One more day until the big event that we have all been planning for for …. hmmm! Well, some people for months, some for weeks and some have prepared in a matter of days or even hours! There are an astonishing number of people who we have not heard from this year and we sincerely hope that all is well with you all … Christmas cards or not!….
Regular readers will know our penchant for the eccentric and so today, we have chosen to spend our last working hours looking into antlers. Did you know that antlers are an extension to the skull of male members of the deer and antelope family? They are bone structures that usually grow in symmetrical pairs. Only reindeer have antlers on the female of the species and these are normally smaller than those of the males.
Antler brings many entertaining mis-transcriptions in 1911, including Harold John Joy, aged 18 of Bedford who was allegedly an ‘iron antler’ and Ada Sanderson, aged 29 of Ecclesall who was a ‘file antler’. The Whelan family do actually live at Antler Terrace in Halifax but 61-year-old widow, Margaret Elizabeth Friend, was probably not born in ‘Antler Coat, Stirling, Somerset‘…. more likely, Amblecote near Stourbridge! Perhaps the transcribers of these particular census schedules might have been partaking in some festive beverages!
‘Tis the season to be jolly’… and all that but please be sensible and (a) don’t drink and drive, (b) don’t transcribe under the influence and (c) don’t forget your family history over the next few days. Ancestry access is free, after all!
[Tomorrow is the big day! Have you spotted the hidden message in the titles of FWL blogs? Well done to those who have already worked it out – there are quite a few of you! Now is the time to shout about your brilliance on today’s comments! Go on…. Show off!!!]
