Topics this issue include;
(also, many apologies for this issue not having so many topics this month. I thought I'd give your eyes a rest!)
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| 1. Sad News On Friday 22 September, I received a letter from Malcom Parsons (son of Jean Parsons nee
Powditch - who had lived in Chadwell Heath, Romford, Essex), in which he wrote to tell me the very
sad news that his mother had died suddenly on Monday 18 September.
Although Jean's sudden death was a shock to me, that she had been in fairly good health before then
must have been an even greater shock to not only her immediate family (Dennis, her husband, and
Malcolm and Ian, her sons), but also to her younger brothers and sister (Stephen, Roger and Reggie
Powditch, and Pat Saye, nee Powditch), all of whom, as uou can imagine, are greatly distressed by
her untimely death.
By the time you read this, Jean's funeral will have already taken place (on Friday 29 September), but
my, and I'm sure your, thoughts and prayers will be with all her family at this very sad and emotional
time
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| 2. Powditch Family Gathering 2006 Although I'm still working on the write-up for the Gathering (full details of which, will be appearing on
the Powditch website at www.powditch.plus.com/2006PowditchGathering/index.htm and
associated pages, I just wanted to let you know that the whole event was a resounding success, and
apart from perhaps being a little hectic at times and tiring on the feet on other occasions, the weather
was beautiful and warm for us, the locations were interesting, the talks informative, the food delightful,
and the company - absolutely fantastic!
This year, family members were given the opportunity of either coming for the full 3½ days (14-17
September), or for part or parts of same, and by doing this, we were able to welcome Bryan Harman
(from Great Yarmouth) and for him to be with us for all of the afternoon of the Friday, Becky Clough-
Harpole (from Alabama, USA) who joined us at Upwell, for the visit to that Church, for the bar meal
and for our journey through the fenlands to the Podike, Wiggenhall St.Peter and Lynn, whilst on the
Saturday evening, Cilla and John Alexander (from Rickmansworth, UK) were able to join us for the
main Family Meal. In similar manner, Jim and Jacky Cooke (from Chislehurst, UK), Carol and Ron
Stone (from Raunds, UK) plus Haydn (from Radnage, UK), and his daughter Georgina (from Bristol,
UK), Powditch were with us for 3 days.
With us for the full 3½ days were Anne Willoughby (from Australia and Japan), Maureen and Don
Jones (from Wethersfield, UK), Pamela Clatworthy (from Holmrook, UK), Fiona and Cameron
Buchanan (from Auckland, NZ), Pat Saye (from Essex, UK), Pamela Powditch (from Cardiff, UK),
Shirley and Carole Smith (from Swansea, UK), Margy Powditch (from Hedgerley, UK), Drena Welch
(from Farnham Royal, UK), Penny King (Warboys, UK), together with Angela and myself (from Gower,
UK).
We were therefore an excellent crowd, and although we were very sorry that those who'd indicated
they would be with us at one time or another, weren't able to, in the end, be with us, we do hope that
perhaps they (and many more) will be able to join us at the Powditch Family Gathering 2008 (yes,
we are having another one, the itinerary for which having been determined by all the family members
who gave their viewpoints and suggestions at the 'Farewells' meeting) - more about PFG08, will be
included in next month's issue.
May I just take this opportunity to thank all of the above family members who came to PFG06, and not
only for each of you being such wonderful people, friends and Powditch's, but also for really making
the Gathering the fantastic success that it was. I will be in touch with you soon to thank you personally,
but in the meantime, I also want to say how very grateful I and we all were and are for everyone who
so kindly gave of their time, premises, talks and everything else. Thank you very much indeed (and I
will be writing to you too, soon).
Incidentally, should any family member who attended the Gathering wish to write up their own
viewpoint of the event for inclusion on the website, I'd be more than happy to hear from you and to
add your comments, especially as I seemed to bent double at times with that lovely cough of mine
(considerably better now, thank goodness!!)
