Topics this issue include;
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| 1. Help! Having recently changed from Symantec's range of programs to McAfee's Security Centre, I've been
able to have the amount of SPAM-mail reduced by over 95% per day, which - as I'm sure you'll agree -
is a fantastic percentage.
Having said that, between the 1st and 7th August (inclusive), the SpamKiller element of the program
decided to play up, and during that period, I received very few emails at all.
What I don't know therefore is whether, during that period, you sent any emails to me, or whether
you've been wondering why I haven't replied (!), so what I'd be most grateful for (just so's I can make
certain that all of my incoming messages from you are getting through to me OK) is for you to please
acknowledge receipt of this month's eNewsletter.
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| 2. My intentions for the next couple of months .......the first of which I've already failed in, as I'd hoped to be slightly earlier this month with the
eNewsletter!!!
These days I tend to be hidden away in my study, poring over documents' small print, creating new
pages etc to add to the website, or emailing the many who make contact with me monthly. When I'm
not in the study, I (and Ang) are usually looking after our 2 wonderful grandchildren, or attending to the
garden (although in the recent hot spell this has meant that we've not been going into the garden until
past 8.30pm, when it's tended to be a bit cooler!)
Whilst having a website and sending out eNewsletters with news etc have both been wonderful ways
of keeping in touch with most members of the Powditch family, as well as with those who have a
connection, whether by marriage, descent or an historical or otherwise interest etc, I have been
mindful (especially in more recent months) that over the years I have made myself something of a
'recluse' to all those with whom (several years ago) I used to have wonderful telephone chats. I'm
therefore intending to spend lots of time on the phone in future, speaking to those family members
who do not yet have email addresses, as well as with those that do.
Because the 2nd Powditch Family Gathering (in September) is fast approaching (see item 5 below),
I have decided that for the moment I will only be telephoning a couple of family members per week,
but after the Gathering, I hope to be re-establishing friendships and contact with many more, so
'watch this space' - or should that be 'listen out for me'!?
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| 3. Welcome a. Olwen Long (Bucks, UK) who emailed me in respect of John Diston Powles and both Mike
Powles' and John Woodland's interest in her ancestor. Olwen wrote;
"By the way, my father lived most of his adult life in Chile and I often heard him refer to a
Mr Powditch who lived there but I don't seem to recall a first name or whether he was born locally
or out on a contract from England. What a coincidence if it is the same family whose ancestor
knew JDP!"
b. Linley Hooper (Melbourne, Australia) whose own website includes members of the TRULL family, including one Thomas Powditch Trull, a descendant from the North Creake (Norfolk) branch
of the Powditch family. Linley replied to my email to say:-
"It's great to hear from you but I will have to defer taking it all in until we get back. A very quick
look at your site suggests we may have other things in common. Some of my husband's other
ancestors were James Phillips, original settlers at Paterson, NSW (Bona Vista estate); and
John Rich one of the early settlers with his brother Edward at Auckland (there by 1841 but
cannot find his entry) so I look forward to reading more about Wm Powditch and his journals"
c. John Page (USA) whose great-great grandparents lived and married in Chile. John wrote to
say that he is ;-
"researching my great-great grandparents Thomas Stokes Page and Anna Maria Liljevalch.
Thomas came to Chile from New Jersey in 1837 following his graduation from medical school.
In Chile he met and married Anna Maria in 1841, where Caroline Powditch was one of the
witnesses at their marriage in Valparaiso.
(The complete list of witnesses: including; Caroline Powditch; Elizabeth I. Riley; Sarah M. Hobson; Alex Clayton; Samuel Grasstock Jr.; Wm. Wheelwright; Henrietta Ward; Theodore H. Riley; George G. Hobson; George S. Hobson)
Anna Maria Liljevalch was the daughter of Olof Liljevalch who came to Chile in 1818 from
Sweden and Mary Anne Delano who came with her parents and siblings from New York in 1821.
Thomas and Anna Maria had 13 children and 10 survived childhood. In 1869 Thomas and
Anna Maria moved with 8 of their children to California. Olof and Henry Page remained in Chile,
married and raised large families with many descendants living in Chile today. That is a very
short version of our Chilean family history.
From your website I learn that Caroline married Dr. John MacKay. Since he and Thomas were
both medical doctors it seems natural that they saw each other socially as well as
professionally. As far as I can tell Thomas lived in Valparaiso, but traveled to various places in
Chile to treat his patients. Before their marriage Anna Maria lived with her parents in Talcahuano
and had a second home in Valparaiso. Since Talcahuano is close to Concepcion where
Caroline lived, Anna Maria must have known her from school or other social activities,
becoming close friends.
