Of Christmas Past

 

Left to right:  Philip Scott TRENDALL,  1961-,  Helen ('Nellie') Kirk McBeth SCOTT (formerly McGAVIN, nee DUNCAN = Nanny SCOTT), 1896-1971, Frederick Alfred TRENDALL, 1914-1983, Frederick Henry TRENDALL (‘Freddie’), 1947-2013, Paul Duncan TRENDALL, 1957-.

Christmas dinner circa 1967/68 in the upstairs front room at the Marquis of Lansdowne, 32 Cremer Street, London, E2.  The picture was probably taken by Jean Duncan TRENDALL, (formerly TRENDALL, formerly PALMER, nee McGAVIN), 1924-1982.  Missing from this photo is George SCOTT, (‘Pop’) 1906-1971.  It looks like a place is set at the far left of the picture so he was probably just out of shot.

I don’t know where my sister Christine PAGE (nee TRENDALL), 1942 -  ) was on this day?

I have a possible memory of this being taken to 'send to my sister  Maureen’ (Maureen HEPBURN, nee TRENDALL 1942-   ) in the USA.

The drinks include Dubonnet and lemonade – not often seen in the hands of the under 11s, if at all, these days.  A fondness for this tipple is probably the only thing I had in common with the late Queen Mother.  Note the mash potato served with the use of an ice cream scoop, this practice always reminded me of the horrors of school dinners.   I remember the curtains well.  They are yet to come back into fashion.

Corrections welcome……..

 

Philip Scott TRENDALL (1961-

A Small World........................

 

A little while ago I was buying a cup of coffee at a local station.  It must have been around Remembrance Sunday as I bought a poppy, the first time I have done this with a card rather than cash.  The transaction was not a smooth one with the machine failing to read the card.  The very helpful chap behind the counter took my card and wiped it to clean the chip.  As he did so he noticed my name on the card and said he had served in the Grenadier Guards in the 1960s with a great chap called Fred Trendall, I don’t suppose you are related”?  It turns out he knew my brother Fred and had served with him in Cyprus and other locations overseas, as well as in the UK.  He described him as very funny and always cheerful.  He said that he was the sort of chap who would always help out others who were struggling.  I recognised the description.  We had a good chat and he was very sorry to hear that Fred had died.  I missed my train but it was worth it and I was left thinking about the impression we make on the people we meet and how that impression can last a very long time…………………………………

December 2020

A Trendall Mystery

 

Who was Thomas Ivey TRENDALL?

On 31st July 1850 Thomas Ivey TRENDALL, aged 32 years, a Cab Driver, died of Consumption (TB).  He died at an address in Camden, Middlesex, just a couple of miles north of where my Trendall forebears were living.  His death was registered by a W BAXTER (?) who was, in the language of death registration, 'present at the death'.  There is no further clue as to who BAXTER was, or his or her relationship with Thomas.

The problem is this is the only appearance in the records of this chap.  There are no baptism, marriage, burial or census records (1841) that mention him.  He does not appear in any newspaper reports (in so far as it has been possible to check) or in any, on line, court or probate records.  

He could of course been from another branch of the family.  He could have moved to London from Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire or Kent.  But this does not explain why no other record exists.

I suppose the most likely explanation is that the person registering his death got his name wrong.  As a cab driver he may have led a transient lifestyle, moving from lodging to lodging.  Perhaps he used the name TRENDALL as an alias.  

The middle name 'Ivey' is also intriguing.  I have tried searching for this as his surname.  This is not easy but there are no records that stand out as obviously being him..

Unusually the death certificate does not indicate who certified the cause of death.  It merely says 'certified'. 

If anybody has any ideas about how to solve this mini mystery I would be pleased to hear from them.

Oct 2020

Correction

 Corection.......Correction.........Correction

I am grateful to my sister for pointing out the obvious error in my last post.  Frederick Alfred TRENDALL died in 1983 NOT 1982.  I have edited the published version.  I was so focused on the photographs that I didn't proof read it properly.  I also missed out his middle name, now also corrected.

It is odd that I should make a mistake on an event at which I was present and is so close in time.  Perhaps this makes mistakes more likely as we have a tendency not to check those things that we 'know'!

Some Photographs with the aid of technology.

 I don't like technology.  It scares me and I can't make it work.  It makes me nervous in an illogical way.  But I try when I feel like it and I have been experimenting with some of the SIMPLE (ie one click) software that is now available for photographs.  It is clear to me that the technology still has a way to go.  It works fine with some images and not at all well with others.  It struggles with sepia and doesn't like Khaki (which is a problem with military photos).

I thought I would share my attempts at enhancing a couple of the family photographs.

This is a picture of my Father (Frederick Alfred TRENDALL (1914-1983) as boy in India in around 1924/5.  The picture has been made sharper and has been cropped.  Trying to colour the image didn't really work and nor did producing a head and shoulders enhancement.  By cropping the picture I have removed a small shadow which was probably the photographer.

Frederick Alfred TRENDALL (1914-1983) again 20 years later during the Second World War.  This picture has been enhanced and cropped.  To me the features look a lot clearer.  I am influenced by the novelty of seeing my Father with hair, although it is clearly beginning to go!

 

This picture of Frederick TRENDALL (1890-1914) has appeared on this blog before.  I have cropped it, enhanced it and put on some colour.  I am not sure if this has improved it or not.  I would be interested to here the views of others.

