eNewsletter October-November 2006

Please click here for the Index to previous Powditch e-Newsletters

Topics this issue include;

1. Apologies 2. News 3. Welcome 4. Message Acknowledgements

5. A new Message at the bottom of every email 6. Purchases and Donations

7. Website updates 8. A 'right-royal welcome'

9. Something to look forward to in 2 years time - PFG2008

10. Powditch Christmas Card and Annual Newsletter 11. ...........and finally !

1. Apologies

I can almost hear you saying 'what on earth has happened to John and why hasn't he sent the latest

edition of the Powditch eNewsletter?' - and I can only apologise for being rather late this month, mostly

due to a combination of my and Ang not having been well, more 'baby-sitting' than usual, my being

involved with a local matter regarding a footpath, and me also being involved with transcription (in an

advisory capacity) of the fascinating (and often frustrating!) 'buried' Salthouse Parish Register, plus

with a couple of other items (see topic 8 below).

Although in between all of those things I have been able to (Powditch-wise) tweak a few webpages,

discover more information, contact more family members (see 'Welcome' below), scanned lots of

Powditch photos recently 'discovered', etc, I often find that time is against me and items such as the

write-up of September's Family Gathering are still not yet live on the site - for which I sincerely

apologise.

Because November seems to be rushing past (it's now the 21st), this month's eNewsletter will be a

'doubler', that is, although it should have been for October, I'll also include items I was going to include

in the November issue. Hopefully things will improve over the next few weeks and that I'll be 'on time'

with the December eNewsletter (which will be sent out at the beginning of January 2007)!

One other thing I apologise for, is the last eNewsletter, for I might have sent out some copies of the

draft issue which had 'chunks' of text missing! If I did, please will you let me know and I'll send you the

correct edition.

2. News

Since the last eNewsletter, I'm sorry to say that Ang, and her sisters' Aunty Syl(via), who had been

born in Cardiff, South Wales, in 1912, died on 6 October, aged 93 yrs old. Sylvia had been the

youngest child of Arthur Smith and his wife, Amy (nee Clemerson), their two other children having

been Sidney (Pam, Shirley, Carole and Ang's father), and Ivy (who died young).

Whilst a few details are on the Powditch website

(at www.powditch.plus.com/Clemerson/index.htm) about Aunty Sylv, it would be true to say that

she was a lady who had a wonderful personality, was always kind to others, who loved dressmaking,

and who, despite many health problems in her later years, met them all in a 'cheerful' manner. Indeed,

despite having had dialysis treatment for several years, and travelling back and forth between her

home in St.Austell (Cornwall) and Truro hospital, 3 times a week, it was she who bravely decided, just

2 weeks before her death, and whilst still in good form, to ask the hospital to cease from any further

treatment. Ang and Pam had gone down to Cornwall to see her in early October, and although she and

they had been chatting and talking about the 'old days' etc up to the time they left (on the Thursday

morning), the following night she just passed peacefully away; a blessing for all her family as well as for

those that knew her. Our thoughts and prayers have been with her family who I know will all miss her

deeply.

3. Welcome

As you probably discovered in the last issue (September), I forgot to include 'new' Powditch family

members and descendants to the Powditch eNewsletter. Many apologies for that, and hopefully the

following details will put the matter straight! Of the first three names

a. Dene Jones (Australia) - contacted through GenesReunited - whose descendancy is from James

William Powditch's 2nd marriage (to Matilda Willcocks on 24 May 1877 at Knox Church, Dunedin,

Otago, New Zealand), they having had 6 children, the youngest of which was Henry Thomas Powditch

(born c1894) who married Muriel Norsly, and had 4 children. Dene wrote;

"Mavis Beryl Powditch was my Grand mother 1920-2003. daughter of Henry Arthur [sic] Powditch and Gladys Worsley (Henry's brother owned a cordial factory in Ballaratt Victoria). Married to Ronald Watts. 4 children - Lorraine May (my mother), Ron, Coral & Perri"

and

"Thank you very much for the info on my Powditch family. I will have a look at your web site when I have a bit more time. I have fowarded your info onto my mother, she was able to give me some more info. "Mavis Beryl, Thelma Muriel and Violet Adelaide. There was a son that died at 17 years old from rheumatic fever, his name was Henry (Harry). [the former are the 4 children of Henry Powditch and his wife]. Their marriages are.

Mavis /Ronald or Rodney Watts, nobody is sure how it was registered. 4 children,

Lorraine-May, Ronald James, Coral Lee, Perrie John.

Thelma/ Henry ( Harry) Newman no children

Violet/ Kenneth Mehrten. 6 children one deceased.

