Today, mum and dad very kindly came over to help us decorate one wall of our bedroom. We supplied bacon and sausage baps and lots of coffee before we started the wallpapering. It went very well and I'm delighted with how the room looks now. It's so much cleaner and fresher and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.
While we were beavering away, the post arrived, and with it the Birth certificate of my supposed Great Great Uncle. I've been trying to trace this side of the family tree (on my dad's side) but I've hit what is commonly known as a "brick wall". I have no birth certificate for my Great Great Grandfather who was born in Kingston Upon Thames in 1851 so I sent off for his brother's (or thought I did) who was born in Woolwich in 1863. Well, it's definitely not him as the one thing I do know is that my Great Great Grandfather's father's name was John and on the birth certificate I received, the father's name was Richard... I was so disappointed and felt very frustated that it wasn't him as I was 99% sure I'd found the right Edward Collins who was brother to John. I would then have had the mother's maiden name and could trace back that side.
I've come to the conclusion that this side of the family were travellers who moved about from place to place as I can't find any record of a John Collins on the 1861 census when he would have been about 9 or 10. From this I could have traced back the parents but I've searched and searched and found nothing. My grandmother always did say that there were Irish gypsies on her side of the family and it's looking more and more likely! It would explain why there was no record of them - maybe they wanted to evade the census and didn't bother with getting the births registered. It was also about the time of the potato famine so they may have come over from Ireland and just didn't bother with any legalities!
In the afternoon, Sophie and me went out to buy some tie-backs for my new curtains and I treated myself to a new laundry hamper for the bathroom. I glossed the paintwork in our bathroom this morning so now everything else is looking really shabby and needs to be decorated!
I'm going to pray I win the lottery tonight!
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