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| 3. 'Products' and 'Donations' Having raised the topic in past eNewsletters about raising funds for Powditch research in particular,
and for the Powditch website in general (as well as possibly for funding a future 'Powditch Award'), I
thought that I'd better let you know that I finally 'put the bit between my teeth' and recently introduced
both 'donation' and 'product support' links on the website. The following therefore explains how both
work, and how through using them, both you and other visitors to the website can help to raise funds
for both Powditch research and website maintenance, etc.
When you visit the main page of the website (www.powditch.plus.com/) you will now see that on that
page is the wording;-
"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"
For anyone clicking on the word/link 'donation', they will be taken to 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!")
one will be taken to a new page where donations can be made (using most credit cards) to further
both Powditch research and the continuance of the website.
Besides the word/link 'donation', you will also note that the same sentence includes the word/link
'carefully selected suppliers', and by clicking on that, one will be taken to a new page on the website,
www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm - which solely includes all those Suppliers/Companies etc who
have kindly agreed to allow us to promote their products on the Powditch website, in consideration for
which, each will provide a percentage commission of each sale, to Powditch research/the website.
As at 2 October (the date of this eNewsletter), Suppliers' already included on the
www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page, include;-
 Cottages4U (on-line selection and booking of holiday cottages both in the UK and abroad) MSGTAG (see topic 6 below)  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 for those coloured green, I currently use
regularly.
Further to the above. the wording which is on the www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page, is as
follows;
Continuing maintainenance of this website and ongoing research into the
History of the Powditch Family can only be achieved through its financial support.
All of the following Companies are those with whom I've either had personal contact, or whose
products I'm currently using, and they have been included on this page because I believe that you
too could benefit from their products and services.
The following Retailers are supporting our fundraising through this website:
Please note that when you buy anything from any of the Retailers included on this page, you pay exactly the same price
as on their main websites, which often are lower than prices on the high street.
The commission earned by Powditch Family History Research and Website through your buying from these Retailers,
comes out of their profit margin - not your pocket - it is their marketing spend.
Should you not want to buy anything at the moment, please will you 'bookmark' this page and return here to make
your purchases when you're ready.
Please Support the continuance of this website and Powditch research either by purchasing something you need from
the carefully selected suppliers on this page, or by clicking here to make a donation
Thank you
Please note that should any further Suppliers or Products etc be added to the
www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page, these will be advised on both the website
itself (www.powditch.plus.com/) by the addition of wording similar to " **MORE PRODUCTS
ADDED Day Month Year** ", as well as in future eNewsletters.
I will also be adding other 'Services' (not financially beneficial to the Powditch website/research)
which have provided excellent and pleasant service etc to me and I my family in recent months, and
from which I believe you or your family and friends could also greatly benefit. One such 'Service' we
recently used (on both our there and back journey to Norfolk), being an excellent Restaurant at
Fincham Market near Downham Market. If you really enjoy quality food at a very reasonable price, the
check out 'timbers..... a restaurant with rooms" (www.timbers-motel.co.uk ).
Should you too have a Service (any type, as long as it is morally acceptable to all readers/users of the
website) which you'd like to bring to the attention of others, please drop me a line/email me to let me
know the details, and I'll see what I can do.
I do hope that you will use the products on the www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page, and that
you'll tell your friends and other family members about this service. I also hope that you'll appreciate
the 'fund-raising' side of the website having been put onto a separate page, away from the rest of the
site. Whilst by my doing this it might result in less donations, purchases etc, I do believe by the same
token, that visitors won't be 'bombarded' by advertisements etc on every page. Hope you approve of
that.
