Updating the Family Tree – Farewell, Aunt Phyllis

Aunt Phyllis, July 2018

It’s always hard to write these sad updates; they diminish, not add to our family story, but they are an unavoidable element of any family history.

It’s with great sadness that I pass on news of the loss of my Aunt Phyllis nee Jamison, earlier in the year in March, aged 84.

Phyllis passed away in Belfast, and is survived by her two sons, Richard and David.

Our thoughts are with Richard, David and their families at the loss of their mum.  I’m so happy that we were able to reconnect last year (read here for more details of how that came about) and that I was able to visit my aunt and spend a little time with her, during our 2018 trip to Northern Ireland. Her wonderful features reflected the distinctive Jamison look; it was like seeing how my own father would have looked at that age.

Phyllis was, so far as we know, the last surviving sister of my father. My uncle Harold is the last survivor of the eight children of Fred and Eliza, although I’m still unable to confirm the whereabouts of my aunt Hilda. It would be great to trace her and find out she’s still with us.

Margaret

 

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Updates to the Family Tree

Thanks to my second cousin David (I figured out our degree of cousin-ness here on Ancestry.com’s blog ) I’ve updated the family tree with regards to his parents’ names and key dates, and I’m hoping to get some more information on the descendants of William Jamison soon.

On my grandfather’s side, I’ve updated some details for my cousins Richard and David, sons of my aunt Phyllis, whom we recently visited in Belfast (read about how we reconnected with Aunt Phyllis and her family here)

Thanks to both David and Richard for your time and assistance; family history is truly a team endeavour, and I wouldn’t have been able to piece together a fraction of the info I now have without the help of family members near and far.

Link to the updated family tree (picture opens in new tab)

Family tree (enlargeable image)

Margaret

For Cod, and Ulster – Northern Ireland’s Enduring Love of Chips Shops

This isn’t really about the Jamison family history, but it’s about a serious subject nonetheless; the relationship between NI and its chip shops. On mainland Britain, the chip shop now faces some serious competition from the plethora of Asian takeaways, kebab shops, Peri Peri joints and fried chicken shacks, but in Northern Ireland, apart from the eternal Chinese takeaway, chip shops rule supreme, at least outside the larger metropolitan areas.

During our recent trip along the Antrim coast, we looked forward to the great punny names many of them boast, as well as the excellent quality of the fare.

Here’s some of the best names we encountered this July, and where to find them; needless to say, we didn’t have a bad chip!

Chip Ahoy – Portavogie

Flash in the Pan – Bushmills

The Hip Chip -Bushmills

The Codsway – Bushmills (really, there must be an insatiable demand for fish and chips in this modest Antrim town!)

The Frying Squad– Bangor

For Cod and Ulster – Belfast

A note on the lingo – often, a portion of chips is referred to in NI as a “chip” so you may face the bewildering but delightful options that we did of “did you want a chip, a family chip, or a wee large chip?”

The Codsway Chip Shop, Bushmills, Northern Ireland

Shore Road Belfast – 1966 Video

In my last post I shared some pictures of the Jamison garage and houses at 265-269 Shore Road, Belfast, that stood until their demolition in the 1980s; on the site now stands a printing shop.

The pictures were screen grabs from a  video of Belfast in 1966, which Jimmy, a member of the Belfast forum, has posted on Youtube:

Of particular interest to me and my fellow Jamisons are the first 35 seconds or so, which consist of footage of a trolleybus going up and down the stretch of Shore Road at Fortwilliam, which is where the family houses and garage stood.

You can see the houses and garage at 265-269 Shore Road at the 8 second, 18 and 21-25 seconds mark of the video.

With thanks again to Jimmy for his kind permission to repost this great video.

If you are interested in Belfast past or present,  or in general social history from the 1950s-70s, please subscribe to Jimmy’s Youtube channel, Belfast Jack

Jamison Garage on Shore Road Belfast- Updated Picture(s)

I talked about the most recent picture I had of the family garage on the Shore Road, Belfast in a previous post ; the picture from the 1950’s was sourced from the Belfast Forum, an invaluable source of history, pictures and local knowledge for all things Belfast; there’s a particularly great (and very long!) thread about Belfast’s Shore Road: you need to create an account to comment or post, but it’s well worth it if you have any interest in past or present Belfast.

