Again free access to British records

[Margery]

Ancestry.com.au is offering free access to British records over the Queen's Birthday long weekend. (looks as though I'll be spending the weekend inside).

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Ancestry.com.au is offering free access to British records over the Queen's Birthday long weekend. (looks as though I'll be spending the weekend inside).

It's ok to spend it indoors over there. Isn't it Winter in Australia? We're just starting to get hints of summer here, of course it's due to rain heavily for a fortnight in a couple of weeks time as Wimbledon is about to start.

 

[Margery]

It's ok to spend it indoors over there. Isn't it Winter in Australia? We're just starting to get hints of summer here, of course it's due to rain heavily for a fortnight in a couple of weeks time as Wimbledon is about to start.

Yes, Alexander it is officially winter here - as of last Sunday. Still warm and sunny and very dry where we are. We need heavy falls to fill our dams (for the cattle) and although we have had sufficient rain for our household needs our annual average is extremely low. "They" keep predicting rain, but.......

 

[Bryman]

Yes, Alexander it is officially winter here - as of last Sunday. Still warm and sunny and very dry where we are. We need heavy falls to fill our dams (for the cattle) and although we have had sufficient rain for our household needs our annual average is extremely low. "They" keep predicting rain, but.......

If you are so short of rain, why don't you keep the rain (that always appears around Oz on our forecasts here in NZ) instead of sending it on to us?
We have plenty to spare.

BTW, why does the Southern Hemisphere consider the change of season to coincide with the start of June? I was always taught it came three weeks later - to coincide with the solstice. There is so much change to take account of and I am still trying to adjust. Your previous post signalled yet another instance with the 'late' recognition of the Queen's Birthday in Oz, while NZ observed it last Monday.Never mind, it looks like it will be wet here for the next couple of days so perhaps I should capitalise on the difference and break a few walls. Thanks for the tip.

At least we don't drive on the wrong side of the road. That would be the last straw.

 

[emjay]

At least we don't drive on the wrong side of the road. That would be the last straw.

Very sensible

 

[Margery]

Bryman, thanks for the offer of rain. Ah, that it were that simple.....

I take it that you are a recent immigrant to Kiwiland? Really I had no idea that the Queen's birthday was celebrated on a different day to Oz. Anyhow I hope that you did break down some walls. I think that I have created more in trying to trace the movements of my uncle (I didn't know him, he was married to my mother's sister and he died 4 years later - no children) an Englishman who was a Brazilian Merchant. The family had a distinctive middle name so I think that I have found some of his siblings. The UK Outwards passenger list shows a brother and his family heading for Rio de Janiero and the wife's name is clearly shown as Blamdine. There is absolutely no record of this as a given name, anywhere. I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to what it might actually be? (I have done all the usual searches - BMD, census, etc.).

 

[Liberty]

.....the wife's name is clearly shown as Blamdine. There is absolutely no record of this as a given name, anywhere. I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to what it might actually be? (I have done all the usual searches - BMD, census, etc.).

The name that springs to mind is BLANDINE (or Blondine). I don't think it has ever been common/popular, but it a genuine name. I believe there was a Saint Blandina.

FreeBMD shows 5 marriages for Blandines between 1956 and 1963 (to Campbell, Winsche, Pluck, Fis(c)her and Josephs) if these might be any lead?

B the w, re the Queen's Birthday, in the UK we just leave her to have a quiet meal with her family (or travel to Normandy to commemorate D-Day, whichever she wants)

 

[Margery]

Thanks Liberty. I must say that I haven't heard of Blandine, or Blondine for that matter. The surname I am researching is SLOPER and the given middle name is WILLMOTT which, it seems, was the maiden name of the mother of the Slopers'. Apparently they were quite wealthy merchants and that there were quite a few of them so I am surprised that there are no other family history researchers out there.

I wonder if Her Majesty really did celebrate seeing that her actual birthday is in April? The D-Day landings celebrations featured greatly here on our TV.

 

[Liberty]

Thanks Liberty. I must say that I haven't heard of Blandine, or Blondine for that matter. .

I should say that I don't think I've actually come across the name, but when I saw the 'Blamdine' the thought immediately popped into my head 'Surely that must be Blandine' . There seem to be a number of variants - Blandine, Blandina, Blandinah - usually occurring with rather 'exotic' surnames. She may, of course, not have been British, or married Mr Sloper in Britain.

 

[Bryman]

I wonder if Her Majesty really did celebrate seeing that her actual birthday is in April?

Her 'birthday' in June is actually the anniversary of her coronation so I am sure that she did celebrate in some small way. Does she still "Troop the Colour" even if no longer mounted?

Meanwhile the rain has arrived here with a vengeance. Surely it can't have missed a big rock like Oz on its way over here.

Unfortunately, while keeping dry, I have managed to build a few walls over the weekend rather than demolish them. Apparently, Leggatt is a much more common surname in Sussex than I had expected but almost none of the instances seem to fit in with my known relative (or one another as far as I can see!).

 

[Liberty]

Her 'birthday' in June is actually the anniversary of her coronation so I am sure that she did celebrate in some small way. Does she still "Troop the Colour" even if no longer mounted?

Last time I looked she did*. And I guess she will continue to do so if they have to wheel her there on a hospital-type bed.

*Tho' I think the soldiers do the trooping, rather than the sovereign..

Is it her coronation or just her official birthday? I believe Edward VII or George V had his actual birthday in ?November, which is a miserable month for parades, and since then the sovereign has had an official birthday in what should be better time of the year - generally warmer than Nov, at any rate.

 

[Bryman]

Is it her coronation or just her official birthday?

I believe that is the definition of 'official birthday'. The anniversary of formally attaining the office of monarch.

 

[Margery]

She may, of course, not have been British, or married Mr Sloper in Britain.

That most probably is the answer.

 

[GrahamC]

I believe that is the definition of 'official birthday'. The anniversary of formally attaining the office of monarch.

I remember my dad saying that the Queens/Kings "Birthday" was celebrated on the second Monday in June regardless of the actual date. It does not change even when the monarch changes. Dad was born during the reign of George V and lived well into Elizabeth's reign so he probably had some understanding of the facts.