52 Ancestors Challenge - Week 12 - Joined Together

 

When I saw this theme, I was first drawn to thinking about ‘joined together in holy matrimony’ but then there was the question of which marriages to write about.  I then thought of other occasions where family members have joined together, such as baptisms, marriages, and burials.  Recently funerals have been the main gathering for me and my cousins with the standing joke that we’ve got a season ticket at the local crematorium.  It is a nice change when we have a wedding or christening to attend.  We now have no aunts or uncles still with us, and the cousin count is also being affected with us losing three over the last few years.  I am the youngest cousin with my oldest cousin being 34 years older than me.  Therefore, some of my cousin’s children are older than me and one of my cousins is a Gt-Gt-Grandma – what a confusion of generations!

However, after mulling over this theme in this Platinum Jubilee year I am going to write about other times where my family, their communities and the country have joined together to celebrate royal events.

My grandparents were born in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), with my parents in the reign of King George V (1910-1936).  My cousins were born from the reign of King George V (1910-1936) to me in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (1952 onwards).

The earliest piece of royal memorabilia I own is a mug which was given to my maternal grandmother Sarah Taylor, and all the children in Hitchin, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897.  The mug was given to me by my granddad, most probably at the time of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.  It is one of my most treasured family items.

Mum’s family were very loyal to the royal family, maybe partly as HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was brought up at St Paul’s Walden Bury, only a few miles from Hitchin.  I have the Bible that was given to my mum by her sisters Vi and Cissie on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935 – Mum would have been 10.  

Mum also remembered that when old newspapers were cut up to use in the outside toilet, all the paper was used unless it contained photographs of the King and royal family – it would have been disrespectful to use it in the loo. 

I also have the commemorative book given to Mum on the occasion of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 by the Urban District of Hitchin.  

Therefore, my Mum and her family lived through the Abdication crisis in 1936, a time of upset and uncertainty.  For the 1937 Coronation in the UK most children were given a book, china mug or a teaspoon as a keepsake.  I still have my Mum’s 1937 Coronation spoon which must have been given at the same time as the aforementioned book.  Parties to celebrate royal Coronations were popular in 1937 and perhaps more so in 1953 – some of my relatives can remember joining in with such events organised by their churches and communities.  Everyone brought something to eat or drink and it was all joined together to share.

My Dad’s sister Nellie was also a great royalist and gave me newspapers and magazines and her scrapbooks of all things royal, from fashion to crown jewels and royal children to Coronations dating from the reigns of George VI, the years of the second world war and up to the Coronation of our present Queen in 1953.  At the time of the Golden Jubilee in 2002 my collection of Royal memorabilia and the scrapbooks were lent to our local museum to form part of a commemorative display. 

My first recollection of a Royal Jubilee was in 1977 when our Queen celebrated 25 years on the throne.  I was at school and for one project we learnt about the royal family which really got me interested in genealogy.  One part of the project was learning about the royal family tree with the second part trying to compile your own family tree.  My effort was chosen to be put on the wall for parents evening, maybe because I managed to go back as far as my Gt-Gt-Grandparents on both sides of the family.  From little acorns……

From that Silver Jubilee I still have some of the plastic red, white and blue bunting that we used to decorate our home and the commemorative mug I was given at school.  On the weekend of the Jubilee itself we were on holiday in Suffolk where we had a chalet bungalow.  Over the years we got friendly with another family with children of a similar age to me.  On that weekend we all attended church in Kessingland and then Sally, Jane and I took part in the grand Jubilee parade in the village with our homemade banner – 3 x wooden poles and a folded over white sheet with applied photographs of Her Majesty, Prince Philip and royal coats of arms which was followed by a huge community picnic. My husband also celebrated the Silver Jubilee with his family.  His Union Jack flag is the’ real deal’ and made of proper flag material – we still use it on royal celebratory occasions hanging in our front window. 

For the Jubilee’s of 2002 and 2012 we joined our neighbours for a ‘get-together’ with a buffet and drink over the weekend, but we all watched the church service and parade on TV, with the soldiers, horses, children, crowds, and Balcony appearance.  It is what symbolises our nation and what the tourists come to see – pageantry and a glimpse of royalty.

Other Royal events such as the televised weddings of Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 caught the imagination of the public and media. The Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was also televised.  We were lucky enough to get a ticket to view the lying-in state in Westminster Hall – a very solemn and moving occasion with huge crowds and queues which I think surprised many people.  The unprecedented outpouring of national grief with the untimely death of the Princess of Wales joined together the country, Commonwealth, and the World.  The weddings of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey and those of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie at Windsor were also televised as was the recent funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh , with all its covid restrictions, also at Windsor.   By televising these royal occasions, the public can join together with the pomp and pageantry of the event and feel that they are part of the event, even if it from the comfort of your armchair. Not quite the same as being in the crowd with the noise, smell and buzz of the occasion, the lifting of spirts and joining together with others to celebrate.

In the early 20^th century, the main medium was printed newspapers which could be accessed by most people with in the 1920s the Pathe News gave cinema-goers a glimpse of moving images of royal events.  Television was a new thing in 1953 and many households purchased their first television so they could see the Coronation processions and the main event at Westminster Abbey.  For previous Coronations there were commemorative books and newspapers which were eagerly purchased and perused by the population.

I have collected books, magazines, newspapers and china and glass commemorating royal occasions for many years, as well as history books on royalty from the earliest British Kings and Queens to date.  The earliest piece of china I have in my Nana’s Victorian mug. 

For us on this side of the Atlantic we are looking forward to the Platinum Jubilee Pageant and all the entertainment and celebration planned for the first weekend in June continuing my family’s long-standing love of all things royal and join together with our country’s celebrations for HM’s Platinum Jubilee – what a milestone!