Family Tree section

• Added a few more notes for my 3 x great-grandparents, George Arnold (b. abt 1822) & Mary Bacon and also George and his second wife, Mary Ann Garlick.
• Updated notes for my 4 x great-grandparents, George Arnold (b. abt 1793) & Elizabeth Raynor/Rayner.
• Added further notes for Elizabeth's first husband, Thomas Avins.
• Added Thomas & Elizabeth's daughter, Mary Avins and Mary's daughter, Eglah Swinnerton Avins.
• Added my 5 x great-grandparents, John Raynor & Mary Wagstaff and also their children.
• Added James Alcock, husband of Ann Raynor, together with a few notes.
• Added my 5 x great-grandparents, George Arnold (b. abt 1755) & Jane Orton.

Relevant place names: Nuneaton, Ansley and Chilvers Coton, all in Warwickshire.

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

Happy Thanksgiving from across the Pond!

Did you know the Pilgrim Fathers are not just remembered in the US but in Plymouth, England, too? Amongst the many references to the Mayflower and the Pilgrims here in Plymouth, the Mayflower Steps Memorial is located in the area known as the Barbican in one of the oldest parts of this city in the South West of England.

The actual steps from where the Pilgrims departed no longer exist. A granite block set in the pavement was the original memorial, although this was previously set in the roadway. A plaque commemorating the historic journey in 1620 was erected alongside in 1891 and the Doric portico was added in 1934. This in turn is flanked by the American and British flags.

Some of the Pilgrim Fathers spent their last night at the 16th century Island House where there is a plaque on the wall listing all the names of the passengers who sailed on the voyage.

Photographs of the Mayflower Memorial and Island House are available for immediate download in my online shop for £0.60, less than $1. Is your ancestor one of those named on the Island House Plaque? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

You can read more about Plymouth's Pilgrim heritage in my earlier post.

[Why Thanksgiving Thursday? 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.]

Gallery > Potpourri > War Memorabilia section

• As this is Remembrance Day, I've decided to add my grandfather's WWII medals to the gallery. William Hellyer Geake enlisted in the Royal Marines on 1st January 1941 and won the 1939-45 Star, the Burma Star, the Africa Star, the France and Germany Star, the Defence Medal and the War Medal. You can view his medals here.

Gallery > Places section

• A couple of years ago, I briefly visited the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire as various branches of my family came from there. I've recently confirmed my Pitcher ancestors were connected to the villages of Newland and Clearwell and so I've added some photographs to the gallery, which I took when I was there.

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

Family Tree section

• Since the recent release of the Warwickshire parish records on Ancestry, I've discovered that my 4 x great-grandmother, Elizabeth Avins, was a widow when she married my 4 x great-grandfather, George Arnold the elder, therefore I've updated Elizabeth Avins to Elizabeth Rayner and added her first husband, Thomas Avins.
• Added a few more notes for my 3 x great-grandparents, George Arnold the younger & Mary Bacon, plus a copy of their signatures from the marriage register.
• Added my 8 x great-grandparents, Arthur (senior) and Ann Pitchard, after obtaining a copy of Arthur's will from the Gloucestershire Archives. Arthur was a yeoman who lived during the 17th century. For all we know, he may have fought in the English Civil War! I wonder which side he was on.
• Added the remainder of Arthur and Ann Pitchard's children and grandchildren, including James Pitchard and his daughter, Ann, Mary Pitchard and her husband, Robert Lock, Thomas Pitchard and his wife, Alice Powell, and children, William Pitchard and his wife, Mary Wanklin, and children, Ann Pitchard and her husband, James Worgan, and children and Sarah Pitchard and her husband, Walter Knowles, and children.

Relevant place names: Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Newland, Clearwell and Redbrook, all in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, Monmouth in Monmouthshire and Walford in Herefordshire.

Resources > Biographies section

• Added a biography page for Arthur Pitchard.

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