Volume 12, Number 3 - WISE Family History Society

Transcription

Volume 12, Number 3
Denver, Colorado
July, August, September 2011
Royal Wedding: Titles, Tiaras, Traditions
-- James K. Jeffrey
Who doesn’t love a wedding, especially one between two beautiful people who apparently are so in love,
one with the other? Friday, 29 April, found millions of people around the world watching the festivities
surrounding the marriage of Prince William of Wales to Catherine Middleton. It is understood about one
million Britons came out and lined the parade route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.
Twenty-four million people watched the spectacle on their television sets in the United Kingdom. Over
two billion people from around the globe tuned in to witness the wedding of the future king of England
either on television or the Internet. The British Broadcasting Corporation website crashed several times.
– continued on pg 38
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 36 -~
President’s
Message
What exactly is the W.I.S.E. Family History
Society? Is it a genealogy society or an organization that studies and promotes British Isles family
history and culture?
The answer is: Both.
W.I.S.E. started as a study group in 1983, but by
the time it was incorporated 17 years later, its purpose had expanded. Our bylaws adopted in 2000
describe our objective this way: “To promote an
interest and education in genealogy and family
history.” The bylaws also state that membership
is open to anyone interested in furthering those
objectives. Traditionally, our programs mix genealogy with culture.
That said, it’s important to understand that we are
not a common genealogy society. We are a
specialty group like other ethnic-roots groups
including the Swedes, Germans and Palatines.
History and education are written large in our mission – cultural family history. Our goal is not to
teach the elements of genealogical research –
many other organizations do that – but rather to
take genealogical studies to the next level, to help
members understand the culture from which
we came.
Take it from me, a descendant of Scots and Irish,
as well as French-Canadians and Germans, that’s
the best part of genealogical research, giving your
family historic context, understanding how they
fit into the large scheme of things on both sides
of the ocean and unearthing the story of why they
came to America.
Along the way, of course, you must identify
your families and determine where they came
from. But what comes first, individuals or their
society?
Those issues have faced the W.I.S.E. board of
directors this spring as we have discussed the possibility of offering classes in genealogical research
in our four nations, spurred by requests from
members. I fear that many people have joined
W.I.S.E. without realizing that our framework is
larger than telling members how to find what
they’re looking for – great-grandmother’s birthplace in Ireland, for instance, or learning ancestors’ names to fill out pedigree charts. We want to
foster the urge to study, read, listen and comprehend. Our primary educational outreach has been
our seminars specializing in genealogical research,
and in our research trips to the Family History
Library in Salt Lake City.
Now, we’re going to try a new tack, a series of
classes devoted to general and specific research.
(See details elsewhere in this newsletter.) But they
won’t be for the uninitiated; we’re calling them
intermediate. Other genealogy societies offer
classes for beginners. Besides possessing such
basic skills as knowing how to fill out charts,
you’ll need to know at the very least which country your ancestor came from, preferably a county,
as well as the religion and approximately when
the family emigrated.
You must know how to surf the Internet, understand census research and have an idea of how
to use the major online genealogical databases,
www.Ancestry.com and www.FamilySearch.org
(they’re not the same). Old-fashioned research
skills will help. As in all genealogical research,
you must be prepared to meet frustration head
on, to understand that incremental advances
are big deals and that nothing is going to be all
in one place. You must be motivated, an active
pursuer of knowledge.
– Zoe
von Ende Lappin□
Membership Report
--Nancy Craig
Welcome to these new members who recently
joined W.I.S.E.
March: Joahn Hartman; Marilyn (Bowers) and
David Jensen.
April: Terry Jones; Susan Jordan; Peter Netzel.□
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 37 -~
W.I.S.E. Family History Society
W.I.S.E. Family History Society is dedicated to research in
Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, the Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man. Attention is also directed to the emigration and immigration of these peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies. Monthly meetings are generally
held the fourth Saturday of most months at the Central
Denver Public Library, 7th Floor. Membership is open to
anyone with interest in family history and genealogy.
Membership dues for the calendar year are $12 for an
individual or $15 for a family living at the same address.
The W.I.S.E. Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E.
Words four times per year, and a subscription is included
with membership dues. Add $5 to the dues, if you want a
printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you.
© 2000-2011, W.I.S.E. Family History Society,
P.O. Box 40658, Denver, CO 80204-0658
All rights reserved.
Visit our website at www.wise-fhs.org.
Officers and Board Members
President ............................................ Zoe von Ende Lappin
............................................................. zlappi@hotmail.com
British Isles Research
at Denver Public Library
Think you know the British resources at the Denver Public Library? Think again. Come explore the
hidden resources and treasures awaiting the researcher at the Central Denver Public Library with
the man who has winkled, ferreted, marshaled,
built and re-imaged one of America’s finest local
history and genealogy collections. James K.
Jeffrey is the collection specialist in genealogy at
the Denver Public Library. He received the
P. William Filby Award for Excellence in Genealogical Librarianship from the National Genealogical Society in 2004. James is a member of
W.I.S.E. Family History Society, and he will be
our featured speaker at the September 24th program. If you do not know James, introduce yourself to him when you visit the DPL genealogy
collection.□
Vice President ............................................. Sandy Ronayne
Secretary ................................................ Sandy Carter-Duff
Treasurer ..................................................... Nancy G. Craig
Past President ............................................ Duane Woodard
Membership ................................................. Nancy G. Craig
Members’ Interest Coordinator ................... Terence Quirke
Publicity Coordinator................................. Cynthia Murphy
Archivist / Historian ..................................... John Mossman
CCGS Delegate ............................................Cathy Bowman
Webmaster ................................................... Richard Savage
Newsletter Staff
Newsketter Editor ....................................... Judith S. Phelps
..............................................................jasp1@earthlink.net
Book Review Editor ............................ Zoe von Ende Lappin
Internet Resources Review Editor ................. Linda Pearce
Proofreaders........................ Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin
Distribution Coordinator.................................... Sue Clasen
Country Editors
Wales .............................................................. Samuel Kuntz
Ireland ......................................................... Marylee Hagen
Scotland ..........................................................Ken McIntosh
England ....................................................... Richard Savage
In This Issue
Royal Wedding: Titles, Tiaras, Traditions .................. 35
President's Message..................................................... 36
Membership Report ..................................................... 36
British Isles Research at Denver Public Library ......... 37
Scottish Research Seminar........................................... 41
New Country Editor for Scotland ................................ 42
400 Years of King James Bible .................................... 42
An Englishman Appreciates Colorado Resources ....... 45
Irish Festival Volunteers Needed ................................. 46
Scottish Festival Workers Needed. . . .......................... 46
Researching in Edinburgh ............................................. 47
Adopt a Book Opportunity for W.I.S.E. Members ........ 48
New Irish Websites ...................................................... 48
Irish Family History Foundation ................................. 48
Y Gelli, Town of Books ................................................ 49
Welsh Heritage Week and Wandering in Wales........... 50
About the Scottish-Mexicans ........................................ 51
Websites for the Wise – Wales ..................................... 52
Member Profiles .......................................................... 53
Book Review ................................................................ 54
Salt Lake City Research Trip ....................................... 55
Classes on England Research ...................................... 55
In Memoriam ............................................................... 55
W.I.S.E. Program Schedule ......................................... 56
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 38 -~
Before that most royal marriages were
celebrated either at the Palace of St. James or in
St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Royal Wedding
– continued from pg 35
Titles
Earlier in the day Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
the groom’s grandmother, had granted three new
titles upon the second in line to the throne. He was
created an English duke, a Scottish earl and a Northern Ireland baron. He is to be known as His Royal
Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis,
Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron
Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the
Most Noble Order of the Garter, Master of Arts.
There had been much speculation as to whether he
would be created a duke. There was much debate
about the titles of Cambridge and Clarence. The last
Duke of Clarence was the son of Edward and
Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales. Edward
became King Edward VII in 1901 on the death of his
mother Queen Victoria. His eldest son was engaged
to Princess May Teck, known to history as Queen
Mary, the model for “modern royalty.” He died and
she happily married the Duke of York who later
became King George V. The last Duke of Cambridge
was a prince who married for love, just as this royal
duke has done. It has been rumored that William was
happy to be known as William Wales. It is
anticipated that he will continue to be known as
Prince William.
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton arrived as a commoner and left the cathedral still not a princess. She is not
a princess in her own right. This must be granted by
HM the Queen. Until that happens she is HRH The
Princess William of Wales, Duchess of Cambridge,
Lady Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus. And to
think she still shops for her and her man’s groceries!