I stay in touch with some of the posters on the forum, one of whom posted the picture below of the garage, sandwiched between 265 and 269 Shore Road; the picture was taken from a video still filmed sometime in the mid to late 1960s.

265-269 Shore Rd approx 1966

You can see no.269 Shore Road most clearly; this was the left hand of the two houses that sat on their own on the corner of Oakmount Drive.

The opening between the two houses was the entrance to the car repair garage, at the rear of the buildings. I lived in no. 265 (just out of shot on the right-hand side of the picture) until around 1975. We have no family pictures of the houses or the garage, so I’m very grateful for any images that turn up online, and for those people kind enough to alert me to them.

The picture is also interesting as it shows a passing trolleybus, the number 10 which travelled along Shore Road to Whitewell Road, near the zoo. The trolleybus network closed down in Belfast in 1968 so we know the picture predates this. The trolleybuses had disappeared by the time we lived at 265, but otherwise very little had changed from the picture taken in the mid’60s.

Google map of the area now:

With thanks to Tommy and Jimmy for these and some other fanstastic pictures from the Shore Road area. If anyone has more pictures of the garage or houses at 265-269 Shore Road, please do get in touch, I would be delighted to see them!

UPDATE

Jimmy posted the video of the Shore Road to Youtube that the above picture was grabbed from; I’m writing another post for that, but I managed to get a still showing the right-hand house that we lived in, no. 265:

 

And here they are together:

 

 

 

Desperately Seeking Hilda…

When one of my Jamison cousins reconnected with me recently  I was able to add to my treasure trove of pictures of my aunts and uncles when they were younger. As well as some cracking pictures of his mum, Richard sent me two pictures of my aunt Hilda as a young woman.

This was great for two reasons; the only pictures I had of Hilda previously were a couple taken probably in the late 60s/early 70’s, going by the fabulously retro decor:

Franics Todd and Hilda Todd, nee Jamison

Hilda Todd nee Jamison

Now I have a couple of pictures of younger Hilda, possibly taken in Northern Ireland – I suspect the two pictures above may have been taken after Hilda and her husband Francis moved to Canada.

Hilda Jamison (date unknown)

Hilda Jamison (date unknown)

Hilda was one of three Jamison daughters, siblings to my dad. My grandmother Eliza did have another two daughters by her first husband; I mention this marriage here.

Hilda is the only Jamison sibling of my dad’s generation that we haven’t managed to trace, and we don’t know if she is still alive (she would be approximately 70 now). Her last known address was in Ontario, possibly in or near Whitby.

It would be great to find out how Hilda and her family are doing – as far as I know, she had one son, my cousin Francis Jr (Frankie).

Below I’ve attached a link to a chart showing the children of Charles Frederick Jamison and Eliza McCurdy Jamison (nee Purcell), showing their current whereabouts, or when they died. Hilda is the last piece of the puzzle, and I hope that if we do trace her or her family makes contact, I can shade her name in green on my chart to show she is still with us.

Siblings chart (enlargeable image)

Welcome to long-lost relatives; Richard, David and Aunt Phyllis

My father, (Frederick) Ian Jamison, had seven full siblings and two half-sisters from his mother’s first marriage, not an unusual family size for that generation of Irish families. Over the years and the distances between the surviving siblings, their children, and grandchildren, some of us have lost touch.  It’s always wonderful when we reconnect, and even better when it’s through this blog!

A couple of months ago I heard from Richard, one of my first cousins, whose mother, Phyllis, is my father’s last surviving sister (that we know of – unless you can help with the last piece of the puzzle!)

I’d tried to trace Phyllis and her family before – having kept up a correspondence with my Uncle Harold between Northern Ireland and England, after ill health and a move of house, they lost touch. My uncle was very keen to reconnect with his sister, and I hoped that this blog would help as we’ve already successfully connected with family ranging from first cousins to descendants of my great uncle William Jamison, son of William McDowell Jamison.