Lynette, Allan, Ray, Ross, Robyn, and Geoffrey deceased, died at 6 weeks old."

I haven't recontacted Dene for a little while, although I need to do so, as I need to check the names of

his Great Grandparents; my details for their names having been Henry Thomas Powditch and Muriel

Norsly, whereas you will have noticed that Dene has shown Henry's middle name to have been Arthur,

and Henry's wife to have been Gladys Worsley rather than Muriel Norsly

b. David Fleming (Australia) - contacted through GenesReunited - whose wife's ancestor (Francis

Isles) married Mary Ann Powditch in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, on 19 Oct 1813. Although David is

now concentrating on the Fleming/Hayward side of his family, I was thrilled to not only help him with

lots of details re Mary Ann's parentage and forbears, but also in putting him in contact with Nick

Russell, who is researching Mary Ann's sister, Eliza.

c. Nick Russell (UK) - contacted through GenesReunited - whose ancestor, Eliza (daughter of

Thomas Powditch and Sarah, nee Thompson) married into the Hammond family (after 1841) and had

4 children. Nick has been determinedly searching through many Census returns etc and has managed

to build up a substantial (not only Powditch) family tree over a fairly short period. Through our tripartite

contact (Nick, David Fleming and myself) we've been able to add more names to Mary Ann's

offspring. I'm also grateful for Nick inasmuch as he had read part of my 'Peerless Powditch' book

(the on-line version) and kindly pointed out a few typing errors (although everything was OK in the

printed version, the on-line version had been scanned, and I had missed the date errors in my proof-

reading!).

d. C Cook (UK) is the daughter of Florence C (nee Powditch), who is one of the two(?) children of

the late Alfred Clifford Powditch (and his wife, nee Bennett), and she emailed to say;-

"I have just been to Southwold , trying to find gravestones for my mother's family. I stumbled on your website and it is wonderful. I can fill some gaps for you.

The Powditches registered 1901 - Emma, 1902 Edith are my Grandfather's sisters.

I have his [i.e. Alfred Clifford Powditch's] birth certificate which says 1900 and I will forward it onto you with any old photographs.

I have also researched and will send a copy of what I found to date.

Thanks - my mum loved the idea of her being on the internet !"

d. Macarena Lara Powditch (France), who is descended through the Chilean line from Thomas

Hirst Powditch and Arminda Costa, who had 2 children, Joyce and Sylvia. Macarena emailed me to

say that I had entered the first name of her Grandmother incorrectly on the website (which I have since

amended), and since then, I've learnt that she is one of the six children of Sylvia Powditch and Ivan

Lara who live in Chile; herself being Claudia Macarena, whilst her siblings are, Josefina Maria,

Sebastian, Esteban, Alonso and Constanza. Macarena is married and has two children.

A big welcome to you all, and I hope that not only the website but also the monthly (usually!)

eNewsletters will keep you in touch with events in the Powditch and associated families' lives etc.

4. Message Acknowledgements

You probably noticed somewhere on the last (September) eNewsletter - possibly at the bottom of the

page? - the following message;-

John C Algar requires a confirmation of receipt for this email. To accept this message, please

follow the instructions below. This allows you to read the message and lets John C Algar know

when you have received it.

Microsoft Outlook Express: click the "Click here to download pictures" text above this message.

Microsoft Outlook 2003: click the "Click here to download pictures" text above this message, then select "Download pictures" from the popup menu.

Mozilla Thunderbird: click the "Show Images" button above this message.

This message has been encoded with MSGTAG Mutual Mail. For more information about how

MSGTAG works, or if you are having trouble viewing this message, please visit the MSGTAG

information page.

First of all I do apologise if the message was unclear or if you either had problems with reading any of

the eNewsletter, or if you 'struggled' to find any text above the message saying "Click here to

download pictures" above the message! Although I did hear from 5 readers who either couldn't find

any text saying to download pictures, or who had other problems (which hopefully I've been able to

resolve?) the better news is that of the 143 September eNewsletters sent, 57 of them would appear

to not having been read. ('Better news', that is, because in the past when I used the Outlook Express'

inbuilt "Acknowledgement request", it was a good month when I received 20 such receipts - out of

144 eNewsletters sent!)

Hopefully you won't have any further problems with either receiving the eNewsletters, or with having to

'click' anywhere, but I'd be very grateful if you would contact me should you continue to receive a

message which is difficult to read or access.

