Hello there...
I'm not sharing a card today but I hope you don't mind me sharing something very special that I received on Monday
To give you a little background - Many years ago I was interested in my family tree...By chance I came across a book written about Wilkie Collins (Playwright author and best friend of Charles Dickens) and discovered my Great Great Grandmother Caroline was his partner...
I contacted the author of the book and cutting a very long story short I finally made contact with my Aunt's 2nd cousin Tim in Australia and his wife Jeanette who was a keen geneologist and had done tons of research. We corresponded for some time and then Tim sadly died and we lost touch...
Out of the blue, a month or so ago, Jeanette contacted me... Sadly she has some health issues and she asked me if I would like the heirlooms she held, belonging to my Grandmother and Great Aunts.
Of course I said yes and despite the cost I had them sent over...
What a treasure trove of things, including amazing jewellery and trinkets.... But by far, my favourite thing is this little album...
This is over 100 years old and is filled with memoirs, drawings and watercoloured paintings as well as photographs.
My Grandmother and her sisters were all Gaiety Girls and toured the UK starring in various shows... In the album are entries from many of the well known actors and actresses of the early 1900's...
Here's a peek at some of the pages
An entry by Gertie Miller
Entries from the cast of one of the shows together with a photo of the whole cast
The person referred to as Da is my G.Aunt Doris Beresford
The Iris referred to next to that beautiful painting is my G. Aunt Iris
This pencil drawing is just stunning ... See the date? 1907
And one last painting and verse ....
I am just over the moon with this and there is so much more to go through...
I hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I did
Till soon
~ Ros ~
22 comments:
What a far precious treasure is in your hands now, darling Ros, you're so fortunate to have a piece of your family history written on paper !
Wishing you a lovely remainder of your week,
I'm sending blessings to you,
with utmost gratitude
XOXO Dany
Wow, how wonderful for you to receive this, quite a bit of a wonderful shock I am sure! Funny, but as I was reading this, my sister was texting me about our Aunt that passed away this month and her things are all being shipped to my sister (hopefully I will at least get to see it, we'll see), but yes, what a treasure trove of family things for you sort through...thanks for sharing and enjoy every minute of it!
Oh Ros...how super to have this treasures...bet they brought a tear or two to your eyes. I can see also where your artistic talent stems from. xx
Wow Ros! What a keepsake to treasure! So precious!
My goodness - treasure trove is right! I just spent 15 minutes oohing and aahing over the pages you posted, so I can only imagine that you lost much more time than that on this beautiful part of your history! How cool!
THAT is incredible! I can't even imagine! Every page is a real treasure! THX for sharing, Ros!
Oh my goodness--what an absolute treasure, Ros! Good thing you didn't realize how special the package would be or it would have been such a worry hoping nothing happened on it's way to you! It's so amazing to have something like that in hand & not just pictures of it--the paintings & drawing are stunning! So, so happy she thought to contact you! You come from some very talented people!
Oh wow Ros! What an amazing memory album and I can see why you are totally bowled over by it. The artwork is beautiful, and I bet you will spend hours poring over the contents, finding links to explore. What a treasure! Enjoy.
Hugs
Carol x
Fantastic! What a treasure! Beautiful paintings, prose, and poetry artfully arranged and preserved. This absolutely transports you looking through it. We don't do this sort of thing anymore. We have computers and they crash. Things are lost. Maybe photo albums chronicle our lives somewhat, but this has such a personal touch. Thanks so much for sharing it, Ros. I really enjoyed it!
I'm sure you are over the moon to receive such treasures, Ros! How exciting for you! Thanks so much for sharing and enjoy!!
This is really intriguing - just the fact that you found out about your relation to Wilkie Collins... and now receiving these treasures, worthy to be showcased in a museum! Thanks for sharing, I find "looking back" like that fascinating!
Wow, what an amazing story Ros, beautiful collection and precious memories to be treasured!
OMG Ros...what treasures!! No wonder you are so creative and talented too with your card creations and photography. Thank you so much for sharing. Our DD Jeani is the genealogist in our family and is a librarian. TFS Hugs...
Wow! That's fantastic story and the album itself is amazing. You have a real treasure there.
I'm just reading a book with Dickens and Wilkie Collins as characters. :-)
Clearly there's always been an artistic talent throughout the family. Stunning and amazing album. What fabulous memories for you. I bet you so enjoyed reading it and thank you for sharing such a personal treasure with us x
Ros I totally understand that you are over the moon. Such a fabulous jeepsake. Better said; treasure! And it's shows off that your painting and all your other creative talents are running in the family!
XXX
Hi Ros
This is a wonderful book to possess. It is just beautiful.
I think you once told me about The Gaiety Girls and your great aunts.
Keep it in a safe place!!!
Sue x X
How amazing, wonderful and inspirational!
I can only imagine how exciting this is for you. I LOVE genealogy and names and dates are wonderful to research, but the actual personal items you have will tell such a deeper story. Enjoy exploring your treasure trove.
What fabulous treasures you have received Ros! You certainly have carried on the family creative talent :)
Oh how wonderful Ros, this album is soooo very special and so nice of Jeanette to pass them on to you. I'm feeling bubbly for you as I so enjoy my family tree research and have found some special treasure in my grandmothers keepsakes. Lovely christening card too. Hugs Robyn
Gorgeous journal, Ros, what a wonderful gift and find for you!
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