Setting
Westminster Abbey is about as traditional a setting
for a royal wedding as we can remember. But that
has not always been the case. The abbey was built by
Edward the Confessor over a thousand years ago. It
has been a royal peculiar for hundreds of years. That
is, it is not under any diocesan bishop but is answerable to the monarch. The abbey for generations was a
place for coronations and royal burials. It was not
until the twentieth century that the children of
George V made it the venue for royal weddings.
Westminster Abbey was magnificent. Instead of
oversized floral arrangements or swags and
drapes of fabric suspended from columns, it was
transformed into a veritable forest. There were
20-foot-high English field maples symbolizing
modesty and humility along with hornbeams
denoting resilience and strength. These trees and
other live greens will be planted at Highgrove,
the country estate of Prince Charles, the Prince
of Wales.
Guests
To describe this as a small family affair would
not be off the mark. Certainly that was the feel,
an intimate family affair with two thousand
guests and millions of onlookers. We have
watched the groom grow up from a fat baby into
a handsome young man who has already inherited his paternal “crown.” This was not a state
wedding but a royal wedding. His father, as
Prince of Wales, had a state wedding. That is,
there were carriages carrying the party to and
from the church, invited heads of state, reigning
monarchs and politicians.
Instead, a royal wedding such as this featured a
lovely bridal party arriving by car, royal guests
by motor coach, and lots of friends. There were
over two hundred of the couple’s friends and
lots of family. Not only were there lots of members of the British royal family, but the groom’s
Spencer family was well represented. Sitting
with the Spencers were the queen’s maternal
cousins, the Bowes-Lyons, and of course the
bride’s family, the Middletons. They were
splendid throughout the celebrations, no chewing gum to be seen, and James and Pippa were
fully clothed for this event, and everyone was in
splendor along with their acorn jewelry, including a most handsome tiepin.
The guest list included many royals from
abroad. Those attending included the Crown
Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, and
Princess Maxima of the Netherlands; Prince
Albert of Monaco and his fiancée Charlene
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 39 -~
Wittstock; Queen Margaretha of Denmark; Crown
Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband the
Duke of Vastergotland; TM King Michael of
Romania and Queen Anne; TM King Constantine of
Greece and Queen Anne-Marie; the Crown Prince
and Princess of Greece; the Queen of Spain and the
Crown Prince and Princess of Spain; Crown Prince
Alexander II of Yugoslavia and his wife; the King
and Queen of Norway. With the exception of
Monaco all of these European royals are closely
related to the British royals through Prince Philip,
the Duke of Edinburgh. He was born a royal
prince of Denmark and Greece of the House of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg. Just as
Queen Victoria was the grandmother of Europe,
King Christian IX of Denmark was the grandfather
of Europe.
Sartorial Splendor
As Jane Austen’s Mr. Bennet pleads with Mrs.
Bennet and her daughters in Pride and Prejudice,
as she describes the lace worn by the guests at
the Netherfield ball, “no lace, no lace, Mrs. Bennet,
I beg you.”
Something old – the setting for the wedding and the
silhouette of the gown as homage to Grace Kelly.
The dress can be described as classic and vintage, yet
edgy. Designed by British designer Sarah Burton of
the Alexander McQueen label, it can be described as
ivory and white satin, with an embroidered lace
bodice appliqué. The gown has square pleats and a
respectable train, not dramatic or obscenely absurd
in length. The lace is the work of the Royal School
of Needlework, Hampton Court Palace. The embroiderers ranged in age from 19 to 70 and are from all
over the world. They had to wash their hands every
30 minutes to keep the threads and lace pristine and
free of oils. Their needles were renewed every
3 hours to maintain sharp and clean instruments.
The flower motifs included the rose, shamrock, thistle and daffodil, representing England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. The design and process was
inspired by traditional Carrickmacross lace, which
originated in Ireland in the 1820s. The ladies did
not know the identity of the designer of the dress or
the client until shortly before the rest of the world
was told. They are thrilled and hope the Duchess
of Cambridge will visit them and see them working.
Something new – her acorn diamond earrings,
a gift from her parents designed and created to
match the tiara. The acorns are a nod to the
heraldic motifs in the new coat of arms created
for the Middletons.
Something borrowed – a halo tiara designed by
Cartier in 1936, a gift from King George VI to
his wife, Queen Elizabeth. It was a gift to the
present queen on her 18th birthday. HM loaned it
to Catherine for the wedding.
Something blue – a bit of blue ribbon was sewn
into the lining of the wedding dress. Now this is
a gal who likes and adheres to tradition.
The bouquet was shield-shaped and contained a
collection of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet
william, ivy and hyacinth. Myrtle sprigs were
taken from plants grown from myrtle used in the
wedding bouquets of Queen Victoria in 1840,
and Queen Elizabeth in 1947. In the language of
flowers, lily-of-the-valley signifies a return to
happiness, sweet william is for gallantry, hyacinth is for constancy of love, myrtle is for marriage and love, and ivy is for fidelity, marriage,
wedded love, friendship and affection.
The groom wore the uniform of a Colonel of the
Irish Guards. To describe it as red would be
an understatement. He chose that instead of
his working uniform of the Royal Air Force.
Prince William was the 1,000th person inducted
into the Order of the Garter, and he wore his
blue Garter sash or riband. He also wore his
Garter Star and Royal Air Force “wings” and the
Golden Jubilee Medal as did his brother Prince
Harry. Harry was splendid in his captain’s
uniform of the Household Cavalry (Blues &
Royals). His chest displayed a service medal
from his time in the Afghanistan campaign
and the gold belts and aiguillettes around his
waist and chest and the gold braided cords were
worn for the ceremonial occasion. They both
wore spurs.
Pippa Middleton, sister of the bride and bridesmaid, stole the day. She looked stunning in her
form-fitting dress. Americans often ask why
there are not lots of adult attendants and why
they are all in white. It is British custom that
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 40 -~
bridal attendants be dressed in white, the color of
purity, and that there be one adult and the rest
younger family members and friends. And the page
boys are the bride’s attendants as well. The groom
usually has no more than the one adult friend, in this
case, Prince Harry. The attendants included Eliza
Lopez, granddaughter of the Duchess of Cornwall;
Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward;
Grace van Cutsem, goddaughter of Prince William
and my “cousin,” the great-great-granddaughter of
Nancy Lady Astor, my grandmother’s second cousin;
Margarita Armstrong-Jones, daughter of David, Lord
Linley, Princess Margaret’s son; Tom Pettifer, son of
Tiggy, Prince William’s former nanny – Tom stole
the show; William Lowther-Pinkerton, son of the
prince’s private secretary.
that their parents have abandoned them as they
are in desperate need of guidance and direction.
Is there no Tim Gunn in London? One would
think that the girls had taken mascara tips from
the school of raccoon and bought their hats from
a flea market bin. It was awful, it was embarrassing, it was attention-getting; oh, the shame
of it, oh, the humiliation of it all. Then again, we
all have poor relations and we must bear our
burden. Next wedding may find them on
Oprah’s couch.
No one was more radiant than HM the Queen. Her
daffodil-yellow outfit was lovely, and definitely her
color. Having just celebrated her 85th birthday, she
has passed King George III’s reign as the second
longest reigning monarch, and been married to her
handsome prince for 63, soon to be 64, years. Philip
turned 90 on 10 June. She is a great-grandmother by
her grandson Peter Phillips, and will have another
grandchild married this year, Zara Phillips. The coming year will see her celebrating 60 years on the
throne and it appears that her health is fine; her
mother lasted 101 years in relatively good health.
May Elizabeth see several of her great-grandchildren
become teenagers!
Clergy, Nuns and Vergers
No one puts on a show like the English royals
and the Church of England. You may still download a copy of the wedding program from the
Official Wedding website; just Google around,
you will find it. You can see all the music and
prayers. Royals were trumpeted or bugled out of
the courtyard of Buckingham Palace as they left
and bugle saluted back in as they came back
from the wedding. Royal protocol, better than a
car horn, and everyone knows it is you coming
and going. The royal men salute as they pass;
royal women bow their heads in acknowledgment. As the royals pulled up to the entrance of
Westminster Abbey they were greeted by the
dean and a verger. The verger carried a
ceremonial mace, a sign of the office of the
abbey. Inside they were greeted by other canons
and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most
Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams. Guests had already
arrived and were seated as were the foreign
royals. Members of the extended English royal
family arrived in order of precedence and family. You will have noticed that the Gloucesters
entered as a group followed by the Kents, then
the queen’s brood. Queen Elizabeth and Prince
Philip may have been grandparents but she takes
precedence as queen; they followed the Prince of
Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Then it was
time for the bride to make her entrance.
