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Guestbook
Guestbook of Ryde Social Heritage Group:
- 22/09/2008
Edgar Ward - 10/07/2008
Jennings - 29/03/2008
Gerald Tunnard Fardell - 14/03/2008
Grave of Samuel Osborn - 14/03/2008
UPDATING THE GUEST BOOK ENTRIES - 04/03/2008
Barton, Shiner, Colenutt, Arthur - 22/12/2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS - 06/09/2007
Query re FETHERSTONHAUGH FAMILY - 07/08/2007
Dormant Guestbook - 27/08/2006
James Walker, Chief Coastguard - 20/08/2006
Isle of Wight Bowling History - 19/08/2006
General Sir Sam Browne - 01/08/2006
General Sir Henry Daly - 17/07/2006
Tips for Reading Headstones - 15/06/2006
Your Site - 28/05/2006
Frederick Archer Kent - 28/05/2006
Cemetery Walk - 22/05/2006
Missing Information - 15/05/2006
Error in Information - 30/04/2006
The Beach Tavern - 22/04/2006
Membership - 07/04/2006
General cemetery web site - 05/04/2006
Stanley - 28/03/2006
Does anyone have information on the Victor House Nursing Home on Pellhurst Road, Ryde? - 28/03/2006
Ann Barrett's Isle of Wight Web Site - 23/03/2006
Knight - 23/03/2006
Prince of Wales pub - 21/03/2006
Re your lovely new heritage site - 21/03/2006
Comment from the Isle of Wight Family History Society
In September 2008 we were contacted by Judy Reeves: "Edgar Ward married my maternal great aunt, Jessie Jacobs. Jessie married again and I had not located the death of Edgar. Your article has now revealed this to me. How sad this must have been for Jessie as she also lost her two brothers in WW1" Thank you, Judy, for your comment and the additional information. Janette :-)
In July 2008 we were contacted by Wendy Davies: "Can you help pls? Im trying to trace family - HENRY JENNINGS my GG Grandfather b about 1816 in Ryde.He was a boot and shoe maker. m Emma Blake in Ryde 1839.They had 10 children. I already have a photo from your fab site of his grave - he died Jan 1899 in London. His son (my Dads Gfather) was Arthur alos b in Ryde - am trying to trace all I can about them and if we have any JENNINGS relatives still in Ryde." If you have any information about this family please get in touch via the website and we will pass the information on to Wendy.
In February 2008 we were contacted by Trish Jubb to tell us that we had recorded the name of her great-great-uncle incorrectly. We had transcribed it as Gerald Tunnard Pardell whereas it was actually Gerald Tunnard Fardell. A correction to the record was made and Trish wrote back to say "Your amazing work on the graves records has given me additional clues to my family. I didn't know about Getrude Emma Fardell. She was a granddaughter of the Hearns and born Quarter 1 1864. I found her in the BMD records, both her death and birth certificates, copies of which I shall write away for. Poor little girl. Some people in the 19th c die at a very young age and some last for years and years." .
On 12 March 2008 we received this message from Adrian and Lou: "I want to thank you for the wonderful website. I have just started researching my family tree and was delighted to find the grave of my great grandfathers siblings".
Note from Janette 14 March 2008. Keeping up to date with everything to do with the website and the activities of the group has been a challenge over the past couple of years, and I'm sorry to say that the Guestbook has suffered. I am going to attempt to keep up to date with it in future.
Note from Janette 3 March 2008: If you previously enquired about the above names please get in touch as we have some information for you.
On 21st December 2007 Sally-Ann Garrett wrote: Season's Greetings to all Members of the RSHG, and to those who use the website. I am sorry not to be part of the group anymore, but I wish you all well in your endeavours in 2008. Sally-Ann.
Janette replied: Thank you for your message and good wishes for the Group. The coming year is going to be exciting and challenging for us as we bring our LHI funded project to a successful conclusion and make plans for continuing the good work you helped to start.
Cherry wrote : Does anyone out there have any info re the Fetherstonhaugh family of Ryde? They lived in Gwydyr House from the late 1880's until Gen. F. died in 1932. Two of his wife's relatives, and previous occupants of the house (Collingwood Dickson) are buried in Ryde Cemetery, as is Richard F. Kathleen F. married a Harold Fordyce Birch in 1916. Many thanks in anticipation!
The Guestbook has not been updated for some time due to the fact that there are not enough hours in the day or enough volunteers to get everything done on the website that we would like to and we apologise for that. Even though this page is out of date if you contact us we will attempt to respond to you and if we don't respond please try and be patient as we are doing the best we can. Janette Gregson, Secretary, Ryde Social Heritage Group.
