Anglo-Celtic Connections

A favourite from past years, updated.

Originally posted on 25 December 2021

In 1899, Christmas was the first time my orphaned grandfather was at Chase Farm Schools in Enfield, North London. How was his day?
A post-Christmas column in the Middlesex Gazette through the years he was there reported much the same program, the articles a rewrite from the previous year with the numbers and names updated.

The issue for Saturday, December 29, 1900, under the heading Festivities at the Chase Farm Schools, started —

At these Poor Law Schools the Christmas season was observed in time-honoured fashion. While the Guardians granted special fare, private sources yielded many a delight for the nearly 400 children who receive a thoroughly sound all-round training at this institution. And nowhere do the staff of any similar schools enter more heartily into the spirit of the season than do those at Chase Farm; with the result that, as formerly, nearly every room presented quite a festive appearance; and it is pleasing to know that the little ones have realized the joys of a Happy Christmas.
Early astair on Christmas morning, they were furnished with an abundant breakfast, after which the children attended the service at St Michael’s Church, returning with hearty appetites for the great event – the Christmas dinner. That they were not stinted in this particular is shown by the fact that the viands placed before them included 12 stones weight of beef and 15 of roast pork, with potatoes, followed by 36 – 17 lb plum puddings! We can only hope that the medical officer has not been unduly taxed at the Schools since then. After the dinner each child received a parcel containing apples, oranges, dates, sweets, nuts, biscuits, etc. It was, indeed, a happy, if large, dinner party that assembled in the dining hall; and the proceedings were made the more gladsome by the strains of the Schools Band. The spacious apartment was quite a picture in its decorative glory. Gaudily-coloured paper chains cross and re-cross overhead; attractive devices brightened up the walls; and there smiled down upon the juvenile diners the wish, in large lettering, “The Happiest of Christmas Days, the Brightest of New Years to You”; while, in sequence, around the walls ran this kindly wish: –

“May the sunshine of success,
all our labours crown and bless;
and make bright the onward way
This, and every Christmas Day.”

The amounts work out to be for each child 6.7 oz of beef, 8.4 oz of pork, and 1.5 lb of plum pudding. Even allowing for feeding the staff and guardians in attendance the amount is generous, perhaps as well the 1910 report mentions that “The whole of the viands enumerated above were not consumed on Christmas Day. Enough is provided to ensure a special spread on New Year’s Day.”

Recently, by Pam Ayres

While I usually have a longish list in “This Week’s Online Genealogy Events” to share, this week it’s quiet. Except.

Every Tuesday at 2:00 PM, Gloria Tubman, Ken McKinlay, and Mike More—three dedicated members of the OGS Ottawa Branch Council—offer their time and expertise to all. They alternate between online and at the Nepean Centrepointe Library, providing sage advice for family history researchers looking into Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and beyond. 

This week, it’s the Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In.

Do you have a brick wall to break through? Or would you like to observe these experts in action? Their knowledge is something to behold. Join them this Tuesday, even if only to say “thank you” for their dedication to our community.

https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2025-12-23/

 

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

Five of the weirdest taxes in the world

As British as Fish and Chips
Dan Gardner’s antidote to rising ethno-nationalism?

Christmas Food Traditions
A four-page article in the latest edition of the Really Useful Bulletin from the Federation of Family History Societies.

Climate Change Scenarios for Britain
Scientists have laid bare the six deadly worst–case climate scenarios that could batter Britain by the end of the century. These are: Enhanced global warming, rapidly–reduced aerosols, volcanic eruption, stronger Arctic amplification, changes to ocean currents, and rising sea levels.

This week, FMP’s burial and baptism collections receive a boost with over 250,000 new records, plus more than 200,000 fresh newspaper pages.

Nottinghamshire Monumental Inscriptions
Years covered: 1317–2022
Records added: 151,459

The content depends on the inscription. A few also have images of the monument. About half are from Nottingham.  From the work of the Nottinghamshire Family History Society.

Middlesex Baptisms, Harleian Society
Years covered: 1539–1837
Records added: 101,348

The total for all Middlesex Baptisms is now 656,651 records. About the Harleian Society.

Newspapers
FMP gets its newspapers from the sister site, the British Newspaper Archive. This week’s additions include four new titles. The earliest starts in 1826; most recent is 2004..

Title	Date Range
Highland News and Football Times 16658 pages, new title	1907-1917, 1920-1935, 1937-1938, 1940-1949
Peterborough Evening Telegraph 43386 pages	1988, 1990, 1998
Montrose Review10220 pages	2000-2004
English Gentleman 794 pages, new title	1826-1827
Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 9896 pages	1888-1896
Heckmondwike Herald 14594 pages	1997-2002
Yorkshire Evening Post 35742 pages	1991-1992, 1998
Croydon Review and Railway Time Table 7444 pages new, title	1880-1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1891-1895
Bicycling News 2944 pages, new title	1886, 1893
Midland Athlete 1852 pages	1883, 1886
Building News 3020 pages	1892
Southern Times and Dorset County Herald 3754 pages	1921-1929
Hunts Post 2148 pages	1893-1896, 1898-1899
Cannock Advertiser 12146 pages	1894-1896, 1898-1899, 1910-1913, 1925-1950
Voice of the People (Glasgow) 104 pages, new title	1883
Blaydon Courier 8770 pages	1910-1913, 1930-1939, 1950-1955
Football Echo (Sunderland)294 pages	1950
Lincolnshire Free Press 26220 pages	1851, 1853-1854, 1856, 1858-1870, 1872-1873, 1882-1893, 1900-1907, 1915-1918, 1921-1929, 1934-1938, 1940-1942
Athletic News 2030 pages	1914-1920

To keep the blog active while family history news mostly takes a break, enjoy Yuletide R&R posts . Expect humourous and seasonal items, including classic favourites from previous years.