Heather Higgins's Page

I have Merrett connnections through my Jenner family. Ann Jenner married Daniel Merrett in 1807. His family were from Longney but later moved to Standish/ Stroud etc.

Thank you for adding Cheltenham4u Family History Guide.

Hi again, Heather,

I've come back to my email, following lunch. You might be interested to know that my dad, Peter, was born in 1914, in Dundee as I said. His mother was called Annie, NOT Margaret as I said in previous email. My mother is his second wife: his first wife was called Margaret. I have a number of family photos, going right back to the beginning of the 20th century, and i don't really know who half of the people in them are. Many of the photos are quite revealing about how people lived in Dundee at the time. Golf was certainly a major sport for men and women in the 1920s it would appear.

Anyhow, when you come to the UK in 2011, be sure to get in touch and maybe we could meet up, if I'm in the country at the time when you're visiting. I'll be away in the early part of January of that year. That's a definite plan. I've just given up full time teaching and am hoping to become self-employed by Christmas of this year, after I've been to Greece for an extended holiday in September and October. I'm hoping to do a bit of genealogical research on my maternal grandma's side of the family whilst I'm there. It'll prove to be very interesting to see what else you've found out about dad's family because, as I say, I've never met any of these people,except as a very young child.

Feel free to get in touch whenever you like.

Regards,

Laura

I have no idea what relation to my grandfather the Tosh sisters were but I have such a fond memory of meeting them when my daughter, Ruth, was about three years old, when I went to visit my dad's grave and I popped in to see them. The sisters had never married and lived as they'd lived all of their lives, sleeping together in the same bed, in the one bedroomed flat that they shared and which hadn't been modernised since it had been built in the early part of the 20th Century. Annie was a journalist and Winnie gave private Speech and Drama lessons, to the standards set by the Guildhall School of Speech and Drama in London. Dundee, I'm told is known for 'Jute, Jam and Journalism'. My grandma, Annie, worked in a jute factory.

I've only been to Dundee three times in my life and my impression of it is a place that is quite impoverished in many ways. I was born and grew up in London and only moved to Yorkshire when I trained as a teacher and then married (and divorced) a Yorkshireman. Ironically, the Tosh sisters and my grandparents, Annie and Robert, went to Brighton every year for their annual summer holidays. My daughter is living there now whilst completing her PhD at the University of Sussex and she can't contemplate living anywhere else, she tells me. I spent many a happy hour going down to Brighton with my parents and sister, when I was a young child. Strange how things turn out.

Hi Heather,

Good to hear from you. My old school friend's name is Jill Fayerman and I can't remember where in Auckland she lives: I'll have to ask her to remind me.

I'm astonished that you noticed the Mudie part of my name and it could be that we're related! My father was Peter Mudie (died May 1972) and he was born and raised in Dundee where he lived with his parents Margaret and Robert. We buried him in a family plot in Dundee. Dad was an only child. He was an only child but he had relatives by his father's sister, Nell,who married a Mackintosh and lived in Brighton. I don't know if there were other siblings.

I don't know if you are aware but there is a book of the genealogy of the Mudies and it was held at the library in Aberdeen, I believe. It was written by a Sir .....Mudie (was it Robert? I can't remember). It's a limited edition book and shortly after my dad's death I borrowed it from the local library which sent away for it. I vaguely remember the author writing to my dad,asking for details of his family but he pooh-poohed the idea and never replied,so we definitely aren't in there.

The book is absolutely fascinating but I didn't have the time or patience to trawl through it to find out which bit of the Mudie line we linked into. The Mudie's are scattered to the four corners of the earth by the looks of things.

In addition, Ihave to say that we knew few of our dad's relatives. Both of my grandparents died shortly after my birth in 1951 and we never visited Scotland. My parents were concerned, instead,to visit the Brighton relatives and my mother's relatives in Greece. There were a related pair of elderly spinsters that were my grandfather's relatives who were called 'Tosh' (Annie and Winnie). I also remember a cousin of my dad's whose surname was Johnson, attending his funeral. Other than those people, I know of no-one who's related to him.

Have you pieced together a family tree on your paternal grandfather's side? Have you visited Dundee? What do you know about the place?

Regards,

Laura

Hi Heather,

Thank you for your warm words. I haven't visited this site much since joining: I've been incredibly busy but it's people like you who's words will keep reminding me to keep on searching! Incidentally, I've an old school friend who lives in Aukland. Small world, eh? Regards, Laura x