Only Connect...
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Only Connect... |
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Meet my ancestors and their connections
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NEWS...: I've known of a Phyllis Lansdell in my tree for a few years now. She was a very distant cousin of mine - a 5th cousin in fact, four times removed. But I knew nothing more about her. Over the last few days I have been looking up various names in The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985. One entry in particular, dated 13 June 1918, intrigued me:
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As the name is fairly rare, I knew there was a good chance that my cousin Phyllis Lansdell and the Phyllis Lansdell topping the bill in Don Giovanni - ahead of the subsequently world-famous Eva Turner (see right) - were one and the same. However, I needed further evidence.
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| I knew that my Phyllis Lansdell was the daughter of George Lansdell who married Alice Page. A check in FreeBMD (www.freebmd.org.uk) quickly confirmed that their marriage had been registered in the December quarter of 1881 in Oldham Registration District, Lancashire. A search for the unmarried Alice Page in the 1881 census index (www.familysearch.org), produced compelling circumstantial evidence for the identification. Alice Page, the 24-year old daughter of James Lees and Louisa Page born in Halifax, was described in the census as a teacher of music and singing. I am therefore convinced that her daughter - my Phyllis - is the opera singer. Now to find out more about her career... | |
| UPDATE: I have been fortunate enough to encounter a close relative of Phyllis Lansdell via the GenesConnected website (www.genesconnected.com). She described Phyllis to me as "an extremely daunting lady with a HUGE voice!". | |
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STOP PRESS: My family tree currently contains 78 labourers, 16 farmers, 9 straw plaiters, 6 innkeepers and 1 Prime Minister! |
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