5. A new Message at the bottom of every email

Besides the information included in the previous item, something else you'll (hopefully) see at the end

of each and every eNewsletter or other type of email from me, is an invite for you and/or others to;

Please support the Powditch website and ongoing research by either making a purchase from

one of our carefully selected Suppliers (they will give us commission from your purchases) or by

making a Donation (details of both available on the Powditch website Products page at

http://www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm) Thank you.

As you will probably remember from previous eNewsletters, I had floated the possibility of adding

some quality advertisements on the Powditch website in order to try and obtain some form of funding

(or donations) for both Family Research and the continuance/maintenance of the Powditch website.

As you will note from the link, a special page has been set up now for this purpose. For more details,

please see the following topic.

6. Purchases and Donations - and using the new page on the website might help you in the

run-up to Christmas!

As I've written on the (new) Products page (at http://www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm);-

"Whether you need to send some flowers to a loved one, fancy a couple of bottles of wine,

need stationery, would like to cuddle up with a great book, listen to music of your choice, save

some money on your energy bills and then take a holiday break with your new camera, or

whether you need to make savings through cheaper insurance, an excellent Broadband

supplier, food for your pets, or those 101 jobs needing doing around the house, there are

many Retailers on this page who not only will save you money through your buying online from

them, but once you have purchased from the links below, they will pay us commission (not

much, but all will help). As you will see from several advertisements on this page, Christmas is

not all that far away, and besides online Retailers' having special prices and excellent choices,

remember that when you buy online, you save yourself from the stress and strain of

walking along crowded streets in the wet or cold, as well as from all those queues

and carrying everything!"

Hopefully you will remember from the last (September) eNewsletter, that I then said that there's now a

new page (for 'Purchases and Donations') on the website (at

http://www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm), and I also provided the names of the carefully

selected Retailers who had agreed to allow us to promote their products, so that when goods are

actually purchased, the said Retailer(s) will help to support the website and research.

The way the system operates is that every time you and/or someone else make(s) a purchase of one

or more of the Retailers' products, they in turn provide to 'us' a small commission from each sale, thus

helping to continue both Powditch research and the website.

Although the said sales commission is indeed small, I have taken the line that even just a small

amount will help the site and research, so any help you can give towards achieving the latter will be

of help. Indeed I would like to thank everyone who not only contacted me re the addition of the

http://www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page to the website, but also for anyone who

might have recently made a purchase.

Besides the list of Retailers mentioned in September (a reminder of them is shown below), the

following have been added within the past month (details as at 21 November). I do hope that you'll find

the range of Retailers and their products to be very useful, not only for the run up to Christmas, but

also throughout the year. Although I appreciate that the majority of the Retailers are based in the UK,

it should be noted that the majority do also ship to most Countries around the world;-

John Lewis (Thousands of presents online and in-store)

Waitrose (Wine Direct, with a £5 off voucher for purchases over £50)

SAGA (an invite to see how they might be able to save money on both home and car insurance - for the over 50s')

Staples (nearly everything for the Home or Work Office, from pencils to large desks: best of all, they'll deliver)

Shop@ (this is a site which includes many more Retailers, and highlights a much wider range of goods, including electricals, things for the home and garden, CDs and DVDs and so much more)

McAfee (Total Protection for your computer, including antivirus, firewall, spam protection, ant-spyware, identity protection and more - and all with an online saving of 20%)

Oxfam Unwrapped (Want to help someone in a poor country with an unusual present, from donkeys to ...........! Try this site for something different)

Direct Cosmetics (For a wide range of highly discounted, famous brands of cosmetics, from perfumes to lipsticks - and other cosmetics for between your head and toes, try this site; and all for both Women and Men)

DELL (Computers for the home and/or office, all at an excellent price and first class service. Although I have always been pleased with the quality of their build and Dell's back-up service, I must admit that I always take out an 'on-site' warranty at the time of purchase with whoever I buy from. I know it costs extra, but in the short to medium term it's 'peace of mind' for me, even though I haven't had to make use of same!)

GLTC - the Great Little Trading Company (Although this site offers a wide range of products for Adults as well as Children, it is for Toys and Games, Arts and Crafts that I have added two links to their excellent website. Being a doting Grandparent, I've noted that the toys etc on the GLTC site are of a wider range, well priced and with good deliveries etc than several of the other Toy Companies)

Burns (A Company who makes and provides Natural Pet Nutrition for Dogs, Cats + Rabbits (and Birds) in the form of 'solid' food for pets of all ages (we had been recommended by our Vet to put our Dog, Dylan, onto Burns, and he has been a completely new dog (in temperament, activeness, and sleek coat) ever since!)

and just as a reminder re the other Retailers on the same www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm

page, they are;-

Cottages4U (on-line selection and booking of holiday cottages both in the UK and abroad)

