LIFE IN 1921 BRITISH EMPIRE - SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC, MINERS STRIKES and A HEAT WAVE! SOUNDS FAMILIAR - 730,000 CHILDREN WITH FATHER DEAD

DAILY MAIL ONLINE : 1921 CENSUS GREAT BRITAIN - 100 YEARS OLD -  Masks, fuel crisis and a rising temperatures... sound familiar? 1921 census papers revealed today give glimpse of life 100 years ago when UK was in grips of Spanish flu pandemic, miners strikes and a heatwave 

This article by Kaya Terry and Henry Martin for Mail Online really brought that era to life.

Unlike the United States which releases census and other data after 70 years, in Great Britain (Scotland, England, Wales, and some of Ireland) as well as Canada, the wait is 100 years...

EXCERPT:  The census is more detailed than any previous one taken, asking Britons about their place of work, employer and industry for the first time, along with whether they were in full-time or part-time education.

Unlike earlier surveys, respondents could select 'Divorced' as an option for marital status, and in a stark reminder of the Impact of the First World War, the census also asked whether children were orphaned.

A staggering 730,000 children were recorded with FATHER DEAD compared with 260,000 with MOTHER DEAD

More than 16,6000 people identifying themselves as 'DIVORCED' revealing how the topic has become less taboo.

***

CAPITALIZATION is mine.

On the subject of orphans...

In Europe in the 19th century an ORPHAN was a FATHERLESS CHILD.  The idea that an orphan had lost BOTH parents is a more modern idea but can still be incorrect.  Since it was a rare woman who supported herself and a family, the death or a husband or wife was often responded to by another marriage for practical reasons.

Basically, a child who is an ORPHAN is lacking FINANCIAL SUPPORT by one or both parents and/or the parent(s) cannot nurture and raise a child for some reason.  Thus children in ORPHANAGES might still have one or both parents ALIVE somewhere.  Orphanages seem to have been replaced by foster care these days.

If you have an ancestor or relative in an ORPHANAGE, know that while many were put up for adoption others were not and thus someone was not agreeing to the child being adopted.  

Although an ORPHANAGE could be a small homey place, in general on census records they are called INSTITUTIONS, and thus the children in them are INMATES.

C Ancestry Worship - Genealogy Blogspot 

ELIZABETHEN ERA MAP OF LONDON FOUND

DAILY MAIL LONDON  I hate the pop up ads on Daily Mail UK but this article about Elizabethan Era London.  A handmade 16th century map includes walls made by the Romans and there are lots of Interactives.

Not much chance you'll find your ancestor's house but genealogists are always interested in maps. They can tell us much about the environment a person lived in.  London had about 200.000 residents at the time this was made.  Also shown are the present day versions of the same areas. 

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE THROWN OFF THE TITANiC GOES THROUGH FORENSICS - FOUND IT'S WAY TO CANADA

DAILY MAIL : MESSAGE BOTTLE TITANIC WASHED UP IN CANADA  by Jack Wright for MailonLine

Very interesting article.  Apparently there have been other messages in bottle supposed to have been thrown from the Titanic before it sunk but some were hoaxes.  In this article the scientist go about authenticated the paper, the cork, the glass, and verified that the French school girl, Matilde Lefebvre. did exist and did drown. Lots of good photographs in this article!

EXCERPT : The mold and tool marks on the bottle and the chemical composition of the glass are consistent with the technologies used in making this kind of bottle in the early 20th century,' he said

'The cord stopper and a piece of paper stuffed in the bottle's ore yielded radiocarbon dates consistent with the date on the letter - we didn't date the letter itself, since the method is destructive.

'So we haven't caught a prankster red-handed yet, but this still doesn't exclude a recent hoax....

TITANIC SISTER SHIP BRITTANIC - SUNK IN WORLD WAR I - WRECK OPEN FOR DIVERS

DAILY MAIL SCIENCE - WRECK OF TITANIC SISTER SHIP BRITTANIC OPEN FOR DIVERS  an extensive article by Joe Pinkstone for Daily Mail Online...

Lots of good pictures. 

Excerpt: The vessel was made as part of the same project that created the Titanic and became a naval hospital ship for British forces in WWI.    It hit a sea mine in the Aegean off the coast of Greek Island Kea in 1916 and within an hour was at the bottom of the sea.  Thirty people on board were killed. ...

Notes:

Larger than the Titanic, after that sister-ship sunk the hull was redesigned.  it was never used for commercial transport. 

IS QUEEN ELIZABETH IN PROPHET MOHAMMED'S BLOOD LINE ?

DAILY MAIL : QUEEN ELIZABETH IN PROPHET MOHAMMED BLOOD LINE

This story seems to have kept resurfacing over the last couple years.  This Daily Mail article is one of many articles that have appeared in print media and on the internet.  Archives of Spain, Burke's Peerage (the British authority on royal and aristocratic genealogy), and other countries with large Muslim populations are interested in the connection.  Would it help relationships between Christians and Muslims?  Diplomatically, maybe.  Religiously, I doubt it.

There is an impressive genealogy chart to look at: the connection would be through the Prophet's daughter Fatima.

Excerpt: They claimed the3 Queen descends from a Muslim princess called Zaida, who fled her home town of Seville in the 11th century before converting to Christianity.  Zaida was the fourth wife of King Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad of Seville.  She bore him a son Sancho, whose descendant later married the Earl of Cambridge in the 11th century.

MEDIEVAL WHEEL OF TORTURE VICTIM SKELETON FOUND IN MILAN

DAILY MAIL UK : MEDIEVAL WHEEL OF TORTURE VICTIM SKELETON FOUND  by Joe Pinkstone

EXCERPT: It is not known for what crime the man was being punished, but the researchers say it could have been merely for looking different to the rest of society as he had protruding teeth and was 4.3 inches shorter than average.

HILDA THE DRUID FACE RECONSTRUCTION - SHE LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE YOU KNOW FROM CHURCH

I love face reconstructions...  Go to this Daily Mail UK Article and there's a video about how it's done too.  She's 60 and toothless but that's twice as long as people probably lived.

DAILY MAIL UK : HILDA THE DRUID FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION

EXCERPT: The face of an elderly female druid known as Hilda who lived in Scotland around 1, 500 years ago has been recreated as part of a student's university project.   Karen Fleming of the University of Dundee has recreated the head of Hilda, believed to have been from Stornway on the Isle of Lewis, who was in her 6O's when she died