Instant Cousins

Tag: Carver

  • Grace, a star in the firmament

    This was the title of the eulogy that I wrote for my mother’s funeral service, in 2006. I spoke about her name which was often a mystery to me, as are many family names from the past and the different ways in which people used their names, and others used, differently. Grace Ethel Lena Wilcox…

  • Ticker Tape

    Information and news can spin around the world in a matter of seconds, or faster sometimes. In 2025 most people in the world have access to the internet, mobile phones and tablets, televisions, radios and more. Very few people read newspapers, the Royal Mail is struggling with providing a cost-effective service because people are no…

  • Remembering London Grandma

    It was to differentiate her from my paternal grandmother, that was why she was called London Grandma. The other one was Country Grandma. One lived in London, obviously, and the other lived in the countryside. Well, Limpsfield in Surrey when I was a child was definitely in the countryside. I have no idea what it…

  • Tracing the Carvers

    Part 3 For the past two weeks I have been tracing my grandfather’s origins and the lives of his brother and sister, two relatives who I never met and who I knew nothing of until I started researching their records. This week I look at Evelyn Daisy Carver, my grandfather’s only sister and my great…

  • Tracing the Carvers

    Part 2 Last week, I was discovering the line of ancestry of my grandfather, Clarence Carver (known by his middle name George), who was born in Lodsworth in Sussex. This was the heart of the Sussex countryside, one of a vertical line of parish villages, Lodsworth, Selham and Graffham that was home to the Aylings,…

  • Tracing the Carvers (1)

    This week I return to my family tree and the Carver’s who originated from Lodsworth in Sussex. Well, my grandfather, that is. Clarence Carver was born in the village of Lodsworth to an agricultural family. There were a lot of people named Carver around Lodsworth, and I believe the churchyard in the village has burial…

  • The End of War Celebrations

    This week’s post comes during the Victory in Europe celebrations that are happening in the United Kingdom and some European countries. The anniversary falls on the 8th May 2025, commemorating 80 years since the end of the Second World War. I have no personal connection to the war because I was born two years after…

  • Writing letters, part two

    My mother’s letters were always quite short. Notes mostly, about her week, who she had met or visited. In October 2000 she was very busy with the British Legion annual Poppy Appeal. She had been a member of the Women’s Branch of the British Legion since the 1950’s when my father had joined the Legion.…

  • Letter writing, part one

    Now, in 2025, the number of letters being written are very few. In Denmark a decision has been made to stop collecting and delivering letters because the cost is now so prohibitive and there has been a 90% drop in the us of letter delivery. Given the annual and sometimes sharp increases in postage in…

  • Sussex Roots

    This week I am returning to the Carver’s who originated in Lodsworth, Sussex. It is December with short days. I wonder what life was like in agriculture in those mid-19th Century days. Tending cattle and looking after the farm land would have been a brutal lifestyle in the rain and wind. While writing this I…