John Ducie's mother's family) are like that. We didn't know for the longest time what Mary Costello's nationality was for sure, and once I knew she was born in Ireland, I figured that was probably all I would ever know about her and her family. Not true. The Costellos are suddenly all crawling out of the woodwork. I tried again yesterday to find the main Ducie family's passage to the US from England in 1862. And again, I couldn't find anything. John's eldest sister Mary, however, hadn't come with them, she had gone to Ohio in 1857. So I looked just for her, and her I found, on a ship called the Jacob A Westervelt which sailed from Liverpool arriving in New York on 19 Oct 1857. That's the year she listed as her date of immigration on the 1900 census. The age matches as well, and the name on the passenger list above her is Patrick Costello. I know it's her, because three years later on the 1860 census for Chippewa, Ohio, Mary and her new husband John Schoenberger (of the Mary Ducie obituary) have a lodger named none other than Patrick Costello. Why did they pick Wayne County, Ohio? Two families above Mary, John and Patrick is the William Costello family. It looks like Patrick and Mary Ducie followed her family to Ohio.
And there's something more. I was looking at the 1861 census in England to see if any of Mary's Costello relatives had been living near them in Staffordshire in England. I found a Winifred Costello aged 70 living as a lodger in Rowley Regis, in the village of Bakersfold. I thought hang on, that's familiar, and so when I went to the page before, it was the Ducies. They had a lodger with the rather florid name of Malachy Gilleroy living with them, the last name on that page, and so I hadn't thought to look for more family over on the next page. Is that Mary's mother? Possibly. The point is, I now have all these Costellos to look into and if one of them had the foresight to record exactly where in Ireland they came from, then I have the place where the Ducies originated as well.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
The 'lympics
On the telephone this morning...
Auntie Genevieve: "Jonathan, do you know what's happening today?"
Jonathan: "err... it's the winter 'lympics starting today" (in that tone that says why are you asking, i can't believe you don't know, oh good grief)
Auntie Genevieve: "So are you going to be watching skiing all day tomorrow?"
Jonathan: "My head will be next to the tv all day and all night and all day! I'll turn into a zombie." (hmm, where did he hear thatI wonder?!)
Auntie Genevieve: "well, it's only 1 hour and 5 minutes till it starts"
And then after spinning the phone on the table, "are you feeling dizzy and sick?", he ran off to get the kitchen timer so Lucy could set it for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Apparently that's his new thing, setting the timer for absolutely everything. Lucy says it's become obsessional. Oh good, my little boy is a crazy man!
Auntie Genevieve: "Jonathan, do you know what's happening today?"
Jonathan: "err... it's the winter 'lympics starting today" (in that tone that says why are you asking, i can't believe you don't know, oh good grief)
Auntie Genevieve: "So are you going to be watching skiing all day tomorrow?"
Jonathan: "My head will be next to the tv all day and all night and all day! I'll turn into a zombie." (hmm, where did he hear thatI wonder?!)
Auntie Genevieve: "well, it's only 1 hour and 5 minutes till it starts"
And then after spinning the phone on the table, "are you feeling dizzy and sick?", he ran off to get the kitchen timer so Lucy could set it for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Apparently that's his new thing, setting the timer for absolutely everything. Lucy says it's become obsessional. Oh good, my little boy is a crazy man!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Got time on your hands?
If you're looking to warm up your brains and your funny bones, here are some links to my favourite radio programmes on the Beeb.
The Now Show This is a weekly news/satirical show in the vein of Bremner, Bird and Fortune. The stand-up spots are hilarious, but the songs by Mitch Benn are the best bit. You might have trouble following some of it if you're not up on British news, but you can always catch up here.
In Our Time The history of ideas. There are at least a hundred programmes in their archive. I've learned about everything from the Babylonian alphabet to artificial intelligence.
Excess Baggage Indulge your wanderlust. You can listen to all fifty tales of adventure and exploration in the archive listed on the right side of the page. My favourites are Lost Languages and Michael Palin.
Mark Kermode My film review fellow. Sometimes he gets really worked up about things and goes off on one. I love it.