Hats, one cannot have missed that sea of ladies’ hats,
and fascinators – ribbons, bows, feathers and curls –
all competing for attention. These are not the pages
of Vanity Fair or WWD, but something must be done
about the York sisters. Princesses Beatrice and
Eugenie are in need of an intervention. It is apparent
You may have noticed the large black rectangle
with the border of red flowers around it close
to the main entrance of the abbey. This is the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial from
the Great War, also known as World War I. It is
one of the most sacred spaces in the abbey. No
More Sartorial Splendor
The Duchess of Cornwall was transformed. Who
would have thought the other woman would ever
become a handsome, sliding past middle-aged, comfortable companion for the Prince of Wales? Her
champagne-colored boxed pleated suite transformed
her into a radiant, well-upholstered old dear. Her
tears of joy as she watched Prince Harry and Prince
William allow us to wonder if she was thinking those
boys could have been hers.
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 41 -~
one walks on it. It is defined by the border of red
poppies. Beginning with Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
royal brides traditionally have their flower bouquets
placed on the memorial. Elizabeth’s gesture was out
of respect for one of her brothers who died during
WWI. The tradition continued with other royal
brides with the exception of Diana, who married
Prince Charles at St. Paul’s, Sophie who married
Prince Edward at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and
Camilla who married Prince Charles in a registry
office in Windsor. After the wedding photos were
done at Buckingham Palace, Catherine’s flowers
were returned to the abbey.
and our need to fuel our ermine fever? There is
the quiet wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike
Tindall on July 30th in a small Scottish church,
and of course, His Serene Highness Prince
Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock on
2 July in Monte Carlo. Rumor has it one of the
German royals is getting married this summer as
well. Now, has that invitation arrived?
Sartorial splendor does not come to mind when one
thinks of the two Anglican nuns who had two of the
best seats for the wedding. One of them wore her nononsense black trainers under her habit. They were
not MI5 special agents disguised as nuns protecting
the royal couple from terrorists. They were members
of the Community of Sisters of the Church. Sister
Judith, one of the two, serves as a special chaplain at
Westminster. Their presence was to give visibility to
the two statuses in life offered by God; that of holy
marriage and holy celibacy. One of the best moments
of the day was that caught on camera of the verger,
Ben Sheward, performing two cartwheels down the
center aisle of the abbey after most of the guests had
left the service. It captured the joy and energy of the
moment. Oh, if only more people would flip a
cartwheel now and then.
It was terrific watching the wedding on television.
The BBC had the best coverage. Its commentary got
the best reviews. It was disheartening reading about
the retractions the American stations had to post. No,
Katie Couric was wrong, he was not Dodi Fayed’s
father, he was the King of Tonga. Barbara Walters
and Diane Sawyer need to learn to get along. Someone needs to remind Barbara that when she covers a
royal wedding it is the one taking place in 2011 that
most people are interested in, not a marriage that
ended tragically.
Mark your calendars for the W.I.S.E. fall seminar. Barbara Baker, AG® of the Family History
Library in Salt Lake
City, will be showing us
how to research Scottish
records on 15 October
2011 in an all-day seminar. Barbara, an expert
in British Isles research,
has more than 20 years
experience as a research
consultant and lectures
widely in the U.S. and
Great Britain. This seminar will be both informative and fun. Barbara’s topics will be:
So, William and Catherine are playing house in
Wales much as Elizabeth and Phil did when he was
stationed on Malta. It is the only time in their lives
that they will come anywhere close to an average,
normal life. May they enjoy their honeymoon and be
blessed with three healthy children. And, what of us
Scottish Research Seminar
15 October 2011




Do Your Homework: Exhausting Home and
U.S. /.Canadian Sources
Scotland on the Internet: How Online Resources Can Help You
Faith of Our Fathers: an In-Depth Look at
Scottish Church Records
Going to Court: Scottish Land, Probate, and
Other Court Records
The Seminar will be in the Lower Level Conference Center in the Central Denver Public
Library (14th and Broadway). Registration
begins at 9 a.m.; the program will start at
9:30 a.m. The materials fee is $30, if paid by
8 October, and $35 after 8 October. If you have
questions, please contact Sandy Ronayne at
sandyronayne@comcast.net or 303.750.5002. A
registration form can be found at www.wisefhs.org.□
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Words
~- 42 -~
New Country Editor for Scotland
Stephanie Forbes Hayward is the Scotland editor
for W.I.S.E. Words, starting next edition. She
succeeds Ken McIntosh, who served two years.
Stephanie and her husband, Jim, of Greeley, have
been W.I.S.E. members for about two years. Her
Scottish research is concentrated in Inverness Shire
as well as Prescott County, Ontario. She is a member
of the Clan Forbes Society, St. Andrew Society, the
National, Ontario and Weld County genealogical
societies and the Association of Professional
Genealogists.
Welcome, Stephanie, and thank you, Ken, for all
you’ve done for us.
400 Years of King James Bible
– Richard Savage
Everyone recognizes Lincoln’s opening words,
“Fourscore and seven years ago...”, as well as his
closing phrase, “... shall not perish from the earth.”
Everyone in Lincoln’s audience recognized his
paraphrase of “... our years are threescore and ten ...”
from Psalm 90, and most would have recognized
his modification of the words of Job’s comforter,
Bildad, that “his remembrance shall perish from the
earth.” “Eighty-seven years ago ...” is neither as
memorable nor solemn as Lincoln’s paraphrase. Few
would have recognized that the structure is based on
the Funeral Oration of Pericles (Gary Wills, Lincoln
at Gettysburg, Simon & Schuster, 1992), but everyone of Lincoln’s generation, including the boy who
learned to read by fireplace light, knew the memorable phrases of a book now 400 years old – the King
James version (KJV) of the Bible. Catholics and
Protestants, Welsh, Irish, Scots and English would
have noticed little or no difference from previous
versions. The KJV was intended to be a unifier of
English speakers, as well as a model of simple,
elevated speech: not just religious doctrine, but
literature, culture, heritage, and political language to
unite the English-speaking world. Much has changed
since James I called for a new translation. Much of
what James intended is lost; the best – its literary
style – remains.
The 400th anniversary of the first edition of the
King James version of the Bible was 2 May 2011.
Perhaps the strangest of many strange things
about the KJV is its contrast with Shakespeare’s
great plays of the same era – MacBeth, Lear,
Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra and others.
Shakespeare uses more than 24,000 words,
many newly created and polysyllabic; the KJV
uses 6,000 at most, almost all age-old, AngloSaxon, and short. They are totally different
works, but both sponsored by the monarch who
made Shakespeare’s Company into The King’s
Men, James VI of Scotland and I of England –
an interesting, talented, highly educated man,
and well described in Majestie: The King Behind
the King James Bible by David Teems (2010).
But why? There were already multiple translations of the Bible, already six well-known
versions before that chartered by James.
First was that of John Wycliffe (1320? - 1384), a
Catholic priest, who translated the Latin Vulgate
Bible of St. Jerome into the English vernacular
more than a century before Luther’s reformation.
Wycliffe even dared to say that the Bible was
“... sole authority for religious faith and practice
and everyone had the right to read and interpret
scripture for himself.” It’s no surprise that, in
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 43 -~
1382, a synod of bishops met at Blackfriars Abbey
(later Shakespeare’s theatre) to declare the work heretical. Wycliffe’s followers, known as Lollards,
were captured, tortured, and executed; English
Bibles were banned by Parliament. In 1414, thirty
years after his death, Wycliffe’s body was disinterred
from consecrated ground, burned at the stake, and
dumped into the River Swift. The bitter struggle over
a vernacular Bible translation was underway
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wycliffe Bible).
The Vulgate is no longer considered a good translation of the original Hebrew and Greek, and
Wycliffe had little interest in “a flowery, captivating
style of address.” Nevertheless, Wycliffe’s simple,
honest translation injected into our language hundreds of words and constructions: an eye for an eye,
the salt of the earth, communication, child-bearing,
envy, crime, frying-pan, godly, humanity, injury,
jubilee, madness, middleman … and many others
make their appearance in Wycliffe's English Bible.
