Friday, May 03 2019

10:00  Lois and I do some genealogical research online and in my computer files to collect some early photographs of some of my late 19th-century ancestors. Yesterday, we discovered that, at the age of  just 40 years, my mother's grandfather, Richard Howells, died of suffocation in his bed in the hotel where he was the manager - the hotel was owned by his father-in-law, William Roberts.

Richard's death certificate

reports in two of the local newspapers

There had been an inquest  with the county coroner and a jury. One of the hotel's barmaids said Richard was drunk and she "put him to bed" at 6 pm on Friday night. When she went into the room again at 10 am the following morning (Saturday) to wake him up, she found he was dead, with his face pressed against the pillow.

The jury's verdict was that he died of suffocation, partly because of the pillow, and partly because of his tight collar. Yikes - How dramatic! Catherine, Richard's wife, my mother's maternal grandmother, spent the fateful night in one of the hotel's other rooms, it seems.

Family photos of Richard and Catherine

This morning, Lois and I manage to bring together another two photos. One is a colour photograph of Catherine, Richard's wife, as a young single woman, née Catherine Roberts, along with her 2 little sisters, perhaps taken in the 1870’s or thereabouts.

Catherine Roberts (left) 1851-1936, my mother's grandmother, in her early 20’s

The second photo shows Richard Howell's mother, Jane Howells (née Jane Jenkins) and is a bit unusual:  most of the photos I have found that date back to the 19th century were obviously  taken in some photographer's studio and look very posed. This photo was taken outdoors, perhaps in the early 1890’s, in front of the Marine Hotel in Southerndown, and has a more relaxed feel, which is nice.

My grandmother's paternal grandmother, Jane Howells (née Jane Jenkins) 
1814-1893, is no 2 from the right, dressed in black, in front of the 
Marine Hotel, Southerndown, which she owned. Her daughter, Margaret Howells, 
my maternal grandmother's aunt, (1858-1917) is on the left.

Such a long time has gone by since these pictures were taken – good grief, I shudder to think about that.

The Marine Hotel today (left) - now a private residence 

12:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 1:30 pm and take the bus into town, because Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group is holding its monthly meeting this afternoon in the bar of the town’s Everyman Theatre. Meanwhile, Lois walks around the corner to the local library, to help library staff manage the weekly Baby Bounce & Rhyme session for small children and their mothers.

14:00 I get off the bus in front of the M&S department store and walk around the corner to the theatre. I meet up with Lynda, Joe, and Cynthia in the theatre's café and we walk up the stairs to the 1st floor to start the meeting in the theatre bar. There  are only 4 of us this month due to the absence of the group's other 4 members, so we all have to work extra hard on our project, The Knight's Tale, one of Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales.

Two prisoners, Arcite and Palamoun, jailed somewhere or other in the ancient Greek world, fall in love with the same girl, Princess Emily, the sister-in-law of the man (King Theseus) who imprisoned them.

The two prisoners like to gaze at the beautiful Emily out of the prison window and fantasise about her. But isn’t she behaving  a little provocatively? She’s not showing much leg by the look of the picture, but I have the feeling that she is teasing and taunting them a bit, although that’s something I'm not 100% sure about - the jury is still out on that one.

flashback to the 14th century when the Knight's Tale first hit

the headlines - two prisoners fall in love with the same girl,

Princess Emily, the sister-in-law of the man (Theseus) who imprisoned them.

I see a bunch of problems ahead - who will get the girl? Tune in next week  ha ha!

This afternoon we read lines 1649-1844 from the tale. Arcite and Palamoun are both on the loose now - they have escaped from prison and, armed with spears, are busy fighting a duel to the death in a clearing  in the middle of a forest. They are already up to their ankles of blood - yikes, it sounds serious, to put it mildly!

“with sharpe speres strong

They foynen ech at oother wonder longe.

Thou myghtest wene that this Palamon

In his fightyng were a wood leon,

And as a crueel tigre was Arcite;

As wild bores gonne they to smyte,

That frothen whit as foom for ire wood.

Up to the ancle foghte they in hir blood.”

Palamon is compared to a lion, and Arcite to a tiger, and then both are compared to two wild boars, foaming at the mouth.

Exciting! But in the middle of the duel, king Theseus himself appears - the one who originally imprisoned them, and with him are the queen, the lovely princess Emily and a bunch of other courtiers and women.

Theseus stops the duel and says he has an idea to decide the men's dispute over Emily.

Group members are all on tenterhooks. Somebody says that if nobody was going to do the obvious thing and ask Emily what her wishes were, then Theseus might as well get the two men play cards to decide who gets Emily, but no, he doesn't go for that one either.

