I'm organized now, you betcha.

Well, it's taken me 7 (seven) years to think about how to approach this blog stuff. I'm going to deal with my family history thematically and as it occurs to me. Pretty straight forward huh? So I'm going to start with an email I did for Remembrance Day 2014 and we'll go from there.

Today I Am Remembering

George Giles Bennett - born 1855

My great grandfather George Giles Bennett (on my father's side) who served both in the Boer War and the First World War. He served in campaigns all over South Africa. His campaign medal with bars is in my possession.

Boer War service medal

He then signed up for the First World War but lied about his age. The army sent him to Belgium where he served in the Quartermasters regiment.It took the army about a year and a half to figure out his actual age and he was shipped home.

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Allan Mungo Middlemiss

Grandma Luckraft's brother Allan Mungo Middlemiss. He signed up for WWI but did not survive the war.

Allan's attestation (sign up) papers

He died two months before the war ended and is buried in a cemetery in Dury, Northern France.

Dury Crucifix Cemetery

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Our grandfather Reginald Miller Luckraft. He served in France in an ambulance corps.

Grandad seated on right

He received shrapnel wounds at the battle of Vimy Ridge. I have his sevice medal

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Grandma Luckraft's sister, Margie,Mom and Uncle Al all served in WWII.

Crew of the HMCS Lunenburg, a corvette

Allan Luckraft was in the navy on Corvettes on convoy duty in the North Atlantic and also served on D-Day in naval support for the invasion (second on the right of gun barrel in photo).

Mom at the barracks

Mom was also in the navy and was stationed just outside of Montreal where she served in a secretarial corps during the war.

Margaret, Kathy  and Eileen (Mom's mother)

Aunty Margie served (judging by the uniform) but it's unclear what service she was with.

Today I'm remembering them.

A family ambrotype...

This is the earliest photograph that we have in our family photo archives. It is of my maternal grandfather's mother standing at her grandfathers knee. It's taken in London, England circa 1864. She's about 12 years old and the occasion is her coming to be her grandfather's housekeeper after the death of her grandmother. She looks a bit petrified.

The image was originally an ambrotype. The glass negative was underexposed in processing and then laid against a matte black background. This then would cause the image to go from negative to positive. The original glass plate was also hand painted. The details on her scarf were coloured as well as a tint added to both faces.

He was a well-known brick contractor in London and he built many of the railroad viaducts in London and the surrounding region.

I mention the "original" glass plate in passing. It unfortunately was dropped and smashed but not before I was able to get a copy of the image.