Christmas Greetings ... from 1907

In 1907, on Christmas Eve, some of my relatives posted a Christmas postcard to my grandparents ...

As you can see from the back of the postcard ...



 

... my relatives were at "New Closes" [now known as New Close Farm], Over Haddon. Grandad [Charlie Wildgoose] lived at Burley Fields Farm, Darley Dale, just up the hillside from where I am sitting typing this. 

I've blogged about this postcard a number of times before but at this time of year I always think about it being sent 105 years ago this Monday.

Who do I think I am ? [12] ~ my paternal grandparents ...

My father's parents were married 105 years ago in the Methodist church less than a mile from where I live.

There are no photographs of the wedding [which is a shame] as it appears that my grandfather's sister, Daisy, forgot to organise the photographer ... or so I have been told.

I didn't know of the existence of this newspaper report until my cousin sent me a copy.

Like so many steps forward in a family tree it results in a step backwards ... or at least sidewards. You see I know of three of the four bridesmaids listed ~ in fact I have photographs of them ~ but "Miss Gertrude Tetlow of Pendleton, sister of the mother of the bride" raises a few questions. The mother of the bride was of course my great grandmother, Agnes Ellen Wagstaffe nee Knowles ... and yet Miss Gertrude Tetlow is her sister. Something doesn't make sense.

In trying to trace my great grandmother's parents, I've been looking for the Knowles family. Is it somehow entwined with the Tetlow family ? Have I got the wrong family ... or is there an error in the newspaper report ? That's something to look into ... and part of the fun of trying to track down your ancestors.

Here's a transcript of the newspaper report forwarded by my cousin, Faye.

I'll tell you what, you don't get report like this in local newspapers nowadays.

From the Derby Daily Telegraph ~ July 19, 1913

Some months ago I opened an account with the British Newspaper Archive and have found some fascinating newspaper articles. Once I start feeding in some family names or places I can soon lose two or three hours.

Take my grandad, Charles Wildgoose ... and his brother, Robert. They appeared in court in July 1913 described as farmers of Darley Dale and were accused of "keeping dangerous dogs and not having them under proper control."

My grandad's greyhound had been found worrying sheep on the moors "five or six miles away from home". My great uncle Robert had a "cur dog" which "was barking at the sheep".

The owner of the sheep shot both dogs but they weren't so badly wounded that they couldn't get home. They were though subsequently found and identified.

The Magistrates "made an order for the destruction of the hound within seven days, and for the cur to be kept under proper control. - Defendants were ordered to pay costs."

I had never heard this story until I read it in the Archive and whilst it might only be a fairly minor incident it certainly adds something to what I know of my grandad.

Fifteen years or so later grandad still liked his greyhounds. Here he is on the steps of Darley House, where the family lived, with his wife, some of his children ... and a greyhound.