This is the only image we have of my Grandmother, Helen (also known as Nellie) Kirk McBeth DUNCAN, later McGAVIN, later SCOTT (1896-1971), as a young child.  It was probably taken at a school or Sunday school.  Below is the enhanced, zoomed in and coloured version:

I will play with this some more and I might post some of the better ones.  However I will wait a few years to allow the technology to improve before I do too much.

Your views and comments on this, and on other posts, are most welcome.

Bramfield

6th September 2020

From St Pancras to Aberdeen or Pawnbroking, Fishing and Mine sweeping

 

In 2006 a young boy went missing in Aberdeen.  There was considerable media interest and a massive search response, including dogs and air support.   The boy had the surname TRENDALL and I recall wondering how the surname reached the north of Scotland.  The story, unlike like others in this post, had a happy ending and the eight year old was found safe and well a day later.  During lockdown I came across the story again and although I have not attempted to trace his family backwards I did look for a connection between ‘our’ Trendalls and North East Scotland.  Trendall is a surname that is mostly found in Berks/Bucks, Kent and London. There are a few Trendalls in Aberdeen and I looked at other unexplained (to me at least) clusters around the UK and I noted that another Trendall outpost is in the area around Grimsby.    The connection between Aberdeen and Grimsby is that both were home to large fishing fleets for most of the 20^th century.

My great great Grandfather, Thomas TRENDALL (1820-1878) was a twin.  His brother, William, was a pawnbroker and had premises in the Brunswick Square area of London, just south of St Pancras.  He married Elizabeth JOHNSON in 1845 and they had at least three children.  Elizabeth died in 1858 and some years later William went to Canada, probably to join another of the brothers, Robert.  One of his children, William (B1849), moved to Gorleston on Sea in Norfolk (then in Suffolk) (1) and became a fisherman.  What was behind the move is unknown.  It would be interesting to understand why a young man brought up in central London should move to the coast and take up a dangerous and specialised trade.  Perhaps there was a pre-existing family connection, (which I have not yet found), but there is no trace of a Trendall family in the area in the censuses of the earlier part of the century.

William TRENDALL (1849-1919) married a widow: Harriet Mary Ann WHEELER (nee BETTS) (1852-1932) in 1881.  In the census of the same year he is shown as the master of a fishing vessel: The Seabird, at Great Yarmouth.  The couple had three children,(2) all born in Suffolk/Norfolk during the 1880s.  By 1901 the family had moved to Aberdeen where William worked as a ‘trawl fisherman’.  He was now a long way from the urban sprawl of the metropolis.  Around this time he is often called William Arthur TRENDALL, although on census records he stuck to his registered name which did not include a middle name.  There are other William Arthurs in our family which adds to the confusion caused by a lack of imagination as far as the choice of Christian names are concerned.  Thomas, William and Frederick account for a sizeable number of my forebears first names.

William remained in Aberdeen for the rest of his life.  By 1911 he was retired and in 1919 he died there in a temporary hospital that was being used to cope with the pressures of war and the pandemic, although his death was from unrelated natural causes.

William and Harriet had one son during their time in Suffolk/Norfolk.  Thomas William TRENDALL (1886-1942) was born in August 1886 in Gorleston on Sea.  He moved with the family to Scotland and became a fisherman.  He qualified as a mate in 1907 and moved to Grimsby where he married Williamina GORDON, aged 22, a ‘fish worker’. She was originally from Aberdeen. Their new household must have had a fragrant air.  Williamina was part of a group of 'fish women' who followed the herring fleets as they traveled up and down the east coast.  These women would work long hours gutting and preserving the fish as it came off the boats. Williamina was known as Minnie or as Willie and appears as the former in the 1911 census.  Thomas is not on the 1911 census, possibly because he was at sea.  The couple had five children spread over 13 years.  

Fig One: Builder's Plate Steam Trawler Solon:  Taken from a picture of a model of trawler sold at auction 2019

By the start of the Great War (1914) Thomas was the skipper of a trawler working out of Grimsby and a member of the Royal Navy Reserve (RNR).  Thus in the Autumn of 1914 he was in charge of His Majesty’s Trawler Solon No 55.  Trawlers were quickly adapted for mine sweeping operations but it was very dangerous work and many lives were lost.  In mid December the Germans mined the waters off Scarborough as part of the infamous raids on the Yorkshire coast.  The official despatch describes the problem:

“From the 19^th to the 31^st December 1914 sweeping operations were conducted by the East Coast Mine Sweepers with the object of clearing the minefield which had been laid by the enemy off Scarborough.  At the beginning there was no indication of the position of the mines, although owing to losses of passing merchant ships it was known that a minefield had been laid.  In order to ascertain how the mines lay it was necessary to work at all times of tide with a consequent large increase in the element of danger.”  (Naval Despatch dated 19 February 1915)

Several ships were lost or damaged, including several sweeping trawlers, as a consequence of the mine field which is said to have been the densest laid in the history of naval warfare.  One historian has described the situation on 16^th December as follows:

 

“The sweepers found themselves in a desperate situation by this time as the full horror of the minefield became apparent. As the tide fell, they were in the midst of a horrible mêlée of floating mines, tangled wire sweeps and stricken trawlers, all drifting with the current.” ( https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?65661)

 

On Christmas Day the Solon was involved in an incident which is described in the despatch under the list of officers who were ‘specially noticed for their services during the operations’:

“Skipper T Trendall, RNTR Trawler “Solon”, No 55, on his own responsibility went to the assistance of the Steamer “Gallier”, which had just been mined on the night of the 25^th December.  It was low water at the time and dark, and the “Gallier” was showing no lights, so had to be searched for in the minefield” (Naval Despatch dated 19 February 1915)

Thomas was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his actions on Christmas day and he remained on active service for the duration of the war.  In 1924 he was sent his other war medals: The 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal and the Victory Medal: Pip Squeak and Wilfred.

