Tag: History

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #175

Dear Reader,

Clara Bow’s fourteenth movie was Black Lightning. The movie, produced during the Fall of 1924 and released on December 8, 1924, starred Thunder the Marvel Dog, supported by Clara Bow and “An All Star Cast”.

Thunder the Marvel Dog was a male German Shepherd that appeared in movies between 1923 and 1927. During this era, he had plenty of canine ‘rivals’ including Peter the Great, Napoleon, Rex, Strongheart and, more famously, Rin Tin Tin.

Clara loved dogs. However, the plot of this movie was convoluted and, given her ambitious, she could not have been happy as a support player to a dog. Greater days lay ahead, but at this stage of her career Clara was certainly paying her dues as she made her way in Hollywood.

Frances Gifford’s acting career blossomed in the 1930s and 1940s. Her breakthrough arrived in 1941 when she was cast as Nyoka in Jungle Girl, a fifteen-chapter movie serial. The serial was successful. However, tragedy struck on December 31, 1947 when Frances was seriously injured in a car accident. She attempted a comeback, but sadly that accident effectively ended her career.

Sister of actress Mary Pickford, Lottie Pickford (June 9, 1893 – December 9, 1936) also appeared in motion pictures, although her main passion in life was partying.

Lottie’s first starring role arrived in 1914 in The House of Bondage. She played a prostitute, in stark contrast to her sister Mary’s image as “America’s Sweetheart”. 

In 1915 Lottie appeared in The Diamond from the Sky, a silent adventure serial of thirty chapters. The serial was jeopardized when Lottie became pregnant, an incident that placed her on an unofficial Hollywood blacklist for a short time.

Lottie was a socialite who loved to party. Indeed, her parties were notorious all-night affairs that featured an abundance of alcohol, drugs and nudity. This hedonistic lifestyle took its toll and cut short the life of a woman who, despite her socialite status, was regarded as down to earth, friendly and unpretentious.

Tallulah Bankhead (January 31, 1903 – December 12, 1968) amassed nearly 300 film, stage, television and radio roles during her career. Her main forte was the stage – she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1972.

A hedonist who loved men, women, cigarettes, drugs and alcohol, Tallulah rebelled against her family, prominent conservatives, by supporting the civil rights movement. She also helped families escape persecution during the Spanish Civil War and World War Two.

Marion Davies (January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) ran away from a convent to become a chorus girl, a performer in the Ziegfeld Follies and an actress. While performing in the 1916 Follies, nineteen-year-old Marion met fifty-three-year-old newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. She became his mistress and he promoted her career, often to her detriment.

Throughout her life, Marion was mistakenly associated with the character of Susan Alexander Kane in Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.  Susan was a singer who lacked talent. However, Welles himself said that Marion was a talented actress, and that he did not base Susan on Marion.

My latest article for the Seaside News appears on page 34 of the magazine.

My 5 x great grandmother Hannah David was born in Llantrisant, Glamorgan in 1757. She married James Morgan on 9 November 1776 in Llantrisant. Thomas Morgan, their first child, of twelve, arrived ten months later. In the 1700s, on average a woman gave birth to eight children so, maybe, the excessive strain of giving birth to twelve children contributed to Hannah’s death in 1802, aged 45. However, there was more to Hannah’s life than motherhood. Read on…

When my 5 x great grandmother Hannah David wasn’t pregnant or nursing one of her twelve children, she was helping her husband James Morgan to run the Swan Inn in Llantrisant.

William Aubrey of Llanwynno owned the property from 1767 until 1801. Hannah’s branch of our family tree connects with the influential and well-to-do Aubreys, so it’s likely that she became the landlady of the Swan through this family connection.

📸 The Swan Inn (Llantrisant.net)

One of the largest inns in the town, the Swan stood near Zozobabel Chapel on Swan Street. Taliesin Morgan’s 1898 history of Llantrisant referred to the Swan Inn as the venue for a number of eisteddfodau held by the Cymreigyddion Society. As such, the inn was a hotbed for promoting Welsh literature, poetry and music.