Richard Webb (York). I revisited your website today and saw that you have been able to use my write up on James Walker, Chief Officer of Coastguard at Ryde. I'm glad to see that the grave is in good condition. I shall be visiting my parents on the Island in October and hope to visit the grave itself. REPLY: Thanks for your update James - Please let us know if you want some help to locate the grave. Sally-Ann
Alec Soars, who is a member of the IW FHS wrote to ask if anyone has knowledge of the history of bowling on the Island. He does not want this sport forgotten and buried, and asks if anyone has information about bowlings clubs, past and present, or any photographs, or artifacts, to contact him on alexsoars@talktalk.net
From David Sam Browne: I am the great great grandson of General Sir Sam Browne and find this web page very interesting. Thanks for keeping his memory alive. Sally-Ann wrote back: Thank you for your interest, and kind comments. We have met another descendant of Sir Sam Browne who lives on the Island, and we hope to be interviewing her to look at some memorabilia. Do you have any further information you could add to our pages? David wrote back with some details of his family and asked to be put in contact with the relative on the Island. Sally-Ann
Dermot Daly wrote: I read with much interest your notes about the General. He was my grandfather's 2nd cousin and I have 2 of the General's fathers swords which he left at Daly's Grove when he rented the property from my great grandfather from about 1849 for some 10 years. Do you have a copy of the general's photograph you could send me. The general's son by his second wife was called Victor, no doubt after his godmother. Reply from Janette: Thanks for visiting our website and for your comments. We have tried to be as accurate as we can with the information about General Daly, much of the information uncovered in the research was confusing and contradictory, so I hope we got things right we are happy to make amendments if more accurate information comes to light. Thank you for the additional information about Victor. The only pictures I have of the General are digital images copied from his son's book I believe and I will email these to you. Janette :-)
Heather Hicks wrote: A group of us in Whitwell have started a project to record our MI's and like you we have found many of our headstones difficult to read. I would like to ask you for guidence on the best tips for reading them and how much moss, lichens etc you removed. I replied: We don't actually clear anything from the headstones, as we are concerned about the ecology of the Cemetery, lichen and moss included. We just have lots of patience, and have revisited some headstones many times to wait for just the right light, or level of dampness that shows the inscription lettering sufficiently for us to read. When we started the project, we visited several websites on the topic of recording information, from around the world, and we found that most groups struggle with the problem of balancing the natural heritage against the social heritage. Some websites do provide guidance. Perhaps you could make a start with the parish registers, if you haven't already done so, which would give you a record of the names at least. I believe the same conditions apply in churchyards as in municipal cemeteries, which is that the headstone remains the property of the person/people who paid for it and erected it on the grave. Others actually have no right to clear or clean. This may not help, but please keep in touch, and good luck with your work. Sally-Ann
Congratulations on a wonderful site. I haven't found any of my lot yet, but maybe in the future. Well done, easy to use, clear and valuable info. (Barton, Shiner, Colenutt, Arthur) From Sandra Parker Reply from Janette: Thank very much for your kind comment, as you probably know the cemetery is fairly big. We have only recorded a small proportion of the graves to date, but we add records frequently so it's worth you checking back from time to time. Janette :-)
A comment from Owen Burton, Australia: I came across this website by accident. I have researched Dr. B.A. Kent for a number of years in connection with his involvement in an organisation with which I am interested. I was distressed to note the condition of the grave stone, of the eldest child, by his second marriage, to Josephine Newman. Dr Kent's biography has been recorded by his descendant, Peter Schurr, entitled 'Benjamin's Son' Pub. Royal Soc. of Medical Services, of which you are possibly aware. Reply from Janette: Owen, thank you for your message. I agree it is very sad when graves become, overgrown, eroded or vandalised and this is one of the reasons why RSHG is aiming to record the inscriptions from all the memorials that can be read in the cemetery. Unfortunately we do not have funding to carry out any restoration of graves. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the Isle of Wight Council, but the responsibility for the care and maintenance of the gravestones and monuments remains with the owners of the grave plots (and their descendants). The biography of Dr Kent is fascinating, Peter Schurr very kindly donated a copy of his book to our group, and on our recent Guided Tours of the cemetery the graves of Dr Kent and his son were pointed out and a brief history of Dr Kent's life was given to the groups. Janette
A comment from Heather Driver: Thank you for a most interesting walk despite the large number of people who turned up (we had pre-booked !!) Do hope there will be other walks we can join. Reply from Janette: We are glad you enjoyed the walk Heather. We were overwhelmed by the large number of people who turned up on Friday, but I think it worked splitting the group into two. I am sure we will do more walks in the summer. These will be advertised on the news page of this web site and probably also in the Ryde Beacon. Janette :-)