At the start of 1914 nobody foresaw the full extent of what the year would bring.  For Thomas and Williamina this was a year which they would have remembered as one of complete darkness.  At exactly the same time as Thomas was confronting great danger from the enemy at sea, at home the couple were dealing with loss that is painful to behold, even for the casual researcher separated by over a century.

Harriet Rose TRENDALL was named after her Grandmother and was born on 18^th June 1909.  She was Thomas and Williamina’s first child.  She died of measles on 13^th December 1914 aged five.  Her funeral was on the day after the start of the minesweeping operations in which her Father was so involved.   But worse was to come.  The youngest in the family, Ruby TRENDALL, was only 21 months old when she too died of measles a few days later, on 29^st December 1914.  The two sisters are buried together in Scartho Road Cemetery Grimsby.  It is easy for us to forget what the world was like before vaccinations protected us from the scourge of diseases such TB, polio and measles. (3) 

As well as Harriet and Ruby the other children of Thomas and Williamina were:

Williamina Gwendolyne May TRENDALL (B1911)

Thomas William TRENDALL (B1916)

Dorothy TRENDALL (B1922)

In 1939 Thomas (B1886) and Williamina (B1886) were living at 8 Evelyn Grove Grimsby.  Also in their household was their son, Thomas William (B1916) and their daughter Dorothy (B1922).  The younger Thomas William had followed what was now a family tradition and was a fisherman by trade.  Both Father and son are described as unemployed.

Shortly after the start of the world war two the older Thomas William and Williamina moved to Aberdeen where he died on 13^th August 1942 ‘suddenly’ after treatment for bowel cancer and heart failure, at  Woodend Hospital .  Several newspaper items recorded the death and funeral and for some years Williamina posted an ‘in memoriam’ advert on the anniversary of his death.  Such advertisements have largely gone out of fashion but until recently were common in local newspapers. They will be remembered for the use of off the shelf unsophisticated verse which, despite its literary shortcomings captured and conveyed the rawest of emotions.  In 1943 her advert read:

“The call was short, the shock severe.  To part with one we all loved so dear- from his sorrowing widow, W Trendall and family” (Aberdeen Evening Express Wed 13^th October 1943 p7)

 

Williamina lived until 1973 and was back in Lincolnshire at the time of her death.

Fig two: The grave of Thomas William Trendall (1886-1942) and his wife, Williamina Gordon (1886-1972) in Aberdeen

Thomas William (B1916) followed his Father into the RNR.  He skippered at least two trawlers that were taken up into war service; the Edward Walmsley (FY 624) and the Fentonian (FY 868). He was also in charge of the Harlech Castle but it is not clear if this was on active duty at the time.   In September 1940 he married Gladys Watt FRASER in Aberdeen.  He was described in the marriage register as ‘Skipper – Royal Navy Reserve – Now Engaged in War Service’. ‘ Occupation Trawl Fisherman’  A (rather poor) picture of the couple appeared on the front page of the Aberdeen Evening Express on 20^th December 1940.  He is wearing his RNR uniform and looks rather nervous!

Earlier in the same year whilst skipper of the Harlech Castle Thomas William hit the national headlines when he captured four German aircrew:

                  The Grimsby trawler Harlech Castle yesterday landed three German airmen and the body of         a fourth.  They were part of a crew of a bomber which participated in the raid on the Tyne on                 Saturday.  One of the Germans was uninjured, but the two others were wounded in the legs…….             The fourth man died while the Harlech Castle was waiting to get into dock.  The skipper, Mr                    Thomas Trendall, said they saw five men standing on the fuselage of the aeroplane. “By the time            we had got a bit closer the machine had sunk and we could see four men swimming.  They were            hauled aboard.  We dressed their wounds as well as we could.  Two of the men could speak a little           English, and they thanked us for what we had done.  I was not very pleased to hear from one of               them that some more planes were coming over in the afternoon”  (Aberdeen Press and Journal 05           Feb 1940 p1)

Other newspaper accounts reported that Thomas and the crew visited the injured airmen in hospital and gave them cigarettes. 

Thomas William TRENDALL died in 1985 in Grimsby.

The nearest common ancestor I have to the people described in this post is my great great great Grandfather, Joseph TRENDALL (D1838), so they are distant cousins.  But I am still proud of their actions in war and mindful of their struggles in peacetime.  It is clear to me now that there is more to this family tree than the London branch from which I am descended.

 

Bramfield

Aug 2020

 

Notes:

1.       We know Gorleston on Sea as being in Norfolk. Indeed I recall (just) a holiday there many years ago.  However it was technically in Suffolk until the mid nineteenth century.  This makes for some confusion in census records as the place of birth of some of our subjects is given as Suffolk and even though their place of residence is shown as Norfolk they are still in the same place.

