Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Walter and Rose Sophia Jones with their son, James Alfred  Meet the Jones family.... The photo is of Walter Jones, his wife Rose Sophia ( nee Redrup) and their son, James Alfred, of  Birmingham, County of Warwick, England. Walter was born on 3 March, 1865 and Sophia on 1 January 1867.  They married in February,1929, many years after the birth of their son, James (1903). It can be speculated that they married, aged  64 and 62 respectively, because by that time, Walter was suffering badly from work related emphysema and chronic bronchitis  and in 1925, legislation was passed which granted "widows"  government support. This is, of course, retrospective conjecture! Walter appeared on the 1891 census as a 'spade maker', and when his son was born, his occupation was recorded as a 'garden fork drawer and later in this life, his illness affected his capacity to work - in 1911, records show that Walter was working as a bricklayer's labourer.Walter's death ce...

Walking around the inner city of Newcastle (NSW, Australia) is an interesting exercise, especially on a sunny day.  Last weekend, I stopped at 22 Church Street. It is currently the James Dowling Chambers housing  a group of barristers.   Counsel in these chambers practise in a variety of areas including family law, criminal law and civil and commercial litigation.   The first thing I wanted to know was who was James Dowling after seeing his portrait displayed prominently at the front door.  Sir James Dowling was the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW (30 August 1833 – 27 September 1844). Throughout his judicial career, according to  Sir Alfred Stephen , Dowling 'was remarkable not only for the most strict uprightness and impartiality, but for a painstaking and anxious industry rarely equalled. Accessible at all times, a patient listener, careful to ascertain every fact and ready to hear every argument which might be brought to bear ...

Charles James and Florence Beatrice Simmons  My husband’s grandparents were both English politicians.  Jim’s grandfather, Charles James Simmons represented various constituencies in the Birmingham area, and his grandmother  Florence Beatrice Simmons was an alderman in Birmingham City Council  in the 1940’s to 1950’s.( they were known as Jim and Beatrice). Their individual stories take more than a blog entry to cover – in fact, Jim’s (Charles James)  autobiography, The Soap Box Evangelist , tells his story while  he was a member of the  House of Commons  and a conscientious objector in khaki during World War 1. So, this blog post focuses on the fascinating story of their house at 20 Slack Lane ( corner of Slack Lane and College Road , Handsworth)  which we visited recently. 20 Slack Lane ( corner of Slack Lane and College Road, Handsworth, Birmingham    Known as the Handsworth Town Hall , the former  home of the...

Background:  Jim, my husband and I  have just returned from a  6 week  holiday to visit family and friends in England, Germany, Finland and Hong Kong.  I have enough material for my blog for the rest of the year, but I have decided to start with a few weeks of  family history. While great contacts were made re: the Simmons/Jones family in England, I have decided to start this blog series "Family History" with a profile of Lily Lee.  I met Lily Lee for the first time in Hong Kong, last Friday 15 June 2012. Why did we make contact? Aunty Lily's father, Philip Lee Chun sponsored my grandfather, Thomas Lee Fong to live in Australia, adopted him as a son, and  ensured he was educated in Sydney at Newington College. Lily was born in Sydney in 1910 and that makes her a "young" 101, and 102 next October.  She was the third youngest of eight children, three girls and five boys ( excluding my grandfather).    Aunty Lily moved  ...