John VERNELL #1 was born in 1866.
The Reign of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria had already been on the throne since 1837, 29 years, when John VERNELL #1 was born. She remained the Queen of England and Empire until her death in 1901. From John's birth until he was 35, this petite and famously prudish lady was the only queen he knew.
Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, and the Diamond Jubilee in 1897, were big public events. John VERNELL was living in and around London then, and probably got as caught up in the excitement of these celebrations as everyone else.
For more information, see the BBC website: History: Historic Figures, "Victoria" (author and date not shown)
The post before this one was about John VERNELL #1 and his wife Mary Ann in the 1901 English census.
The VERNELL story starts with the Silk Manufacturers in Spitalfields.
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Emmitt Smith traces his roots into the days of American slavery
On the U.S. version of the BBC TV show Who do you think you are?, episode one featured American football star Emmitt Smith reaching back to the past and breaching a few genealogical brick walls.
Being African American with several generations born in the U.S.A., Smith's research problems started with the fact that the records of vital events (births, deaths, marriages) for slaves were not kept before Emancipation.
That dry sentence hides the more emotional fact: slaves were property, not people. They had no rights.
Smith came to the personal realization of how much things have changed for African Americans when he was given an old book of records to look at. On the cover, the title included the word "Colored". Even the records were segregated in the American South for a time.
I don't know anything about Emmitt Smith other than what I saw of him on this show, but his compassion for his enslaved ancestors was genuine. That's common in family history research. Once you know your ancestors' names, you start to fill in the blanks, and they quickly become real people, not just names and dates on the page.
I'm looking forward to next week's show.
Here's a link to a little synopsis of the Emmitt Smith episode, from the BBC's website.
These books are all about tracing African American ancestry. I haven't read them so can't tell you which would be the best. Perhaps I'll get a chance later.
Being African American with several generations born in the U.S.A., Smith's research problems started with the fact that the records of vital events (births, deaths, marriages) for slaves were not kept before Emancipation.
That dry sentence hides the more emotional fact: slaves were property, not people. They had no rights.
Smith came to the personal realization of how much things have changed for African Americans when he was given an old book of records to look at. On the cover, the title included the word "Colored". Even the records were segregated in the American South for a time.
I don't know anything about Emmitt Smith other than what I saw of him on this show, but his compassion for his enslaved ancestors was genuine. That's common in family history research. Once you know your ancestors' names, you start to fill in the blanks, and they quickly become real people, not just names and dates on the page.
I'm looking forward to next week's show.
Here's a link to a little synopsis of the Emmitt Smith episode, from the BBC's website.
These books are all about tracing African American ancestry. I haven't read them so can't tell you which would be the best. Perhaps I'll get a chance later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)