2.       One of these children was Edith Miriam TRENDALL (b1889).  She married in 1915 when she was 26.  Her husband died in 1920 and she did not re-marry.  She was a widow for 66 years and died in Aberdeen in 1986 aged 96.

3.       In 1955 there were over 600,000 cases of measles in England and Wales which killed 174 people.  The introduction of vaccination made a huge difference.  In 2010 there were around 2,000 cases and no deaths.  It is a disturbing fact that the UK has lost its international ‘Measles Free’ status  in the last couple of years because of an increase in parents failing to vaccinate their children. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's in a Name?

Fig 1: Trendell's Wood, Bucks.  Was the family named after the wood or the wood after the family?

One of the advantages of the lockdown is that some organisations have given free access to their reference materials.  For a short period the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (2016) was made freely available on line.  This fine work normally costs £375.99, so free access was a real treat.  Normally if I want to look at it I do so in the British Library.  It is one of the most used books on open access.

Surname dictionaries have been around for many years.  Unfortunately very few are based on original research and most copy the mistakes of previous publications.  This is what marks out the Oxford Dictionary – it is built from scratch and is a pleasure to use.

The dictionary reflects the fact that spelling has only become fixed in the last hundred or so years, indeed family names are proof of this.  As far as the TRENDALL family is concerned there is little new information.  TRENDALL is a variant spelling and has the same origins as TRENDELL, TRUNDLE and TRENDLE.

 

A few highlights:

1.        Using the spelling TRENDALL we can see that there were 155 holders of the name in Great Britain in 2011 and none in Ireland.  This compares to 110 in 1881 – not a big increase for this variant.

2.       In 1881 the biggest concentrations of this version of the name were to be found in London, Kent and in Oxford/Bucks.  This reflects our own ancestry as we have researched it.

3.       The name derives from the Old/Middle English for a circle or sphere and was given to people who lived near such features or were from places named after circular features.  The Dictionary quotes the example of Trendell’s Wood near Stokenchurch (noted as Trindele in 1227).  The word was also used to describe a wheel and a similar word means to bounce or revolve.  ‘Our’ branch of the family has some roots in the Stokenchurch area (more on this to follow in a future blog, but this will have to wait until I can do a bit of fieldwork).

4.       The earliest holders of the name in paper records appear in 1177 when Ernald TRENDEL appears in the Pipe Rolls for Suffolk.  Several TRENDELS/TRENDALES etc appear in the records of the Poll Tax in the 1370s.  I wonder if any of them were involved in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 which was, in part, caused by the Poll Tax?  This reminds me of being in  the Poll Tax riot of 1990 – but this is another story.

Another reference work (see below) describes a Trendle as a round or oval container of uncertain size for the storage of wax with references to the same from 1393 onwards. (B)

TRENDALL and TRENDELL are sometimes used as first names in the United States.  Given point (3) above I note that there is a gentleman called Trendell WOODS living in Chicago and working in property redevelopment.  Life can get complicated.

From time to time I will make reference to other entries in the Dictionary relating to the families that constitute my ancestors.

Philip Trendall

23^rd May 2020.

Acknowledgement & References

 

(A)    The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (Patrick Hanks, Richards Coates, Patrick McClure).  Oxford 2016.

(B)    A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century.  Ronald Edward Zupko, American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia  1985. 

One night with Venus and eternity with Mercury......

Fig 1: The title page of a paper presented to the Royal Medical & Chirurgical Society May 1835

We often wish we could see into the minds of our ancestors.  To understand them better.  To comprehend what was important to them and to examine what they believed and why.  Well we can’t. We must avoid the temptation to indulge in too much sentimental mush.  All we can do is speculate and try and build a little evidence in the hope of opening a small window into the past. 

Although the mind is out of bounds we do have a very rare opportunity to have a bit of insight into the brain of one of my ancestors.  I am indebted to Chris TRENDALL of Ontario who some years ago shared an extract from a medical paper he had found.  I have since been able to download the whole of Volume 16 of the London Medical Gazette 1835 and interesting reading it makes. 

The volume contains the transactions of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, including a paper presented in May and June 1835 by Dr John SIMS MD (1792-1838) of the St Marylebone Infirmary.  Dr SIMMS was interested in Hypertrophy and Atrophy of the brain and the connection between the state of the brain and what we would call mental illness.  His paper is a long one.  With hindsight we can see that his research was bound to fail given the limited options open for scientific examination and a lack of understanding of the functions of the most complicated organ in the human body.  His work was before its time.

Fig 2:  Chart showing relationship between the author and Joseph TRENDALL (1811-1833)

It wasn’t just medical science that was in its infancy.  Ideas of medical confidentiality and ‘data protection’ were non existent.  For this fortuitous reason the patients in his case studies are named.  The patient we are interested in is Joseph TRENDALL (1811-1833).  He was my Great Great Great Uncle, the son of Joseph TRENDALL (c1770-1838) and Ann TRENDALL (BARTLETT 1789-1829).  He was born in St Marylebone, Westminster on 27^th December 1811 and was baptised a couple of weeks later.  The register bears the word ‘POOR’ indicating the status of the family and the fact that they could not afford a fee.  His father was a baker who went on to do quite well for himself.  Joseph was one of 11 children.  Two of them called Joseph.  It was not that unusual at the time to use a name twice if the first named died very young.  But, in this case this subject, Joseph (1811-1833) was still alive when another was baptised – although there is a big gap between them.  The second Joseph was one of the youngest children in the family and was born in 1827 and lived until 1903.  Why would you have two children of the same name?  This oddity was enough to make me check the records very carefully to make sure that I am not attributing a child to the wrong parents and it seems not.  So it is speculation time.  When the youngest Joseph was born in 1827 his elder brother Joseph was 16.  It is possible that by that time he was estranged from his parents.  His parents had moved up the Great North Road to Whetstone while their son remained in Marylebone.  Perhaps they assumed that he had died.  Perhaps they regarded him as not being a member of the family any longer having given up on him because of his lifestyle or mental illness.  As we shall see he clearly had his share of medical problems and at the time of his death his address was given as the Marylebone workhouse (of which the infirmary was part).   We lack evidence. 