From shortly prior to their 1869 move to California the Pages collected signatures, presumably
of visitors to their home. Caroline and John MacKay and daughter Carlota are on the first sheet
of signatures. On following sheets there is Elisa B. MacKay, Thomas A. McKay (sic), and also
an R. Thomas McKay (sic). I can send you image copies of the signatures, which I copied from
a copy. The whereabouts of the original signature sheets is unknown.
John has also sent me a copy of a "photo taken in Valparaiso in 1913 with a ‘Mrs. Powditch’, although he has "no idea how she would fit in the Powditch family tree".
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| 4. Esther Powditch Last month's eNewsletter's details re the little 19th century Powditch girl who was abused by her
carers, led to several interesting emails landing in my inbox, with most wanting to discover more
about who she was and what happened to her.
At the moment her story is one still having ongoing research, but because there are a couple of loose
ends - principally due to trying to obtain access to specific records, and same being under
discussion - I won't be able to say too much for the moment until both Faye (Edwards) and I have all
the facts at our fingertips.
What I can say however, is that the little girl, when born, was not given any forenames at all. This could
have been because she was very weak and her parents didn't believe that she would live for longer
than a day or two. What is more certain (known) however, is that not long after she was born, her
Mother died, and at some time (unknown) after that occurence, the little girl (by now known as
Esther) was looked after a non-family member, and that from then onwards, she was in and out of
other's homes, spent time in an institution, and by the time her plight came to the attention of the
Police, and subsequently the Courts, she had been abused, beaten and otherwise maltreated.
In what must have been something of a landmark case in 1880s New Zealand, photographs of
Esther, showing her in a very bad state, were produced by the Prosecution, only to be rejected by
the Court on the basis that although when the photos had been taken (and they were agreed to
have been a true likeness of her condition at the time) Esther looked absolutely emaciated with
terrible facial scarring, between the photos having been taken and Esther's foster parents' case
having come to Court, Esther had been fed, so by then she looked healthy, her face marks had
cleared and it was deemed by the Defence that it was not in the interest of the Court to produce the
photographs!
At the moment, besides having contacted the 'powers-that-be' to access the original Proceedings
notes/documents, Faye and I are hoping that amongst the latter (or somewhere else) those photos
might have survived; not so much to see what poor Esther looked like in her beaten etc state, but so
as to see whether there are any later photos of her, in her 'improved' condition.
Something we've yet to discover, is what happened to Esther after the Court case was over, and
whether she ever married, and if so, when and where.
In view of Esther's 'foster parents' having also been referred to as being her 'adoptive parents', there
is a possibility (not yet explored) that even if the former hadn't adopted her, Esther may have been
taken in by another family who did adopt her, and that she might then have assumed a new surname,
in which case this takes us to a minefield in trying to find her and what happened to her in later years.
Unfortunately for researchers, Census Records - which under normal circumstances would have been
an excellent source material to consult - were (for New Zealand, which had taken theirs on a couple
of years' cycle) completely destroyed by the Government in past years, so that that avenue has (as far
as I can tell) been closed to us. Another possibility, not yet explored, are Adoption Records, but
hopefully by the next eNewsletter I'll have more info re not only that source, but also re the elusive
Proceedings/Court case-notes.
What I will say, is that reading the Newspaper reports of the case, plus other associated papers,
made me realise just how lucky our own children have been in life, especially as they've always been
so much loved by us and our family at large, and it was because of Esther and what must have been
back then with so many more children, and what is happening today throughout the world, that I
mentioned in the last eNewsletter that I had been contemplating a 'donation link' from the Powditch
website to a specific Children's Charity. That 'contemplation' is still at the planning stage, and I would
still be grateful for your comments on what is best to do.
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| 5. Apologies I have a very big apology to make for an item I included on the last (June) eNewsletter.
Whilst I welcomed Kate Dunham of Kent, UK (with whom I'd had contact through the 'GenesReunited'
website), the information for which I'd written;-
"Fascinatingly, Kate's Powditch connection is through her great great grandfather's sister
(Eliza Dunham) having married Samuel Dowdy Powditch in 1856. After the couples' marriage in
Norfolk, the couple went to live in West Wales (the Haverfordwest area) which is where they both
died in the early 1900s, although the record of their deaths is inscribed on the family grave in
Southwold (Suffolk) churchyard",
I would advise that due to new research having recently been undertaken, there is a possibility that
the surname of Samuel Dowdy Powditch's wife was not Dunham, but rather was Blanchflower!
