A whole new year and a long time since I’ve written anything here…! But hopefully a New Year’s resolution I can keep 🙂
So much has changed for me since I wrote my last entry in September 2021. For the last year or so I have been unable to work as I was diagnosed with two chronic conditions: fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (the latter otherwise known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME). If you click on the links you can find out more if you’re interested. These diagnoses meant that I had to make a choice. Keep working but be so exhausted and in so much pain, that I would need to go to bed by 5pm every day, or stop working and be able to use the energy I do have to take care of my family. I consider myself to be very lucky that I have been able to stop working without any financial worries. I have good days and bad days. In fact my New Year’s Day was spent in bed because I was in too much pain to do anything at all. But, I am incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful family around me that understands my limitations and supports me in every way possible.
Let’s see, what else is new… My two boys are now aged 11 and 9. My eldest is in his last year at primary school and we are waiting to hear which secondary school he will go to in September. He is completely obsessed with all things Formula 1 and go karting. We take him go karting once a week at our local TeamSport, where he has completed their Race Academy program and last year he reached the Nationals of the British Indoor Karting Championship. An amazing achievement after less than one year of karting! Unfortunately, he was unable to participate in the National Finals as he had a minor karting crash the week prior and suffered a concussion 😦 He was absolutely gutted he couldn’t take part but was super proud of his friend who came in third place in the Cadet league. I must say a big shout out to his instructor Crissy who is just amazing at what she does. All of the TeamSport staff at Crawley are brilliant.
My youngest is now in year four and loves Minecraft, rainbows and unicorns. He also loves to sing and is taking part in the Young Voices concert at the O2 at the end of this month. My husband will be watching him and I will be at home on hand to pick him up from school in case my husband doesn’t make it back in time. Handing over hundreds of children to parents at the O2 is not a good plan!! Happily the concert is being recorded so I will get to see it after the event.
My parents did a big move from their long term family home in Epsom to a lovely chalet bungalow in Barton on Sea in Hampshire last month. I’m sad they are not close by anymore but it is a lovely part of the world to visit and brush up on my childhood crabbing skills.
Sadly, in May last year, we lost my beloved grandmother (my Mum’s Mum). I still miss her desperately as I was visiting her weekly in the months before her passing. She was such a wonderful lady and retained her sense of humour and crossword solving skills to the very end.
I think that just about covers the highlights and lowlights of the past years since I last wrote. Back to genealogy! My exciting news is that I am taking steps to move from an amateur to a professional genealogist. I am two courses in of ten that make up the intermediate certificate with Pharos Tutors. Once I (hopefully) complete the intermediate certificate, there is then a two year advanced certificate programme to work through. I must achieve an average of 70% for the ten intermediate courses to be able to apply for the advanced certificate. Assuming I can complete both certificates, which would not be until 2027 at the earliest, I can then apply for membership as an Associate at the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives. Another lengthy process involving interviews and submitting copies of paid research I have completed. There is also a Member option but I will need to be completing paid research for some time before applying for this. This is definitely a LONG term goal for me! So far so good as I have achieved a distinction for both courses I have completed so far. It has been great to get back into study after such a long time. I left school after not doing too well with A-Levels in the late 90s and did not go to university, instead spending a year in Australia and then heading straight into the world of work in financial services. Perhaps interestingly, my last role was in Compliance Monitoring which meant I had to research how areas of the business were doing in relation to the regulations – not too dissimilar to researching family history! Clearly the latter is much more exciting!
The first course I took was Wills and Administrations; the riches of probate records. I found this course truly fascinating and it really did cement my amateur status as I had no idea of the level of information that wills contained, nor how to find them. I learned about who could make a will and the layout of the document, the process before and after 1858 of making and proving a will, how to access wills/administrations, and about other helpful documents such as inventories, accounts, and Death Duty records. Below is a copy of the will of my second great-grandfather Walter Cotterell. I would not have known how to find this without this course. Just look at the information it reveals about my family. Thrilling!
The second course I took was Nonconformity – Its Records and History 1600-1950. In this course I learnt all about how nonconformity began (back to another passion of mine with Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty!) and how it developed over time, how to locate nonconformist records prior to the 1837 Civil Registration Act and after, governance and social activities which can reveal much about any nonconformist ancestor you may have. I must say that I’m not a fan of the word nonconformist – in a world where most people strive to be inclusive, this word is anything but.
One of the most exciting things I came across during this course was a booklet celebrating the centenary of the United Reformed Church in New Malden that my grandparents attended for many years. How special that in the year I lost my grandmother, I should come across her name in a course I am taking with the intention of changing my life path and working towards the goal and dream of becoming a professional genealogist. Below is the excerpt that mentions her (Jean Bedford) in a section talking about the Boys’ Brigade group at the church. My late grandfather Bernard Bedford is mentioned in the second photo.
My next, and third, course begins next week. It is all about Apprenticeship Records and I am looking forward to learning about reading and interpreting Apprenticeship Indentures (whatever these may be!), about documents dependant on those Indentures, and about Pauper Apprentices. I wonder if I will find out about any of my ancestors that may have been apprentices during their lifetimes.
On top of all this, I am also taking an online level two course (GCSE equivalent) on Understanding Autism with the Isle of Wight College. This one is just to enhance my understanding for my own personal growth. It is a really interesting course and so far I have passed the first unit of four, with my second assessment due in by the end of next week. I am definitely keeping myself busy while the kids are at school!
Oh and I nearly forgot… We had a new addition to our family just before Christmas. Meet Lando, our new cockapoo puppy! He is an adorable bundle of mischief and is fitting in perfectly, although the cats are not quite so sure at present and avoid him at all costs. I am very much looking forward to just over a weeks time when he can finally go outside and burn off some energy on walks 🙂 And in case you were wondering, he has been named after Lando Norris, my eldest son’s favourite F1 driver!
I feel sure I’ve rambled on enough for one blog post now. If you want to ask me any questions about the courses I’ve completed so far, drop me a comment or an email (my email address can be found on the home page) and I’ll be happy to help if I can. Till next time peeps x
Laura's Amateur Genealogy Stories 