The Now Show This is a weekly news/satirical show in the vein of Bremner, Bird and Fortune. The stand-up spots are hilarious, but the songs by Mitch Benn are the best bit. You might have trouble following some of it if you're not up on British news, but you can always catch up here.
In Our Time The history of ideas. There are at least a hundred programmes in their archive. I've learned about everything from the Babylonian alphabet to artificial intelligence.
Excess Baggage Indulge your wanderlust. You can listen to all fifty tales of adventure and exploration in the archive listed on the right side of the page. My favourites are Lost Languages and Michael Palin.
Mark Kermode My film review fellow. Sometimes he gets really worked up about things and goes off on one. I love it.
Eco Istvan
Aspersions have been cast - you know who you are - on my veracity, or perhaps sanity. A figment of the imagination never mucked up our laptop - you know who you are - or left such a huge indentation in the sofa. So here's the proof, this is he, my enormous little brother.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Jonathan discovers google earth
So after Joanne and I had hours and hours of fun playing with Google Earth (strictly on our lunch break of course), I installed it on the laptop in Luton so we could play with it there. Last Thursday, Lucy and Jonathan discovered it. They looked up Luton, my address in New York and Granny and Grandpa's house in Saudi Arabia, and more importanly, the Surf House and the water slip and slide thingy on the RT beach. Jonathan went mad for it, and when they'd done with familiar places he announces "now, let's look up Australia". He knows about Australia?! So they checked our Sydney, Melbourne, and all points intriguing on the Antipodean isle.
I suggested their next "trip" should be to Rome, they have beautiful, clear pictures of all the best sites - you can see the hole in the Pantheon and the columns in St. Peter's Square. Any recommendations for other closely-photographed destinations?
I suggested their next "trip" should be to Rome, they have beautiful, clear pictures of all the best sites - you can see the hole in the Pantheon and the columns in St. Peter's Square. Any recommendations for other closely-photographed destinations?
Monday, January 23, 2006
I have a new calling
As of yesterday, I'm no longer a Gospel Principles teacher, I'm now our ward's Family History Committee Chairperson. Yep, I'm the bosslady in charge of family history. I think it's a good fit. We have a new ward goal (one name cleared per member - not too hard), and our new Elders Quorum president Jeff Mulcock is keen to work with me to get his lads properly involved in family history. We have some newly baptised members who need to get started and plenty of others who I plan to recruit, if for no other reason I'm curious to learn about their family background. The previous chairperson was my roommate Kelly, so it'll be an easy handover!!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Pattersons
My Charles Patterson death certificate yielded some extremely useful clues. It gives his place of burial as Hancock, Wisconsin. There is only one cemetery in Hancock and a complete transcription is available on the internet. Charles is buried in plot B89 along with his wife Sarah Ann and two young children. I already had a date of death for the children from great-grandmother Lillian, but had no idea when Sarah Ann Davis had died. It's 1914, so I can request a death certificate from the state and hopefully find out who her people were. I was also able to match Charles to one of two possible 1850 census records I'd found some time ago. The return is from a county in Ohio, listed on the certificate as his birthplace, the age matches the certificate, and it lists the father's birthplace as Connecticut which also matches the certificate. You have copies of this census image - it's in the folder Brown-Patterson and it's called 1850 Census Charles Patterson possible, but I can't remember if it's 1 or 2. The cemetery record noted that Charles was veteran of the Civil War. There are only two Charles Pattersons who served in the Wisconsin regiments [go to this site and enter Patterson, Charles, Wisconsin in the search fields]and one of them is a Charles H. Patterson!!
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Great expectations
Jonathan has declared his ambitions for the future. He wants to be a footballer and then a king, so he can "be in a pyramid". [The other night we watched a television programme about the building of Kufu's great pyramid tomb in Egypt.]
