Who do you think you are, Ann Grey?

Have you been watching the TV series, 'Who do you think you are'?  It's one of my favourites, probably because I researched my own family history several years ago in the days before ancestry.com and other internet sites. I spent hours at the archives and records offices, winding my way through miles of microfilm of census and church records, loving the detective work.

Fascinating though it was, mostly you only uncover names, piecing together families. The real excitement, as they show in the TV programme, is when you uncover stories about those ancestors which bring moments of their lives to life. I thought I'd share one of those moments with you. A warning though: this is not a happy tale!

When my Uncle Aaron died, my only request was to receive any family memorabilia: photos, certificates, that kind of thing. Amongst the small box of items were a handful of memorial cards. There were a few relating to my ancestors but most of the names were unknown to me. One of these was Ann Grey.

The card read:
In Memory of Ann Grey, Who unfortunately lost her life by an explosion of Gunpowder, May 29th, 1871.

I was intrigued! What was a 72 year old woman doing with gunpowder? It sounded like the kind of incident which must have been reported in the newspaper, so off I went to the record office.

Jackpot! There was a long article detailing the opening of the inquest into the incident.

A former miner, John Ainscough, who was the landlord of the Royal Oak pub, had been asked to transport two kegs containing 125lbs of gunpowder in his horse and cart. A young man, Eli Corner, had tried to lift the larger keg into the cart but it fell and powder was scattered over the road. Two other men, Howarth and Makinson, offered to assist in gathering it up. Shortly after, there was a huge explosion. It was said to be so loud that people from across the village ran to help, believing an accident had happened at one of the collieries.

Miraculously, although badly burnt, the four men survived. Only two lives were lost: Ainscough's 5-year-old granddaughter, Mary, and Ann Grey who both died later from burns.

As the report of the inquest continued, the first witness was called.

Peter Gregory, son of William

At this point, I almost fell off my chair. The witness was William Gregory who stated 'The deceased, Ann Grey, was my mother'. I couldn't believe it: William is my great great great grandfather! That made Ann Grey my 4x great grandmother! Just as amazing, I was now experiencing my family history through the words of one of my ancestors.

'Corner went on his knees and began to stroke the powder into the barrel, and Howarth got a shovel and afterwards a brush to get it together. I walked away and was about 30 yards off when I heard the report, which was a very loud one. My mother was standing at the top of the steps to the house, and...came to the foot of the steps. When I heard the report I came back and found my mother on the floor with her clothes all on fire...My mother never told me how it happened. A lad has told me a pipe was found'.

Photo courtesy of Wigan World

After another witness gave evidence, the inquest was adjourned and reopened six weeks later at the Running Horses pub. Ainscough, Corner and the two men had all recovered enough to give evidence though 'all bore marks of the hurt they had sustained and all were bandaged'.

Each gave evidence and there was much discussion of whether Corner or Makinson had been smoking, or whether the shovel had hit a stone and sparked.

'The Coroner briefly summed up. With regard to the ignition of the powder, there seemed to be some doubt, and conclusive proof he thought would never be obtained. The great probability was that the ashes from Makinson's pipe had caused the ignition but, upon this point, the evidence was not clear, and there was just the possibility that from Corner's pipe live ashes might have fallen. Unquestionably, gross negligence had been displayed.'

It's fair to say I had mixed emotions. Excitement at having uncovered some amazing family history but also sadness at what had happened to Ann. It just goes to show though that, no matter how ordinary your family, extraordinary things can happen.

Hope you enjoyed that snippet of family history - something different for a change. Normal service will be resumed next time with a day out from my holidays. More than a week gone already :(

Arley Hall

Thank you for all your birthday wishes over the last couple of posts and I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the trip on the steam train. It's amazing how much more exciting afternoon tea is on a train!

Although the trip was my birthday treat, my birthday was actually at the beginning of the month so, today, I thought I'd show you what Chickpea and I did on the day itself.

With the promise of a dry day, we headed down to Cheshire to visit Arley Hall. It may look like an Elizabethan manor house but it was actually built in the 1800s. Although we did have a look around the house, we were mainly there to see the gardens.

Through the gates and a glance over to the clock tower which stands over the entrance.

This part is the Flag garden, presumably named after the flagstone paths.

Then into the herb and scented gardens, with a lovely wicker owl sculpture.

A brief visit to The Vinery.

Brief because I couldn't wait to wander around the kitchen garden, probably my favourite part.

A walled kitchen garden is definitely on my lottery wishlist.

On into another walled garden, the..er..Walled Garden...

...which is a more formal, open space.

Less to my taste, though I did like the waterlily fountain.

And through another gate to the herbaceous borders which were in their full summer glory.

Through an arch in the hedge to the tea cottage which was used by the family for afternoon team and garden parties.

Comma

And finally, the sundial and ilex avenue. This concluded our visit to the formal part of the gardens but there's another area, The Grove, which is a woodland area on the opposite side of the Hall.

As we walked along, we were delighted to come across Fairy Glen, a small area filled with willow sculptures, little objects and fairy doors.

Doesn't this turtle look like he's smiling? He also looks like he's doing one of the yoga poses we do in my class!

The Stag - Juliette Hamilton

There are other sculptures in The Grove which are part of an annual art exhibition. You can find out more about the artists on the Arley Hall web site.

Bulb - Rachel Ramchurn

Forget-me-not - David Freedman

This metal flower was part of the back of a wrought iron chair (see the chair here).

My Girl - Angela Sidwell

Blue Sails - Bob Thacker

We had a lovely day out: so much to see. Well worth a visit and there's a play area if you're bringing children. Stockley Farm is right next door too. We might visit there next time to cuddle some rabbits and ride on a tractor :)

Steam train tea

Today we headed to Bury to catch a steam train for afternoon tea. It was my birthday treat from my Mum and Dad and I was so looking forward to it.

The train pulled into platform 2 of Bury Bolton Street station. We couldn't have been more giddy if it had been Harry Potter's 9 3/4!

Along the platform, past the regular carriages...

...to the First Class buffet cars.

The tables were already laid.

A plate of sandwiches each.

And scones, French fancies and chocolate-covered strawberries to share. Yum!

A toot of the whistle, a puff of steam and the train chugged its way along the East Lancashire Railway line. Dad reminisced about sitting on the railway bridge when he was a nipper watching the steam trains go by.

I was too busy munching to take many photos during the journey but spotted these old mill buildings at Summerseat.

And lots of fields full of sheep and rabbits too.

Rawtenstall is the end of the line. We were able to get off the train for a while to watch the engine move from one end of the train to the other.

You might remember that we visited Rawtenstall back in April and photographed the gates made from railway tracks which are part of the Irwell Sculpture Trail.

As I was taking photos, one of the guards asked if Chickpea and I would like to climb aboard the footplate. Yes!!

All too soon it was time to set off back to Bury and the end of our adventure. We had a brilliant time and I'd love to do it again. There are lots of different dining experiences on offer from simple cream teas to 4-course dinners, so you never know. Toot-toot!

 

A couple of random photos to finish. This caterpillar was wandering across the pavement near our house. I was walking home from the supermarket laden with bags when I spotted it. I dashed back home, threw the bags in and ran back out with the camera. It turns out it's a vapourer moth. A tufty back, a brushy tail and horns! Weird and fascinating all at the same time.

Enjoy your weekend. x