Most importantly, he awakened a taste for an
English translation of scripture, as well as other languages, such as Welsh (www.llgc.org.uk/index.
php?id=292).
Recognizing the inadequacy of the Vulgate Bible,
the Renaissance humanist, Erasmus of Rotterdam,
published (1516) the best Greek text of the New
Testament (NT) he could obtain making a translation
from the original source possible.
The first to do so, a man who strove for poetry of
language, was William Tyndale (ca. 1494 - October
6, 1536) also a priest and a lyricist with a gift for
English comparable to Shakespeare's two generations
earlier. “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue …” said
Hamlet. Nothing in Tyndale's translation goes trippingly; it's sonorous, grave, solemn and beautiful:
The Lorde blesse thee and kepe thee.
The Lorde make his face shyne apon thee
and be mercyfull unto thee.
The Lord lift upp his countenaunce apon thee
and give thee peace.
Estimates vary; as low as 76 percent and as high as
94 percent, but the consensus of Bible scholars is
that William Tyndale is responsible for at least
90 percent of the KJV NT, the most familiar
part. Tyndale also translated the first fourteen
books of the Old Testament (OT) and the Book
of Jonah. Among his contributions to our
speech: For thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory ... fight the good fight .... my
brother's keeper ... the apple of his eye ... the
spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ... sign of
the time .... in the cool of the day ... ye of little
faith … a law unto themselves ... peace-maker ...
long-suffering ... the Lord's anointed .... There
are hundreds more.
The most quoted are Matthew, Luke, John, Acts,
Mark and I Corinthians from the NT, and
Exodus, Genesis and Ecclesiastes from the Old
(OT). Tyndale did not have time before his martyrdom to translate all the OT. Part of Tyndale's
genius was his recognition that English is wellsuited for translation of Hebrew, as he said:
“...the properties of the Hebrew tongue agreeth a
thousand times more with the English than with
the Latin.” Remember that this was two generations before Shakespeare's introduction of
24,000 new words into English. Nobody outside
England spoke English; it was unimportant,
unformed and medieval.
Tyndale, an excellent scholar of Hebrew, also
added the Semitic superlatives, holy of holies,
song of songs, and all such noun + of + nouns
superlatives. Hebrew has no abstractions; it's a
very down-to-earth language, very unlike the NT
Greek. Thankfully, the words of Jesus of Nazareth, though quoted in Greek, are the words of
an Aramaic speaker, direct and to the point –
very unlike the Epistles of Paul, a Greek speaker. Tyndale even printed his NT in octavo – a
convenient pocket size, which continued to be
printed long after his death. (The Tyndale Bible
is available from Amazon; search for “william
tyndale bible.” Tyndale's New Testament, in the
Kindle version, costs $0.99. The KJV is, of
course, easily available on-line.)
So, if Tyndale's Bible was so good – and it is –
why did King James need another? He was seeking political unity. James spent 35 years fighting
with the Scottish Kirk, which was definitely not
subordinate to the king. Then he came to
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England, where he was the head of the English
Catholic Church, full of papal rituals, sacraments,
and (arch)bishops – all abominations to Puritans,
Presbyterians, and Separatists (our Pilgrim fathers).
Sequential persecutions under Henry VIII (Anglican), Edward VII (Protestant), Mary (Catholic),
and Elizabeth (Protestant) had driven opposition
religious leaders and scholars abroad to publish
their translations. Most offensive in James’ eyes –
and it had been in his eyes many times in his youth –
was John Calvin’s Geneva Bible, created in
the 1550s.
The Geneva Bible included maps and marginal notes
commenting on the tyranny of monarchs who did not
consider themselves subordinate to the Kirk, a foreboding of the Civil War to come. The “Divine Right
of Kings,” James’ fundamental principle of government, is a major motivation of the KJV. The word
“tyrant” occurs over 400 times in the Geneva Bible;
you won't find it in the KJV – and marginal notes
were forbidden by James’ instructions to the translators. We all know how that political dispute turned
out, both among the British (all the W.I.S.E. ethnicities suffered in the Civil War) and the Americans
(“... governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed”).
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, chapter 13,
verse 1 “... Let every soul be subject to the higher
powers ...” and (verse 13) “... The Powers that Be are
ordained of God ....” was much more to the liking of
King James.
Understandably, there's a lot of religious compromise
in the KJV. James wanted a unifying national document (church attendance was mandatory) “... to be
read in the churches …” that did not alienate too
many congregants. James’ instructions to the translators had excluded the Douai-Rheims translation as a
source, but they included it anyway. More importantly, James included among the translators a number of
Puritan-leaning academics from Cambridge as well
as the Oxford Anglicans. All were vested in the clerical and academic power structure; all were politically adroit enough to understand the rules and the intended outcome. If you wish to know more about the
translators, see God's Secretaries: The Making of
the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson, 2003:
Harper-Collins, New York. Interesting men, but
not entirely sympathetic.
For example, the Greek term επισκοπος
(episkopos), which literally means a “supervisor,
overseer” was early transliterated into Old
English as “bishop,” where it’s a religious term.
Anglican (and Roman Catholic) bishops have
religious powers ordinary priests and ministers
do not. Not in Calvin’s Geneva Bible, of
course, where they're considered administrators
of the “congregation” (not “Church”). In the
Separatist movement, there aren't any priests
or ministers at all, let alone bishops; each individual may read the Scripture and interpret it.
A W.I.S.E. Words columnist, Paul Kilburn, has
written an elegant series on the Separatists and
their parish churches (e.g., Volume 11, Number
1, 2010). When submission was required, the
Separatists refused to subscribe to the rule of
the Church and left for Holland, and ultimately
Massachusetts Bay. They were among fewer
than one percent who could not be persuaded.
Naturally, they took Calvin’s Geneva Bible with
them to the New World.
Many have remarked that the KJV is the only
instance in history that a work of genius has
been produced by a committee – 54 academics,
carefully vetted by King James. The mystery is
explained by their reliance on previous English
translations (as directed by James), all strongly
influenced by Tyndale: Coverdale's translation
(1535), Mathew's Bible (1537), the 1539 Great
Bible (subsidized by Henry VIII), the Geneva
Bible (1560), the Bishops’ Bible (1569), and the
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Roman Catholic Douai-Rheims versions of 1582
and 1609.
Were the translators mere plagiarists, copying Tyndale and adding a few obscure books of the OT he
had not gotten to? No; they reconsidered all Tyndale's words, and in small, subtle ways, rearranged
them. Tyndale's phrase “a small, still voice” became
“a still, small voice.” “Brimstone and fire” became
“fire and brimstone” – a smooth English iambic. As
Miles Smith, who wrote the Preface to the KJV, said:
“… the same will shine as gold more brightly, being
rubbed and polished also ....” Their aim was to
improve on a century of translations.
All credit to the translators, but they were not perfect. Many of the manuscripts they translated were
corrupt – containing mistakes, missing words or
whole lines, and interpolations from partisan theologians. In addition, the translators were a little uncertain of Hebrew verb tenses and Greek subjunctives.
They had been trained in the Classic Greek of Plato
and Aristotle, but the koine (“common”) Greek of
Paul of Tarsus is very different – and even the contemporary Epistle of Peter remarks that “... in the
epistles of our brother Paul there is much that is difficult of understanding.” For several reasons, the religious doctrine embodied in the KJV translation has
been enriched and broadened and largely replaced by
scholarship, by better textual analysis, and by new
material such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you wish to
know more about the history of the vernacular Bible
(including the KJV), I recommend The Bible in English: Its History and Influence by David Daniell,
Yale University Press, 2003.
Was the KJV immediately accepted? Alas, no.
James’ requirement that there be “no marginal notes”
was a major detriment; the KJV was widely referred
to as “the Bible without notes.” Even many of the
translators went on using the Geneva Bible, as did
Shakespeare. In addition, it was folio size (i.e.,
large), “appointed to be read in Churches,” and
printed in the old black letter font, rather than
modern typeface. It had the great advantage,
however, that it was read aloud to everyone, every
Sunday, for centuries.
What remains? The best, the reason it’s the finest
English language prose of all time. My opinion? Not
just mine; Winston Churchill and Lord Thomas
Macaulay, among many others, thought so.
Why? There are two reasons, among others:
1. “The King James Bible ... has contributed
far more to English in the way of idiomatic
or quasi-proverbial expressions than any
other literary source.” (from Begat: The
King James Bible and the English Language
by David Crystal, Oxford University Press,
2010). Crystal is professor of linguistics at
the University of Wales, Bangor.