Please remember, when buying anything from the Suppliers shown on the Products page, you will be
buying them for the same or less than you would on the Suppliers' own websites or in their Stores, but
rather than their making a great profit from their sales, a percentage of that profit will be directed
towards the upkeep and maintenance of this website as well as towards further and future Powditch
research. Should enough funding be raised in that manner, then at a later stage, it might even be
possible for me to create that Powditch Award, I'd so love to introduce for our Powditch youngsters -
the next generation of 'Powdiche! (everyone from PFG04 and 06 will know what I'm talking
about!)
Oh, just one last thing about the Suppliers/Services etc, I just want to say that although I have used the majority of them
before (and still do in a few instances), I cannot be held responsible in any way by their 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 will be added to the www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm page
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| 4. News (Part A) Having mentioned Phillip Edney (UK) in the July eNewsletter as someone I had contacted through
the GenesReunited website (http://www.genesreunited.com/), I thought that I'd better explain why in
that issue, I had only written 'of whom more about soon'.
To recap on what I'd previously written, Phillip had posted his mother's name (Joan Powditch) on the
GR website, and when I first saw her name, I was a little 'confused' for although I had a few Joan
Powditch's within my databases, Powditch was their married (rather than maiden) surname. When I
therefore first contacted Phillip, I wrote;-
"Please excuse a few questions, but who was Joan's parents, and did she have siblings by the
names of Nora L., Crispin C., Ethel M., and Doreen M.? Also, what was Joan's middle name
('M')? I have noted from my Powditch birth database that Joan's mother's maiden surname was
Richards, but having just scrolled through the Powditch's I have on another database (on my
website) I'm just beginning to wonder whether this branch of the family has slipped through my
net, or whether I do have details, but they're hidden in one of my 100s of folders!............"
Following Phillip's reply to me, we've subsequently been in contact with each other, with emails etc
flying between us on a fairly regular basis.
Although the details re Phillip and his Powditch ancestry/connection were revealed to all who attended
this year's Family Gathering (see '2' above), I think that it's about time that I revealed to everyone else
that Philip's branch of the family had been a 'lost' branch , and so much lost, that Phillip's side of the
family have never had contact with, and had not known about, their Great-Grandfather's brother and his
children, nor about any of their cousins who are still alive (and probably not living all that far from him!)
Whilst in the last eNewsletter I apologised for not having included the full details re Phillip Gedney and
his Powditch ancestry, I did promise to include same within September's (i.e. this issue), and that I
would also include the details, together with some extremely exciting information re Powditch
research by one, or possibly two, past family researchers. Here, therefore is the story to date (and if
you want to see what happened before Phillip's grandfather was born, have a look at Chapter 11 of
my book, "Peerless Powditch's", Vol.3; 'Norfolk Vacated' (1989), page 162 (an on-line version of
which, is available by clicking on the following link;
In 1856 in Cardiff, South Wales, the fourth child of James Powditch and his wife, Betsy (nee Rumbles),
was born, and he was named Thomas. In the same year, in Milford Steynton (West Wales), James'
sister, Sarah Ann, who had married a Mr James from that area, also gave birth to a child; in this case
it was to a baby girl, and she was called Mary Ada.
Although the cousins' early history has not been researched in great detail, what can be surmised, is
that they must have met each other on several occasions, and certainly in their more youthful days,
and that in so doing, they had formed a very strong bond; so strong in fact, that they ran away in mid-
1880, to the City of London, and there, during the morning of Sunday 1 August 1880, they married, in
the Parish Church of St. Botulph, Aldersgate.
Whilst some further details as to Thomas' profession and part of what the couple did etc after their
marriage, are recorded in my abovementioned book, and although limited details have been
uncovered regarding one of their children (Robert James Rumbles Powditch) what had NOT been
known, until Phillip Gedney miraculously appeared, was what happened to the other children of
Thomas and Mary Ada.
