The Serendipity of Sarah Jane Allcock

 I had long known about my 1st cousin, 3x removed, Sarah Jane Allcock from traditional document research. Sarah Jane's mother, Hannah Bright, is the sister of my great great grandmother Sarah Bright.  I was able to find out that Sarah Jane was born March 20th, 1861 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales, however, I couldn't find a marriage or death for her in Wales. 

 Fast forward to a late evening in 2009.   I was tired and lazily trolling Ancestry when a photo had me wide awake and leaping from my chair.  I ran to Eliza's album and immediately sent a message to the Ancestry poster, attaching a copy of one of my unnamed photos.

Eliza's photo
Sarah Jane Allcock c1880s

 Thankfully, Jean responded right away and wanted to know where I got a photo of her great great grand-mother!, Sarah Jane Allcock.  Sarah Jane is Eliza's maternal 1st cousin.  Woo-hoo, a name to go with one of Eliza's photos!

Photo belonging to
Sarah Jane Allcock's descendant c 1880s

 Jean's great great grandparents lived in Russia for 30 years.  Sarah Jane married her 1st cousin Alfred Allcock in 1884 in Hughesovka, Odessa, Russia.  The couple had 7 children, all born in Hughesovka.  When the Russian Revolution became de facto, the Allcocks returned to the UK and lived out their lives in Yorkshire, England.  

 There are 2 other photos in Eliza's album of Sarah Jane.  One by herself and one with her parents. Two more people named.  

 Within a week of our initial correspondence Jean moved her online tree from public to private. If my timing had been off by a week, I would probably have never discovered the name of the person in the photo in Eliza's album nor the subsequent family story.  I am a firm believer that some relatives just want to be found.  

 Only 113 unnamed photos to go.

A Photo Album

A birth certificate shows you were born.
A death certificate shows you have died.
A photo album shows you have lived.                              

                                          ~ Author Unknown

My photo albums have changed size and shape over the years.  I no longer have thick albums of paper contemporary photos.  I keep the antique albums as is but my personal albums have disappeared.  I've scanned the photos I want and enjoy them on a 10" digital photo frame.  I can plug in an SD card or a thumb drive.  I can have different folders so my vacations aren't mixed in with our friend's pool party.  It's a great way to feature different slide shows for family or friends gathering.  

Do you have photo albums you don't know what to do with?

Who is Eliza Hannah Fuller

 Before I inherited the beautiful leather photo album from my great grandmother, the only thing that I knew about her is that she was 5'11" and always stood very erect.  When the average height of European men during World War II was 5'7", Eliza towered over most men and certainly over other women of her era. 

Eliza Hannah Fuller nee Gray c1930s

 I never met Eliza but because the 117 photos in her album were  unnamed I wanted to learn about her life so that I might try to put  names to faces. 

 Traditional document research revealed that Eliza Hannah Gray  was  the third of eight children and oldest daughter of Henry  Thomas Gray and his wife Sarah Bright.  Eliza was born in Somerset,  England but the family soon moved to Monmouthshire, Wales for  mining job opportunities.  As an adult Eliza moved to Kent, England  where she married and had five children.  She and her family later  emigrated to Canada.

 Eliza grew up in the middle years of Queen Victoria’s reign.  By  Eliza's 1956 death she saw five more British monarchs come to the  throne and 16 Canadian Prime Ministers move in and out of power in her adopted home of Canada.        

 Eliza lived in three countries, lived through two World Wars and the Great Depression.  She welcomed many new inventions that her descendants enjoy in everyday life.  Central heating,  indoor running water, indoor bathrooms, electric lights, the gramophone to bring music into the home, telephones and television are just a few of the inventions that Eliza would have seen.  It was during her lifetime that women won the right to vote.  In the background, after the wars, government and business was developing mammoth-sized binary computers. 

 The one invention that did not come soon enough for Eliza was penicillin.  Her grandson Hector died of an ear infection at 16 years old, just 4 years before the public use of the drug that might have saved his life.

What is my Inheritance of Memories

 When our family was clearing out my aunt and uncle's house I became heir to a very old beautiful leather photo album with a metal clasp that belonged to my great grandmother.

Photo album belonging to Eliza Hannah Gray

 Over the next months I devoured this album.  I stared at people, clothing and backdrops.  I guessed at ages.  I got out my magnifying glass so I wouldn't miss a detail.   I was fascinated.  I was obsessed. I had a growing need to know who these people were.  What their lives were like.  Who their families were.  What work they did.  Where they lived.  How they were related to my great grandmother, and therefore, to me.

 The photos from long ago are often so clear that you can make eye contact with the people.  I was getting to know this group.  From the manner of dress this was an album of people from the 1890s and before.  Some faces showed up several times through the ages.

 There was however, a tiny problem with this gorgeous album of 117 photos.  All the photos were unnamed!  Well, okay, I exaggerate.  Not all of them were unnamed.  One had a name and one had a clue.  That left me with 116 unnamed photos.  Now what?  Before I get into that I should introduce my great grandmother.