2. Style, especially the style known as
parataxis, exemplified in Genesis, Chapter
1: “In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth. And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters. And God
said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Parataxis style is the simple sequence of
subject-verb-object, connected by “and” –
without subordinate clauses. It’s even more
stark in the KJV, since James’ instructions
to the translators told them to use simple,
well-understood words: “The ould ecclesiasticall words to be kept, viz. as the word
Churche not to be translated Congregation,
etc.” As we saw, previous translations –
Wycliffe, Tyndale – had used simple,
Anglo-Saxon words, which tend to be
monosyllabic (as Hebrew is not).
Do we know any modern authors who write like
that? Ernest Hemingway, for one. I’ll suggest
others in a future essay, along with examples of
idioms we all recognize – perhaps without
knowing their KJV antecedants.□
An Englishman Appreciates
Colorado Resources
– Nancy Craig
What do Ebenezer Scrooge and James K. Jeffrey
of the Denver Public Library have in common?
One is tall, scrawny, and grizzled in appearance,
the other is not! However, we now know that
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both have ties to the North Yorkshire town of
Malton, England – in a roundabout way. Here’s
the story.
LOCATION: Clement Park, south of Bowles
Avenue between Wadsworth Boulevard and
Pierce Street.
Author Charles Dickens' famous novella, A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, was written while he
visited a friend who lived in the area near Malton.
Recently, our newest W.I.S.E. member, Mr. Peter
Netzel, visited Colorado from his home in Malton. It
was his fourth time to visit Denver friends of
40 years; Mrs. Netzel could not travel due to health
issues. The friends met while both worked in England, then one family moved to Colorado; they have
kept in touch all these years.
DATES: Friday, 8 July, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
During his 3½ weeks here, Peter ventured to DPL to
do research on his family. He was deeply impressed
with James’ knowledge of the DPL collection and
direction to “just the right information” that he
needed. As a result, in addition to joining W.I.S.E.,
Mr. Netzel donated the remainder of a traveler’s
check to our W.I.S.E.-DPL book fund. Thank you
very much!
In his membership application, Peter included this
note:
“Hopefully my wife and I will be able to return the
compliment by assisting some of your (W.I.S.E.)
members with their family history research in Britain. Not all information is available on the Internet
and some can only be obtained by visiting the actual
places involved. My best wishes to you and your
Society.” --s/Pete Netzel
So, W.I.S.E. members: If you have hit a brick wall
about your family in North Yorkshire, perhaps Pete
can help you over it. Let me know if you'd like his email address. Of course, we won't expect him or his
wife to expend lots of time and effort on your problem, but maybe they can get you started by recommending sources you can check out yourself.□
Irish Festival Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are needed for the 17th annual Colorado
Irish Festival. This is Colorado’s premier Irish
festival. Last year it drew 40,000 patrons. W.I.S.E.
members will staff the family history tent again
this year.
Saturday, 9 July, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday, 10 July, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Our goal is to provide basic Irish genealogical
information and share maps, books, websites
and personal experiences with festival guests, so
people can begin their own research. We also
encourage guests to attend W.I.S.E. meetings.
Resources are provided by Denver Public
Library and volunteers. Typically, the people
coming to the tent know little or nothing about
Ireland and their Irish roots.
For information, go to the Colorado Irish Festival web site at www.coloradoirishfestival.org. To
volunteer, download a “Personal Information
Form” from the website, complete it and send it
to Bill Hughes at hughes.w@comcast.net or call
303-989-8560. Volunteer shifts average 4 hours,
and volunteers get free admission for the day for
two, a free Irish Festival T-shirt and free food
and drink at the staff tent.□
Scottish Festival Workers Needed
The 49th annual Colorado Scottish Festival
& Rocky Mountain Highland Games will be
held on Saturday, 13 August, and Sunday,
14 August, at the Highland Heritage Park (on
south Quebec Street, 2 miles south of C-470 in
Highlands Ranch). Mark your calendar now for
this fun event.
W.I.S.E. members with a working knowledge of
the British Isles countries are needed to answer
questions from Games attendees. The Denver
Public Library supplies reference books about
the British Isles for our use.
Please consider working a 4-hour shift on either
Saturday and / or Sunday. Before or after your
work shift, you are free to wander around the
grounds (and spend money with vendors!)
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For more information, view www.coloradoscots.com
and www.scottishgames.org. Please contact Diane
Barbour at 303-604-1051 or mdbfrisco@comcast.net
to volunteer. See you there!□
Researching in Edinburgh
– Diane Barbour
One of my favorite places in the world is the New
Register House in Edinburgh. After I tell you about it
you will understand why. Its official address is #2
Princes Street. It’s kind of tucked back behind most
of the commercial buildings on Princes Street.
On one side of Princes Street is a beautiful park.
It was made from the lake that divided Old
Edinburgh and the Royal Mile from the Georgian
part of Edinburgh. At first Edinburgh was built on a
ridge with a lake that bordered it. It was a very dirty
city and smelly because there was very little land to
build on, so the structures were built up. In the mid1700s the city decided to drain the lake and access
all that land on the other side. It was called New or
Georgian Edinburgh for King George. Princes
Street was named for the Princes. It is the main
commercial street for Edinburgh. Imagine anyone in
America calling the 1700s new.
New Register House in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The New Register House holds the most important
historical records for Scotland. It has merged with
the National Archives where copies of wills and
other legal documents are available for purchase. But
the best part of the building, for me, is the one
that holds all the parish registers of births, marriages and deaths prior to 1855 and accesses the
Statutory Records System that was instituted
in 1855.
It is everything you would expect, creaky, a little
dusty and smelling of books. In the very middle
of the first floor is the dome, a circular room
holding the microfilm of all the Parish Registers
for Scotland. A circular hall runs around that,
and it holds the microfiche for some records. In
the outside circular room there are computers
where you can access the Statutory Records
from 1855. The upper floors hold the original
parish registers.
The staff is very friendly and helpful. I asked if
I could see the upper floors and was taken to one
of the floors, but I was not allowed to touch or
use any of the material as they are the fragile
original documents.
My first visit to this building was a little overwhelming but subsequent visits made me love it.
I went to the New Register House very early
in my research. All the methodology books tell
you to start with U.S. or Canadian records and
work your way back across the pond. Like everything else, I like to do it the hard way and
I started over the pond and worked my way
back. I was a real newbie and didn’t know anything about Scottish records. I learned so much
about Scottish records from the marvelous
people who work there. They were so patient,
explaining everything to me. What a find.
People line up one-half hour before it opens.
You can’t eat or drink in the search rooms,
but there is a lunch room and water fountains. If
you are like me you spend the day eating
life savers and getting by with the water
from the fountain. Who wants to take time
for lunch?
I have wonderful memories of this memorable
building. When I made subsequent visits to
Edinburgh my mother would ask me “Are you
going to Scotland and spend all of your time in
that stuffy old building?” Why else would I go
to Scotland?□
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Adopt-a-Book Opportunity
for W.I.S.E. Members
W.I.S.E. and the Denver Public Library are
offering members an opportunity to help
customize the DPL genealogy collection.
Here’s how it will work: A member may suggest a
title of a book or other resource – not a CD – that
covers some phase of British Isles genealogy or history and is not already part of the collection. It may
be used or new. If the title meets the approval of the
W.I.S.E. DPL Resources Committee, we would accept a donation for the total price, order it and, when
it arrives, let the donor adopt it for a month. That is,
he or she could take it home and use it.
At the end of a month, the donor would pass it along
to the library to join the growing genealogy collection, where it would not circulate. The donor’s name
would be on a bookplate on the flyleaf.
Or, if you do not have a specific title in mind, but
would like to participate, the Resources Committee
will make suggestions. To make a suggestion, contact W.I.S.E. president Zoe Lappin at ZLappi
@hotmail.com or 303 322-2544.
New Irish Websites
– Marylee Hagen
Ireland-Genealogy.com web site contains extracts
from application Census Search Forms. These were
created to be used by the local pension boards to
facilitate searches in the 1821, 1841 and 1851 census
records for proof of age for would-be pension applicants. These records are held in the Public Records
Office of Northern Ireland (in Belfast) and the National Archives (in Dublin). They were hand written
in pencil resulting in some faded words or letters
which made the job of transcribing difficult. Therefore, they are not easy to read and are in no particular
order. You are shown a list of all records that contain
the surname you have entered. It will show the applicant's name, county in which he or she resided at the
time of the 1841 and / or 1851 census and an Ireland
Genealogy file number. The searches are free, but
you do need to pay to view the records that are
found. You can find the Ireland Genealogy web
site at http://www.ireland-genealogy.com/.
