Discovering My Family History
and yours too if you find your family here!
Welcome to my Website
Many years ago I was given an old Birthday Book that had belonged to my great aunt. For some of the dates it not only had a person’s name and the year they were born but also who they married and all their children, with their dates of birth. To understand how all these people were related to me I started to draw a family tree and this is how I started on my journey to discover my ancestors.
Last year, 2021, was the bicentenary of one of my 3x great grandfather’s death. His name was Ernst Jacob Heckrath and it was my discovering him and about his life also made me delve further into my family history.
I have been planning this website for a very long time so that members of my family can see the information I have inherited or been given over the years. This includes letters, documents, notebooks, photographs, pictures and various miscellaneous items. Then there is all the information I have discovered in archives, libraries, cemeteries, books and online. So I considered the best way for relatives, known and unknown to me, to be able to see my holdings was to have a website.
I have the passport of one of my 4x great grandfathers which states his appearance and shows his signature. This is one of my most precious items. Before I saw this document I didn’t even know they had passports over 200 years ago! Other precious items I have are three small paintings, one oil painting, a silver snuff box and the Birthday Book mentioned above.
In the pages that follow living descendants are not listed however if you know the name of your parent or grandparent you should be able to see where you fit in. The Descendant Style Web Pages may seem a bit repetitious but they are generated from my genealogy computer program, Legacy Family Tree, and I think this is the best way to display the information. I have not shown actual family trees as at present I have not found a suitable way of doing so. I do not have access to the technology that sites such as Ancestry have. However in future I may find a way of displaying them.
I have tried to show where I have obtained the information on these pages. Years ago, in 1989, when I first obtained a computer and the genealogy software program Pedigree I entered all my data without citations. That was my downfall because years later I had to go back and put in where I obtained the information (like a good genealogist!) When looking through the pages there may be some entries, from that era, which I have missed or cannot find the original source but I am slowly trying to correct these early entries, which were carried over to Legacy Family Tree. Also there may be some mistakes, for which I apologise, and would like any reader to send me corrections and also, if you wish, to contribute information I do not have.
The list of surnames below is that of my eight great grandparents and some of their family surnames. For a couple of them I have very little information but for others I have varying amounts of records and information.
This website is dedicated to all my ancestors who have made their discovery an ongoing interest for me! It is not complete by any means and will be evolving in the future.
I hope you enjoy looking at this site and finding out about YOUR ancestors!
FAMILY HISTORIES
I have tried to give brief histories of my ancestors using the information I have obtained from many sources. For those families that I have letters and documents it has been easier but has taken many hours, in fact years, to go through them all. Several letters and documents I had to have translated which also takes time. Others, although written in English, are not easy to read so have transcribed them in Word documents for easy reading. I have not yet included documents and photographs other than those in the Family History pages but intend to do so at a later date. I thought it better to publish what I have done so far.
At present I have only managed to do these Family History pages for a relatively few ancestors but will contribute more in time. I have tried to make these people come alive so readers will have some idea of their characters and what happened to them through their lives.
The family I have the most information on is my mother’s paternal family. I do believe that there is a gene for seeking out one’s family history because each generation of that family has made an attempt to do so including present generations! My great grandfather told his sisters, when the eldest sister died, “…..to keep everything relating to our family, letters, books etc …… I don’t destroy anything …. those who come after us can please themselves ….” They did and this is why I have so much information!
The surnames of my eight great grandparents are listed below and if you click on a surname you will be taken to the Family History page of that family. From there you will be taken to the Legacy Descendant Style Pages generated by the program Legacy Family Tree. Alternatively you can locate the Family History Pages and Legacy Descendant Style Pages from the Menu above. There are a few families I do not have enough information for a designated page so the link is directed to the family they married into.
SURNAMES OF MY EIGHT GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Paternal Surnames
Maternal Surnames
from Mainz, Germany & South Africa
including SMITH from Scarborough, Yorkshire & South Africa
& SIEDEL from South Africa & Vienna, Austria
from Cork, Ireland & South Africa
including RUSSEL from Elgin, Scotland & South Africa & LOMBARD from Cork & Lombardstown, Ireland
from Berkshire, England
including READING from Teddington, Surrey, GLASS from Reading & WHIFFING from Suffolk, England
from Bedfordshire & Northampton, England
including KIRBY, CROON and BOYS from Northamptonshire, England
If you click on the highlighted names above you will be taken to the family history page for that surname.
Circular Fan Chart of My Ancestors
Few examples of the items and records in my archives
Ernst Jacob Heckrath 1772-1821
Ernst is my 3x great grandfather. He was born in Mainz, Germany.
Mary Margaret Murphy 1884-1955
Maud as she liked to be called was my paternal grandmother. She was born at Christendom, near Waterford. Later she married Dr William Deighan and eventually settled in London.
My great aunt's Birthday Book
This book was given to Irene Heckrath, my great aunt, in 1910 by a friend when she went to Germany to learn German.
Register of birth of my 3x great grandfather
Joseph Pratt, my 3x great grandfather, had his birth registered, in November 1791, at the Old Meeting House in Bedford, England.
Letter to Charlotte and Sarah Smith
This letter was written, in 1832, to my great great grandmother, and her sister by their uncle, James Smith, inviting them to live in South Africa.
The gravestone of my Skates ancestors
This is grave of my great great grandparents James and Elizabeth Skates and two of their children Elizabeth Louisa and William. The grave is in the Old Reading Cemetery at Cemetery Junction, Reading, England.