Resources > Family Tree Reports section

• Added family tree reports for Harvey's family. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page. This is a work in progress and further additions will be made as and when time allows. The main Family Tree web pages remain the most up-to-date information for our family trees.

Barnes Family Tree section

• Added some additional notes for John Harvey (b abt 1844).
• Added footnotes for John Harvey (b abt 1811) and added the names of his wives, Phillis Tregurtha Keigwin and Jane Trezise, together with notes.
• Added Jane Trezise's father, Walter, and a few notes.
• Added a few notes for John Harvey (d.o.b. currently unknown), father of the above John Harvey (b abt 1811).

Relevant place names: Newlyn & Paul near Penzance and Mullion in Cornwall.

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Hibbitt Family Tree section

Last week I met a couple of cousins who were visiting from Melbourne, Australia. During our time together, we went to the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office. Although I've been researching family history for 5 years now, I'm ashamed to say that I'd never been before so this gave me an impetus to go along and see what's available. My cousins are related to me on my Dando side, however, their Devon interest was on a different branch and so was mine. Whilst I was there, I gained free access to FindMyPast and...

• I discovered a baptism for my 3 x great-grandfather, William Hellier, in Tavistock in 1815.
• Besides this, I came across a marriage for William's parents, Samuel Hellier & Elizabeth Gale. I had wondered where the Gale name came in because William's son's middle name was Gale. Now I see my great-great-grandfather, John Gale Hellier/Hellyer, was named after his grandmother.

I still need to ascertain the maiden name of William's wife, Sarah.

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Studying family history never ceases to amaze me - I never know what's going to turn up next. Last week I was contacted by a distant cousin in Canada who mentioned that she owned a gorgeous embroidery which was worked by my 4 x great-grandmother, Ann Murch.


Antique, embroidered map of England & Wales by Ann Murch
I know very little about Ann except that she was born in about 1782, married Joseph Dando, the elder, in Bristol in 1801 and died on 11th May 1831. Therefore, imagine my surprise to discover that such an object was created in the first place and that it has survived and stayed in the family for more than 200 years.

The embroidery takes the form of a map of England and Wales and bears Ann' s name and the date, 1794. Ann would have been 12 or so when she made it. Although I've only seen it in photos, I should imagine the embroidery is a couple of feet high and it sits behind glass within an oval, gold-coloured frame.

Some of the place names are interesting too - the North Sea is called the 'German Ocean' and Scotland is 'North Britain called Scotland'. I see Plymouth on there (spelt Plimouth), which is where I live, and Ann has included Bristol where she and Joseph shared their married life together.

Not only did I discover the existence of the embroidery but I also learnt from my cousin that there's a family connection by marriage to the poet, W H Auden.

(Photograph kindly supplied by Sally Tozer)

[Why Talented Tuesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

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Photo Gallery > Potpourri > General Memorabilia section

• Added a photograph of Ann Murch's embroidery of England and Wales, which my 4 x great-grandmother produced in 1794.
• Placed into the gallery some photos of the antique sewing box, which has a connection to the Spiers and Dando families. The page includes a link through to the full sewing box page.

Resources > Murch Miscellany section

• This page includes further photographs of the antique embroidery by Ann Murch.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Both Family Tree sections

• Added a note at the top of the family pages to identify which family tree the user is viewing, eg. (This page forms part of the HIBBITT Family Tree). Now if a user lands on a page from a search engine, they'll know exactly which tree they've arrived at.

Barnes Family Tree section

• Added footnotes for Lizzie Annie Harvey.
• Added a couple more footnotes for Lizzie Annie Thomas.
• Added footnotes for John Barnes (1830-1895) & Mary Ann Reynolds and the name of Mary Ann's father, John Reynolds.
• Added a few footnotes for John Barnes (b 1783).

Relevant place names: Newlyn and Paul near Penzance in Cornwall.

Resources section

• I've started a new Barnes family overview page. More to come later.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Over the past few days I've been busy revamping my Hibbitt Family History website and some of you may have noticed that I've rebranded it slightly: - it's now called 'Hibbitt & Barnes Family History' but it's important to mention that the website address hasn't changed. The site remains at www.hibbitt.org.uk and, to give it a fresh look, I've changed the image(s) at the top of the pages, as well as on the blog itself too.

The majority of the old website structure is still in place with one or two alterations. As always, the Sitemap page will help you get around.

The reason for the change: - I've recently begun looking into my husband, Harvey's, ancestry and have already uploaded a very basic tree for his BARNES FAMILY.

So, what's changed?

One of the first things you'll notice when you come to my Home page is the page is a little shorter and now, near the top, there's a pretty graphic with a link to our Family Trees entry page. The Site Search box can be found further down the page but the Search page itself is still available from the Search link in the navigation bar so it can be accessed from any page you happen to be on. I've also moved the 'Latest Blog Headlines' further down and removed my family names from the Home page and, instead, created a new page with an Overview of my Hibbitt Family.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may recall that I used to have a link in the navigation bar entitled 'family tree'. This has now become 'Families'. Click on this link and you'll reach the entry point for both of our HIBBITT and BARNES family trees together with another Site Search box. Further down this page you'll find the instructions that used to reside on the Home page of 'how to explore our family trees' and there are also links to the family pages belonging to all four sets of our grandparents, in case you want to begin navigating our trees from there.

