The Romance of the Red Triangle - the YMCA at the Front

Some years ago while I was working on extracts for my website from the Magazine of the Central Presbyterian Association - particularly on members of the Association who where serving during the Great War - many times I came across references to ministers and men on YMCA service in France.

"Over 2,000 people were present on 18th ult. when the Moderator of the General Assembly presided, and Rev. J. G. Paton, B.D., of Coleraine, who has just returned from the front, gave a graphic account of work in the Y.M.C.A. Huts in France, in which he was engaged for three months." CPA Magazine, November 1915.

"One of our popular young associates -- Mr. Arthur Asboe -- who has for some time past been pursuing his studies in England, with the view of entering the Moravian mission-field, has been accepted for army Y.M.C.A. work in Egypt." CPA Magazine, April 1916.

"Rev. Professor Paul, M.A., B.D., of M'Crea Magee College, Londonderry, son of Mr. R. L. Paul, one of our prominent members, is taking up work in France among the troops in connection with the Y.M.C.A." CPA Magazine, May 1917.

I wondered what on earth could they be doing when the world was entrenched in those muddy wartorn fields of France and elsewhere.

Enlightenment came in the form of a small book I found called The Romance of the Red Triangle by Sir Arthur K. Yapp, KBE, who was National Secretary of the YMCA at the time.

The book was subtitled "The story of the coming of the Red Triangle and the service rendered by the Y.M.C.A. to the sailors and soldiers of the British Empire" and, although it took pains to mention no names it nevertheless gave a detailed overview of the work undertaken during those years - a lot of the time at front itself.

A copy of the book can be found on Archive.org and I would commend it to anyone with an interest in the Great War or the work of the YMCA.

A YMCA "hut" at Messines

Over time I have come across many other letters and stories in newspapers like this from the Lisburn Standard:

"Rev. J. H. Orr, Hillsborough, occupied the pulpit in Whitehead Presbyterian Church on Sunday, where, during the course of an eloquent address, he related his experiences as a Y.M.C.A. worker amongst the troops in France." Lisburn Standard, Friday, 27 October, 1916.

And in recent years, the increased interest in the Great War and those who served has led to a plethora of websites many of which contain information and photos on the work of the YMCA at the front and beyond and are just a google away.

The extracts quoted above, along with many others, can be found on my website Eddies Extracts.

Find My Past - the TV show

The folks at findmypast.co.uk are taking to the airwaves with a new TV series called - aptly enough - Find My Past the TV show.

Each week, in a 10-part series, it take three members of the public on a journey to discover how they are related to someone from a significant historical event, by searching the records on findmypast.co.uk. It follows each of them as they uncover who their ancestor is and the part they played in history before uniting the participants to find out how they are connected.

The show, which will be presented by the BBCs Chris Hollins, is to be screened on Thursdays from 20 October 2011 at 9pm on the Yesterday channel: (Freeview channel 12, Sky 537, Virgin Media 203).

The list of episodes is:
Episode 1: Dunkirk
Episode 2: Titanic
Episode 3: Battle of Britain
Episode 4: Bounty
Episode 5: D-Day
Episode 6: Ripper
Episode 7: Shot at Dawn
Episode 8: Suffragettes
Episode 9: Tay Bridge
Episode 10: Royal Scandal


Links:
Find My Past the TV show
Yesterday TV

Tracing Your Roots

The BBC continue their excellent coverage of Genealogy and Family History with a new series of Tracing Your Roots on Radio 4 giving advice and guidance on genealogy research.

The show is presented by Sally Magnusson and Nick Barratt who "uncover personal perspectives on social history and give listeners the tools to become family history detectives."

In the first of four episodes "What's in a name?" the show investigates how family history can hit a brick wall when a name changes unexpectedly and explores stories where that change has an intriguing background.

The programme is also available through BBC iPlayer or you can download the podcast from iTunes.

How much is that in todays money?

Over the years I have seen many postings in which someone has asked the question "How much would that be today?" in regard to an ancestor for whom they had a source which gave a sum of money for wages, a settlement, something they sold... or stole... etc.

It's a question that has sometimes raised great debate and several websites such as www.measuringworth.com and www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/ have been set up to answer it.

But if you have an iPhone/iPod/iPad you can now get an app for that.

Using records from the National Archives, RevelMob and historian Nick Barratt have developed an app called "Old Money".

In a press release The National Archives said

Our records are not just the first draft of history, but are increasingly being used in smart ways by developers to create innovative products and services for anyone who needs instant access to practical historical information.

The Old Money application enables users to make sense of historical facts and figures which might otherwise be meaningless, such as the 1761 sale of Buckingham Palace for £21,000 or William Shakespeare's annual salary in 1599 of £100 a year.

Details can be found on the RevelMob website at www.revelmob.com/currency-converter.