Fig 3:  Baptism Record for Joseph TRENDALL (1811-1833). St Marylebone.  Note the annotation: POOR

Joseph TRENDALL (1811-1833) was admitted to the St Marylebone Infirmary on 6^th March 1833.  In the paper he is listed as Joseph TRENDAL aged 22.  On his burial record his name is TRENDLE.  Spelling was a lot more casual in an age where literacy was a luxury (1).

Dr Sims describes the case history:

“A short time ago he had taken a large quantity of mercury for the cure of syphilis……He was reported insane, but when visited he was quite rational, although unable to control the spasmodic motions of the muscles of his extremities, which were thrown about, and much distorted.  Cupping, and other depleting measures, brought him into a quiet state.  On the evening of the 9^th he was suddenly seized with a fit resembling epilepsy, which soon however assumed a confirmed apoplectic character , attended with complete insensibility, stertorous breathing, and general convulsions.  He died the following evening” (Sims, 1835 p333) (2)

Joseph was clearly very ill at the time of his admission but it is hard to know the causes of his ailments and the effect of his treatment.

To us the idea of ‘cupping’, the placing of heated cups to raise the skin, seems odd given the description of his symptoms.  However the process has reappeared in the world of ‘alternative’ medicine in recent years, but still without any scientific proof of its efficacy.  I dread to think what other ‘depleting measures’ might have included.

The one solid thing we know about his medical history is that he had syphilis (or at least was thought to have had the disease) and had consumed mercury as a cure.  Many of his symptoms and the idea that he may have been insane fit a diagnosis of the last stages of syphilis but Joseph was only 22 at the time and one would normally expect the disease to have been present for many years to reach this stage but who knows when he may have contracted it, and how quickly it progressed. 

We all know that mercury is a poison but its use for the treatment of numerous afflictions was almost universal for a period of at least 400 years.  It was the preferred treatment for syphilis until  the late Victorian period.  It probably killed many patients in search of a cure and the symptoms of the poisoning are similar to (at least to the observations of a layman) to the diseases that led to the ingestion of the ‘medicine’.  Depression, mood changes, physical tremors, memory problems and lack of motor skills are part of a long list of effects leading to death.  In Joseph’s case Dr SIMS could be describing the effects of the treatment rather than the disease.

Fig 4: Hogarth's famous image depicting a man with his young wife visiting a quack doctor for mercury.  Note the pitted skull on the table, the pox marks on the man and the figure of death in the background.

The effects of mercury can be seen in skeletons that have skulls with a pocked and flaking bone structure.  Because of the association between this sexually transmitted disease and its treatment a joke arose:  ‘Spend one night with Venus and eternity with Mercury’.  Oh, for a classical education!

As an aside, mercury was also used as a cure for constipation.  A rather extreme cure.  It is said the route taken by the explorers Lewis and Clark through the western United States can still be traced by the mercury deposits left behind by  expedition members who imbibed Dr Rush’s ‘Thunderclappers’ pills.  This mercury based medicine was used to tackle the side effects of eating an expedition diet that contained little roughage and no fresh fruit. 

Fig 5:  A purgative of explosive power!  Mercury tablets used for the treatment of 'syphilis, pleurisy, ague and other ailments'

A post mortem examination of Joseph was carried out and his brain carefully examined.  The brain was described thus:

                “….the convolutions were much flattened, and closely pressed together.  The blood vessels                  were almost entirely empty.  The membranes were quite dry and the ventricles appeared to                  be almost obliterated….it weighed 3lb 9oz”  (Ibid) (3)

The heart was said to be ‘natural’ and the lungs full of pus.

Dr Sims concluded that this was a case of Brain Hypertrophy, ie that it was an enlarged brain with excess growth of tissue, that caused Joseph’s death.  We can’t tell if this was in fact the case.  The detailed description he provides of the brain means little without a full clinical context.  For example we don’t know when Joseph contracted syphilis or how long he had been taking mercury or what the other symptoms of his supposed insanity were. Death certificates were not issued in England until 1837 so we don’t know what would have been recorded. 

Dr Sims continued his study of the brain but lived for only three more years and died in 1838.  He had suffered a serious infection contracted during his post mortem work but it was typhoid that saw him off.  It is believed that he contracted the infection at the Marylebone Infirmary.

So, we have glimpse of one aspect of the life of Joseph TRENDALL (1811-1833) but as always this generates many new questions, the answers to which are lost.  It is impossible not to dwell on the survival of some records and the loss of others.  The technology that allows us to search into an obscure journal from long ago and find a relative may yet generate other clues – and more questions.