I was overjoyed therefore to receive an email from one of Phyllis’s sons, who had been conducting some family research of his own and found this site. My aunt Phyllis still lives in Northern Ireland, and one of my cousins lives not too far from me!

It was great to swap stories with Richard and put him in touch with my Uncle Harold, and I’m happy and proud to claim another part of the family – thank you for all your help, Richard!

I put off writing this blog as we had a trip planned to Northern Ireland in July (we’ve just returned) – I managed to visit my aunt last week and it was a very touching time for me, with lots of memories. Richard provided the wonderful picture of his mum above, and she still has a fine head of hair and the distinctive Jamison features.

My Uncle Harold’s daughter Denise also visited our aunt with her family, and I’m hoping that my Uncle can make a visit too.

From a family history perspective it was great to get some more pictures – as well as some great pictures of his mum, Richard also provided some wonderful pictures of my Aunt Hilda Todd, who may still live in Canada – she is the last sibling of my father who we haven’t yet made contact with, and I hope that one day that Hilda or maybe her son Francis Google the Jamison family history and find this site.

Welcome, Phyllis, Richard and Sam, and David, and thank you for solving another piece of the Jamison puzzle.

Margaret

Updating the Family Tree – farewell Carol

I’ve had news from cousin David in NI that we’ve lost another Jamison; Carol, who is listed in the family tree as marrying Harold (Hewer) Jamison, has sadly died aged 82.

I’ve updated the information for her birth and death in the tree, and hope to receive some more missing names and dates from the side of the family descended from William Jamison soon.

My thoughts are with Carol’s family and friends at this sad time.

First Marriage of Eliza Jamison nee Purcell – 1924

I haven’t had much to update on here for a while, but I’ve now registered for the NI records office online search facility, and have today located the details of my paternal grandmother’s first marriage, aged 16, to Samuel Murdock of Molloy on the 23rd April 1924.

It took place at “Bushmills Presbyterian” church; two such churches are listed so I may need to check records.

I’ve ordered a copy of the marriage certificate, and hope to find out more details – watch this space!

Family Research Visit to Belfast June 2016

I’ve written this up quite a while after we actually visited, as family things got in the way, but it was a very useful visit and might be of help if you’re considering researching your own Belfast family history.

We took the car and went by ferry, straight into Belfast harbour. We splashed out, staying two nights at the famous Europa Hotel in town, recommended!

Apart from catching up and taking trips out to Portrush and other spots along the coast, I had some specific research in mind that took me to the Belfast Central Library Newspaper archive.

This research was for two reasons; firstly to fill in some gaps around family events in Belfast during the Troubles, and also as primary research for the novel I’m (still) writing, And The Buntings Flew. The novel is based in 1970s Belfast and those of you who have read my blog posts will know that it’s at least partly autobiographical.

My research at the newspaper archive bore some fruit, and was a blast from the past, as the records are nearly all stored on microfiche, which I haven’t used since the early 1990s.  There’s a modest fee to print out pages (10p a sheet I think) and it was incredibly useful, and the staff very helpful.

This success was tinged with sadness and uncertainty; the Troubles left very few families untouched, and I now have to contemplate and investigate the new information I uncovered.

Despite any unease I felt while reading through the microfiches from 1975 and 76, they did offer, for a writer, a wonderful window on the past. I was particularly interested in the world news, and closer to home, the adverts; in 1975 the Northern Ireland government had members warning that if the UK voted to join the EEC (Common Market, and we did), that it would grow from a trade agreement to a federation of European states with a  loss of UK sovereignty, which was a very topical read!

I’ll be posting some more about some of the information I found in the archive library, but for now, I just wanted to post some pictures from our trip of the wonderful places to visit in Belfast and the rest of County Antrim.

I’m also pleased to relate that I brought back lots of Thompsons Tea and vegetable roll, both Northern Irish treasures that I wrote about in my article lauding the Foods of Ulster!