A Narrow Sea

How did I miss this... Yet another great production from BBC Radio

A Narrow Sea, is a series of six minute episodes which explores the long history and relationship between Scotland and Ireland.

"The sea between the North East of Ireland and the South West of Scotland is a narrow sea. For centuries men and women have been crossing that narrow sea - known today as the North Channel and in the past as the Waters of Moyle - to settle, to visit, to trade, to raid."

Broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster weekdays at 6.54pm it is also available through BBC iPlayer or you subscribe through iTunes

Some of the recent episodes were:

• Warrior families from the Hebrides start to settle in Ulster.
• The MacDonnells of the Glens join forces with the Earls of Tyrone and Tír Conaill.
• Hugh Montgomery helps Conn O’Neill make a daring escape from Carrickfergus Castle.
• Sir Hugh Montgomery wastes no time in setting up his new home in Co. Down.
• Sir Randal MacDonnell invites Scots to settle in the Glens.
• The Flight of the Earls offers a new opportunity to King James.

Digging up Your Roots

Digging up Your Roots, BBC Radio Scotland's genealogy and family history programme has returned.

Now in its fifth series, the programme relates many inspirational stories and gives advice for those delving into their family history.

While focusing on Scottish genealogy and history it by necessity touches on many events and places worldwide referring to a variety of sources and much of the advice translates well to any genealogical search.

Episode 2 looks at myths and stories that have been passed down through generations and in episode 3 a panel of experts: genealogist Dr Bruce Durie from the University of Strathclyde, former Chairman of the Tay Valley Family History Society, John Irvine, and Senior Archivist at Angus Council Archives, Fiona Scharlau, answers questions posed by a live audience.

The programme is broadcast on Sundays at mid-day and is available on the  BBC iPlayer. It can also be downloaded through iTunes where all three of the episodes are still available.

Garnerville Gems - Memories of Times Past

Garnerville Presbyterian Church in East Belfast is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee this year and as well as a special Anniversary Service and other activities they have produced a book entitled Garnerville Gems.

Produced in A4 format and containing 100pgs, Garnerville Gems relates the early history of the church along with poems, short stories and memories written by members of the congregation.

The book has sold well but there may be some copies left (for a minimum donation of £5) for those with an interest.

Contact Rev. Peter McDowell (028) 9076 9035 email: minister@garnerville.org

 

Memories of First Ballymacarrett

First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church by David Long

When First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church held its final service recently it brought to an end 173 years of work and witness in East Belfast.

Those who have memories of the Church or a family connection may be interested to learn that David Long, President of the Ulster Watercolour Society, completed a beautiful watercolour painting depicting a time when the church was full to capacity in the 1940s.

Mounted prints of the painting (Image size 26x22cm - 40x36cm overall) are now available priced at £20 (plus £4 p&p UK and £6 Eire) and can be purchased through David  Tel: (028) 9127 0101 Email: davidlongni@talktalk.net. 

 

A Short History of the Presbyterian Churches of Ballymoney, County Antrim.

I've added the transcription of another short history to my website.

Published in 1898, A Short History of the Presbyterian Churches of Ballymoney, County Antrim, contains brief histories of the four Presbyterian Churches in Ballymoney to that date.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~econnolly/books.html

Millisle and Ballycopeland Presbyterian Church: A Short History

I have updated my web site with the transcription of Millisle and Ballycopeland Presbyterian Church: A Short History.

This book was written in 1934 by the then minister, Rev Thomas Kilpatrick, and tells the story of the Presbyterian congregations of Millisle and Ballycopeland which are situated along the coast of North Down and were erected in the late 1700s and united as a single congregation in 1906.

Following the usual style of congregational histories of the time it details the formation of the congregations and its progress through its ministers but also contains the names of many of its members and families from Millisle and surrounding townlands.

Commenting on the hardship suffered in the area during the Famine it contains an interesting genealogical note for those of our American cousins in Illinois:

During these years of hardship and distress many members of the congregation of Millisle emigrated to America. Most of these settled in and around Rock Island, a city of western Illinois, U.S.A. on the Mississippi River. A strong colony of Irish settlers from Ballymacruise, Drumfad, Ballyhaskin, Ballywhiskin, and adjoining townlands was established here, and that colony still exists. The descendants of those early emigrants differ in speech from the surrounding farmers and tradespeople, and they still like to have news about Millisle and the old folks whose names are so familiar to them.

Who Did You Think They Were? - Genealogy and the Family Secret

"It's like opening Pandora's Box!" Those were the words used by actress Jane Horrocks in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?  when talking of the journey she had just made through her family history.  "Betrayed and let down" were the words used by her aunt when she found out about her family's hidden past. These are words which strike a chord with many family historians.