Findmypast Ireland site was launched 5 May
2011. It is a detailed and thorough collection of
Irish records including land records, directories,
wills, obituaries, gravestone inscriptions and
marriages – adding 50 million records over the
next 12 to 18 months. There will be an annual
subscriptions for the site and “PayAsYouGo”
will be available. You can find this site at http://
www.findmypast.ie.□
Irish Family History Foundation
– Marylee Hagen
Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF)
Online Research Service (ORS) http://roots
ireland.ie
The Irish Family History Foundation’s member
centers are based in local communities, working
with volunteers, local historical societies, local
clergy, local authorities, county libraries and
government agencies to build a database of
genealogical records for each county. You can
check out the interactive map to see which centers are currently live. Unfortunately, several of
the Republic of Ireland counties are still not
available. Some counties in Ireland do not have
an IFHF genealogy center, are not yet participating in the online service or do not offer a
genealogy service at the present time. If your
county is in RED on the map, click on it, and
you will see the reason why, and it will show
other contact information for you. Some counties which are not online at present will be joining the Online Research Service in the coming
months. You can search the record indexes online at no charge. You need to register and login
to use the index. To view an individual detail
genealogy record you will need to purchase
credit vouchers.
Irish Ship Passenger Lists
(IFHF) (ORS) recently made available a new
source of records. The Centre for Migration
Studies, Omagh, County Tyrone, has provided
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over 227,000 names of ship passengers. The records
are of passengers, mostly of Irish origin, on ships
traveling to ports in North America (United States
and Canada) from Irish and British ports from 1791
to 1897. Just go to the following site and login using
your existing IFHF login details. http://cms.
rootsireland.ie.□
Y Gelli, Town of Books
– Samuel O. Kuntz
“Y Gelli” is the Welsh name for the town of Hay-onWye, “the Town of Books.” This is a small market
town of about 1,900 people situated on a small hill
alongside the River Wye on the border between
Wales and England. The nearest town, 22 miles
away, is Hereford, England, and the closest Welsh
village is Brecon (Aberhonddu). Hay-on-Wye,
like Brecon, lies within the boundary of the Brecon
Beacons National Park, which covers 520 square
miles in mid-Wales. Thirty-five percent of the park
is common land. The River Wye appeared to be
great for fishing as there were some fishermen in the
middle of the river when I visited earlier this year.
As one stands in England and looks across the River
Wye toward Hay-on-Wye, he can easily picture it in
the middle ages. On top of the hill sits the castle and
the village is spread out on the hillside beneath it.
This hill has been the site of many hill forts and castles throughout time. The earliest castle of the
Normans was built before 1120 by the 1st Earl of
Hereford. Although never destroyed, the castle has
been repaired many times throughout history and is
now the residence of Richard Booth, bookseller, and
self-proclaimed King of Wye. Walls were erected
around the town in the 1200s. A great place to eat in
Hay-on-Wye is the Old Black Lion Inn. This is a
17th century inn, parts of which date back to the
1300s. This is situated close to the Lion’s Gate, one
of the original entrances in the old wall.
Richard Booth opened the first second-hand bookshop in the town in the 1960s. Others soon followed
and by the 1970s it had become internationally
known as “the Town of Books.” Today there are
over thirty bookshops in Hay-on-Wye. Not only are
there shops next to each other, there are three and
four in a row and across the street from each
other. Some of the bookshops have books on the
first floor (second floor in the U.S.) as well as on
the ground floor. There are a few, but very few,
other shops in town as well as hotels, pubs and
restaurants.
One can find a book on practically any subject
some place in town. The shop clerks are very
helpful in directing one to a shop that might
have the book, if they do not have it. I was looking for some piano sheet music from the World
War II era when I was in town. I was directed to
the first floor on one of the shops. After winding
my way through the home-made stacks, I
worked my way to the area where the music was
spread out all over the floor and on the shelves
lining one of the walls. It was quite a surprise to
find so much sheet music to select from.
View of the castle from across the River Wye.
Street scene in Hay-on-Wye, the “Town of Books.”
I found that the books and materials on the first
floors were not very well sorted. The clerks advised me that they received so many books and
had so many on hand that it was difficult to sort
them all out. A fun part of spending time in
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Hay-on-Wye is finding an interesting book that you
want from the large selection that is available.
Every year the Festival of Books is held in Hay-onWye. This year over 100,000 people, including many
dignitaries, were expected at the festival which was
held in late May and early June 2011. I have driven
to Hay-on-Wye twice, once from Brecon to the west
and from Abergavenny to the south. The roads there
are typical Welsh roads, narrow and winding through
the beautiful hilly (mountainous) countryside. It is
hard for me to believe how that many people can get
there, let alone where they are going to stay. However there are extra buses from Hereford and Brecon
during the festival.
Next time you are having trouble finding a book,
stop by Hay-on-Wye. I am sure that you will find
your book or maybe even another book that you will
like even more. Where else can you visit over thirty
book shops in one town?□
Cathedral of St. David. In the summer of 2000,
W.I.S.E. member Betty Brown and I attended
Welsh Heritage Week (WHW) in Wales. Every
3-4 years, WHW “goes home to Wales” for a
week of study at Nant Gwrtheyrn (The Nant);
other years, WHW is held on college campuses
in North America. There, we learned a bit of the
complicated Welsh language through a condensed version of its Welsh for Adults program.
We learned a lot about Welsh culture (singing,
literature, poetry, dance, harp lessons). This was
followed by a week of sightseeing in the country. Via motor coach, our group saw many famous castles, mansions, the Portmerion pottery
factory, attended the annual Eisteddfod and also
visited St. David's Cathedral.
Welsh Heritage Week
and Wandering in Wales
– Nancy Craig
As the summer of 2011 approaches, it promises
people the opportunity to study the Welsh language
and culture at several venues, some in North
America, some in Wales. Get your passport updated!
Samuel Kuntz reminded me of some Welsh events
you may want to consider:




Welsh Heritage Week: 17 - 24 July on the campus of Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario, (the Niagara region) welshheritageweek.org
Cwrs Cymraeg (Welsh Course): 17 - 24 July, on
the campus of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, www.madog.org
National Eisteddfod: 30 July – 6 August (150th
anniversary festival) near Wrexham, Wales,
eisteddfod.org/uk
Course Cymraeg: August 1 - 26 on the campus
of Aberystwyth University, Wales,
learnwelshinmidwales.org
As I was thinking about these classes and
festivals, I remembered my own experience at the
St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, built in its
present form circa 1181 C.E.
When I first stood on the grounds and saw the
size of the cathedral, it was an overwhelming
view. Although it is one of six cathedrals in
Wales, this is the holiest place in Wales, with the
cathedral being noted as “the mother-church of
Welsh Christianity.” The building shown above
is the fourth structure on the site.
Our group was scheduled for a guided tour. We
noted the hushed atmosphere, along with the soft
light that came through the windows. The docent
was an elderly man who knew many statistics
about the cathedral and its long history. When
we approached one small side chapel, the sense
of grandeur caught one of our group members in
her heart, and she asked the docent if we were
allowed to sing in the chapel. Well, no one had
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ever made that request of him before! After a
moment of pondering, he asked her what she proposed we should sing, and being extremely pleased
with her answer, he replied: “Yes, your group may
sing, but not too loudly, please.” In four-part harmony and a cappella, we sang our group’s favorite
Welsh hymn, Penpark. To this day, remembering
how we sang that hymn quietly and reverently inside
the cathedral remains one of my fondest memories
from my entire Welsh Heritage Week trip to Wales.□
About the Scottish-Mexicans
– Ken McIntosh
Early on in America, the Scots were not opposed to
intermarrying with Native Americans or Mexicans in
the Southwest or in Mexico. Being aware of this
might help in researching family history and genealogy. Following are two family stories that illustrate
this fact.
For many years – until 2009 – one of Denver’s most
popular family Mexican restaurants was Tosh’s
Hacienda; it was owned and operated by the
Mackintosh family. (Tosh is a sept ─ family ─ surname of Clan Mackintosh.) They printed their family’s story on the front of their menu for all to see.