I had originally 'discovered' Kate as she had posted a notice on the GenesRenited website that she
had an 'Edith Powditch' within her ancestry. I in turn had asked her about this Edith, only to be advised
that for 'Edith' it should have read 'Eliza', and that she (Eliza) had been the sister of Kate's ancestor
(George Dunham) - hope you're following this OK so far?
Between early May this year and up to the last couple of days, Kate and I have been sending
messages back-and-fore to each other re the Eliza (Dunham) marriage to Samuel Dowdy Powditch
in 1856.
Although I had been aware that Kate had not actually seen a copy of Eliza's marriage to Samuel, she
having based the details on other research she'd undertaken, the past couple of weeks have seen
me doing a lot more 'digging' re the marriage, principally because the Civil Indexes (GRO) didn't
show anyone by the surname of Dunham having married a Powditch in 1856 (or indeed, in any earlier
or later years).
Through what can only be described as 'lateral' research, I can now advise that not only have I found
an Eliza having married Samuel Dowdy Powditch in 1856, but rather than being surnamed Dunham,
her surname was - Blanchflower!
Because Kate must obviously have discovered information re her forebear's sister having married
Samuel, I have decided to get a copy of the couple's marriage certificate, if only to see whether
Eliza might have been married prior to her marriage to SDP. Once I have same in my possession, I'll
be able to say one way or another Eliza's actual surname(s).
In her latest email to me (today) Kate has advised me that she has "taken the Powditches off my tree
as I would feel guilty if I misled anyone, although I obviously still have a written record." Apart from
my own 'loss of face' over the above, I too add my personal (and abject) apologies to everyone.
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| 6. Penultimate countdown to the Powditch Gathering 2006 (and a Plea) Believe it or not, it's still not too late to let me know whether you are coming in September! The
numbers of those attending this year are slowly creeping up, but we are still short of the magic figure
(for the Coach trips).
Whilst charges for all activities during the Gathering weekend are at Cost price - which means that the
numbers of family members attending the Gathering can be as low or high as possible, there's a
different situation when it comes to hiring the Coaches for our trips, for the Coach Company charges
me a fixed sum for each of the Coach journeys.
Although the Coaches actually seat 32 persons (each) I have to set a price for same in advance,
based on the minimum number of persons I believe will attend, plus on what I believe individuals' will
be able to comfortably afford, and thus I have to set a 'break-even' point, which both in 2004 and this
year, I set at 20 persons (per Coach)
Above that figure, and I'm able to make a donation of any 'profit' (i.e. the balance) to those local
(Powditch) Norfolk Churches which need urgent funding for repairs (mostly, it appears, to seal roofs!
although it would appear that all have other urgent calls for items needing repairing). Below that point,
and not only can nothing be given towards the much needed funding, but what's worse (for me) is that
I have to make up the shortfall from my own pocket!
Although there will be family members (in excess of the figure of 20) who will be (on and off) coming to
this year's Gathering, some are coming to be part of the Family Meals and/or Talks, and just want to
meet up with other family members rather than travel around the countryside (even if that countryside
is full of Powditch connections!)
Some family members can't get away for the full 4 days, but can come for a couple of days, whilst
others can only come on either the Friday or Saturday evenings to join us, and that is perfectly OK
and acceptable (in fact it's something I've positively encouraged!) so because of that, not everyone
wants to (or is able to) come on the coach trips.
I am therefore hoping that we will reach the magic figure, not because of my pocket, but because I
would really like there to be some monies to be left over in order to make a donation (as mentioned
above)
As I've previously mentioned, I don't undertake anything re Powditch research, gatherings or anything
else, to put money in my own pocket (and never have), but rather to help others, whether that be to
share information, get families reunited, or to help others in whatever way I can.
If there's any particular incentives I can offer for this year's Gathering (apart from the fantastic meals,
wonderful places to visit, and lovely people to meet), it will be for the items already assembled for the
Auction on the Saturday evening (all profits going to the Friends of Morston Church for repairs to their
Church), which amongst others include items made by Dansk, plus candle-holders, photo frames,
some family-history 'how to' books, clocks, bottles of wine, etc, whilst the star prize/s, is/are two
copies especially reprinted for the Auction, of my 'Peerless Powditch's; Volume 3: Norfolk Vacated'
(1989) book (being auctioned individually).
Tempted? I hope so, and I do hope to hear from you soon, especially if you've also received a
snail-mail letter from me recently!