Philip Trendall

Bramfield

15^th May 2020

(1)     At this time male literacy is said to have been around 63%, but this is likely to include basic reading and writing only   https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Literacy-in-England-1580-1920_fig3_228553349  (accessed 15^th May 2020)

(2)    Sims, John. On Hypertrophy and Atrophy of the Brain:  Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society 26 May 1835 and 9^th June 1835 London Medical Gazette, Vol 16: 456.  Accessed via Google Books 15^th May 2020: https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qad6oHm9z_YrbO4gHy7L43rIU_oEbzXmW05fnJ5q4tpaBa2e5w1RKLkvNt1YnGPni9vGnFB5xZdbzLgKXJOPwFZUtjzAP3tlxCSOQTrCmv1ZTl0WrxspC7GRci6j6UPeCcwXLPbXzHHy6uFVZbt34QGYQjrd1WLhTe_S_hAuD0Yt5nWEg3sSPV5vZdwOpCd7Cmx16j16L_L2JjoR7v8IfvFUvMx6rQqCKbz8w7oZf-XvOFK2NVxCt7d0VwOD5VmFB150t8CBm77nB825drw3wWxA3wJ2Rw

(3)    The average male brain weighs around 3lb.

Photos: Frederick TRENDALL

As requested here are two more pictures of Frederick TRENDALL (1890-1940).

Fig 1 Frederick TRENDALL 1890-1940 in India

Fig 1 shows Frederick TRENDALL in India early in the 1920s.  Note the simple backdrop and palm like plant.  He wears his medal ribbons from the Great War and has sergeant's chevrons on his sleeves.  He does look young in this picture - he would have been around 30 years old.  I will find the original picture to look for any evidence of where it was taken.

Fig 2 Frederick TRENDALL 1890-1940 seated front row.

This photograph is likely to be from the late 1920s or even the early 30s.  This looks like an amateur snapshot and the composition is pretty poor.  Note the large foreground, the subject finishing a fag and lots of ongoing chatter.  It is a hockey team. FT is seated in the front row 3rd from left.  He looks much older than Fig 1, but it is a poor photo.  The identification was handed down although I can see the family resemblance and in this picture he does look like his Father (Thomas TRENDALL 1855-1936).  Note the hockey sticks and pith helmets.  Depending on the date this picture could have been taken in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) which was one of the postings he had in the later 1920s.  I have cropped the photograph to give a close up.

Fig 3: Cropped and zoomed from Fig 2

Together with the picture posted in the VE Day Blog these are the only images I have of my Grandfather Frederick TRENDALL 1890-1940.  There must be more.  What happened to any photographs or papers held by his wife Nellie Dorothea TRENDALL (PARROCK 1893-1970) or his daughter Irene TRENDALL (later BRUESCH and ADRAGNA 1921-2012)?  Both died in the USA and attempts to contact Irene (Aunt Rene) before she died were unsuccessful.  It is a slightly melancholy thought  that I do not know anybody still alive who knew Frederick TRENDALL. 

                                                                Fugit inreparabile tempus.

13 May 2020

Some Thoughts on the 75th Anniversary of VE Day

                                                             

                                                                      Frederick TRENDALL (1890-1940)

Today (8^th May 2020) is the 75th anniversary of VE Day.  The day that the Second World War ended in Europe.  Parades and events have not taken place as planned because of the current Covid-19 induced lockdown.  It seems appropriate therefore to briefly mention here my two closest relatives who fought in the war.  I hope to write more about them in future posts but now is a good time to remember the contribution of my paternal Grandfather and Father.  They were only two of many in the wider family to have served in the conflict but they stand as representative of them all.

My Grandfather, Frederick TRENDALL (1890-1940) had served in the Great War, during which he had been wounded at least twice, and later in the army in India until the 1930s when he became a full time member of the Territorial Army.  At that time he was commissioned as a Lieutenant (Quartermaster) in Queen Victoria Rifles (King’s Royal Rifle Corp).  At the start of the Second World War he became part of the British Expeditionary Force BEF).  He was killed in action on 25th May 1940 near Calais.  He was fifty years old and is buried at Calais South Cemetery.  His grave carries the inscription:  "To the world he was only one.  To one he was all the world".

His commanding officer wrote from a prisoner of war camp to my Grandmother, Nellie TRENDALL (PARROCK – 1893-1970):

“The limit to the number of letters [from the camp] has prevented me from sending you the sympathy and condolences of all the officers of the Bn on your husband’s death, which was contributed to by his disregard of personal danger.  I can only tell you how much I appreciated his constant loyalty, good cheer and hard work, an appreciation shared by all ranks, and offer my sincere sympathy in your loss.  Regret I cannot write more fully, Believe me………..”

                                             

                                              The Grave of Frederick TRENDALL, Calais

His son (my Father), Frederick Alfred TRENDALL (1914-1983) was living at 32 Cremer Street, London E2 (The Marquis of Lansdowne) at the start of the war (as shown in the ‘1939 Register’) although he also used his Father’s address in Highbury.  He joined up on 2^nd October 1939 and served in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) throughout the war. A few weeks after becoming a soldier he married in December 1939.  Like his Father he was part of the BEF returning to England in June 1940 where he stayed until 1943.  Thereafter he served in the Middle East, in the British North African Force (BNAF), Italy and back in the Middle East.