🧭 Location of the Swan Inn

In the fourth quarter of the 18th century my ancestor’s inn must have been the place to be, a venue reverberating with music and dancing, a place to listen to poems and stories. Hannah must have heard some tales. Maybe she told one or two herself. Maybe I can trace my love of stories to her.

***

Clara Bow Quotes: “Something every girl who goes into motion pictures must learn…if you do make a success of your work, your name is of public interest and where a girl in non-professional may be allowed certain liberties, a screen player is allowed none without attendant publicity.”

Intertitle #15

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #173

Dear Reader,

Clara Bow’s twelfth movie was Empty Hearts, produced during the summer of 1924 and released on September 15, 1924. Fourth on the bill, Clara played Rosalie. 

A drama, the plot of Empty Hearts centred on a blackmail letter, relationships, and misunderstandings. The screenplay was based on a story written by Evelyn Campbell a screenwriter, author and actress active during Hollywood’s silent era. Evelyn also wrote Westerns.

At this stage of Clara’s career, B.P. Schulberg was loaning her out to various studios. Indeed, not one of her eight movies made in 1924 was produced by Schulberg. On the whole, these movies were beneath Clara’s talent, and she must have felt frustrated.

Serial Stars

Kay Aldridge

Although she was screen-tested for the part of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, Kay Aldridge made her name as a heroine in serials. She starred as Nyoka Gordon in Perils of Nyoka, 1942. In the series, Nyoka confronted a host of villains while looking for her father, who’d disappeared while on expedition in Africa. Each episode ended with the traditional cliffhanger.

Kay also played the heroine in Daredevils of the West, 1943, and Haunted Harbor, 1944. She retired from acting in 1945.

After ten years, I’ve completed the preliminary research on my family tree. Of course, because of missing records, there are gaps, but I’m delighted with the stories I’ve discovered. Now, I intend to trace a branch back in greater detail, starting with my 3 x great grandmother Hannah Morgan, 30 July 1848 – c1881. How far back does this branch go? Stay tuned and find out 😉

The basics of Hannah’s life, outlined below, look ordinary. However, as the mother of five children and the wife of a coal miner, she was one of the women who formed the backbone of Welsh society during the Victorian era.

Hannah’s father was an ostler, so it’s likely she was familiar with horses. Her mother lodged Irish navvies, so from a young age she became accustomed to the Victorian norm – a crowded house.

The points on this modern map highlight where my 3 x great grandmother Hannah Morgan was born and where she lived at the time of each census. The birth records of her five children indicate that her family was constantly on the move as her husband Thomas Jones sought employment in the newly developing coal mines that were transforming the culture and landscape of Glamorgan. Llandyfodwg, highlighted to the north, was Hannah’s last known address.

Hannah Morgan’s family chart and timeline reveal that, in common with many parents of her era, she named her children after her parents. Two of the major events of Hannah’s life occurred during her teenage years when her father died and when she married.

My 3 x great grandparents Hannah Morgan and Thomas Jones married on 22 February 1868, a Saturday, at Ruhama Baptist Chapel, Bridgend. As newlyweds establishing a home maybe they paid attention to advertisements like this one, which appeared on the day of their wedding.

Unfortunately, no pictures of Hannah Morgan or Thomas Jones exist. However, I have managed to find a picture of their son, Richard Morgan Jones, 1874 – 1954. Like his father, Richard was a coal miner in Glamorgan.

My 3 x great grandfather Thomas Jones started his working life as a ‘cow boy’. After that he worked as a coal miner, dicing with death, every day. At random I have selected ten Joneses who worked alongside Thomas in the local coal mines. The brief notes that follow record their fate.

Thomas Jones, aged 22: killed by falling from a byat while moving a stage in the shaft.

Evan Jones, aged 14: killed by a full train passing over him.

William Jones, aged 38: killed when the mineshaft roof fell.

William Jones, aged 37: killed by a fall of coal.

William Jones, aged 16: killed by a fall of coal.

Richard Jones, aged 34: killed when the side of the pit gave way.

David Jones, aged 45: killed when the mine roof collapsed.

Thomas Jones, aged 48: killed by an explosion of firedamp, one of two people killed.

David Jones, aged 26: killed by a gas explosion, one of eleven people killed.

