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| I love this photo of my great grandfather - one recently discovered and the only one we have! A snowy day at Chorleywood - with no teeth in I think!! |
Over recent weeks Rachel has given a bit of time to
researching the Green Family Tree and she has taken it all the way back to 1624
– which I think is quite amazing!
She has turned up some interesting facts (at least for us!) about my Great Grandfather, Alfred. He was born in the Watford Union Workhouse in 1881, before living in Sarratt (one of the six local parishes that funded the Workhouse) and marrying the girl next door! They tied the knot at Sarratt Parish Church on Christmas Day 1899, and he told a bit of an untruth to the Vicar! He said he was 21 years old – at least that’s what it says on the marriage certificate. Our research indicates he was merely 18, and as such he would have had to obtain parental consent, which I don’t think he could achieve. So, love won through! Alfred and Annie settled at Gate Cottages on Chorleywood Common, and that’s where my own grandfather was born in 1912. I pass those cottages nearly everyday as I take our dog for a walk – smiling as I pass my great grandparents’ home En route! It actually gives me a profound sense of ‘belonging’, a sort of historical attachment.
Such a sense of belonging is not just about yesterday but today.
Even, perhaps especially, in these days of Lock Down, our family has kept in more regular contact that usual via daily WhatsApp messages to my brothers, and weekly Zoom family calls (nine households on at once!) to Rachel’s folks. And here at The Manse, with five of us living together in a sort of ‘Bubble Community’, we punctuate the week with a Film Night, Quiz Night and Games Night. One of our sons yesterday, exclaimed he’s never been so busy!
And for those who are self-isolating I sense there has been a welcomed, and much appreciated, increase in emails and phone calls.
On top of all that there is prayer. We are praying for each other. Someone said to me last week that they are stopping regularly at noon to remember friends at AFC, and she told me: ‘I pray regularly for you and your family’. It meant the world to me.
All of this creates a sense
of belonging. It is an expression of
deep friendship and fellowship that makes our hearts glad during these strange
times.She has turned up some interesting facts (at least for us!) about my Great Grandfather, Alfred. He was born in the Watford Union Workhouse in 1881, before living in Sarratt (one of the six local parishes that funded the Workhouse) and marrying the girl next door! They tied the knot at Sarratt Parish Church on Christmas Day 1899, and he told a bit of an untruth to the Vicar! He said he was 21 years old – at least that’s what it says on the marriage certificate. Our research indicates he was merely 18, and as such he would have had to obtain parental consent, which I don’t think he could achieve. So, love won through! Alfred and Annie settled at Gate Cottages on Chorleywood Common, and that’s where my own grandfather was born in 1912. I pass those cottages nearly everyday as I take our dog for a walk – smiling as I pass my great grandparents’ home En route! It actually gives me a profound sense of ‘belonging’, a sort of historical attachment.
Such a sense of belonging is not just about yesterday but today.
Even, perhaps especially, in these days of Lock Down, our family has kept in more regular contact that usual via daily WhatsApp messages to my brothers, and weekly Zoom family calls (nine households on at once!) to Rachel’s folks. And here at The Manse, with five of us living together in a sort of ‘Bubble Community’, we punctuate the week with a Film Night, Quiz Night and Games Night. One of our sons yesterday, exclaimed he’s never been so busy!
And for those who are self-isolating I sense there has been a welcomed, and much appreciated, increase in emails and phone calls.
On top of all that there is prayer. We are praying for each other. Someone said to me last week that they are stopping regularly at noon to remember friends at AFC, and she told me: ‘I pray regularly for you and your family’. It meant the world to me.
We may be dispersed, but in so many ways we are still ‘together’.
May God’s blessing and joy be yours in all you do today.
Ian
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