These Chronicles may interest descendants of one particular Blackwell family from Rainow, Manchester and Southport in the 19th century
These accounts will probably be of interest only to members of a Manchester Blackwell family or related families, and descendants from this family in Australia and Canada. If you are a casual reader who has found yourself here by chance on a Google search, you are welcome, but I doubt you will find anything of direct interest.
Today, in 2017, there is a huge interest in family ancestry. It is much easier to carry out research into one's ancestors than it used to be. A great deal can be achieved using the internet without having to travel to unearth paper records. On the other hand, paper records are very important and the internet has not replaced them.
How did I come to be writing this account?
Most families have stories about their history that are talked about, recounted and passed on to following generations. My own family, the Jolliffe family (my father was Raymond Jolliffe (1917-2001), my mother Cyrilla Blackwell (1911-1992)) held a family gathering at or after Christmas every year. Often, my father's younger sister, Betty (Elizabeth) Jolliffe (1925-2016) and my mother's younger brother, Jack (Laurence) Blackwell (1916-1981) who were also married to each other, were present with their children. There was also Margaret "Pearl" Blackwell (1917-1981) another sister. Often, too, Eddie Blackwell (1903-1997) my mother's eldest brother, his wife Jo (Josephine) Matthews (1908-1990) and their children visited. Sometimes, other members of my mother's Blackwell family (which was large), with their children, came to the annual gathering.
When my mother's first cousin once removed, Mabel Holmes (1887-1967) died, she left half the residue of her quite small estate, to my mother. This included, amongst other things, a 19th century family photograph album. There were also some postcard albums which we no longer possess. Some documents related to the Blackwell family were also inherited by my mother.
Mabel was the daughter of my mother's great aunt, Julia Holmes (née Blackwell) (1850-1917) who was herself the daughter of Matthew Blackwell (1804-1859) and Ann Blackwell (née Marsden) (1804-1889). Julia Holmes was the last child of Ann and Matthew Blackwell, and was born in 1850. I think we in the family can thank Julia Holmes (née Blackwell) and her daughters Mabel and her sister Gertrude Holmes (1881-1955) for keeping many family photographs and records safe and in good condition in that album, which eventually reached my mother. She passed it to my elder sister, Nicole, who kept it safe for many years.
Julia Blackwell, 1850-1917 who married Edmund Sykes Holmes
It is quite a rare and I would say, a privileged advantage for those of us living today in the 21st century to be able to see photographs of our ancestors from the 19th century. The name on the page with the dates of birth and death comes magically to life when there is an accompanying photograph. Our visual perception is such a deep part of our instinctive human recognition antennae that the 2D image creates a new dimension as the image is unconsciously compared with thousands of visual memories. Then the processes of narrative arise by which we make sense of the world and we look for clues in the facts surrounding the person.
In the photograph above, from Julia's album which my mother inherited, I guess that Julia is no older than 20 years, perhaps younger. Julia and her brothers and sisters were extremely fortunate to grow up in a family that was very well off at a time when there was great deprivation and poverty in the rapidly expanding city of Manchester.
I have started to delve into family history already, when I intended to explain why I came to do so. So, I shall return to the family gathering I mentioned above. There was a festive meal and always a large trifle laced with sherry, one of my mother's specialities. After this meal and Christmas cake, family members sat in the comfortable back room, perhaps with a drink and the album and postcards were brought out and were pored over and discussed. Our parents and their generation knew the identity of many of the relatives from preceding generations, but even then many identities were not known. Unfortunately, the great majority of photographs are unidentified in the album. To cousins in my generation, that of the 1960's when fashion and style underwent a revolution, the album seemed to contain people who were quite alien, from another very distant age, dressed in entirely unfamiliar formal clothing. Nonetheless, many of my cousins were fascinated by these pictures, as were some of my aunts and uncles. Looking back on it, I think I was one of those least interested in family history at the time.
Here is the photo album which Julia and her husband Edmund Holmes kept.
Here is the first page of the Holmes photograph album
As I stated earlier, it is frustrating that our forbears did not identify their family members and friends. However, I have made my best guesses about the identities of these four family members and I think they are Isaac Blackwell and his wife, Sarah Ann (Williams) at the top of the page. Below them are Isaac's sister, Sarah Ellen Blackwell and her husband John Williams. John and Sarah Williams were almost certainly brother and sister, too.
The Victorian Photograph Album - "Cardomania"
Eventually, I shall explain why I am writing this somewhat undisciplined account, but for a moment I shall refer to photographic history.
The science of photography, like so many areas of science and applied science, developed rapidly in the 19th century. The first experimental photograph was created in 1827. By the 1860s a "carte de visite", a small photo, the size of a visiting card had been perfected by a French photographer Andre Disderi (he made eight copies at a time on one photographic plate). Small photographic studios were set up to create individual and family portraits and became hugely popular. Photographs of celebrities were produced and collected and displayed as well as family photographs. Albums for storing them, like the one used by the Holmes family, were bought by those who could afford them and were part of the well off Victorian family's home life. The term "cardomania" was used in the United States. Recently, a lecture given by Ronald S Coddington (USA) "Cardomania", argued that they were the equivalent to a facebook phenomenon of the 19th century. By the 1870's, larger, "cabinet cards" were produced and displayed.
It is hard to imagine the fascination that photographs must have held for the general public. Prior to the development of the photograph, the only way to possess an image of a person was to own a sketch, drawing or painting. Photographs suddenly enabled amazingly accurate pictures to be produced and collected.
In the earlier 20th century, smaller cameras were invented for personal use and gave rise to the snapshot, still with us today, probably more popular than ever given its instant result from a mobile phone or smartphone and the opportunity for immediate publication in social media. Even so, I have found that many snapshots that I remember from my own youth have disappeared altogether, following house removals and family bereavements. Other "snaps" of people from elsewhere in the family have not been identified in writing, so remain as frustrating as those Victorian images. However, we shall see in later postings that many identified photographs of the Blackwell ancestors do exist. For these, I am grateful to my cousins.
Paul Blackwell's Lonely Furrow
One of my first cousins, Paul Blackwell, the eldest son of Eddie and Jo Blackwell, was often party to the discussions about the photo album and the postcards. He has told me that his interest in tracing the ancestry of the Blackwell family was sparked off by these annual family chats. As I shall mention later, Paul carried out research into the Blackwell family over a long period of time and in the last three years he encouraged me to do the same. He has also carried out research into the Forrest family, the family of our grandmother.
At the Christmas gatherings, many anecdotes were told about deceased relatives. I wish now that I had paid more attention. In truth, I had little interest in such matters at that time. However, as I write this, memories of my mother's voice from the past come to me from the days when the pages of the album were turned,
"That's my great grandmother."
"He's grandfather Marsden's brother, Richard, who went to Australia."
"What happened to him, Mum?"
"We don't know."
The encouraging fact is that nearly fifty years on, we do know much more but there is more to find out. In fact it is mainly in the last few years that many of the details of the family history have emerged from a forgotten past.
In conclusion, then, here are the reasons why I am writing this account. I find it intrinsically interesting. I think it's important to record some of the history of our family for its descendants. It is fascinating to me to try to bring some of the long dead members of the family back to life a little and to speculate on their lives and families from the fragments of the past which are still accessible to us.
I would be very pleased if anyone with interesting information about the Blackwell family lets me know. I can incorporate new information into these writings at any time. I can also correct any errors that might be identified. Please get in touch to let me know.
tbjolliffe@gmail.com
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