Thomas and Mary Ada actually had 7 children. Two daughters born in London unfortunately died very
young, and by 1886, the couple had moved to Coventry (Midlands) where their 3rd child was born;
dying very soon afterwards, although with the birth of their 4th child, their luck changed, and not only
did she live, but also, so did the following 3 children, two of whom were sons; Thomas Christopher
Charles Theophilus Metcalfe Powditch (born at Coventry in 1888) and Robert James Rumbles
Powditch (also born there, but in 1892).
As you will see from my book, on page 166, where I wrote
"Apparently, Robert was not very happy at home, although "why", we do not know. Anyway, by
the end of November 1907, when he was aged just 15 years old - he had not only "run away"
from home and parents, but had also managed to "find a place" on board the Training Ships
"Arethusa" and "Chichester". "
the break from his home and family meant that he grew up not knowing (as far as we can tell) anything
about his surviving brother, or of his marriage, children, etc. Certainly present-day descendants of
Robert James Rumbles Powditch didn't know anything about his brother Thomas Christopher Charles
Theophilus Metcalfe Powditch or of his children etc when I advised them re their cousins having been
'discovered', anymore than did Phillip and his 2 sisters know anything about Robert and his children,
etc! Hopefully therefore, in the weeks and months to come, each side of the family will be able to
meet up, and share in family memories and stories etc.
Of great regret to me however, is that Jean Parsons, who recently died so suddenly (see item 1 above)
had been one of Robert's own 5 children, and that I hadn't been able to let her know in time that she
had family members/cousins living, who she'd never known. Hopefully all the other family members on
both sides, will now be able to be reunited through their common bond.
4. News (Part B) In the No.29/30 eNewsletter (December05/January06) under the topic of 'Welcome', details were
provided about Susan Hawes from Melbourne, Australia, who had contacted me about one of her
ancestors who had not only lived in Chile during the mid-1800s, but who also was the sister of
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (2006 being his 200th anniversary year).
Following Susan's email to me and my having included her information in the abovementioned
eNewsletter (which was also added to the www.powditch.plus.com/News/index.htm page), nothing
more was heard until 13 September, when I received the following email from Hilary Richardson in
Canada, who wrote;-
"I am writing regarding a query on 6 January 2006 in the Powditch newsletter. It was from Susan Hawes of
Melbourne Australia regarding her Hawes family. I do not know why Anne Hawes (nee Cussen) moved to Chile in
the mid-nineteenth century but it is worth noting that she actually emigrated to southern Peru, as Tarapaca
Province was part of Peru until the end of the War of the Pacific in 1883, when it was ceded to Chile.
I do however know of her g-grandfather Francis Brunel Hawes, as he intersects with my family tree. FBH married
Christina Matilda Roope Brooking, born 17 Feb. 1857, at Nethway House, Kingswear, nr. Dartmouth, Devon.
She was in Chile visiting her brother George Brooking, also from Devon, who was in the nitrate mining business in
Peru/Chile. At this time FBH was a doctor who travelled around on horseback visiting the various oficinas
(nitrate plants). They were married in the late 1880s, probably in Chile, probably between 1887 and 1889 but I'm
not sure, and had three children, Dorothy, Richard (nicknamed Dickie) and Geraldine.
By 1903ish FBH had died and his widow Christina moved the family back to England, where they lived near
St. Leonards, East Sussex. Richard Brunel Hawes also became a doctor and lived in Singapore for a time. He
married, according to my records, Kath O'Neil on 1 June 1920 and they had 3 children, the first of whom was born
on 6 Mar. 1921.
If Susan would like more information about the family or about the British involvement in the nitrate industry in
South America, she would be very welcome to contact me."
Needless to say, I contacted Susan straight away, and hopefully by now, both she and Hilary will have
been able to answer many queries about their joint ancestors. Certainly I heard from both with their
thanks, and in Hilary's last message, she added the further information that;-
"I'm looking forward to hearing from Susan Hawes, as I have been researching this branch of the family for awhile
and have a few unanswered questions still.
