Ordinary Lives

Fairfax George Bullock 1900-1985 Fairfax George Bullock, my great-grandfather, wrote the story of his life in 1979, recounting his various memories. He was born in 1900 and when he turned 18, he was conscripted into the army. It was February 1918 and the end of the first world war was just a few months away. Luckily, he never actually had to serve on the front line. But there was a tragic episode during his time in the army and that was his encounter with the Spanish flu epidemic.  This really struck me as we’ve just come through our own pandemic and I was left reflecting on the differences there would have been in our respective experiences.  Below is a quote from the memoir. At this point in the narrative, he’d been in training in Rugeley, and now they’ve moved back up north to Guisborough.  However, when we arrived at Guisborough, it was like being in a different world, & all the chaps remarked about it. There were lots of trees & hedges, which were just openin...

 James Kerr is my great-great-great grandfather.  He was born in 1829 in Ayrshire. For some reason, on the census returns he made as an adult, he always claimed to be from Aberdeen, and the family always understood him to be from Glasgow. He was actually born in Ayr to David Kerr and Flora Campbell, and he was one of nine children. David Kerr was a weaver and in 1841 his oldest sons, John, David and James, are apprentice weavers. By the time of the 1851 census, James was probably living in Glasgow and it is from there that he makes his way to Durham where he settles down.  He married Ann Heaviside in 1858. Ann Heaviside’s brother set up one of the first commercial photography shops in Durham and his photographs can still be found in archives today.  James Kerr worked as a carpet weaver and worked for a long time for Henderson’s factory in Durham.  Radical politics From my grandma’s notes: “James took a keen interest in politics. He was the first secretary of the...

Portraits of Elizabeth Ann Blenkin and Sarah Ann Blenkin - don't know which is which! My grandparents had these portraits in their house. They look like oil paintings but are painted photographs. These women are wearing clearly expensive clothes. Lots of frills, probably real silk, elaborate hair and highly formal poses. The height of Victoriana. You get the sense of gothic opulence from the late 19th century. Quite frankly, they look rich. The frames for these pictures look like those ornate gilt frames you get around works of art in galleries or stately homes. But who are these women? And why do we have their pictures? My grandmother’s father, Fairfax George Bullock (FGB), identified them as “the two Miss Blenkins” and that the pictures belonged to his mother, Lucy Bullock. They are Elizabeth Ann Blenkin and her sister “S.A”. But he didn't know which was which. Elizabeth Ann died in Pietermaritzburg and left these pictures to Lucy in her will. Those are enough details for me ...

 This is a picture of my great grandfather Joseph Kelly and his friends, Michael Kelly (no relation) and Willie Dodd (a cousin). William Dodd (seated) Michael Kelly standing behind William, Joseph Kelly on the right Joseph Kelly was born on the 8th of May 1895 in Durham, the ninth child of Michael Kelly and Mary Agnes Dodds. He would have been 19 when war was declared in 1914, and he joined the Durham Light Infantry, 8th Battalion. Presumably this picture was taken not long after he’d joined the army. His cousin, William Dodd, was slightly older and was a reservist so was called up when war broke out. Michael Kelly is the same age as Joseph and worked as a miner just like Joseph and William.  Looking at the picture, they all look quite young to me, even William who would have been in his late twenties. I wouldn’t describe any of them as scrawny but they don’t look like big men.  Joseph, or Joe, never really talked about his experiences in the war. He died suddenly in 1965...

My grandmother’s middle name was Clark. She was Audrey Clark Bullock. The Clark was from her grandmother, Ellen Sarah Clark. Ellen Sarah Clark was born in the mining town of Seaham in County Durham. Her parents had migrated there from rural Norfolk on the promise of well paid and steady work. Seaham was a small village on the North Sea coast that expanded during the 19th century as the coal mines and the harbour where the coal was transported from brought wealth, trade and people to the area.  My grandma’s notes: The harbour at Seaham was built by Lord Londonderry between 1828 and 1835 to ship out the coal from his wife’s collieries at Rainton. The new town of Seaham Harbour was built around the docks and until 1850 a high proportion of the inhabitants were seamen. During the eighteen-thirties and forties other coal owners built railways from Hetton, Merton and Haswell to ship their coal from Londonderry’s harbour. In the 1850's further expansion began in the town of Seaham, Two co...

 When looking through the family archive, I found a transcript of a letter written to Mary Ellen Kelly from her cousin Mary Hanlon. As the address was Ballymitty, Co. Wexford I was intrigued. My great-great-grandfather Michael Kelly was from Ballymitty, Co. Wexford. And while I know quite a lot about his life from when he joined the army at age 18, I know very little about his life in Ireland or his Irish family. Mary Ellen Kelly was his eldest daughter and Michael had died by 1928 when this letter was written.  “Ballingly Ballymitty Co. Wexford Ireland 5/7/1928 My dear Mary, I hope you are well. Excuse me for not writing before now, but I must tell you how delighted I was to get your letter and to know you are so well as this leaves myself and all the family well thank God. Well, Mary, there are big changes in the bog since yourself and Kate Furlong was there. You did not know that John is dead. I never wrote to tell you he is dead six years may God have mercy on him. He was ...