It is as follows:
“The first Mackintosh emigrated to old Mexico from
Scotland in the late 1800s. He quickly settled and
began raising a family and accumulating property
and wealth. But early in the Mexican Revolution
(1910), Zapata’s revolutionaries attacked the
Mackintosh hacienda and killed the unyielding
patriarch before the very eyes of his son Salvador
who was hiding from the renegades. Taking only
what they could carry, the rest of the family escaped
to Texas on horseback.
economy slumped, Salvador lost his job and to
make ends meet, the family teamed together,
moved the furniture out of the living room, and
created one of Denver’s first Mexican restaurants, La Hacienda Take Out. They sold burritos,
tamales, enchiladas, tostadas and tacos to neighbors and friends who were hungry for authentic
Mexican cuisine.
“With the help of the entire family, La Hacienda
flourished. In 1956, they outgrew their tiny
house and moved the restaurant operation into
the church school next door.
“In 1985, the downtown restaurant got a complete facelift and a new name, Tosh’s Hacienda.
Ruben and Carole Mackintosh were at the helm
and as their children grew up, they became an
integral part of the management team.”
I know the Mackintosh family personally. Sadly,
in 2010, they suffered the untimely and accidental death of Adam Mackintosh, Rueben’s nephew, as well as Adam’s uncle Tim Mackintosh,
who was a member of my Clan Mackintosh of
Colorado group. Anyone who met these people
would immediately notice their Spanish heritage. At both funerals, Adam and Tim were
buried wearing their Clan Mackintosh tartan ties
and their caskets were covered with the Clan
Mackintosh tartan. Apparently, multiple ethnicities and cultures can co-exist quite nicely.
McIntosh, New Mexico
NOTE: The following family story is also
documented in Scots in the North American
West, 1790-1917, by Ferenc Morton Szasz
(University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2000).
“Salvador Mackintosh met his future wife Esther in
Texas and after a couple of years they moved to
Denver looking for better job opportunities. For
18 years, Salvador worked for the Armour Meat
Company while Esther raised their seven children.
There is a small town in the Estancia Valley of
central New Mexico (not too far off Interstate
25) called McIntosh. It is named for the McIntosh brothers, William, Donald and John, who
came from Scotland to herd sheep in the late
1880s. They also brought in a number of Scots
employees who all later became independent
flock masters.
“In 1945 they moved the family into a little house at
3036½ Downing Street, next door to the First Galilee
Baptist School and Church. When the Denver
William McIntosh achieved local fame for his
Scots managers, his wool barns and his elegant
shearing parties (featuring dancing, pianola and
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 52 -~
splendid foods), plus a distinct fondness for the bottle. Rumor had it that he would ride into nearby
Estancia and get drunk, whereupon the bartender
would load him in his buggy and have the horses
take him home.
Estancia Valley Scots herders occasionally sported
kilts while watching over their sheep. Familiarity
with sheep raising also offered an entry into local
New Mexico Hispanic society. Consequently, there
were a number of Scots-Hispanic marriages in the
Estancia region, descendants of whom live there to
this day.
Naturally, some of the people who have descended
from these Scottish-Mexican marriages would not
necessarily have Scottish surnames, but also Spanish
surnames.□
Websites for the Wise
--Wales
--Linda Pearce
Helô! In this issue, the spotlight shines on some genealogical resources for Wales. Our thanks go out to
Nancy Craig and James Jeffrey for their valuable
contributions. Diolch! (Thanks!)
Before reviewing our online picks, I wanted to mention two print (gasp!) resources which are particularly well-regarded. The first is Genealogical Research
in England and Wales, vol. 3, by David E Gardner
which is an outstanding resource for English and
Welsh handwriting help; it is available at the Denver
Public Library. Secondly are the “bibles” for Welsh
family history and research – three books by John
and Sheila Rowlands – Welsh Family History: a
Guide to Research, Second Stages in Researching
Welsh Ancestry, and Surnames of Wales; these books
are available at the libraries in Denver and Colorado
Springs. And now, on to our Welsh website “picks.”
GENUKI: (www.genuki.org.uk) is a volunteer-run,
free website that has an extensive collection of resources for Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland, the
Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. Its mission is
to collect primary historical resources, not family
trees, but there are links to other websites where you
can find family information and post queries. From
the homepage, click on the bold link beginning
with “Enter this large collection …”, then click
either the “Wales” underlined link, or the map of
Wales. Once in the Wales section, you will find
links to each of the 13 historic counties as well
as to generic Welsh information. The amount of
information that has been amassed is truly amazing, so I encourage you to sit down with a cup of
tea and explore!
National Library of Wales: (http://www.
llgc.org.uk). On the homepage, click the “English” link, then (near the top of the page), click
“Family History”, then (left-hand navigation
bar) “Search Archival Databases”. Free access is
provided for the Gaol Files 1730-1830 (excluding Monmouthshire), index for marriage licenses
1616-1837, manorial documents register, and the
index to wills proved in the Welsh ecclesiastical
courts before 1858. Unfortunately, baptisms,
marriages, marriage bonds, burials and other
diocesan records are not available online. You
may find additional records at the National
Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk); use
the following link to go directly to the catalogues and online records lists / links (http://
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/catalogue
s-and-online-records.htm).
Origins.net: (www.origins.net) is inclusive of
England and Wales with records from 12081948. It is a paid site, but you can purchase
72 consecutive hours of access for only £8
(about $16), so it pays to make a list with names
and dates for data you are searching for, and
then subscribe for the 72 hour period. You may
also go to the Denver Public library and access
the site for free on its computers. Welsh records
at “Origins” include the census for 1841, 1861,
1871 (with images), London Apprenticeship
abstracts for children from all over Britain,
Inheritance Disputes index, Wales 1895
Gazetteer maps, outgoing passenger lists from
1890, and vintage photos.
FamilySearch: (www.familysearch.org ) LDS
site for free access to records. From the home
page, under the “Browse by Location” title, click
the link for “Europe” to see a list of all databases
dealing with Europe. Scroll down to find the
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 53 -~
databases for Wales (Births & Baptisms 1541-1907;
Deaths & Burials 1586-1885, Marriages 1541-1900).
To the right of each database title you can see the
date created or updated; these databases are constantly being added to, so it’s advisable to check back
frequently. Click on the database you are interested
in, enter your ancestor’s information, then click the
“Search” button.
quark-parton structure of the proton and neutron
in 1968 – a discovery for which the 1990 Nobel
Prize in Physics was awarded. As a result of this
experiment, existing scientific theories were
blown away, so to speak. The quark is now believed to be the most fundamental building block
of the universe. Diane is very proud of her modest husband’s achievement.
Ancestry.com: www.Ancestry.co.uk and Ancestry
LibraryEdition, available for free at the Denver and
Pikes Peak libraries, have extensive Britain/Wales
data sets, or you can pay (annually) for the world
subscription. Ancestry also offers a 14 day free trial,
so you might gather your questions and data and then
try the 14-day trial.
Since Welsh immigrants to the U.S. usually settled
in communities, it may be helpful to contact the
genealogical society for the county in which your
ancestor lived. Counties with large Welsh communities include: Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, Luzerne,
Lackawanna and Schuylkill, Pennsylvania; Howard,
Iowa; Blue Earth, Minnesota; Gage, Nebraska;
Oneida, New York; and Jefferson, Wisconsin.□
Member Profiles
--Cindy Stewart Murphy
Diane Barbour and David Coward have been
W.I.S.E. Family History Society members for three
years. Diane currently serves on the W.I.S.E. board
as hospitality chair. There must have been a little
seismic jolt the day they joined our society because
this Broomfield couple exudes a lot of energy – and
all of it positive.
David, in fact, specializes in the field of high energy
physics. Now physicist emeritus at Stanford University, he can often be found working at CERN, the
European Organization for Nuclear Research in
Switzerland. To a non-physicist, interpreting David’s
curriculum vitae is a daunting task, but much easier
than understanding any of the more than 140 scientific articles he has published in refereed physics
journals. One historic moment, however, stands
out in his distinguished physics career. David was
a senior member in a small group of young
physicists at Stanford and MIT who discovered the
David Coward and Diane Barbour pause during
a hike in the Antarctica, one of their many trips.
Diane, too, is an outside-the-box dynamo. She
met her future husband through a little white lie.
Some women shave a few years off their ages,
but Diane wanted to join a seniors’ ski club, so
she added a few years! That’s where she and
David met and enjoyed an active lifestyle of
skiing, hiking and biking.