Lewis Jones, aged 12: run over by trams through breakage of coupling chains.

📸 Aberbaiden Colliery

My 3 x great grandmother Hannah Morgan disappeared from the historical record in the 1880s. Some researchers think she emigrated to America. The historical record and my DNA profile confirm that a number of my ancestors did emigrate to America. However, I have found no records that suggest Hannah joined them. With her family, she moved around the Glamorgan coalfields. I suspect that her death record was lost due to the transient nature of her life.

Clara Bow Quotes: “Mr Schulberg could not use me in any of his productions at the time but there was nothing to prohibit him from ‘farming me out’ to other producers for small roles. Looking over my records I find that I played in twenty-seven productions in not so many months. But as time went on, I was getting no place. Always the instructions were the same: ‘Clara, X Blank wants you for a “bit” in their production, which starts Thursday’. Always a “bit”. If this was Hollywood, I wanted no more of it.

Gradually, I became better known. Occasionally, my name would creep into the billing on pictures and executives of the various studios were nodding now and then when I ran across them on the lot. I was getting somewhere.”

Intertitle #13

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #159

Dear Reader,

I’ve completed the basic outline for Tula, my novel about an actress finding fame in the 1920s, and losing her mind in the process. Sixty-eight chapters. I’ve written the prologue and chapter one. The prologue is Tula’s asylum admission form, with her doctor’s notes. 

The form and notes are based on 1920s asylum records, and a record from my family archive – a Victorian aunt spent a number of years in an asylum. My youngest son, who hopes to become a psychologist, helped with my research. He also named the doctor, Dr Brooks.

Continuing my research into Eva Marie Saint’s ancestry using public records. I’m looking to answer two questions: was Eva’s talent the result of nurture, or nature? And why am I drawn to her as an actress? Can I find the answers to these questions in her roots?

I’ve traced the Saint family back to the 1900 US Federal Census, which reveals the following about the family:

John Q Saint
Age52
Birth DateDec 1847
BirthplaceIndiana, USA
Home in 1900Marshall, Marshall, Iowa
Ward of City2nd
StreetNorth Fourth Street
House Number410
Sheet Number17
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation412 322
Family Number447
RaceWhite
GenderMale
Relation to Head of HouseHead
Marital StatusMarried
Spouse’s NameLydia G Saint
Marriage Year1870
Years Married30
Father’s BirthplaceIndiana, USA
Mother’s BirthplaceIndiana, USA
OccupationPost Master
Months Not Employed0
Can ReadYes
Can WriteYes
Can Speak EnglishYes
House Owned or RentedRent
Farm or House

So, Eva Marie’s grandfather was John Q Saint, a postmaster from Indiana, now living in Iowa. In 1900, John had been married to Lydia for thirty years, and they had three children living with them, including Eva’s father, John.

John Q Saint’s neighbours all had respectable professions, as insurance and real estate agents, clerks, etc. The Saints lived in a respectable neighbourhood and, it would seem, enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle.

John Q Saint’s parents were from Indiana, but before searching for them, I’d like to discover more about John Q including what the Q stood for – Quentin? Quincy? Quillan?

More next time.

***

An official in 1922 checking that swimsuits were no more than six inches above the knee. However, emboldened by the right to vote, and the crazes for dance, jazz, ragtime and blues, women were in the mood to throw away the tape measures and challenge authority in general.

Alvin ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly, 1893 – 1952, achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s as a pole sitter. He calculated that he spent 20,613 hours sitting on flagpoles, including 210 hours in sub-freezing weather and 1,400 hours in the rain. 

Kelly married Frances Vivian Steele, an elevator operator, a match clearly made in heaven, or at least close to it.

Some social historians contend that sex was ‘invented’ in the 1960s. However, the rest of us know that it began in the 1920s when people started necking in automobiles, like the Austin 7, introduced in 1922.

Aura Lee, Farewell, Series 1, Episode 14 of The Rockford Files contains echoes of the pilot episode. Lindsay Wagner reprises her role as Sara Butler. Bill Mumy, who was Sara’s brother in the pilot, also appears, but as a different character.

