General Chat

Dear Mr Bowker Although we have never met and never will, you being about 130 years older than me, I love you. I love you because you were a compulsive scrapbook-maker. You cut and pasted (in the old-fashioned way, of course) anything which took your fancy, caught your eye.Old birthday cards, theatre programmes, newspaper articles, old bus tickets, you name it, you cut and pasted it. You must have driven Mrs Bowker mad. But I dont care, I think you did a wonderful thing and I bless every bus-ticket you saved, every dry-cleaning receipt. But what I particularly prize, above all else, is the day you cut out of the paper the photograph and the accompanying article about the marriage of JOHN JAMES HOLDEN to Margaret Neill, a marriage which you and your doubtless lovely wife attended. Whats more, you also saved the Reception Menu, which included a list of all the guests who attended and those who couldnt. Mr Bowker, you cannot know what this means to me, or perhaps you do? Did you think it was time I was put out of my misery, my fruitless search for John James Holden, about whom I knew very little, other than he looked like my late father? Did you chuckle to yourself fondly, when I made 232 extractions of marriages John Holden to anyone? Did you shake your head sadly when I chased after JJH, born in Blackburn, mother married A Gabbott, I did nearly the whole of the Gabbott family tree? And when I screamed and shouted, thats enough John James Holden, Im not playing anymore, Im going in for my tea, did you finally stop teasing me and let me find this scrapbook of yours, when I was looking for someone else entirely? I nearly missed it, didnt I, cos only you and I know, you anglicised your name, from Bouck to Bowker. That was pretty clever of you, cos thats how I know Ive found the right John James Holden - I knew he worked for a company called H E Bouck! Oh, Mr Bowker, I do love you, you naughty old tease! I also love ( a bit less, of course) Mrs Bowker, who didnt throw all this lot away as soon as you popped your clogs but handed it on to the kiddies. I even love the kiddies (they should have been ours, Mr Bowker) who took this lot to the Lancashire Records Office. I love the LRO clerk, who doggedly listed every item. I love the Government for funding a National Archive service. I love A2A for making all these archives accessible to anyone on line. I love every fussy, nitpicking clerk who never threw anything away, just in case. In fact, today, I love everyone in the world! I love you! I loooooove you aaaaaalll!!!

Ha Ha Ha - Long live Mr Bowker - if only all our rellies were so sad !!! We would find this labour of love so much easier I Love you too Mr Bowker ( Hey!!! he could be the first dead heart throb - after Elvis of course) G xxx

My Mr Bowker is called John Lack and when he tried to sell his land he had to prove his title to it. This is on A2A, but not on NORCAT or NOAH and on the strength of this single entry I'm off to the NRO next month in the hopes that the pedigree of his uncle Edmund Skillings will finally link up all those Edmund Skillings I've found: from tudor Reepham to C19th Ontario and C20th Sandringham. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Well, hopefully I shall have a piccy of him soon, then we'll know if he was a heart-throb or a right anorak. (Suspect the latter!) But he was ever so rich, he went bankrupt - John James Holden was his accountant (a lie, he was a book-keeper, went to night-school) and bought the bankrupt company. By a very curious twist of fate, some 30 years later, John James Holden, who became very wealthy from this company, gave Mr Bouck £10,000 worth of shares! (Both would go to prison for that stroke, these days). Mr Bouck at that time, lived next door to John James Holden, in a very nobby area, not bad for a bankrupt, eh.

Mr Bowker we love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck Brenda, isnt A2A the most fantastic site? I have a run of docs concerning ONE FIELD over a period of 300 years,the family fought it out for seventy years before the court gave a judgment, after examining all the claimants' pedigrees! Wonderful stuff which has given me a clear pedigree from 1540 to 1910!

I can't praise it enough, Marjorie. Three of us researched a certain William Malcolm a seedsman and his family. One used conventional fh techniques, one conventional local history techniques and I played with A2A. He corresponded with Joseph Banks of Kew, supplied plants to Petworth House, leased land from the Clayton family of Marden Park and had 8 bars of iron stolen from him! Information from three different ROs at my fingertips. Amazing. Brenda

is this A2A a website. excuse my ignorance, do i type in A2A or sumut else. if mr bowker helps me ill love him too. haha

Marjorie, Loved your story. It made me laugh but also made me very envious. Just wish something like that could happen to me so I could find my paternal grandad. You must have put in a great deal of work before this 'stroke of luck' and you deserved your reward. What on earth will you do now? Thanks for the entertaining story. Jean x

Julie a2a is a website ("Access to Archives") and you can find it by googling. It is like a huge index to millions of documents in archives and record offices. I typed in the name of a great-great-great grandfather Robert Chowns and found he was a witness in a quarter sessions, the original documents were in Buckinghamshire Studies Office in Aylesbury. This summer hols my husband took me there (our anniversary treat!) and I found out that Robert and his wife and 3 daughters were evicted from Stoke Poges and sent to Aston Rowant in Oxfordshire, where Robert was born. He gave evidence about his ability to pay his own way and not be a burden on the parish, and was allowed to return to Stoke Poges. The court sessions (in a huge metal clasped book) told me the verdict of the justices of the peace. I got a lot of info - confirmation of his daughters' names and ages, his father-in-law's name, how much rent they paid, how the roof of the cottage fell in, etc etc. a2a allows you to search for a person, a place or an organisation and you can sort the results by place, date etc. nell

Dear Jean What will I do now? Well, Ive emailed Lancs Records Office seven times since Sunday night, no response, in desperation I phoned them today, got ..if you want...press one, then listened to twenty minutes of greensleeves and gave up. I may have to charter a jet tonight to fly there! WHY wont they answer my email, its their official one, is Mr Bowker staying their hand? Anyway, even when I get this, all is not over. I still dont know what the connection between JJH and MY family is, other than an uncanny likeness, tho Im hoping all will be revealed from the guest list. And when Ive tidied them up, why, Ill go back to searching for my Great Great Grandfather, who has been playing hide and seek with me for five years - he is winning at the moment. Where was he born? Who were his parents?When, if ever, did he marry? Where did he go when he left his wife? Is he REALLY in the family grave, or did they just put his name on the stone? When and where did he die? Was Joseph his son or not? Etc Etc!

thanks nell for that, ill give it a try. id love to find out things like that about my ancestors, im nosey. thanks agian ill let you know wot i find.

To the tune of Oh Mr Porter... All together now.... Oh Mr Bowker What did I do I wanted Mr Holden But I ended up with you All your bits of paper Stuck into a book Oh Mr Bowker I'm glad I took a look. de de de da da da da ......... Jacky :-)

Oh Jacky! Tee hee hee, I shall sing all that tomorrow, down the phone to Lancs Record Office!( And blame you)

Marjorie :-) :-) Have funa with Records Office and I hope you get what you want. Jacky