Theseus’s "big idea", however, is a bit of a disappointment, to put it mildly. He just wants the men to fight an "official" duel, sponsored by the royal family, and try to kill each other according to WDA rules, which all seems a bit of a shame, and a bit unnecessary to put it mildly  - they were already doing their best to kill each other perfectly well in the woods before Theseus and his entourage turned up and stopped them.

What madness !!!!

A consensus finally emerges in the theatre bar this afternoon. Group members think Theseus should ask Emily for a decision, but if he won't do that, to at least go for the  playing cards idea or something on those lines – winner gets Emily. At least nobody gets speared that way, which would be nice.

Memories of Benny Hill and his well-known song "Ernie" partly inspired this idea. 

Ernie, a milkman and Ted, a local baker, were both in love with Sue, a local widow. Ernie challenged Ted to a duel, but Ted suggested that they play cards to decide  the issue. Ernie insisted on a duel, but in the ensuing battle he was actually killed by one of Ted's out-of-date  pork cakes that hit him awkwardly in the chest.

Benny Hill as Ernie, a local milkman

16:00 The meeting ends and I take the bus home again. I'm exhausted. Lois and I relax with a tea and a piece of cake on the sofa.

18:00 We have  dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a  bit of television. An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from October 1987, when Bee Gees were topping the charts again after an absence of several years.

Lois and I did not see this episode when it was first aired because we were on holiday in Cambridgeshire and surrounding area, visiting friends, and also visiting my little sister Gill, her husband Peter, and their then 1-year-old daughter, Zoe.

Flashback to  autumn 1987: my sister Gill, with Peter and little Zoe

Our daughters Alison (12) and Sarah (10), Gill's daughter Zoe (1), and Lois (41)

Happy days !!!!

21:00 Our elder daughter Alison, together with Ed and their 3 children, are at Gatwick Airport this evening en route to Copenhagen for the weekend to meet up with old friends from their 6 years of residence over there (2012-2018).

Just their bad luck that Denmark is in for some un-springlike weather this weekend - snow, sleet and hail.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

10:00 Lois og jeg gør lidt genealogiske forskning på nettet og i mine computerfiler, for at samle nogle tidlige fotoer af nogle af mine forfædre fra sidst i det 19. århundrede. I dag opdagede vi, at min mors morfar, Richard Howells, på kun 40 år desværre døde af kvælning i sin seng i det hotel, hvor han var manager, faktisk det hotel, hvor hans svigerfar, William Roberts, var ejeren.

Richards dødsattest

rapporter i to af de lokale aviser

Der havde været en retslig undersøgelse,  med grevskabets coroner og en jury. En af hotellets barpiger sagde, at Richard var beruset og hun ”satte ham i seng” kl 18 den fredag aften. Da hun gik ind på værelset igen kl 10 den følgende formiddag (lørdag) for at vække ham, var han død, med ansigtet presset ind mod hovedpuden.

Juryens dom var, at han døde af kvælning, delvis på grund af hovedpuden, og delvis på grund at den stramme krave. Yikes – hvor dramatisk! Catherine, Richards kone, altså min mors mormor, tilbragte den skæbnesvangre nat i et af hotellets andre værelser, lader det til.

Familens fotoer af Richard og Catherine

I formiddag, lykkes det Lois og mig at få fat i endnu to fotoer. Det ene er et farvefoto af Catherine, Richards kone, som ung single kvinde, ved navn Catherine Roberts, sammen med sine 2 lillesøstre, måske taget i 1870’erne eller deromkring.

Catherine Roberts (til venstre) 1851-1936, min mors mormor

Det andet foto viser Richard Howells mor, Jane Howells (født Jane Jenkins) og er lidt usædvanligt: de fleste af fotoer jeg har, som daterer fra 1800-tallet, blev åbenbart taget i en eller anden fotografs studie og ser meget poseret ud. Dette foto blev taget udendørs, måske først i 1890’erne, foran Marine Hotel i Southerndown, og har en mere afslappet stemning, hvilket er rart.

Min mormors farmor, Jane Howells (født Jane Jenkins) 1814-1893, nr 2 fra højre,

klædt i sort, foran Marine Hotel, Southerndown, som hun ejede.

Hendes datter, Margaret Howells, min mormors tante, (1858-1917) er til højre.

Så lang tid er gået siden de billeder blev taget – du godeste, men det gyser jeg at tænke på.

