Meeting Family and History

Cardiff Castle - 29 July 2013

The sun was shining as our train pulled into Cardiff on July 29th.  Shortly after arriving, I received welcome emails and texts from my cousins - which were delightful and made me feel at home. One of them sent a list of pubs near our hotel that we could try - knowing my husband wanted to sample UK lagers and ales and I was on a bit of quest for the perfect pint of cider.

As we explored Cardiff and the Castle, I kept thinking about what the city would have looked like to Thomas before he left in the late 1890s. Why had he been the only one of six siblings to have left Wales? It's still a mystery, but I think that he must not have left willingly - Wales is such a  beautiful place.

We had been invited to Penarth for dinner on the day of our arrival. My cousin arranged to meet us in the lobby of our hotel that evening. As I stepped out the elevator, I instantly recognized him - the first thing I noticed was his blue eyes - a trait common to my siblings and myself. He drove us to his home, where we met his family and father.  We had a lovely meal and shared many stories of our upbringings, ancestors and life in general.  When it was discovered that my husband was originally a Nottingham lad, they forgave him for being English (actually, he's more Canadian than English as he grew up here). I have to say that it felt like family.  I brought copies of my current research and photos to share - and learned many new stories and some possible clues to mysteries yet unsolved. It was a lovely evening, made all the more special by our hosts.

A perfect first day to our Welsh adventure.

Cheers, Karen

Anticipation

After a very long break, I'm back. Work has been crazy busy - we moved the Local History collection twice and have now finally settled into our final location.  I have also launched a large WW1 volunteer project, a blog Historically Speaking and entered the Twitterverse .

Despite the busy-ness, I really missed working on my own family history and have decided to carve out time to pursue this once again. As summer rolls around again, memories of our trip to South Wales have flooded back and I'd like to share those with you.

As we landed at Gatwick on July 27th last year, the anticipation of meeting my Welsh cousins and seeing the hometowns of my great-grandfather, Thomas Huxtable Ball, was sweet.  My husband and daughter were eager to see all the sights, but for me, Cardiff was going to be the highlight of my trip.

After the overnight flight to the UK and the train ride to Oxford, we tried to soak in as much of this wonderous university town as much as we could before crashing for the night. The next day, we made the pilgrimage to the Bodleian Library and wandered through the hallowed laneways and courtyards of the University.  I even managed to have my first pint of real cider on tap - a luxury not often found at home.  However, all through the day, I could not help but wonder what it would be like rolling into Cardiff and meeting up with my third cousin Matthew and his family for dinner.

The next morning, we made the long walk with suitcases in tow to the train station and boarded the first of two trains, headed in the direction of Cardiff. We changed trains at Didcot Parkway, just outside of Oxford.  I didn't let the ominous skies dampen my excitement.

As our train pulled into Cardiff, I felt like it was a bit of a homecoming.

Stay tuned!

Cheers, K.

Hiatus and Holiday

As you can probably tell from my lack of blog posts of late, I am not a prolific (or even a consistent) blogger.  I will admit that it is often difficult to juggle family, working full-time, volunteering at a local historical society, conferences, gardening, maintaining a house, sleep, exercise and blogging. And at times, I've decided to let some of the 'balls' (if you will excuse the pun) drop in order to keep my sanity.

Part of my hiatus from blogging was to plan and prepare for our summer vacation.  It was a particularly special trip as we traveled to Wales to meet my third cousins and their families. While I didn't do any research while on the road, I learned many interesting and wonderful tidbits about the Ball family in South Wales and visited a number of towns and villages where my great-grandfather, Thomas Huxtable Ball, and his extended family had lived.  As this was a family trip, visits to archives and libraries were not on the itinerary (although I did sneak one in to say thanks to a librarian who has helped me immensely in my research - I will write about that another day). I have been working through my photos, notes and discoveries from the trip and will share them in the coming weeks.  Back on the blogging beat... again.

Birth of another son, John Ball and the 1861 Wales Census

The change of the decade brought many changes to the family of William Huxtable Ball. I could no longer find him in Devon. Knowing that Thomas Huxtable had been born and raised in Wales, I decided to search the 1861 Wales Census. I did find a birth registered in January-March 1861 index which showed that a John Ball had been born in Gower, Wales. Then, I found William Huxtable Ball living with Charlotte, William James, age 3 and John Ball, age 2 months, in Scurlage House, Llanddewi, Gower, Glamorgan in the 1861 Wales Census.

Where is Llanddewi? Well, it is a parish is located 14 miles west and south of the town of Swansea in the County of Glamorgan, in south Wales. The population in 1861 is noted as 149. This is a map of the area:


View Larger Map

GENUKI also offers a number of map links to view the area. I suspect that the family lived closer to what is modern day Scurlage.

Here is a street view of Scurlage and the countryside surrouding it:

View Larger Map

What pushed or pulled William and his young family to Wales, I am not sure. It could have been the lure of a job, steady work, family ties or the influence of friends. Whatever it was, it started a new chapter in the history of the Ball family.

Cheers, K.