This is my fifth “Blogging from A to Z Challenge“. This year I wrote about 26 people in my family tree whose personal name starts with a different letter of the alphabet.

It was quite a task, but that’s the “Challenge”, after all.

I chose the person for each letter well in advance, giving me more time for research.   X was a bit tricky, of course, and I had only one U to work with. Other letters gave me more choice.

Half the posts were about women (“Women hold up half the sky”, declared Chairman Mao), and many of the stories – though not intentionally chosen for it – had at least a touch of religious colouring. I am pleased to have been able to include one of my German forebears.

 

• A is for Arthur
  • My husband Greg’s maternal grandfather Arthur Sullivan (1891-1975)
• B is for Beatrix
  • One of my great grandmothers was Beatrix Champion de Crespigny née Hughes (1884-1943)
• C is for Collier
  • My first cousin three times removed was Collier Robert Cudmore (1885-1971), the cousin of my great grandfather, Arthur Murray Cudmore. Collier won an Olympic gold medal for rowing.
• D is for Daniel
  • One of my seventh great grandfathers was Daniel Dana (1664-1749), a New England Puritan.
• E is for Eliza
  • One of my husband’s great great grandmother was Eliza Morley née Sinden (1823 – 1908). In 1853 Eliza and her husband emigrated to Australia from Sussex, England.
• F is for Francis
  • One of my husband’s great great grandfathers was Francis Gilbart Edwards (1848-1913).
• G is for Gustav
  • One of my great great grandfathers on my mother’s side was Gustav Waldemar Alexander Karl Peters (1860-1904)
• H is for Henry
  • My husband’s great grandfather Henry Sullivan (1863-1943)
• I is for Ichabod
  • One of my 8th great grandfathers was Ichabod Chauncy (1635 -1691), another dissenter and puritan
• J is for John
  • One of my husband’s great great grandfathers was John Way (1835-1911)
• K is for Kenneth
  • One of my third great uncles was Kenneth George Budge (1842-1878)
• L is for Lilian
  • My third cousin four times removed, who was also the sister-in law of my third great uncle, was Dr Lilian Helen Alexander (1861-1934), one of the first women doctors in Melbourne and a carer of her orphaned nephews.
• M is for Mary
  • My husband Greg’s great aunt was Mary Ann Nichols, formerly Lack née Whiteman (1884-1945)
• N is for Nellie
  • One of my first cousins four times removed was Eleanor Mary (Nellie) Niall (1858-1891)
• O is for Orfeur
  • My third great uncle Orfeur Cavenagh (1820-1891) was one of several relations named after my fifth great grandfather John Orfeur (1695-1753)
• P is for Penelope
  • My sixth great aunt Penelope Phipps (1775-1814) was left in France by her parents during the Reign of Terror. She was only 17 and had seven younger siblings to care for.
• Q is for Queenie
  • My great great aunt Alice Magee née Mainwaring formerly Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1879-1952) was known as Queenie.
• R is for Rosina
  • One of my husband’s maternal great aunts was Rosina Doidge née Sullivan formerly Saunders (1889-1969).
• S is for Suky
  • One of my fifth great grandmothers was Susannah Lamothe née Corrin (1741-1803).
• T is for Theresa
  • One of my fourth great aunts was Theresa Susannah Eunice Snell Poole formerly Walker née Chauncy (1807-1876). Theresa was a sculptor and artist.
• U is for Una
  • Una Elizabeth Dwyer née Sneyd (1900-1982), first cousin twice removed of my husband Greg. After reading this post Una’s son, Greg’s cousin, contacted us.
• V is for Valencia
  • Cicely Valencia Lancaster (1898-1996), known as Valencia, was my sixth cousin once removed. She left a trust to preserve Kelmarsh Hall where many Champion de Crespigny portraits and family documents are held.
• W is for William
  • My husband’s first cousin twice removed was William Stanley Plowright (1893-1917). He was killed in the Battle of Lagnicourt in March 1917.
• X, her mark, revisited
  • My husband’s great great grandmother Eliza Dawson née Skerritt (1838-1899) was illiterate but protested successfully when somebody tried to take advantage of her by wrongly recording her vote.
• Y is for Yannasch
  • Jacob Robert Yannasch Goldstein (1841-1910) was the husband of my third great aunt. Jacob was  ‘an anti-suffragist’ despite his daughter Vida Goldstein’s (1869-1949) being a noted feminist and suffragette; or perhaps Vida was a feminist and suffragette despite her father.
• Z is for Zacharie
  • One of my eighth great grandfathers was Zacharie Fonnereau (1636-c. 1685), a Huguenot linen merchant from La Rochelle.

This year there were more detailed categories to choose and one of those was “genealogy”. Through the month I was pleased to follow some fellow genealogy bloggers and I appreciated their support and encouragement through the month:

• Finding Eliza – an alphabet of news items taken from The Emancipator newspaper, published between 1917 and 1920 in Montgomery, Alabama
• Everyone has a story – All about Nancy Drew
• Tracking Down the Family– a snapshot of Jennifer’s life
• The Curry Apple Orchard – Linda wrote about her father
• Lori Crane writes about her family history
• Jollett Etc family history – Wendy wrote about heirlooms that she owns and the stories associated with them
• Dianne wrote about places associated with her family history
• Anglers Rest – Julie wrote about one name studies

During the month I followed some other entertaining blogs as well.

I look forward to participating next year.