Over the last decade one of the fastest growing pastimes has been genealogy and family history. Genealogy has become big business.  But for those researching their family history there is a personal element many may fail to take account off... family secrets!

Researching your family history can sometimes be like living in your own detective novel - following the clues to dig out the truth. But for the family historian the truth may not be what they think and there is a need to be prepared for what may be uncovered.

Indeed, Dr Anne-Marie Kramer of Warwick University who analysed responses to questions about family history research put to people taking part in the Mass Observation Project, based at the University of Sussex, said of family history, "It can reopen old wounds and shatter illusions about a family's 'respectable' history.  Illegitimate children, hidden affairs, troubled finances and deceit all await those determined to piece together their family's past. In investigating their family history, researchers could open up a Pandora’s Box of secrets and skeletons, such as finding there are family issues around paternity, illegitimacy or marriage close to birth of children, criminality, health and mental health and previously unknown humble origins."

Who Do You Think You Are? is a long running TV series produced for the BBC in which celebrities trace their family tree. The show, sometimes slated by the genealogical purists for its glossing over the much of the background research, focuses on the trials and tribulations of one or two particular ancestors and many consider the best scenes those in which the celebrity is confronted by the family secret.

Kim Catrall, whose grandfather disappeared when her mother was 8 years-old, discovered that he had remarried and had another family, Vic Reeves discovered his grandfather had been a bigamist and left a family behind, Bill Oddie learnt of his mothers mental issues and Griff Rhys Jones learned that his grandmother had been adopted following the death of her parents in a train crash and why the the tragedy had been kept secret for so many years.

Family historians need to be prepared for uncovering stories like these and deal with them sensitively especially if any of those involved are still alive - sometimes a little discretion can go a long way.  Of course, there are some people for whom having an ancestor who was "a bad boy" (or girl :) is a positive bonus - almost as good as having royalty in the family line.

Today having a child out of wedlock would be seen as no big deal but only a couple of generations ago it was another world.  It was considered scandalous and brought shame upon a family and many were hidden away with children being adopted out or placed in children's homes. 

Our ancestors were not all saints and it would be foolish to believe they were, but for me the programme also had other memorable moments which showed that not all family secrets are necessarily negative.

Moments such as Jeremy Paxman being almost in tears on learning of his maternal great-grandmother's life bringing up 11 children in a one-room Glasgow tenement, the story of how Rory Bremner learned of his fathers heroics in Holland during WWII or Rick Stein's travels to China to learn of the deprivations and personal tragedy of his great-grandfather Henry Parkes, a 19th century Methodist missionary to China.

It is not the tales of fame and fortune which tell the story of our forebears for those are few and far between, but it is stories like these and many others which tell a truer tale, for those secrets when uncovered tell tales of tragedy, hardship, perseverance and triumph. Of the struggles to make ends meet and to survive in conditions which today would be considered barbaric. Living through times of famine and pestilence or in the cramped filthy housing conditions endured by those working in the mills and factories of the Industrial revolution.

Who Do You Think You Are? may be entertainment built on the fame of its celebrity participants but take that celebrity away and what you find are the stories that lie behind us all.

A History of the World in 100 Objects Returns for Second Series

Today has started with some great news as A History of the World in 100 Objects has returned for its second installment. I first came across this podcast in January when in it was going into its second week and I was hooked.

This BBC podcast is part of a collaboration with the British Museum and aims to recount the history of humanity using 100 object's from the Museum's collection's. 

The series, which is narrated by the Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor, is brodcast on Radio 4 each weekday with each episode being approx 15 minutes long and the complete series being aired in three sections with the second beginning today. The first part of the series was brocast in January-February and is still available to listen to online or download

"In these programmes, I'm travelling back in time, and across the globe, to see how we humans over 2 million years have shaped our world and been shaped by it, and I'm going to tell this story exclusively through the things that humans have made: all sorts of things, carefully designed, and then either admired and preserved, or used, broken and thrown away. I've chosen just a hundred objects from different points on our journey, from a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a Stone Age tool to a credit card." says Neil MacGregor

"Telling history through things, whether it's an Egyptian mummy or a credit card, is what museums are for, and because the British Museum has collected things from all over the globe, it's not a bad place to try to tell a world history. Of course, it can only be 'a' history of the world, not 'the' history. When people come to the museum they choose their own objects and make their own journey round the world and through time, but I think what they will find is that their own histories quickly intersect with everybody elses, and when that happens, you no longer have a history of a particular people or nation, but a story of endless connections."

The BBC blog reports "A difference between this and the first part of the series is that you will have more time to explore the world in a particular slice in time. Across the next eight weeks the objects will often reflect on larger, broader themes and issues that run across this history. These include how political leaders should rule and represent their power; how religions visualise their deities and ideals; and the potency of even apparently mundane objects to unlock secrets of the past."

