Saturday 24 April 2010

Laura and Grandma Clunie


I love this photo of Laura Ann and Laura Ann, grandmother and grandaughter. Little Laura had been ill with scarlet fever and her grandmother took her away to Morecombe. Laura Ann Clunie, the grandmother, was a widow by this time. The photo must date about 1942.
Laura Ann was born Ashman in Yorkshire and moved to Salford in the high days of the industrial revolution. Her husband, Edward Clunie served in WW1 and although he survived warfare he never really recovered from the effects of the gas. He died in 1928. Laura Ann lived until 1953 and seems to have been a jolly, enterprising sort of woman.
I especially like the Victorian gent peering from behind them. He looks straight out of a Lowry painting.
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Saturday 10 April 2010

Where to start?

Where to start indeed.
More to the point is should I start. I began this lark of looking into the family history in a mildly interested way and if I'd known how time consuming and obsessive it can become maybe I would have left well alone. But there we are, I'm hooked now. Where to start the blog is still a big question.
The intention is to write about my family:
McNally is my dad's name, Armstrong is my mum's name.
Both had huge sprawling families and there is a wealth of material.
Should I begin with the phone call from my sister, Frances, just five minutes ago?
She has duly done her homework and found out who Aunty Cissy was. She was on the Armstrong side. We still haven't found out what the name Cissy is short for .We also solved the mystery of Aunty Minnie being short for Jemima and she also found out who Aunty Fanny was.
Or should I begin with my recent trip to Ireland to try to find out more about the McNally family?
Or should I begin with the photos?