MSGTAG (a similar service to Outlook Express' Message Receipt)

Ancestry.com (a well-known and much-used family history site offering 14 day free access to a wonderful selection of research material at one's keyboard finger-tips, and which can be tried out before deciding whether to sign up)

Amazon.co.uk (where anything from Books to Software, CDs to........ well, have a look and see! can be bought)

SimplySwitch.uk (where one can compare telephone, gas, electricity etc charges, as well as credit card interest rates etc, and swap Companies with them to make a saving)

Jessops (who sell anything to do with photography, plus much more besides)]

Screwfix (who are the best Suppliers for all fixings and fasteners, whether it be screws, tools, plumbing and electrical items, and just about everything else one didn't realise was needed!)

Past Times (who sell a range of interesting and most welcome gifts, many made to represent different periods within British history)

B&Q (who are one of the biggest D-i-Y retailers in the UK, and who can supply a wide range of products)

Flying Flowers (who can supply flowers in a wide range of colours and types, in whatever form required, to wherever, at a reasonable cost and quickly)

Cotswold Co. (who supply furnishings and furniture, big and small items, and many things for in and around the home)

Zooplus (who have a wide range of foods, toys, gifts, calendars and just about anything else - and all for Pets!)

GenealogyPrinters (who can print all sizes of family trees to include as much or little as required, and in a wide - no pun intended - range of colours, formats etc, even including photos and other items)

PlusNet (an Internet Service Provider [ISP] who can provide Broadband up to 8MB from £9.99 per month)

- all of whom I've personally used in the recent past, and I currently use those numbered 2, 4, 7, 9, and

14, regularly.

One last thing about the Retailers and their services etc, I just want to say that although I have used the

majority of them before (and still do for those previously mentioned) I cannot be held responsible in

any way by any of the Retailers' or Suppliers' inability to supply goods, or supply them on time, for the

quality of their goods or service, or their willingness (or not) to supply you or your friends, family etc.

A message to that effect (in the form of Terms and Conditions) has been added to the bottom of the

www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page, whilst each Company's own Terms and Conditions

(on their own websites) will apply when you purchase anything from them.

Finally, should anyone wish or prefer to make a donation, they can do so by clicking on the word/link

'donation' (on the home page of www.powditch.plus.com/), where they will see a small image

showing various credit cards, and by clicking on that image (the text of which says;-

"Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!"

or by clicking on the word/link 'donation' on the Products page

www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm

they will be taken to a new page. In both instances, donations can then be made (using most credit

cards). I'm hoping that all of the above is clear, but if you have any questions, comments, suggestions,

or anything else, please do contact me. In the meantime,

"Please support the continuance of the Powditch website, and all Powditch research

by either making a donation or by using one of our carefully selected suppliers

who will 'reward' us for every product purchased. Thank you"

7. Website updates

Since the last eNewsletter (No.38, for September 2006), amended, updated and new pages on the

website include the following;-

the webstats page (www.powditch.plus.com/Webstats/index.htm) has been updated to include information for September and October (by the end of October, in excess of 141000 people had visited the Powditch website since January 2003 !)

entries for family members etc whose email addresses might have changed and for whom I haven't been advised of same, have been added to the page (www.powditch.plus.com/Missing/index.htm)

all pages within the Chilean section of the website (www.powditch.plus.com/Chile/index.htm) no longer need an Username and Password removed. The introduction of the Username/Password (over 12 months ago) led to several family members and academics not easily being able to access the pages, and therefore I have removed the previous Username/Password requirment with immediate effect.

the Alias Powditch (www.powditch.plus.com/AliasPowditch/index.htm), Chilean section (www.powditch.plus.com/Chile/index.htm), the webstats and Missing pages (www.powditch.plus.com/Webstats/index.htm and www.powditch.plus.com/Missing/index.htm) have all been updated to include a 'Please click here to support this website through a purchase or donation' link within each page's header. Over time, all pages within the website will be updated and amended to include the same link.

the Products page (www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm ) has been updated to include more Retailers, and also to be more user-friendly in its layout.

the home page (www.powditch.plus.com/) has been updated and amended several times. Those who visit often will have noted that the PFG2006 links are further down the page, whilst other sections have been moved to new positions, and some of the boxes have changed colour!

More updates and amendments will be made as soon as time allows.

8. A 'right-royal welcome'

Has anyone heard of a young lady by the name of Kate Middleton? Yes? No?