The Photo Gallery, Guestbook and Shop remain the same and the Resources section and Contact page have seen only minor alterations.

Feel free to take a peek and let me know what you think.

Whilst Harvey's tree is still very modest, if you think you might be related to him, please do get in touch. His Barnes, Thomas, Wright, Harvey, Reynolds, Dawes and Treleaven side lived in Newlyn and Paul in Penzance, Cornwall. The Smith family had ties with Selkirk and Dumfries. The Ellen side lived in Seaham Harbour, Durham, but had connections with London and India, and the Bydens and Gardners also lived in London.

[Why Sorting Saturday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

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Last week, whilst I was in London for the day, I paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum. I had a specific reason for going - I wanted to see the medals on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery, in particular, those which were awarded to Robert Jones V.C. (1857-1898).

I am related to Robert in two ways; his maternal grandfather, Richard Fryer (1792-1862), was my 4 x great-grandfather, and his maternal great-grandparents, Benjamin Pitcher and Sarah (nee Rice), were my 4 x great-grandparents. Put another way, he was my half 1st cousin 4 times removed as well as my 2nd cousin 3 times removed.

From the letters in his name, it is already apparent that Robert earned the Victoria Cross. In addition, he also received the South Africa Medal (1877-79) with 1 clasp: 1877-8-9.

716 Pte. Robert Jones of the 2nd Battalion/24th Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers) in Natal, was awarded the Victoria Cross for an act of gallantry in the defence of the hospital at Rorke's Drift against the Zulus on 22nd and 23rd January 1879. The following citation was published in the London Gazette...

War Office, May 2, 1879.
THE Queen has been graciously pleased to signify Her intention to confer the decoration of the Victoria Cross on the undermentioned Officers and Soldiers of Her Majesty's Army, whose claims have been submitted for Her Majesty's approval, for their gallant conduct in the defence of Rorke's Drift, on the occasion of the attack by the Zulus, as recorded against their names, viz.:-
...........................
Regiment: 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment.
Names: Private William Jones and Private Robert Jones.
Acts of Courage for which recommended: In another ward, facing the hill, Private William Jones and Private Robert Jones defended the post to the last, until six out of the seven patients it contained had been removed. The seventh, Sergeant Maxfield, 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment, was delirious from fever. Although they had previously dressed him, they were unable to induce him to move. When Private Robert Jones returned to endeavour to carry him away, he found him being stabbed by the Zulus as he lay on his bed.

In 1964, the Battle of Rorke's Drift was immortalised in the film, Zulu, which starred Stanley Baker and Michael Caine. 716 Pte. Robert Jones was played by Denys Graham.

The Lord Ashcroft Gallery was full of prestigious medals and equally impressive stories of brave men and women. In addition, we should always remember the noble efforts of the thousands of ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen who have fought, and in many cases, laid down their lives, in the numerous conflicts throughout the ages.


The Imperial War Museum, London
[Why Workday Wednesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

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Family Tree section

• Added additional information and footnotes for Hannah Fryer, wife of Robert Jones, snr.
• Also added the couple's children, including detailed information about their son, Robert Jones V.C., and added the name of his wife, Elizabeth Hopkins.

Gallery section

• As the Medals and Militaria Album is expanding, I've taken it out of the Potpourri section of the gallery and placed it under it's own Medals and Militaria heading.
• Also added photographs of Robert Jones' medals to the above section, as well as a photo of the Imperial War Museum where Robert's medals are on display.

Relevant place names: Tidenham in Gloucestershire, Penhros, Clytha, Llantilio Crossenny, Monmouth and Newport in Monmouthshire, and Dorstone and Peterchurch in Herefordshire.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

A little while ago I discovered that my husband, Harvey, is distantly related to three survivors of the Titanic. To commemorate the 100th anniversary, Ancestry have released a range of records in relation to the disaster of 1912 .

Addie Dart Wells (nee Trevaskis), and her two young children, Joan and Ralph Wells, were travelling in 2nd class and managed to board life-boat number 14 before being picked up by the Carpathia. Among the records the family can be seen on the Titanic's Outward Passenger list, the Passengers Surviving/Missing list and the Carpathia's Passenger list.

Addie was the great-grand-daughter of Harvey's 3 x great-grandparents, John Barnes & Ann (nee Dawes) from Newlyn, Cornwall, near Penzance. Addie was also from Newlyn and would perhaps have known Harvey's predecessors, his direct line having lived in Newlyn right up to the millennium.

Another useful website about the Titanic is the Nova Scotia Archives. The Wells family appear on the document entitled, List of Second Class Passengers.

[Why Follow Friday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]