In 1864 my relative George Brooking (whose sister married Dr. Francis Brunel Hawes) went out to southern Peru
to work with William Gibbs and Co., a branch of Antony Gibbs and Co., a powerful English trading co. They were
interested in sodium nitrate as a fertiliser. It was plentiful in the dry sandy plateau (called locally The Pampas) at
a high elevation but just inland from the ocean, near the coastal towns of Iquique and Pisagua. The business
suffered during the War of the Pacific, 1779-1883, between Peru and Bolivia on the one hand and Chile on the
other. Chile won - this was when Bolivia became landlocked, and Peru lost its southern provinces, including
Tarapaca, where Iquique and Pisagua were located. But the nitrate industry thrived for many years, and railways
were built by the British to transport the nitrate to the Coast. However, it was a boom and bust cycle, and the bust
came at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the development of synthetic nitrate.
It is possible that Susan's ancestor Anne Hawes knew some of the British people involved in the nitrate mining
industry; one adventurous British family I was researching had some of its members who sought their fortune in
India, while their siblings emigrated to South America for the same reason."
- and there we come back to a common denominator re 'Gibbs and Co.', for in the 1800s, there is a
Powditch connection; but more about that on another occasion!
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| 5. Website updates Since the last eNewsletter (No.37, for August 2006), changes to the website included the following.
Amendments, Updates and New Pages (up to 23 Sep 2006)
the Powditch website's Home page (www.powditch.plus.com/ ) has been updated. the 'Latest News' page (www.powditch.plus.com/News/latest_news.htm) has been updated NEW: eNewsletters for April-May 2006; June 2006; July 2006; and August 2006 have been added, and all are now accessible either from the News index page at www.powditch.plus.com/News/index.htm or directly, from www.powditch.plus.com/News/enewsletter_aprilmay_2006.htm www.powditch.plus.com/News/enewsletter_june_2006.htm www.powditch.plus.com/News/enewsletter_july_2006.htm www.powditch.plus.com/News/enewsletter_august_2006.htm the 'Events' section has been updated (q.v. www.powditch.plus.com/Events/index.htm ) The Webstats page (www.powditch.plus.com/Webstats/index.htm) has been amended to include data from, and up to the end of, August 2006. the 'Birthdays and Anniversaries' (www.powditch.plus.com/BirthdaysAndAnniversaries/ ) section have been updated, and amended to both include and remove some events. NEW: Products page for Powditch fundraising, has been added to the website, and is available from www.powditch.plus.com/products.htm NEW: Link on the home page (www.powditch.plus.com/) to make donations, has been addedHopefully I'll have been able to update, amend and create even more pages by next month's edition
of the Powditch eNewsletter, by which time, the review and details of Powditch Family Gathering
2006, will also have been completed and added to the website.
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| 6. MSGTAG and a follow-up to 'Help!' in the last eNewsletter When you received last month's eNewsletter, you probably noticed that rather than your own
name/email address being shown in the 'From' box, it had either "Powditch eNewsletter Recipient"
or eNewsletter @ powditch.plus.com typed in, instead (without any gaps either side of the @).
The reason for this, is because, as I believe you are already aware, I have always in the past sent
each eNewsletter individually, to ensure that email addresses are not shared with, or become known
to, others (this 'policy' having been made in November 2003, following a majority decision by the then
eNewsletter recipients).
Due to various reasons, including the time to actually email individual recipients (with over 200
eNewsletters now being sent out every month), and having taken advice from various parties
including my ISP, etc, I will be trying an alternative means of sending this issue, and, dependant upon
the success of same, I will let you know in the next eNewsletter whether I will be continuing this 'new'
method of mailing, or returning to how I did it before. All I ask is for you to bear with me on this
occasion. Thank you.
I especially want to thank Robyn Lewis in Tasmania for her excellent suggestion re a program called
'MSGTAG' - which not only have I now installed, but I will be advising what it is and what it does in my
next eNewsletter
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| 7. ......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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