To be perfectly honest, when I first saw the name in a genealogical context several months ago, I

didn't have a clue as to who she was (you can tell by that remark that I don't follow the latest

newspapers' gossip columns etc!) although having asked a fellow family historian who she is, (my

having written; "Goodness knows how I reached your site re Kate Middleton but find you I did whilst

doing a search via Google for a Christiana Powditch and although I don't know who the Kate

Middleton your site is devoted to is, that she has Powditch ancestry in her blood is good enough

for me!") I was surprised to receive the information that she's the girlfriend of (the UK's) Prince William.

Whether Kate Middleton will ever be more than the latter's girlfriend will remain to be seen, but for

those who are 'Royal watchers', you'll probably be as fascinated (as I was) to discover, that amongst

the ancestry of the young lady are several Powditchs, together with other names into which her

forebears married (namely 'Lupton', 'Greenhow' and 'Martineau')

Because of the above, I am presently assisting a couple of researchers with details for the specific

Powditch family members, and hopefully in the near future I'll be able to point you to a complete family

tree for Kate Middleton. For the moment however, I can certainly mention that there are several

websites on the net who have varying amounts of background information on her, although the best

(from a genealogical/family tree aspect) is that of William Addams Reitwiesner, and available from

www.wargs.com/royal/kate.html

Although the work is still 'in progress', William having originally been helped by Michael J. Wood,

hopefully when the tree/genealogical data is 'completed' there will be many amongst the family who

will be proud to know that amongst KM's ancestry are several Powditchs.

I will keep you informed re any development in KM's tree etc, but in the meantime, it's certainly worth

having a look at www.wargs.com/royal/kate.html although even if you are on broadband, the site

sometimes takes a little while to open (incidentally, if you have an interest in Bill Gates' ancestry, or

that for Muhammed Ali (ex Cassius Clay), David Cameron or any other well known personalities'

ancestry, William has a list of them on his website at www.wargs.com/other )

9. Something to look forward to in 2 years time - PFG08

Remember (and please diarise) the dates - Thursday 18 September to Sunday 21 September 2008 -

for that is the weekend over which we will be holding the third Powditch Family Gathering, and once

again based at Morston in Norfolk, UK.

'Powditch Family Gathering 2008' (or in a simpler form, PFG08) will be following a similar (yet

different) format to the first two Gatherings, although in 2008 the programme (suggested by all those

who came to PFG06) is intended to be as follows (exact details and venues to be confirmed).

Thursday 18 September: Registration, Family Meeting and Family History and 'discoveries' (at Morston Village Hall). Evening free.

Friday (19) or Saturday (20): Coach trip (for the day) to both Wells-next-the-Sea and to nearby Holkham Hall, although exact times and how long to stay at each venue has yet to be decided. Possible guided tours, and lunch will be available.

Friday (19): Family Get-together and sharing of memories, plus possible 'talent-show', etc (at Morston Village Hall).

Saturday (20) or Friday (19): Several (printed) routes will be available (in advance) for family members to 'do their own thing' in visiting Villages, Towns, Churches, etc where members of the Powditch family lived in 1196-1980 Norfolk.

Saturday (20): Family (evening) Meal plus raffle and auction. I have asked re the 'Old Wild Rovers' being able to sing again in 2008, but have yet to hear about that.

Sunday (21): Church Service at Morston Church, after which, we will be having a Guided tour with a Powditch 'flavour' by John and Pam Peake. Farewells at Morston Village Hall.

Dependant upon the tides over the weekend, it may be possible for family members to have a boat

trip to see the seals on Blakeney Point (tide times to be advised nearer the event).

10. Powditch 2006 Christmas Card and Annual Newsletter

This is where I have to add to the apologies at the beginning of this eNewsletter, and to say that it is

with great sadness (and much frustration on my part) that I regret that I will not be producing a

Powditch Christmas card this year.

There are several reasons for this decision, the main two being that time is against me (and I can't

see how I can achieve designing, printing, writing the cards, letters and envelopes etc in the remaining

few weeks before Christmas), and my health, for my lack of concentration and other little matters of

the mind have been causing me more problems more recently (as you can see from the lateness of

this eNewsletter!)

For everyone who has been 'with me' since I first began sending out the Powditch Christmas cards in

c1985, 2006 will be the first year in an unbroken run of 20 years, that I won't have produced a

Powditch card, for which I apologise. (Ang and I will be sending 'ordinary' Christmas cards however)

I do wish you and your family a truly happy and wonderful Christmas and a happy a

nd healthy 2007, and hopefully better health will be with me next year (I'll be 60 in February!) and I'll

be able to produce a supa-dupa card for Christmas 2007 (well, that's the hope anyway)

11. ......and finally!

As ever, I do thank you ever so much for being a reader of this eNewsletter, and 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).

Thanks,

John

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