  On VE Day he was in Palestine.  On joining in 1939 he was a motor driver.  At the end of the war he was a warrant officer class 1 (WOI).  He was Mentioned in Dispatches – probably for an incident in Italy but research is ongoing to try and pin this down as no citations are included in the London Gazette.

At the end of the war his commanding officer wrote:

“M.S.M Trendall has excelled as an MSM from every angle.  A good leader who carries out work under all conditions with cheerfulness, enthusiasm and drive”.

On discharge his conduct was listed as ‘Exemplary’.

He did not apply for his medals, viz: 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45 (MID) for many years.  The last entry on his Army Military History Sheet shows that the medals were issued on 6^th July 1983.  He had died two months earlier on 1^st May 1983.

                                                             Frederick TRENDALL (1914-1983)

The generations that fought in, and lived through, the conflicts of the twentieth century were a special breed.  They went through so much and yet it is my generation and my children’s generation who have benefitted and have enjoyed the rewards.  Our freedom and our security rests firmly on the sacrifice and hardships of those that went before.  We owe them a massive debt of gratitude.

Lest we forget.

Philip Trendall

8^th May 2020

Note:  I am still working on understanding the activities of other members of the family during the war – including those of my maternal Grandfather – George SCOTT (1906-1971).  The work undertaken on the Home Front by women in particular is harder to research, but I will try.

Great Aunt Min

Mention of the GRIBBLES and PARROCKS has raised a couple of comments about Minnie PARROCK (1892-1984).  She is one the of oldest relatives I ever met in person but that was a long time ago.  In our part of the family she was always known as ‘Aunt Min’ or ‘Great Aunt Min’. She was in fact my Great Aunt being my Father’s (Frederick Alfred TRENDALL 1914-1983) Aunt (on his Mother’s sister).

Fig 1: Pedigree Chart showing the parents and grandparents of Minnie PARROCK

Given the fact that she was in touch with us until 1969 at least it is surprising that we know so little about her.  Few records are readily available that give us a glimpse of her life.  There are some family stories about her.  We know that she was a keen churchgoer and perhaps had an affection for a vicar that was unrequited. She never married and lived in East London/Essex for the whole of her life.  As a young boy I remember her occasional visits.  We were always briefed to be on our best behaviour.  We knew that she was an important guest because a tin of Ye Old Oak Ham was opened for the occasion.  She required a brandy or two for medicinal purposes and always returned home to Ilford in a cab. My parents did not keep in touch with her when we moved to Tottenham in 1969 – perhaps other members of the family did?

Minnie PARROCK was born at 23 Herbert Street, Plaistow, now in London but then still part of Essex, on 23^rd May 1892.  She was the daughter of Alfred PARROCK ((1871-1955) and Minnie PARROCK (COWLAND) (1871-1936).  She was baptised in the local parish church, St Mary the Virgin, on 8^th July 1892.  She was one of four children, all of whom lived into a mature adulthood.  Minnie was the granddaughter of the subject of an earlier blog: Emma GRIBBLE (1846-  ).

In March 1901 she was living with her family at 23 Belton Road West Ham.  This was a ‘respectable’ working class area at the time.  Minnie’s Father was a skilled compositor in the printing trade working for newspapers for most of his career.

In 1911 she had left home and was working as a servant.  She hadn’t gone far.  She was living in the Woman’s Settlement in Plaistow.  This was a home for single working women and was occupied mainly by servants.  It was a philanthropic institution and for a while provided healthcare in the area.  The site was eventually taken over by another charity that now specialises in creating opportunities for young people.

We lose sight of Minnie PARROCK in the records for many years.  She appears in a few newspaper report in the 1930s performing at 

Fig 2: Relationship Chart: Minnie PARROCK to Sam TRENDALL

church concerts etc.  She was clearly musical and much involved in church music in later life.  She was a singer and there is a possible mention of her in the Stage Newspaper in the 1920s as a soprano.

Fig 3: Essex Chronicle 22 March 1925

Her Mother, Minnie PARROCK (COWLAND), died in 1936.

In September 1939 a Register was created for use during the war, particularly for the administration of ration books and the production of National Identity Cards.  The 1939 Register, as it is known, is an amazing piece of work.  The whole country was registered in a matter of weeks with a very high degree of accuracy.  What’s more the register was regularly updated manually.  It was used as the basis for establishing the NHS registers and was maintained, on paper, into the 1990s.  Its importance for historians cannot be over stated.  Although not a census in the strict sense it acts as a census substitute (for England and Wales at least).  The 1931 census was destroyed in the war and there was no census in 1941 for obvious reasons.

Fig 4:  1939 Register showing 5 Hickling Road Ilford

In September 1939 Minnie was living with her widowed Father who had by this time retired.  They were the only two residents at 5 Hickling Road Ilford.  Minnie is described as a Machinist (now invalid).  The nature of her malady is not described but as she was to live for another 45 years it could not have been too serious.  She remained living at this address for many years.  Curiously her sister (my Grandmother) Nellie TRENDALL (PARROCK 1893-1970) is also listed at the address in the Electoral Roll 1964 although we know that she was living in the US.  In 1939 the Register shows us that the area was one occupied by upper working class families with jobs such as postmen, typists and shop assistants, although one neighbour lists his occupation as ‘Canadian Cattle Rancher Retired’ which would have made conversation in the local pub a little more interesting, or perhaps not – tales of prairies may have quickly worn thin in suburban Essex. Hickling Road is made up of three bedroom terraced houses so she would have had plenty of space to herself for her remaining years at home.