Marine Hotel i dag (til venstre) - nu en privatbolig

12:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 13:30 og tager bussen ind i byen, fordi Lyndas U3A ”Making of English”-gruppe holder sit månedlige møde i eftermiddag på baren af byens Everyman-teater. I mellemtiden går Lois rundt om hjørnet til det lokale bibliotek, for at hjælpe bibliotekets personale med at styre den ugentlige Baby Bounce & Rhyme-session for lokale små børn og deres mødre.

14:00 Jeg står af bussen foran M&S-stormagasinet og går rundt om hjørnet til teatret. Jeg mødes med Lynda, Joe, og Cynthia på teatrets café og vi går op ad trappen til 1. sal for at starte mødet på teatrets bar. Vi er kun 4 denne måned på grund af fraværet af gruppens  4 andre medlemmer, så vi alle er nødt til at arbejde ekstra hårdt på vores projekt, Ridderens fortælling, en af Chaucers berømte Canterbury-fortællinger.

To fanger, Arcite og Palamoun,  et eller andet sted i den oldgræske verden, bliver forelsket i samme pige, princesse Emily, svigersøsteren af den mand (Theseus) der fængslede dem.

De to fanger kan godt lide at stirre på den smukke Emily ud af fængslets vindue, og fantaserer om hende. Men opfører hun sig ikke lidt provokerende? Hun viser ikke ben, men jeg har på fornemmelse, at hun tirrer dem og håner dem, men det er jeg ikke 100% sikker på – juryen er stadig ude om det.

tilbageblik til det 14. århundrede, da Ridderens fortælling først ramte

overskrifterne – to fanger bliver forelsket i samme pige,

princesse Emily, svigersøsteren af den mand (Theseus) der fængslede dem.

Jeg ser masse af  problemer forude – hvem får pigen? Indstil næste uge for mere ha ha!

I eftermiddag læser vi linjerne 1649-1844 af fortællingen. Arcite og Palamoun er begge to på fri fod – de er sluppet ud fra fængslet og, bevæbnede begge to med spyd, er i fuld gang med at udkæmpe en duel i et stykke ryddet land i midten af en skov . De står allerede op til anklerne i blod – yikes, det lyder alvorligt, for at sige mildt!  

“with sharpe speres strong

They foynen ech at oother wonder longe.

Thou myghtest wene that this Palamon

In his fightyng were a wood leon,

And as a crueel tigre was Arcite;

As wild bores gonne they to smyte,

That frothen whit as foom for ire wood.

Up to the ancle foghte they in hir blood.”

Palamon er sammenlignet til en løve, og Arcite til en tiger, og bagefter er begge to sammenlignet til to  vildsvin, som fråden står om munden.

Spændende! Men midt i  duellen dukker selve kong Theseus op – den, der oprindeligt fængslede dem, sammen med dronningen og princesse Emily og en flok andre  hofmænd og kvinder.

Theseus stopper duellen, og siger, at han har en idé, for at beslutte mændenes strid om Emily.

Gruppemedlemmer spekulerer på, om Theseus vil foreslå, at de to mænd spiller kort for at bestemme, hvem vil få Emily, men hans ”store idé” er lidt af en skuffelse, for at sige mildt. Han vil have, at mændene udkæmper en ”officiel” duel, sponsoreret af kongehuset, hvor de prøver at dræbe hinanden ifølge WDA-regler, hvilket synes at være lidt af en skam – de gjorde allerede deres bedste til at dræbe hinanden perfekte godt i skoven, før Theseus og hans entourage dukkede op.

Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Gruppemedlemmerne foretrykker idéen af, at de to mænd spiller kort for at bestemme, hvem der får Emily. Vores minder om Benny Hill og hans kendte sang ”Ernie”, inspirerede dette forslag. Ernie, en mælkemand, og Ted, en lokal bager, var begge forelsket i Sue, en lokal enke. Ernie udfordrede Ted til en duel, men Ted foreslog, at de spiller kort for at bestemme spørgsmålet. Ernie insisterede på en duel, men han blev så faktisk dræbt af en af Teds forældede svinekager, der ramte ham i brystet.

Benny Hill som Ernie, en lokal mælkemand

16:00 Møder slutter og jeg tager bussen hjem igen. Jeg er udmattet. Lois og jeg slapper af med en op te og et stykke kage i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra oktober 1987, da Bee Gees toppede hitlisten efter et fravær af flere år.

Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da det først blev sendt, fordi vi var på ferie i grevskabet Cambridgeshire og omegn, på besøg hos venner, også hos min lillesøster Gill, hendes mand Peter, og deres 1-årige datter, Zoe.

Tilbageblik til 1987: my søster Gill, med Peter og lille Zoe

Vores døtre Alison (12) og Sarah (10), Gills datter Zoe (1), og Lois (41)

Lykkelige dage !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!