Along with the brodcast the BBC have set up a website A History of the World where images of the objects can be viewed in close up and you can watch short videos of many of the objects.

The site also highlights Museums from around the country which have chosen objects from their own collections that reflect world history from each area's perspective. Over three hundred and fifty museums are already registered on the site and even Schools and individuals have also joined in the project uploading images.

If you have an interest in History or even if you don't this is a podcast worth having a look at.

All you wanted to know about Volcanic ash clouds and why you don't fly through them

Among the many wonderful podcasts from the BBC is one from the BBC World Service called Discovery which covers a range of scientific topics.

In a new special episode the podcast deals with the science of volcanic ash clouds and why you don't fly through them.

It discusses the Icelandic volcano, the impact it's ash cloud has had on aviation and the many other implications ash clouds can have.

This podcast is well worth a listen and can be downloaded through iTunes here

The Tardis lands in the Europa Hotel 2nd May 2010

Fans of Doctor Who and Torchwood will be pleased to learn that following the success of Vortex last year, UT Events have recently announced Vortex II with proceeds in aid of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice.

Hoping to build on last year's success, the event will again take place during the bank holiday weekend in the Europa Hotel, Belfast on Sunday 2nd of May, with guest actors from the series taking part in the event where they will be signing autograph, answering questions and enabling photo opportunities.

Among the many characters invading the Europa meet the Ood, Weeping Angels, Clockwork Droids who will be roaming around the venue, and the Daleks of course.

During the day take part in the Charity Auction, prize giveaways or, live on stage, the "Feel or No Feel" gameshow and bring the evening to a close by joining the party and Fancy dress competition.

For full details visit the UT events web site at www.utevents.co.uk

From bad to worse... or... There are two tales to every story

It seems like every other day there's a story appearing that makes you go "what?" and this week is no exeception.

Just looking through the MailOnline alone makes you wonder.

The story that topped it all has to be that of Tilern DeBique who won a sex discrimination claim over Army childcare and wanted over £1million in compensation... seven times more than that offered too Ben Parkinson who suffered 37 separate injuries in a landmine blast and was offered only £152,000 (although after a public outcry this was later raised to £570,000)

But it seems she didn't get it all her own way when she was only awarded £17,000

Other stories include the story about the Sainsbury store butcher who had to refuse to de-bone a joint of lamb in case he cut himself - "it's Health and Safety"

Then there is the story of Catherine Leonard who feeling ill asked for help but was refused by the M&S staff - "it's Health and Safety"

The MailOnline also carried the story of Nicola Hobbs who applied for a job but after a health check was told she was too ill to work. Then when she tried to apply for employment support allowance she was then judged she was fit enough for work. There is an argument that the criteria for the job she applied for meant she could be classed as fit for another job... BUT... the incredibly part of the story is that it was the same healthcare company contracted to carry out both assessments. One has to ask how independent these checks where or does it depend on whose paying the bill?

Things get worse again though when you read that a disgraced banker who stole £315,000 from his disabled niece's charity fund and only has to pay back just £1.  The good news here is that, according to the story, the bank has since refunded the entire amount back to the girl's family... now THAT has got to be worth a story on it's own... a bank being helpful!

There are two tales to every story it seems...

Twitterers... See whose fans are dumber.

I've seen some weird reasons to set up a web site but surely this is one of the oddest.

Stupid Fight is a web site set up to find out which celebrity's fans are the most stupid?

Based on the last 100 people to send an @reply to the celebrity it uses estimates based on several stupid indicators such as are they using twenty exclamation marks in a row or do they endlessly use the abbreviation 'OMG'...


OMG I'm glad I only use 19... lol

Musics Worst Singers Exposed... Alledgedly

I came across this post which claims to expose musics worst singers

While I think it proves the point that, get famous and you can get paid for something that would be buzzed off on Britain's Got Talent, I don't think some of these are the worst I've seen... or heard rather... there are many live concerts were the singing has left a lot to be desired.

A notable absence from the list as far as I am concerned though and one I would certainly put up there at the top of the list is one by Miley Cyrus

Of course it depends on your point of view.  Fans will say the recordings have been doctored but I'll leave people to make up their own minds.

Reminds me of The Simpsons Boy Band episode - unfortunately I couldn't find a link to where they turned off the machine... lol.

A Blog About History

If you are like me and have a bit of an interest in history here is a blog well worth the time to visit.

A Blog About History (www.ablogabouthistory.com) is a daily post collating various articles from across the web with an historical, archaeological or palaeontological interest and does a very good job of it.

If you want to read about the family of a holocaust survivor who swapped some cigarettes for a $10 million 3,200-year-old Assyrian gold tablet or the couple who put up a WWII POW camp up for sale on eBay or even the 16th Century origin of platform shoes then this site is for you.