Topics this issue include;
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| 1. Apologies. In my last (March/April 2005) eNewsletter, within the Welcome (Header 2) section, I incorrectly
mentioned that Notty Hornblower's mother, was Mary Milner (nee Powditch), whereas in reality, Mary
Milner was Notty's Aunt.
I do profusely apologise to Notty and to her family for my unintentional error and wish to advise that the
correct information is that Notty is the daughter of the late Elsie Bilbie (nee Powditch).
Notty's great grandfather was the William Powditch who was born in Wells-next-the-Sea in 1849. By
1874 he had moved to Derby with the (L.M.S) Railways, whilst in 1877 (at Derby) he married, and
with his wife Mary, created the Derby branch of Powditchs.
Although I have personally contacted Notty re the above, it is only right that I also apologise to all
Powditchs on my mailing list (who currently total 117)
Apologies therefore once again.
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| 2. Welcome I'd like to welcome to this edition of the eNewsletters, the following who have contacted me since the
last issue;-
a. Christian Hirst Powditch Del Rio, son of Jonathan Edward Hirst Powditch Palmer, and grandson of
Errol Hirst Powditch, all being part of the Chilean branch of the family. Christian is an Architect and a
Musician in Santiago, Chile.
b. Margy Powditch from Hedgerley in Bucks. Margy (like her mother before her) is a very special
person, and she really 'made her mark' at the Powditch Gathering in Morston last September.
Although in her late 70s, she rang me the other day to excitedly tell me that she is now the proud
owner of a laptop, and that she's now 'on the net'
c. Helen Atkinson, who is the youngest daughter of the late Roger Middleton Jones, and who is my
second cousin (I think!) I must admit to getting extremely confused about all the 'third cousin, twice
removed' and such descriptions. Perhaps it would have been best for me to say that Helen is my late
cousin's daughter!
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| 3. Website update Since my last eNewsletter (No.21), changes to the website, have included;-
 The Latest News section (www.powditch.plus.com/News/latest_news.htm ) has been updated, as have the Guest Book entries (www.powditch.plus.com/homepages/entries.htm )I do have plans to add further new sections to the website, although for the moment I am concentrating
on ensuring that all pages are as up to date as possible, and I also want to ensure that all of the
information I have here re William Powditch (of Northumberland, Australia and New Zealand) is
added to the site within the next few months. I do hope, therefore, that you will bear with me should
some of the pages not be amended until I've finished the WmP section.
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| 4. 'Other' families. As you probably will (or may) have noticed, since the Powditch website first saw the light of day in
January 2003, not only have there been histories of the Powditch family (understandably) on the site,
but there have also been histories etc of other families (e.g. Jones, Jouvelet, Clemerson etc), and
you may have wondered why they had been included.
Well, the simple answer is that all of the families/family surnames do interlink - either directly or
indirectly - with the Powditch surname, whether it be by birth name, from marriage, sometimes
through close friendship, and other times through other documented connections.
Of course, my own connection with the Powditch family isn't direct. In fact, some may argue that as I'm
an Algar, I have no connection whatsoever with the Powditch family, but as most Powditch's are
aware, my late Mother-in-law's maiden surname was Powditch, so although I do not have any
Powditch blood in me, my wife certainly does (plus some Smith blood as well from her father), and of
course, we have children and a grandchild - and so the inclusion of a bit of Powditch blood (however
much or little) is carried on through the generations.
As to the other families I've included to date, all have varying connections. Jones was my late
Mother's family, Clemerson was Ang's father's side of his family, whilst Jouvelet following a move first
from France to London, and then to Australia, then married a Powditch in Melbourne, and thus
created that Powditch link.
What I am hoping to do over the coming months and years, is to add lots more family connections to
the website, so if you have a particular family connection, or have family memories or photographs,
documents etc you'd like me to include, please either write to me (you already have my home
address) or send an email to me at
 (Incidentally, the reason 'powditch' precedes the @ sign in my email address is purely down to the way my ISP set up my
account. In no way does it suggest or imply that I am a Powditch, but rather it acknowledges that
'Powditch' is the main topic of my website. Should the latter have caused anyone any concerns, then I
do apologise for that, but I do hope that you'll be able to accept the reason for same).
