Tagged With: Tom Robinson
‘A splendid mother in every way’
So far my family history research (and writing) has focused on the life of my great-grandfather, Tom Robinson. Tom was certainly a strong character but his wife, Ann Holme, was equally forceful. She is one of a line of formidable matriarchal figures in my family history. This photograph shows Ann Robinson as a twinkly, kindly … Continue reading
‘They met at Term Tuesday fair’
The theme of our blog posts this month is ‘romance’. The problem for me, in writing about my ancestors in nineteenth and twentieth century Cumberland and Westmorland, is that ‘romance’ may have been thin on the ground! Life was hard and marriages sometimes a matter of expediency. This is not to say that my ancestors … Continue reading
‘My chains fell off, my heart was free’
My great-grandfather’s conversion to Methodism, which happened at Christmas 1905, meant membership of a new community, the Primitive Methodists of Newbiggin-on-Lune, Westmorland. One of the distinctives of this community was its singing. It has often been said that Methodism was ‘born in song’. I know that Tom Robinson loved to sing. It was said that … Continue reading
New year, new start
The New Year is traditionally a time when our thoughts turn to self-improvement, whether that is trimming our figures, getting fit or learning a new skill. For my great-grandfather, Tom Robinson, January 1906 saw the start of an entirely new way of life. Just before Christmas 1905, he converted to Methodism – albeit after a … Continue reading
A thought for Christmas Day
What was Christmas Day like over the past 400 years? In 1644, the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas. They believed it was associated with disorder and debauchery. It was only after the Restoration of Charles ll in 1660 that it was celebrated more openly, though it remained a working day, at least in part … Continue reading
Surprises in the post, Part II
In my last post, I revealed how a birth certificate debunked a family story about the death of one of my grandmother’s siblings. In the same package as the death certificate for this sibling, Mary Agnes Robinson, who died as an infant, was a birth certificate for her father, Tom Robinson, my great-grandfather, and the … Continue reading