Bill Mumy appears as Trask, an artist. Trask’s paintings are abstracts, to say the least. In a classic exchange, Rockford asks Trask if he requires a permit to sell his paintings (because they are so bad). Trask replies, “I told you, I paint what I feel.” Rockford: “You must not feel well.”

My honest opinion: the premise of this episode was excellent – a senator is involved in a hit-and-run accident, which leads to murder. The resolution though was a bit convoluted, explained in a brief conversation, rather than shown over several scenes. 

Instead of the mystery, the writers of this episode decided to concentrate on Rockford and Sara’s relationship, which was fine because James Garner and Lindsay Wagner sparkled in their scenes.

Between 1700 and 1800 the population of London increased from 600,000 to over one million. The city established itself as the largest in the world, with commercial and military interests providing the bedrock.

London derived its energy from the free market, which basically meant ‘anything goes’. Services, goods and people – yes, people – could be bought without legislative restraint. Shipowners exploited the colonies while, at the other end of the scale, pickpockets sold gold watches. In eighteenth century London, these people were much of the same: steal from someone, then make a handsome profit.

Some people were offended by the scale of the greed. They compared London to a modern Babylon, devoid of morals and probity. However, writer James Boswell stated that his blood ‘thrilled with pleasure’ and that he regarded London as a city of happiness.

Maybe Boswell didn’t notice that, at its heart, London was still a medieval city without the capacity to deal with a huge rise in the population. In the eighteenth century,  London became notorious for its high volume of prostitutes, it’s large numbers of feral children, and its disgruntled mobs.

Wise heads reasoned that such chaos could not continue, that the quest for ever-larger profits was unsustainable, that the city was in danger of spiralling out of control. The wise heads were proved right because by the fourth quarter of the century, revolution was in the air.

🖼 London from the east, 1751.

John Charles was born on 27 December 1931. He is regarded by many as Wales’ finest-ever footballer. Indeed, many rate him as Britain’s greatest all-round footballer.

During his glory years at Leeds United and Juventus, John excelled as a centre-forward and as a centre-back. He moved to Leeds United, in 1949, from his hometown club, Swansea Town. After a break for National Service, John was the Second Division’s top goalscorer in 1954. 

As club captain in 1955, John led Leeds United to second place and promotion. The following season, Leeds finished eighth in the First Division while John was the division’s top goalscorer.

John’s qualities included strength, pace, technique and vision. Furthermore, he was a great header of a football and possessed a keen eye for goal.

John’s qualities attracted the attentions of Italian giants, Juventus. In his five seasons with Juventus, John won the Scudetto three times and the Coppa Italia twice. 

In 1962, John returned to Leeds; moves to Roma and Cardiff City followed. He was never cautioned nor sent off during his entire career. Indeed, John’s respect for his opponents earned him the nickname Il Gigante Buono – The Gentle Giant.

John represented Wales over a period of fifteen years, from 1950 to 1965. In 1958, he was a member of the Wales World Cup squad.  During that tournament, John scored in the 1 – 1 draw with Hungary. 

Injury ruled John out of the quarter-final against Brazil. Wales lost 1 – 0. Who knows what would have happened if John had been fit to participate in that match.

Next week, more news about my new project, Tula, plus background information.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 32 occasions.

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #158

Dear Reader,

Delighted to say that my books are now available in twelve languages. Here’s my latest, the Dutch version of Operation Broadsword, Eve’s War Heroines of SOE book three, my 112th translation 🙂

Continuing my research into Eva Marie Saint’s ancestry using public records. I’m looking to answer two questions: was Eva’s talent the result of nurture, or nature? And why am I drawn to her as an actress? Can I find the answers to these questions in her roots?

John Merle Saint. Picture courtesy of Eva Marie Saint.

I’ve discovered that John Merle Saint was Eva Marie’s father and that he served in World War One. Today’s record is a US World War One Draft Registration Card. This card provides the following information:

John Merle Saint
RaceCaucasian (White)
Marital StatusSingle
Birth Date13 Oct 1891
Birth PlaceIowa
Residence Date1917-1918
Street Address354 So. Highland
Residence PlacePittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA
Draft Board06
Physical BuildSlender
HeightMedium
Hair ColorBrown
Eye ColorBrown

So, John Merle Saint was born in Iowa, another good lead, one which should enable me to locate his parents. This record also led me to other World War One records that featured John, including his burial record. John was buried, on 18 July 1965, at Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This name strongly suggests that the region was developed by Welsh settlers, so does that mean that Eva Marie has Welsh roots? More research required.

