Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bellamy Letters

The Bellamy Letters, a Picasa Web Album has been posted Ruairidh Greig, The twenty-eight images contain seven letters and forty actual pages. I will be attempting to transcribe the letters in separate blogs, but I will endeavor to explain the cast of characters:

Samuel Rason - (1832-1912) with Mary Creak Smith had seven children including Elizabeth Rason and Sarah Ann Rason. Samuel is referred to as Grandpa in the letters. After Mary Creak Smith died, Samuel married his former wife's sister, Sarah Ann Smith. Sarah Ann Smith is referred to as Grandma in the letters.

Gertrude Taylor and Dorothy Taylor were the daughters of Sarah Ann Rason and Jonathan Taylor. Gertrude was the recipient of all the letters and was known as Gertie.

Elizabeth Rason is the daughter of Samuel Rason and Mary Creak Smith. Her sister is Gertie's mother Sarah Ann Rason. Elizabeth married John Henry (Harry) Bellamy. Elizabeth is my great-grandmother and refers to herself as Aunt E Bellamy or Lizzie Bellamy in her letters to Gertie.

Edith Bellamy is the daughter of Elizabeth Rason and Harry Bellamy. She married Sidney Spall in 1907. She signed her letters as Edie Bellamy.

Forty pages could take me a while to transcribe because this is a busy time of year for me, but if you are eager to have a look, the letters are available at the link at the top of this page.

Enjoy


3 comments:

  1. I just noticed the date, March 11, 2010. Today would have been my Mom's 91st birthday. How fitting that I have been working on the Bellamy family tree today.

    Mom, Ruth Bellamy, was born in Edmonton and never met either of her Bellamy grandparents: Elizabeth Rason and John Henry (Harry) Bellamy.

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  2. Hi Joan, I am puzzled by the sentence above;
    "Gertrude Taylor and Dorothy Taylor were the daughters of Sarah Ann SMITH and Jonathan Taylor. Gertrude was the recipient of all the letters and was known as Gertie." Shouldn't this sentence read;
    "Gertrude Taylor and Dorothy Taylor were the daughters of Sarah Ann RASON and Jonathan Taylor."? Otherwise why would they refer to Sarah Anne Smith as "Granny" when writing to Gertie?

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  3. John, I just noticed your comment. You are right, as usual, and I have corrected the post to read that Gertrude and Dorothy are the daughters of Sarah Ann Rason.

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