What Were Your Relatives Up To .....

A couple of hundred years ago ....?

This is a complete blast! It seems like the British Library has 'digitised' and put on line a load of news papers, from 1800 - 1900. And they're all fully searchable ~ for a small fee. Here.

So, being up to my eyes in Genealogy ~ the study of my 'Family Tree' ~ I heard about this and thought I'd take a look. So, what's the first thing anyone would do, in such a situation? Obviously, I fed it my own surname. Perhaps equally obviously; I got hundreds of results back! Everything from adverts for " Shitters WC's, 1851 " to ..... well, just far too much stuff and likely the vast majority nothing to do with me.

So, then I thought again and decided to go for shitter or bust. I fed it " Shitter Hawker ". (Most of my people were Hawkers) And I hit fucking pay dirt, straight away!

Back in 1800 and something, there's one of my Gt, Gt etc Grand Dad's! In the Police section of the Hampshire Chronicle. Being arrested as pissed as a hand cart, in Portsmouth! LMFAO! Un fucking believable! Some things just never change!

Then, another result was Bill Shitter, a (Gt. so on and so forth) Uncle of mine. Seems that poor bastard was just going about his normal business and happened to be the first on the scene at the railway line. Thus it was him who discovered what was left of a suicide by steam train! Some cunt had slung themselves beneath the late night train into Pompey and 'Uncle' Bill found the result. They were chuffed to bits. Poor Uncle Bill was sick as a fucking parrot!

Not bad for a random and relatively limited snap shot of what the papers said about my people, eh? And my chosen search terms only scratched the surface, of course. I aim to dig far deeper yet. But, there's already more!

I tried the other side of my family. And fuck my old boots! Did I come up with the goods this time?!?

Seems a Gt (etc) Uncle of mine, (Hawker, obviously) on that side had a wife who was working as a Farm Servent. So, one evening, he trundles down there to meet her from work. 'Big deal!', ye say. 'Your fucking people get in the papers for meeting their wives from work?!'

Yes! I reply; They Do when the cunt then pulls out a fucking knife, stabs her multiple times, then slashes her fucking throat!!! :o I shit ye not! Stabbed her to bits and cut her fucking throat. Then tried to do away with himself! That got Him in the fucking papers alright!

Honestly; That side of the family? Ye could't take them fuckin' Anywhere!

Highly reccomended bit of craic, peeps. Go take a look for ye own lot. God alone knows what they were up to back then. Of course, it Does help to have a first clue who, where and what yours were, back then. But, that's all part of why this Genealogy shit so fascinates me anyway. Just look what I can dig up!