Over the centuries, there have been some really interesting connections through marriage and
otherwise, with the Powditch family. For instance, the Poet Byron; Clayton, the 'inventor' of the
precursor to the Light-house; Walsh, an Irish Land Proprietor; Pitt, the Prime Minister of England,
and many more notables and not so well knowns.
Where I already have, or can be provided with or can obtain, information about both the
aforementioned individuals and families, I will be adding them to the website, and where information
already exists on the world-wide web, I will be seeking permission from other website owners to link
to their own sites/information.
Details re any new pages will, as in the past, be provided within the Website update section of each
eNewsletter, whilst the homepage of the website (www.powditch.plus.com/ ) will also announce any
new 'arrivals'.
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| 5. Can you help? / Changed email addresses. I usually include a P.S. at the end of my eNewsletters, in which under the topic of Can you help? I
say;-
"I'd also be most grateful for any details you may know about re births, marriages, deaths,
illnesses, change of addresses, achievements, discovery of family papers/documents on or about
the Powditch family etc, or anything else. Also, if you know of any family members who are now
'on-line' and who have an e-mail address, I'd be grateful for their details".
Although I do receive a few changed details from time to time, the following - who are either Powditch
descendants or have connections with the Powditch family - have changed their email addresses
over the past few months, as their previous email addresses are no longer in existence!
If therefore you know the new email addresses for.....................;
Beth and Grant O'Neill (Australia); previously at bethandgrant@bigpond.com.au Lucy and Lindsay Marshall (New Zealand); previously at marshallfam@xtra.co.nz Natalie Vicary (London); previously at natalievicary@hotmail.com Rebekah Powditch (Essex); previously at rebekah@powditch.fslife.co.uk Richard Logan (Australia); previously at therainforest@austarnet.com (and possibly also at therainforest@austarnet.com.au ) Robert J Walsh (Australia); previously at walsh@anv.net Tamsin Powditch (Bristol); previously at tammyattco@hotmail.com (but as Tamsin Louise Powditch, she has also registered as horney_little_devil@hotmail.com )....................I would be exceedingly grateful for their current email details. Thank you.
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| 6. Questionnaires Many thanks to those who - following my 'reminder' in the last eNewsletter - returned their
completed Questionnaires re what should happen to the Powditch Archive after my death, as well as
what should be the frequency and format of future Powditch Gatherings. Their return has been much
appreciated.
If you still haven't replied, I'd really be grateful to receive your completed Questionnaire(s), especially
as I am hoping to be putting together a second Powditch Gathering (in Norfolk). If you would prefer to
send the replies by email, then just email me at
Whether by email or snail-mail I look forward to hearing from you.
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| 7. Chilean section; The current situation. Within eNewsletter No.21, under Section 4 (Website Update) item 5, I advised that the Chilean
section of the Powditch website had - as a temporary measure - been Password Protected, although
I did also state that I hoped "to remove the blocking access as soon as possible (the reason for the
password protection is to decipher the number of persons accessing the Chilean section, and also
to ascertain their relationship - if any - to that branch of the family".
Since introducing the need for a password to access the Chile section in February 2005, I would
advise that to date (i.e. during the past 3 months) I have only received two requests for an username
and password to access the pages past the Chile homepage. I would also advise that although that
homepage has been accessed by other visitors, without their using a password, they won't be able
to access any other Chilean pages.
The need for an Username and Password is still being monitored, so I will advise you should there be
any change to the need for same.
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| 8. Lists, Digests and Forums. As advised in eNewsletter No.21 (and following on from the comments made in same), the Lists,
Digests and Forums pages have - due to their continuing lack of usage (by anyone) - now been
deleted from the www.powditch.plus.com/ website.
As also advised in the same eNewsletter, the Guest Book, Latest News and other pages which are
on my website, and which are frequently used, and updated whenever possible, have proved to have
been of far greater use than any of the deleted pages, and have helped to reunite many family and
non-family members, answer questions, and much more besides; so those pages will be greatly
expanded wherever possible.
Thank you for your comments and extra news for the above retained sections.
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| 9. .....and finally! I have made a good start on sorting out all of the files on the kitchen worktops! Although only 10 files
have been fully completed, there is now quite a large working space available, so Ang is a lot happier
than she was this time last month. Hopefully I'll be able to finish sorting out the rest of the folders by
the end of June (please keep your fingers crossed for me)
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I hope that you and your family are all keeping well, and I look forward to hearing from you sometime,
especially re your thoughts and comments re the above topics.
John
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