An Heirloom Christmas Recipe...

When thinking about what to write for Christmas, I wondered if my mum had inherited her mum’s recipe books. Sure enough she did, and what treasure it is. Can you tell it was well used? And guess what the very first recipe written in the book is … yep, “Mother’s Christmas Pudding”. So here it is. The Christmas pudding recipe from my great grandma. In case you can’t read my grandma’s handwriting, here’s a transcription: Mother’s Christmas Pudding 3 Large Cups Flour 2 Cups Sugar 1 lb Seeded Raisins 1 lb Currants 1/2 lb Lemon Peel 1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs 1 lb Suet 8 Eggs 1/2 Teaspoon Carb Soda Mix Soda in Flour. Boil about 6 hours. I generally boil mine 4 hours the first time. __________________________________ Now don’t go getting any ideas thinking I’m going to make this. Firstly I’m not much of a cook. Secondly I’m totally not a fan of Christmas pudding. And thirdly I had to google to find out “suet” even is, and that should not go in anything, let alone a pudding!! But still I do believe in preserving history, and this is an heirloom recipe, whether I make it or not! I don’t know what date this would have been written, but my grandma’s name was Evelyn Phebe Hannaford (nee Randell) b.1916, and her mother’s name was Ella Alice Randell (nee Sinkinson), b.1876, so no doubt it dates back a fair way! Wishing you a all Merry...

The Heirloom Geneameme

It’s geneameme time, but I can’t take any credit for this one as it began by me sharing post from The Family Curator blog, on “Top 5 Family Heirlooms They Actually Want to Inherit” … if you haven’t read it, take a moment to do so, as it’s a great post. Anyway a comment on that from fellow geneablogger Jen of the Conversations with Grandma blog said … “An idea for a Geneameme Alona? “Five heirlooms in my family”? Or similar.” So wallah … we have a new geneameme. For the “Heirloom Geneameme” simply pick 5 of your family heirlooms, and write a post about them. Sounds easy? I found it harder than I expected. Well firstly let’s define what an heirloom is. The dictionary says it’s “a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.” Now those who’ve been following me for a while, will know that one side of my family are hoarders. But in the good ‘everything is an heirloom sense’, not in the ‘junk piled to the ceiling sense’, so we have a house FULL of heirlooms. The other side  of my family … well, we have a couple of photos. Anyway having so many, certainly makes it challenging to choose … and I changed my mind about fifty two times (before, during and even after writing this). But here are five of my family’s heirlooms (in no particular order) … RANDELL FAMILY BIBLE This bible was owned by my great grandparents Ella Alice Sinkinson and John Beavis ‘JB’ Randell who married in 1899. It is huge, it is heavy (I’d guess about 15kgs), and is starting to fall apart … so great care is needed when handling it. The publication date of...

9 December 1843 – The Day the First Christmas Card was Created...

It’s that time of year again, when we get out box of Christmas cards and our address book, and start writing cards to those on our Christmas card list this year. There is no doubt that this has become a Christmas tradition right around the world. But when did this tradition actually start? Well … way back on 9 December 1843 actually (although some dispute that, and say May 1843). Either way, it is a LONG time ago! A description online tells us that … Sir Henry Cole, Director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, found that writing numerous Christmas greetings to friends and colleagues was becoming a time-consuming task. He asked his artist friend, John Calcott Horsley, to design a card which could be used by Cole and also sold to the public. The first Christmas cards were created in England on 9 December 1843. Horsley produced 1,000 lithographed and hand-coloured cards. More like postcards, they sold for a shilling, which was the equivalent of a day’s wages for a labourer. It was another twenty years before Christmas cards became commercially viable for the common man, following the invention of cheaper colour lithography. The image at the top is one of the “first ever” Christmas card, according to Wikipedia. And as the cards became affordable, the stationery companies found it profitable, and they certainly haven’t stopped making them since! While I don’t have any Christmas cards in my family’s heirlooms that date back to 1843, I do have some old, vintage ones that I have scanned and are pictured below (click on each for a larger image). Most of these would be from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, with at least some of them being written...