Until a decade ago, researching their family histories had never crossed this couple’s minds. But
then “the letter” arrived. David phoned Diane
from Switzerland one evening and she told him
that she had received a “crazy” letter stating that
she might be in line for an inheritance, if she
were willing to split the money with a genealogical search firm in the U.K. We all dream of a
long-lost relative leaving us money, but Diane,
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 54 -~
naturally, thought this must be a scam. David did a
little digging and learned that this London firm was
legitimate. After being treated to tea and cookies by a
company case worker on a subsequent visit to
London, Diane was given photocopies of documents
relating to her great-great-grandfather. It was another
relative who had died intestate with no heirs that had
spurred this international search for other living relatives. Diane didn’t even own a computer at that time,
but these ancestral documents lit the fires of family
history interest in her and she overcame her techreluctance to start documenting her own family
research.
Diane, though physically petite, doesn’t do things on
a small scale. After moving from Summit County,
she joined the Anthem Ranch Genealogy Club, of
which she is currently vice president. Diane eventually decided to go pro with her interest in genealogy. She is studying online with the National Institute
of Genealogical Studies, University of St. Michael’s
College in the University of Toronto. She has completed her 14 courses in methods “with distinction”
and is working on her U.S. and Scotland certifications. Diane expects to graduate in May 2012
and she is deeply grateful for David’s support in
her ambitious academic endeavor. Diane claims
that certified genealogist Julie Miller, also of
Broomfield, is her idol and Beverly Rice is her
favorite instructor.□
Book Review
Royal cousins by the dozens and dozens and . . .
Charles Mosley, Blood Royal From the Time of
Alexander the Great to Queen Elizabeth II, London
and Bournemouth, England: Smith’s Peerage
Limited, 2002. One in a series initiated by the
Manorial Society of Great Britain.
No W.I.S.E. member truly was expecting a gilded
summons to the grand event, but some of us are, indeed, distant cousins of the prince. At least 40 million Americans supposedly descend from medieval
British royalty, as William does. If you descend from
colonial English settlers, the likelihood is fairly high
that you are a cousin of the prince, and his parents,
grandparents and so on.
If you can trace your ancestry to one of these
colonists and then across the ocean to their ancestors, you might like a book recently added to
the genealogy collection of the Denver Public
Library. It’s Blood Royal From the Time of
Alexander the Great to Queen Elizabeth II,
compiled for her Golden Jubilee in 2002 by a
nimble genealogist, Charles Mosley. It names
thousands of her cousins, many of whom could
be your cousins, too.
I say nimble because the author is thoroughly
comfortable rambling through the thousands of
names and relationships –
much more so than any WISE
member I’ve ever met. I say
you may like the book because
it suffers from TMI – too
much information. It’s hefty
and dense, and Mosley has
devised a generational numbering system that is all but
incomprehensible. Furthermore, he covers genealogies not only of the familiar British monarchs, but of anybody ever identified as a British sovereign, including Romans, Anglo-Saxons,
Vikings and even Oliver Cromwell. Bastards are
included.
Perhaps the best feature of this handsome book
with a dazzling color portrait of the queen on the
cover is Mosley’s description of each set of rulers. He doesn’t hold back on his remarkable
store of knowledge and insights into each,
speaking mostly to equally erudite Brits who can
appreciate his commentary. He might seem arrogant and flashy, but rich detail hides in that
small type.
What’s in it for WISE members? Believe it:
Many of us are cousins of the House of Windsor
and some at least have used American sources to
establish a link. If you’re one of these, and don’t
mind digging through tons of musty data, you
may find fascinating details of your British lines.
You can’t just jump in, though – you must know
the name of your immigrant ancestor and his or
her ancestors. Mosley includes only the most
famous Americans, such as presidents, among
the royals’ cousins.
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 55 -~
If you haven’t made the leap, but do have early
colonial ancestry, you’d be advised to concentrate
first on published U.S. sources, which you must take
with healthy skepticism. That’s because many of
those genealogies are old, written and published before we had the Internet, DNA testing and the high
level of proof generally required today. A recommended starting place is a highly respected source,
Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New
England Between 1623 and 1650, by Frederick
Lewis Weis. It’s now in the eighth edition and it has
a new title, Ancestral Roots of Certain American
Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700.
My husband, Jack Lappin, is a descendant of several
early colonists. Relying on Weis and other sources,
many years ago I discovered his alleged link to
royalty. It goes through the maternal line of one
Katherine Marbury Scott, sister of the famous Anne
Marbury Hutchinson. It takes him directly back to
King Henry II, also an ancestor of Prince William.
Blood Royal was a challenge, but we eventually
ferreted out his ancestry in Mosley’s heavy prose.
It’s not proved to my standard of confidence,
however. Not only is proof lacking – that’s beyond
its scope – but Blood Royal has no index. That’s virtually an unforgivable fault. Still, it merits your time
if you have a taste for the purple.
– Zoe von Ende Lappin□
Salt Lake City Research Trip
--Zoe von Ende Lappin
Fourteen W.I.S.E. members and three non-members
participated in our trip to the Family History Library
in May in Salt Lake City. Four travelers were firsttime visitors to the FHL. We had a get-acquainted
luncheon in Denver in advance and an orientation
program at the library on our first morning of
research. And, of course, the knowledgeable and
friendly staff is always eager to help and give you
pointers for advancing your research. In the next issue of W.I.S.E. Words, researchers will share some of
their experiences and success stories.
We are now taking suggestions for dates for our
2012 research trip. This year’s trip strengthened the
belief that the single greatest move you can make to
further your genealogical research is spending a
week at the Family History Library. The ambiance, to say nothing of the fabulous resources,
cannot be matched anywhere in the world. And
that includes cyberspace.□
Classes in England Research
W.I.S.E. Family History Society and the Denver
Public Library will present intermediate-level
classes on England research on five consecutive
Fridays, beginning July 8. Classes will meet in
the Gates Room on the fifth floor of Central
DPL, from 10:15 a.m. to noon. These sessions
will employ an unusual format -- each week
participants will view a 30-minute online video
produced by the Family History Library to be
followed by discussion led by an experienced
W.I.S.E. researcher. A $5 materials fee will be
charged for each session. Class dates and topics
are as follows:
July 8 – Research Overview
July 15 – Census Records
July 22 – Civil Registration
July 29 – Church Records
August 5 – Find Your Ancestors
For more information or to register, contact
Sandy Ronayne at sandyronayne@comcast.net
or 303.750.5002. W.I.S.E. reserves the right to
limit class size.
In Memoriam
W.I.S.E. member Beverly Jo (BJ) Miller of
Colorado Springs passed away on April 21,
2011. BJ had visited the British Isles many
times. Her ashes will be scattered near Ross
Castle on the shore of Killarney's Lower Lake in
Ireland.
Eleanor M. Jones of Boulder, a longtime
W.I.S.E. member, died May 5, 2011, in Boulder;
she was 91.□
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W.I.S.E. Words
~- 56 -~
W.I.S.E. Program Schedule
24 September
1:30 p.m.
Denver Public Library
7th Floor
British Isles Research at the Denver Public Library – James K. Jeffrey
James will discuss the hidden resources and treasures for British Isles
research at the Central Denver Public Library. James, a W.IS.E. member,
is the collection specialist in genealogy at the Denver Public Library.
15 October
9:00 a.m.
Lower Level
Conference Center
(use east entrance)
Scottish Research Seminar -- Barbara Baker, AG®
Barbara, a consultant from the Family History Library, will present four
one-hour topics on Scottish Research: Do Your Home Work: Exhausting
Home and U.S. / Canadian Sources; Scotland on the Internet: How
Online Resources Can Help You; Faith of Our Fathers: an In-Depth
Look at Scottish Church Records; and Going to Court: Scottish Land,
Probate, and Other Court Records. See the registration form at the
W.I.S.E. website, www.wise-fhs.org.
3 December
1:30 p.m.
7th Floor
How I Transcribed a Testament (Will) of 1570 – Dorothy Coltrin
Dorothy, a W.I.S.E. member, will discuss what it took to transcribe
“secretary hand” used in the 16th century of Scotland. She will describe
various individuals and websites who helped create a modern version
of the will and decipher the family structure of Rolland Acoltrane,
Mochrum Parish, Wigtownshire, Scotland.□
www.wise-fhs.org

Volume 12, Number 3 - WISE Family History Society

Transcription

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