It Takes A Global Village

Genealogists spend a lot of time alone, whether online looking at digital records, in repositories scrolling through microfilmed documents or in their attics sifting through family papers and photos. But genealogy at its most productive and enjoyable is a collaborative undertaking. The past couple of weeks have led to exciting discoveries thanks to the “global village” of researchers who are helping me.

Scott (South Africa) once again rode to the rescue as he did earlier in the year. Although several books and online family trees listed a specific marriage date and place for Philippus Andries MINNAAR and Helena Dorothea STEYN, my husband’s 2x great-grandparents, I couldn’t find a record for them in the microfilmed church register for that time and place. In response to my e-mailed plea, Scott located the source in a short time and sent me a copy.

Christine (England), married to my husband’s second cousin once removed, recently found the blog and is proving a bountiful source of information about the QUESNELL family in South Africa and related families.

Martin (Portugal) nearly a decade ago on RootsWeb offered a transcription of a journal written by a British soldier during his 1901 voyage from the U. K. to the Anglo-Boer War only a few months before Arthur Henry POOLE, my husband’s grandfather, made the same journey. I found the message several months ago, but his e-mail address was no longer valid and extensive searching failed to find a new one. A recent online search found him, and he sent a copy of the journal as soon as he received my request.

Brett (South Africa) read my initial forum posting on the Anglo-Boer War site in which I requested the above journal and outlined what I knew about A. H. POOLE from his British Army service record. He drew upon his knowledge of the military to offer possible scenarios for military careers in South Africa and then recommended someone to research the records in the military archives.

Audrey (South Africa), the researcher recommended by Brett, will soon go to the South African Defense Force Archives to obtain A. H. POOLE’s military service record. In the meantime, she’s been kind enough to keep me posted with the information she’s been able to gather in phone conversations with archives personnel.

William (Southeast Asia), my husband’s younger cousin, keeps adding details to the POOLE family history, his most recent e-mail telling of the family’s residence in Cape Town, which no one has ever mentioned before, and his grandfather’s participation in shooting competitions at the Bisley Union Club in Bloemfontein.

I’ll be writing more about some of these discoveries in future posts. Let me emphasize that the above persons are just the ones who’ve contributed to breakthroughs in the last couple of weeks. The entire list of persons who have generously provided their time, expertise and knowledge of my husband’s family history since the inception of this blog would run to several pages, and I’ll acknowledge them in future posts.

Finding Maiden Names (Part 1): William POOLE’s Family

A much-discussed topic among genealogists and the subject of numerous books and classes is the difficulty of finding the maiden names of female ancestors, particularly in the U. S. and the U. K. It can often feel as if these women didn’t exist until they married and assumed their husbands’ surnames. Such terms as “elusive women” and “lost female ancestors” have been used to describe them, making them sound more like shy woodland creatures or misplaced reading glasses than half of our family tree.

Extensive research hadn’t uncovered even a given name for my husband’s 3rd great-grandmother, the wife of William POOLE (ca. 1785 – 1869). However, as described in an earlier post, the discovery of the online index to the first newspaper published in Wales, The Cambrian, yielded many details about the family, including an 1856 death notice that lists her given name as Elizabeth. An 1866 death notice for her younger son, Edwin, gives his middle name as Manley, which had not been found in any other source. My husband’s third cousin Patrice suggested that Elizabeth’s maiden name might have been MANLEY.

A search on Ancestry.com yielded a good match from Pallot’s Marriage Index. A couple named “Wm POOLE & Elizth MANLEY” married in 1804 at Taunton St. James in Somerset. Volume 15 of Somersetshire Parish Registers of Marriages, published by Phillimore, gives a specific marriage date of 2 Nov 1804.

1804 Marriage of William POOLE and Elizabeth MANLEY
Pallot’s Marriage Index for England: 1780 – 1837
Image downloaded from www.Ancestry.com

These two indexes are certainly not proof that I’ve found the right couple. However, because both the date and the place are consistent with other details discovered about the family, particularly the births of sons Charles Frederick (ca. 1810) and Edwin Manley (ca. 1816) in Yeovil, Somerset, a town less than 30 miles from Taunton, I will continue to do research in the parish records for this area. I will also analyze other middle names; several of William POOLE’s descendants in the next generation were given intriguing middle names that could prove to be maiden names.

Research Notes

Decision to Publish: The MINNAAR-STEINHÖBEL Family

When is the right time for a family historian to publish and distribute research findings? And in what form? Book, online tree, family group sheets, blog? Should one publish not only facts but the family lore that can’t be proven by any records? How much background should be included in order to place a family in historical and social context? How wide to cast the net? To concentrate only on direct ancestors may give an incomplete picture, but the number of collaterals can be daunting enough to stymie the whole process!

Which path to take when publishing family history research?

Up to now, I’ve hesitated to publish anything on paper since it’s obvious that there is much more to be discovered about both my own and my husband’s ancestors. Also, I’ve worked as an editor of both print and online content and know that many rounds of correction by several persons are required to make sure that the information is accurate and the copy is without typos.

All of which helps to explain why I started this blog for my husband’s family. A blog seems more “forgiving” — corrections and new facts can be added as soon as they’re discovered without printing a new book or yet another set of family group sheets. A blog allows me to write and publish discrete essays without having to worry about how they’ll “fit” into the format selected for a book, while having the ability to link them to related postings. I can include anything that helps to tell the family’s story, whether documented or passed down orally, as long as I let my readers know which is which. Other family members can comment on the information and stories presented and thereby help to correct errors.

Perhaps the best reason for this blog is that I’ve always regretted not keeping a better diary while researching my own family — not a research log but an account of the research process with all of its excitement and frustration. A blog enables me to include these and other aspects of my relatively recent research into my husband’s family.

But even in this medium, I still have to contend with a “hard copy” mind set about when to publish my findings: As soon as they’re discovered? Or only when a family group’s information is complete and meets all five elements of the Genealogical Proof Standard?

From the comments received on this blog, many persons are looking for their MINNAAR ancestors, but have yet to establish a connection to a recent ancestor that will enable them to trace their family back to the single progenitor Philippe MESNARD/MINNAAR who landed at the Cape of Good Hope in 1688. So, even though it’s incomplete, I’ve decided to publish the vital information I’ve found to date for the family of my husband’s great-grandparents, in the hope that some of those searching may find clues to their branch of the family.

Family of
Hendrik Nicolaas MINNAAR (1855 – 1903) &
Engela Aletta Jacobmina STEINHÖBEL (ca. 1864 – 1941)

1) Philip Andrew (16 Aug 1883 – 12 Apr 1960) = Charlotte Eugenie EBERHARDT

2) Letitia Selina/Aletta Celina (ca. 1885 – ca. 1965) = Arthur Henry POOLE

3) Steinhöbel Franz Frederik (ca. Feb 1887 – 2 Dec 1954) = Jacoba Aletta
VAN NIEKERK

4) Ernst Pieter (6 Jul 1892 – died after 1941)

5) Hendrik Nicolaas/Frederik (6 Jul 1892 – died after 1941)

6) Edward Lourens/Lawrence (ca. Jul 1893 – 26 Nov 1927) = Anita LEVY

7) Engela Aletta (1 Nov 1898 – death date unknown) = Gerrit Hendrik ’T HART

8) Christiaan de Wet (21 Mar 1901 – 11 Oct 1921)

9) Vera (6 Oct 1902 – 25 Jan 1970) = William Edward Rundle LIDSTONE

10) Emily (16 Jan 1904 - 5 May 1974) = Pieter Johannes Steyn MASSYN

Research Notes