Tagged With: Festiniog
Some Victorian weddings
I have just heard of a wedding taking place this summer which is to cost £55,000, a shocking expenditure in my opinion. But will it be any more festive than some of the weddings that took place between 1863 and 1870, uniting various members of my family then resident in Merioneth, North Wales? The most … Continue reading
When Laura met Tom
How easily one new fact can illuminate our ancestors’ lives. For the launch of our Faber Academy Anthology in June 2012, I wrote the following fictionalised piece, which was based on the serendipitous discovery that my great grandparents had attended the same event several years before they married, and may well have met there for … Continue reading
Lively songs I shall never hear
Tramping round Liverpool last week, I was struck by the thought that there are aspects of family history that I can never uncover. Most importantly – SOUND and SMELL. I cannot hear their voices, I cannot hear the voices that surrounded them. When my great great grandfather’s tar and turpentine distillery works caught fire, I … Continue reading
Looking for Esther
My journey so far has been something of a wild goose chase. I was interested in my great great great grandmother Esther, who is said to have helped her husband run the first slate quarry in Ffestiniog, in North Wales. Her portrait hung on the walls of houses I’ve known since childhood. Her steadfast gaze … Continue reading