Should you need any details of local (to Morston) Hotels, Guest Houses or places providing Bed &
Breakfast, I can provide those details to you via email by return, although a most useful place to visit
for details is provided by the Glaven Valley website, at
with the Bed & Breakfast page being accessible from
Villages not too far away from Morston are Blakeney, Cley and Wiveton, and all details for those
places appear on that website.
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| 7. News The only news I have for this month, is that Alan Powditch from West Wales (2004 Powditch
Gathering-ites will remember him well) has recently had an operation on his back to remove a
'weeping cyst'. I'm sure that all will join me in wishing him a speedy recovery. Even though he won't
be able to be with us for this year's Gathering, he will most certainly be in our thoughts.
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| 8. Website updates Since the last eNewsletter (No.35, for June 2006), there haven't been any changes to the website,
although I hope to get back to updating/amending/adding items etc as soon as possible
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| 9. A Bank Account Something I set up within the past couple of months, has been a Bank Account specifically for
Powditch Gatherings and other Powditch-orientated events etc, especially as in 2004 although the
whole of that year's Family Gathering was fully accounted, there hadn't been a separate Bank
Account, and in the end, more money was paid out from our own account for Bills etc, than had come
in!
Due to that, and also because from time to time individual family members kindly send donations to
further my research, or just to say 'thank you', I thought that a totally separate Bank Account was
necessary, and also would be easier to manage. Should, in future, advertisements appear on the
website, the existence of an Account would also ensure that revenues from that source would have a
'home' to go to.
Whilst the account is solely in my name, such being to allow for payments to be made to such persons
or Companies as those who will be providing Coaches, Meals etc for the forthcoming 2006 Powditch
Family Gathering, I would wish to advise that once this year's event is over, not only will I advise what
funds (if any) remain in the account, but should any need for research or anything else relating to the
Powditch family and its history need to be undertaken which would be better improved by using funds
from the account, I will ask the family for approval (any 'request' will be made via the monthly
eNewsletters).
As to what will happen to the said account upon my death or upon anyone else taking over the
Powditch history and/or website etc (whichever is sooner!), I would advise that that is something I'll
bring to the Family Meeting's attention at this year's Gathering for comments, suggestions etc. I would
also welcome your own comments at any time re same.
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| 10. 'Splitting' the eNewsletter? When I originally began writing the Powditch eNewsletters, they were solely for the Powditch family
(and principally for those with a direct connection).
As time passed and more branches/descendants of the family wanted to receive copies - many of
whom by this time had a more indirect connection (moreso after I'd added the 'My Family' section to
the www.powditch.plus.com/ website) I also began to include details (under the 'Welcome' section)
of members of other families/surnames (e.g. the Jones family; being my late Mother's maiden
surname) and sent issues of the Powditch eNewsletters to each.
Whilst at one stage I had the thought of producing a separate (Jones) eNewsletter, specifically for
those who are descended from the George Jones (of Swansea) who, on 10 August 1807 in St. Mary's
Church, Swansea married Sarah Bentley (originally from Staffordshire) one of the daughters of
George Bentley and Rebecca (nee Massey), it suddenly crossed my mind that if I did that, then I'd
probably also have to have separate eNewsletters for all of the other families (and not all are directly
related to Powditch ancestry).
In this issue for instance, I have mentioned 3 people who have a connection with the Powditch family,
even though not through - apart from one of them - a 'blood tie'. Because of the latter, should I not
include any mention of them, or should I produce separate eNewsletters, or should I rename the
Powditch eNewsletter, or should I just carry on with the present title but include details (as over the
past year or so) of others?
I'd be most interested to have your views, suggestions etc re the above, bearing in mind that of the
11 topics mentioned on this month's issue, only the 'Welcome', 'Website updates' and 'Splitting the
eNewsletter' topics aren't totally Powditch-orientated, and of the balance, I try to make the contents
as interesting as possible to all my readers.
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| 11. ......and finally! As ever, I do thank you ever so much for being a reader of this eNewsletter, and moreso I look forward
to hearing from you sometime, especially if you have any news (either for the website or for the
Powditch and associated families' Archive).
In the meantime please don't forget that the Second Powditch Family Gathering, is now only about
5 weeks away (Thursday (afternoon) 14th to Sunday (lunchtime) 17th September, at Morston, Norfolk)
and that even if you've yet to let me know, I'll be thrilled to hear from you, especially if you're coming!
If you still want details of the event, please let me know by return, and I'll forward you a copy
of everything re the Gathering, although some details are included in topic 6 above, plus
they are also included on the website.
Thanks,
John
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