Sunday, January 01, 2006
I am resolved
to do the following in this New Year:
- get meself proper educated
- stop discussing LDS dating: it is a tired and worn out subject to which I humbly admit I can contribute nothing that hasn't already been said
- decide once and for all whether or not to let my hair grow out, again
- do eastern Ohio
- spend less money at restaurants and more time reading
- get meself proper educated
- stop discussing LDS dating: it is a tired and worn out subject to which I humbly admit I can contribute nothing that hasn't already been said
- decide once and for all whether or not to let my hair grow out, again
- do eastern Ohio
- spend less money at restaurants and more time reading
Pretend the date above is 25 December
We had a happy Bovee Christmas here in Luton! Jonathan didn't wake up til 8 o'clock (did Lucy drug him?). I got TWO stockings this year. Mum found a lovely bag in Past Times and just couldn't resist filling it up with goodies along with my usual angel stocking. We spent much of the day opening presents: we don't like to rush, else you miss seeing what everyone else has got. That's my favourite thing about Christmas is seeing what the rest of my family have come up with as gifts for each other. Often they're very clever, and with all of us travelling to different places there's usually some exotic and beautiful presents from distant lands. This year it was Germany, Lativa, Lapland, Hungary and Hawaii. Before presents we watched The Nativity, after all, a bit of religion at Christmas never hurt anyone. I am so happy to be able to spend a whole month with my family. We had a few squabbles the first few days, which is only natural, but by today (and even better by the real today!) we've adjusted to crowded quarters and remember why we've all come so far to be together. Oh, and on Boxing Day Jonathan and I used all his new Brio to build the greatest railway ever imagined.
Happy Christmas to you all!
Happy Christmas to you all!
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Thirty years today
My Mum and Dad were married thirty years ago today, 20 December 1975. Here there are, the happy couple:
We had dinner together in Soho. They then went on to see The Producers at the Drury Lane Theatre.
I'm proud of my parents and I just hope I can be like them after thirty years. They're kind to each other and they look after one another. And they have created a wonderful family. Happy Anniversary!
Proof that Santa Claus is real
I have photographic evidence!!! Lucy and Jonathan went to Lapland on Friday to meet the most famous bearded man alive. (Sorry Lauren, he's spoken for!)
Here is Father Christmas' office...
Here is Father Christmas' office...
And here is the man himself giving a present to Jonathan, which turned out to be a beautiful four winds hat.
Don't the reindeer look cheery! They know the big night is coming soon.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Back by popular demand
Sorry it's been a while since you last heard from me...
I had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. Kelly and I took a turkey and a dozen other bits and pieces along to our ward's dinner. There were 26 happy and well-fed people there. On the Saturday, Ian and I ventured up to Harlem for dinner at Sylvia's famous soul food mecca on Lennox Avenue. I had her special recipe ribs - more delicious than anything has any right to be - with potato salad and black-eyed peas. The atmosphere was terrific, music and families, and we even got to meet Sylvia!
I've been doing some Christmas shopping, trying not to freeze to death (Ian can attest that I came very close last night!) and just generally being very excited about Christmas and getting ready to go home. Oh and I was offered another job at EMI, but I turned it down again. I don't want to risk my resident status in England (for university tuition) by taking a permanent job abroad, but it was nice to know I was very much their first choice. My friend Joanne has moved out of our team to a different job within our department, so it should mean more responsibility for me from now on. I'm pleased about that.
I had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. Kelly and I took a turkey and a dozen other bits and pieces along to our ward's dinner. There were 26 happy and well-fed people there. On the Saturday, Ian and I ventured up to Harlem for dinner at Sylvia's famous soul food mecca on Lennox Avenue. I had her special recipe ribs - more delicious than anything has any right to be - with potato salad and black-eyed peas. The atmosphere was terrific, music and families, and we even got to meet Sylvia!
I've been doing some Christmas shopping, trying not to freeze to death (Ian can attest that I came very close last night!) and just generally being very excited about Christmas and getting ready to go home. Oh and I was offered another job at EMI, but I turned it down again. I don't want to risk my resident status in England (for university tuition) by taking a permanent job abroad, but it was nice to know I was very much their first choice. My friend Joanne has moved out of our team to a different job within our department, so it should mean more responsibility for me from now on. I'm pleased about that.
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