***

Profit and Loss, Series 1, Episodes 12 & 13 of The Rockford Files is a two-parter. Written by John Thomas James and Stephen J. Cannell this is the strongest Rockford story to date. If you are new to the series, start with this one.

Profit and Loss contains a great storyline with sparkling dialogue. James Garner is having a ball with this story; his comic timing is perfect while his casual asides are sublime. Also, some social commentary about business corruption adds depth to the story.

There’s a great running joke about the trash dispenser, plus Beth and Becker make an appearance. If the writers could have included Angel, this would have been the perfect Rockford episode. As it is, it comes very close.

The answer machine message is brilliant too: (Slightly manic voice) “Hey, Jimmy – this here’s Teeter Skerritt. Remember me? From the Army. I’m stuck here in town. How ‘bout I come over and bunk with you, buddy?”

Ned Beatty, who co-starred in Profit and Loss. 📸 Wikipedia.

My latest article for the Seaside News appears on page 34 of the magazine.

Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in effect closed London’s hospitals because most hospitals at that time were run by the Church.

Henry VIII’s successors re-founded some of these hospitals, although their purpose differed from the hospitals of today. In the seventeenth century hospitals served the poor and destitute; they were places of shelter rather than centres of medical treatment.

Some hospitals specialised. For example, St Mary Bethlehem, pictured, was established for ‘lunatic people’ while St Thomas’ in Southwalk was established for the ‘sick and aged’. 

People of means were expected to pay for their upkeep. However, many hospitals provided the poor with bedding, clothes, food and three pints of ale a day.

Mel Charles was born on 14 May 1935. The brother of the legendary John Charles, Mel was a versatile player. He played as a centre-half, centre-forward and wing-half.

In 1952, Mel turned professional with his local club, Swansea Town. After seven years at the Second Division club, he secured a lucrative move to First Division Arsenal. However, injury blighted his period at the Gunners and, in February 1962, he joined Cardiff City, enjoying a three-year spell with the club. In total, Mel scored 122 goals in 401 league and cup matches.

At international level, Mel represented Wales on 31 occasions, scoring six goals. He captained Wales and was a member of his country’s 1958 World Cup squad. He also represented Wales in the British Home Championship over eight seasons.

In the BHC, Mel scored four goals in a 4 – 0 win over Northern Ireland, becoming only the third Welshman to score four goals in an international game.

One other remarkable fact about Mel: throughout his illustrious career he was never booked or sent off.

Mel Charles 📸 Arsenal.com

Clara Bow was born into a family of alcoholics and psychologically damaged people. Abuse, in all its ugly forms, was common. Clara’s family needed help, but in New York in 1905 few people, and certainly not the authorities, were prepared to offer a helping hand.

Clara’s neighbourhood was a network of slums and brothels, populated by the likes of ‘Submarine’ Mary – her name speaks for itself. House fires were common. Cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, smallpox and tuberculosis were rife. Violence was a way of life. 

During the summer heatwave of 1905, the New York infant mortality rate was estimated at eighty percent. Clara’s parents, Robert and Sarah, were convinced that she would die, so they didn’t even bother obtaining a birth certificate.

To understand Clara’s later choices in life, you need to understand where she came from: a hellhole where love was just a four-letter word. 

Welcome to the world, Clara Bow. 

Next week, news about my new project, Tula, plus background information.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 32 occasions.

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Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #120

Dear Reader,

My latest translation, Eve’s War: Operation Sherlock, in Spanish.

Through my gateway ancestor Barbara Aubrey (1637 – 1711) I am directly related to the Welsh nobility including The Lord Rhys, Yr Arglwydd Rhys, Prince of Wales. A ‘bit of a lad’ The Lord Rhys married twice, had eleven mistresses and fathered at least twenty-four children. A successful leader for over fifty years he was “a man of excellent wit and quick in repartee.”