The Randell and Robbins Family Photo Album: But Who Are They?...

It was sometime last year that I discovered an amazing family heirloom and have been wanting to share it all with you for ages, and have decided that now is the time. There’s no doubt that family historians get excited over old family photos, but can you imagine the excitement of finding a whole photo album of family photos? Well that’s what I found in my dad’s stash of family heirlooms. And trust me I was happy dancing!! Page after page of beautiful old photos – probably from around the 1850s-1860s. But one question. Who are they? I did recognise a few of them – but that’s all. The rest remain unnamed. So that’s partly why I’m writing this, in the hope that others might be able to add some names to these photo. But back to the album. It belonged to my great great grandma Phebe Randell (nee Robbins) who was the second wife of William Beavis Randell (Randle back in England), both of who lived at Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills. And it has been handed down through the family. I’ve written before about both William Beavis Randell and Phebe, so rather than repeat their history will link to previous posts, and have included a mini chart of both the Randell and Robbins family. Though I know the Robbins one is incomplete – it’s a family I’m still working on, but hopefully it’s enough for someone to make a connection if there is one. – Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: B is for [Family] Bible – Diaries, and the Stories They Can Tell! – Finding Hidden Gems! – William Beavis Randell: The Man Who Created a Town – Arriving on the “Rajah” in 1849 – ‘Tis the...

Finding Hidden Gems!

The fact that my family has always been hoarders (well, my mum’s side of the family anyway), is a good thing, as it means there are so many documents, artifacts, photographs and other memorabilia that has been preserved, so I’ve started documenting these over on my other blog at Memorabilia House. But this post isn’t here to tell you all about that … well not exactly. It’s about the “hidden gems” that I have been finding as I’ve been documenting the items. And in this case I’m referring to what been finding in old bibles. Our family has a LOT of old bibles around the place. But since my reli’s were a religious bunch, as some were ministers, and others founded churches, and donated land for churches I guess it’s not really surprising. What I have found surprising, and absolutely astonishing, not to mention super exciting is finding out who these bibles actually belonged to, who they came from, and the story behind them, as well as other bits and pieces in the middle of them. 1. Sarah Hannaford (nee Stanger) This bible was given to Sarah from her daughter Mary Eliza. Dated 1869. It contains an inscription of who it was to and from, with a date, as well as names and birth dates of other Hannaford relatives that have been written in, and a piece of well-used blotting paper. For more about this bible => http://www.memorabiliahouse.com/2013/08/in-memory-of-susannah/ 2.  Eva McCullough (nee Richardson) This bible was given to Eva by her husband Rev. Robert McCullough on their wedding day, and I know this thanks to the inscription. Dated 1881 For more about this bible => http://www.memorabiliahouse.com/2013/07/my-own-eva/ 3. Phebe Randell (nee Robbins) this bible belonged to Phebe Randell (nee Robbins). It is...

Discovering Ephemera #2 – Old Newspaper Pictures...

It was back in July that I started off my Discovering Ephemera series by introducing your to my great grandfather’s school report card from 1886. That was very cool, and a wonderful little treasure to have found. Today I wish to share with you some old pictures the were printed periodically in the newspapers. These pictures came from the South Australian Chronicle (1888), and the South Australian Observer (1898). As both of these are newspapers that no longer exist you can read a little more about the history of each of these newspapers here. I’m not sure who originally kept them, but I got them from from my great aunt Dorothy Randell (Auntie Dorrie to me). But since she was only born in 1906, they obviously belonged to someone prior to that. Both pictures were stuck on to brown paper, so no doubt that helped keep them. The earlier one was in good condition, so I had it framed, the later one, sadly is in 3 pieces. But I still have it, and have preserved it via this blog for others to see. So that’s my old newspaper pictures. Newspapers these days just aren’t what they used to be are they. And it really puts it into perspective when you realise that the earlier one is 124 years old, with the latter one almost 114. So till my next Discovering Ephemera post … thankyou for...

Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: T is for … Teddy Bears...

T is one of the few letters that I knew right from the beginning what I wanted to right about – annnnd have stuck to it. So for T in the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge, I would like to say that T is for TEDDY BEARS I don’t there’s too many of us that weren’t given a teddy bear, or something similar as a baby. But how many of you still have your treasured teddy? I know some would, but in asking that question an awful lot of hands would have gone down. I wanting to share two very special teddy bears with you today – these are heirloom teddy bears. This first one, was given to my mum when she was born, so is over 60 years old, and yes dear old teddy has lot a little fur, and has a little hole in one paw, but he has survived this far without surgery and is doing remarkably well considering he has had three generations of children playing with him.               —————————————————————————————————————- Now this second one is mine … he’s just Teddy, he’s never had another name. And while he’s not as old as mum’s teddy (he is over 30), I’m sure that he has had a much a harder life, as he had me as his owner. While I did love my toys, I wasn’t always the kindest to them … like when I tried to …. (actually that’ll be another story). Anyway needless to say I really did go through a phase of giving all of my teddy bears earrings and makeup, yet surprisingly there is little evidence of it these days. Today my treasured teddy resides with...

Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: J is for [Heirloom] Jewellery...

Anyone that really knows me … knows that I am a total jewellery freak (the top picture is just a few of the M-A-N-Y necklaces I have). I love my rings, bracelets and necklaces … so it made sense to write about jewellery for this post. Though not about ‘my’ jewellery, but rather heirloom jewellery. J is for Jewellery While these items would be classed as useless jewellery to others, each has sentimental value, which is something that cannot be replaced. I’ve decided to show these heirlooms from most recent (meaning starting with me) and going back to the oldest items, which are ones that belonged to my grandma.   Having my grandma’s engagement ring is very special to me, and apart from the sentimental value, it is a really pretty ring. Very intricate. Writing this post, I realised that I actually had no idea of when my grandparents  got engaged. Was it a long engagement, or a short one? I had no idea. So that sounded like as good excuse (actually, who needs an excuse) to visit Trove. And 2 minutes later I had my answer … The Advertiser, Wednesday 15 May 1940 …. This post forms part of the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge issued by Gould Genealogy &...

Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: B is for [Family] Bible...

I’ve decided to take up the challenge set by Gould Genealogy to blog about the ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’, at least for some letters. For this challenge geneabloggers are asked to write about someone or something connected to their family history, that starts with the letter of the week. This week’s letter is B. B is for [Family] Bible For the letter ‘B’ I have chosen the to highlight the Bible. But not just ANY Bible, this is the Randell Family Bible. And while my dad is the current keeper of it, I do hope that it is one of the many family heirlooms he’s saved that I’ll inherit some day. So on recent visits to my parents place, it was a fabulous opportunity to bring out the old bible to photograph and scan it. But first things first … to put things in perspective,  I am connected to the Randell’s through my maternal grandma (Evelyn Phebe HANNAFORD nee RANDELL). While my Randell ancestry does go back to Devon, England, this story begins with John Beavis RANDELL who was born in South Australia in 1877. His parents (William Beavis RANDELL and Phebe ROBBINS) were both emigrants from England. Now back to the bible …  the bible originally belonged to my great grandparents, John Beavis RANDELL and Ella Alice SINKINSON. The birth, death and marriage inscriptions all start with them. Family bibles are a real treasure if they are used as intended. If you’re lucky enough to have one, you’re likely to find a whole bunch of family inscriptions, and if you’re really, really lucky a bunch of photos as well. I gotta say I’m one of those really, really lucky ones. 🙂 Here’s a few photos I’ve taken...