Alfred (senior) died in Hickling Road in May 1955, of heart disease and senility.  His death was registered by his son, also Alfred (PARROCK 1894-1973).

Apart from appearing in electoral rolls there is nothing else about Minnie PARROCK, that I have found, until her death in 1984.   She died in Chadwell Heath Hospital on 23^rd April 1984.  Her home address is given as a residential care home in Ilford.  Her death was registered by her sister Gladys (Gladys PARROCK, later WILLOUGHBY 1901-1998).  There is no record of a will or of any newspaper obituary or notices.  She left little lasting imprint on the public record.

I have mentioned some of Minnie’s siblings. But until a few years ago I had never heard of any of them.  Gladys lived until 1998 and Alfred (junior) until 1973.  Perhaps other members of the family were in touch with them but families easily drift apart.  Gladys died in Devon and Alfred in Hertfordshire.  Nellie died in the USA in 1970 so by the end of their lives they were distributed across the UK and beyond.  I will always remember Great Aunt Min, but it would have been nice to know Great Aunt Gladys and Great Uncle Alfred.

Philip Trendall

May 2020

Note:  Somewhere I have a picture of Minnie PARROCK.  Just one.  I will post it when I find it.

Emma GRIBBLE: An unknown end.

Fig 1 Simple tree showing the realtionship between the author and Emma GRIBBLE

There are plenty of dead ends (or brick walls) in family history.  Many can be overcome and some are not worth too much effort.   The case of Emma GRIBBLE is probably not worth too much more work but going down rabbit holes is one of the pleasures of this hobby.

Emma GRIBBLE (B 1846) is my Great Great Grandmother.  She was born in Crediton in Devon.  Her Father and Grandfather were blacksmiths with a line of shoemakers also in the family.  For reasons unknown the whole family moved to Bedford in the late 1850s.  By the age of 14 she was a domestic servant and in 1861 was working and living as such at a commercial school in Horne Lane Bedford run by Mr Wilkinson FINLINSON. 

Fig 2 John Vowler GRIBBLE (image not confirmed ) near the end of his life.  John was Emma's Father. Photo used by kind permission of Kaye WILSON.

In 1865 she was working in the household of  Mr Henry GAMBLE when she was convicted at the Petty Sessions of stealing 2 chemises and other items of linen to the value of 6/-.  She had been with them for a fortnight.  In various reports she was described as being of good or very good character.  She admitted the theft to her employer on being challenged and pleaded guilty at court. ‘Theft by Servant’ was seen as a serious crime in Victorian England.  Servants had access to their employer’s homes and most personal possessions.  Now known as ‘Theft Employee’ the phrase servant was still being used in the 1980s to refer to theft in the workplace.  It remains an aggravating fact in theft cases as it is seen to constitute a breach of trust.  As a first offender Emma was sentenced to three months hard labour in Bedford County Gaol. 

Fig 3 The Bedford Times and Bedfordshire Independent, Sat 25 Nov 1865 p 8

We hear no more of her until she appears as a servant working in Stourbridge in Worcestershire (now West Midlands).  On 16^th June 1870 she married John PARROCK (1840-1883) who was a tailor in the town.  They married in the Methodist Chapel although there is no history of non conformity in either the PARROCK family.

Nine months after the wedding Emma gave birth to a son; Alfred PARROCK (1871-1955), my Great Grandfather.  At the time of the 1871 census he was still an ‘unnamed infant 7 days’.  Emma and John went on to have five children, the youngest, Ann, being born in 1878.  Five children in eight years meant that Emma spent most of the 1870s either nursing or pregnant.

 

In the 1881 census the family were living at 24 West Street Stourbridge. 

On 27^th January 1883 John PARROCK died aged 43.  The death certificate records ‘Morbus Cordis’ with acute Albuminuria.  This indicates that he suffered some form of heart failure and probably kidney disease.  He died at home at 16 Hemplands, Stourbridge in the presence of Emma who registered his death the next day. 

Emma soon left Stourbridge and took the children to Bedford, perhaps to be near her family.  On 6^th October 1883 she had her children baptised at St Paul’s Church Bedford.  The reason why the children were not baptised earlier is unknown.

In 1889 she re-married at St Peter’s Church, Bedford  Her new husband was John BOWLER, a bricklayer.  He was a bachelor aged 32 and she was 43.  Quite an age difference for the time which was made less obvious by her claiming to be 39 in the marriage register!

In June 1891 the new family were living at 38 Channing Street Bedford.  Emma was still 39 according to the census and John Bowler was 34.   Two of the girls; Jane and Emma (now being called Amy) were live-in domestic servants in well off areas of the town.

This is the last we hear of Emma GRIBBLE-PARROCK-BOWLER.  She disappears from the record.  She was not a witness at Alfred’s wedding in 1892.  She is not to be easily found in the 1901 or 1911 census.  Her three surnames are not that unusual.  Even in 2020 there are 86 BOWLERS and 30 GRIBBLES  listed in the Bedford telephone directory.  We know that ‘our’ PARROCKS moved to London in the 1890s but there are still a dozen in Bedford.  For the time being I will leave Emma GRIBBLE, maybe to return one day to find out where she ended up.  Unless of course anybody else knows what happened to her………..

Philip Trendall

May 2020