My ancestor Rev William Aubrey (1573 – 1646) was the rector of Pendoylon parish church. William married Jane Mathews (1580 – 1650), whose line takes my ancestry back to Robert de Vere, the Third Earl of Oxford. Robert was a Surety Baron who witnessed the signing of Magna Carta.

Pedigree chart: Jeremy Crick.

My ancestor Humphrey Mathew (1567 – 1651) owned Castell-y-Mynach a late medieval mansion remodelled in the early seventeenth century and largely refenestrated in the late eighteenth-early nineteenth century. Humphrey married Mary Lewis.

This branch of my family leads to seven Magna Carta Surety Barons: Hugh le Bigod, Roger Bigod, Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare, John de Lacy, William de Mowbray and Saher de Quincy.

Looks like Magna Carta was our family gathering 🙂

Image: CBHC

The Iveson/Iverson branch of my family arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror in 1066 – the surname Iveson derives from Ives or Yves the French for yew or bow. Initially, they settled in the north of England, and Scotland. In Scotland they formed the Clan MacIver.

Born in 1586 in Edinburgh my ancestor Abraham Iveson migrated to Gloucester County, Virginia in 1636. He accompanied nineteen other settlers. 

On 17 October 1636 Abraham was listed as a headright for James Vanerit who had acquired 1,000 acres of land in Elizabeth City County, Virginia from a Mr Stafferton. Stafferton was owed the land for providing the transportation of the twenty colonists, including Abraham.

Dated 26 April 1637, a bill of landing listing Joseph Clifton, a London merchant, showed goods conveyed on the Tristan and Jane of London to ‘Abraham Iveson, planter’, and several others. The settlers were in need of home comforts and supplies, which arrived on the trade ships from Britain. In return, those ships carried the planters crops, including tobacco.

Tobacco advertisement, 18th century.

The planers in Virginia were cultivating hay, cotton, wheat, peanuts, barely, but mainly tobacco. Captain Francis Willis owned 3,000 acres of land, four others including Abraham owned 1,000 acres, and fifty-five others owned smaller parcels. 

A patent dated 10 June 1651 stated that Mr Abraham Iveson acquired 655 acres of land on the southwest side of the North River in Mobjack Bay, Gloucester County. As well as a landowner and planter Abraham was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the elected lower house of the colonial Virginia General Assembly.

Abraham married twice, in Scotland Rebecca Gifford and later in Virginia (after Rebecca’s death), Joan Towson. He had six children: Hugh, Sarah, Richard, Lucy, Elizabeth and Abraham. He died in Virginia, in 1655.

After Abraham’s death, on 9 October 1677, his second wife Joan made a gift of an African slave girl to her grandson William, son of James Kay. William was to receive the slave girl when he came of age, and the children of this slave were to be bequeathed to James’ other children. Witnesses to this transaction were William Kay and Abraham’s son, also Abraham.

The slave trade triangle. Image: Wikipedia.

What to make of Abraham and his family?

At the beginning in the seventeenth century, many Scottish people emigrated to America, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. These emigrants included freemen who left Scotland to promote trade or to set up military outposts and way stations for merchant ships. They also included people fleeing poverty and religious groups fleeing oppression. Abraham’s status in Virginia suggests that he was in the freeman category.

No surviving documents link Abraham to the tobacco trade, but given the size of his landholding and the fact that tobacco was the main crop cultivated in Virginia it seems fair to assume that he was involved in the tobacco trade. To make money from such a harmful drug is morally dubious, but maybe we can forgive Abraham in this instance because he was ‘of his time’.

Virginia tobacco slaves, 17th century.

You could also argue that his slave ownership was ‘of its time’, but I find that a flimsy argument. By ‘owning’ people and restricting their freedom he knew what he was doing. Maybe he was kind to his slaves – I hope so – nevertheless, he did own them. 

Of my ancestors, Abraham is not alone in owning slaves in America and the West Indies. I will write about these ancestors in due course. Most of the ancestors I write about fill me with pride and I would love to have met them. Even though I’m not sure that I would have liked Abraham, I would have enjoyed talking with him too, if only to hear the moral defence of his position.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 31 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