A Question from Yvonne Doornekamp: I tried your website for Bartlett, it said no such name, I know for a fact that my grandparents are buried there so why does the name Bartlett not come up? William James Bartlett 25/3/1948 aged 77. Annie Bartlett 27/11/1952 aged 81. Reply from Janette: Hello Yvonne, thank you for your message. The recording of the inscriptions is a work in progress. The cemetery covers approx. 10 acres and although we have over 1,000 records on the site we have only recorded a small proportion of the cemetery. We started on the oldest part of the cemetery known as the "Old Parish Cemetery" and have almost completed this section. Next we will start recording the Old Cemetery (please see the maps for details)and finally we will record the newer part of the cemetery. We are adding records to the site all the time so I suggest that you check back from time to time. Janette :-)
I am writing to report what I am supposing is an error in transcribing (I am hoping it is not an error on the actual tombstone!). The information was provided by Janette Kitching on the 01/04/2006, for Mrs Daisy Victoria Welch Plot Number: OPC 3 569 Map Ref #: RSHG 006 C3 It reports that her birth was in 1896. I know for a fact (she was my grandmother), that her year of birth was 1886. Congratulations on a very worthy project. From Guy Prall Reply from Janette: Guy many thanks for pointing out the error, it was my mistake in reading the headstone. I have just checked it and it does say 1886. I have corrected our records. Janette :-)
Question: I live in the old stable of the Solent Inn, Ryde. Does anyone have any information about its past? I was told it used to be called The Beach Taven, Thank you. From Mrs B. Paul. The Solent Inn. This is a quote from Ryde Pubs by Kevin Mitchell: The Solent Inn "known originally as the Strand Tavern, first appeared in the Kelly's Directory of 1852, with a Landlord by the name of Thomas HARRIS. He is listed in the 1847 Directory as a carpenter - it is logical to presume he opened the premises as a pub around 1850. It was renamed the Solent in 1900 and still thrives today. Legend has it that fishing boats were beached close by before the Strand was constructed, and this would appear to be possible as work on the new Esplanade didn't begin until the mid 1850's, after which the pub would have been cut off from the shore. Sally-Ann
Question: Hello, How do I become a member of Ryde Social Heritage Group and do you have regular meetings? From Nick. Reply: Membership of RSHG is free. If you email the following details: Your Title(s), Full Name(s), Address, Post Code, Email Address and Telephone Number we will send you a welcome letter. NB. Update on 10th September: the AGM will be held on 11th November, in the George St Centre, from 10:30 to 12:30. Watch out on the News page for more details.
As a bit of a hobby I take snaps of cemeteries at random, whereever I may have time to, often where I happen to be for football. Feel free to look. www.brown-bread.blogspot.com From Snap Happy Man :-)
My mother, Eileen Rosemary Stanley, was born 3-6-1942 in Ryde, I was wondering if she has any remaining family there? From Kathy Goven
From Suzanne Maitland-Wood [mailto:woody.mw@btinternet.com] Sent: 28 March 2006 Whilst researching my family tree I've come across a strange puzzle. It appears my g-g-grandmother Mary SULLIVAN, born Marylebone, was on the Isle of Wight in 1891 boarding with the ANDREWs family at 103 Shanklin Road, Bonchurch with daughter Anne, age 4. However,her other two daughters Catherine and Mary appear to be 'Inmates of a Refuge Home' in Pellhurst Road, Ryde in 1891. A kind person on the Isle of Wight List suggested it was possibly later the 'Victor House Nursing Home' at 18 Pellhurst Road. Does anyone know anything about this building, and might there be records at Newport Record Office? Thank you.
Perhaps you would find my website interesting enough to make a link, as it mentions many names from all walks of life, Coastguards, Railway personnel, Prison Officers, Newspaper snippets, Obituaries, Census, Schools and much more. It is being added to each week. http://members.lycos.co.uk/s0uthbury/ From Ann Barrett
I want to find out about an ancestor who might be buried at Ryde. Namely James Knight died 1869 and the family of his wife, born in Ryde 1825. From Joan Oatley
Does anyone have any information about the owners/inn keepers, of the pub called Prince of Wales, Ryde, 1857? From Joan Oatley
It is superb and so interesting. I liked the photo too of Ryde as I have never been there. I think the work you are doing is splendid and it is most interesting to read about the heritage of IOW's residents. Keep up the good work. The web design is fantastic and very user friendly. I think the Pine's would be proud and pleased to be recognised in this way. I am sure even in retirement they would have worked for their church and community and been upright citizens that Ryde could have been proud of. Kindest regards, Adrianne Hawkins, New Zealand
I had a look at your 'revamped' website. It is excellent. Lots of information very clearly set out and easy to access. It must be invaluable for people tracing Ryde ancestors. Congratulations. I am sure that Di Harding, our journal editor, would be very interested to have an article about your site. I have put a piece about it on the News page on our website and on the Useful Websites page. http://www.isle-of-wight-fhs.co.uk/ UPDATE 10th September 2006 - an article about the website was published in the Journal of the IWFHS, and a talk about the Group will be presented in March 2007. Sally-Ann
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