Hello Vosper cousins!
I’ve had a very productive month, and among the things I finished (so few of those!), was reading “A Stitch in Time” by Natalie Allen. It is “Compiled from memories of village people” – the elders of St. Dominic’s Parish, in Cornwall. Susan Katzban, our “maybe-cousin” or “probably-cousin” or “DNA proven but lineage not-for-sure-yet cousin”, sent me this to read.
I’ve read the entire (tiny) book, and added red flags wherever the name “Vosper” occurs. You can see them on the right of the photo.
St. Dominic’s is located northeast of Pillaton, where my Vosper ancestors came from:
If you are interested in what day to day life was like in Cornwall from about 1880-1960, this is the book for you! Unfortunately, the Vosper family Is not described in any depth, and most references are to Samuel Vosper, a butcher, choir director, leader of the Wesleyan Choir, and owner of a ‘big boat’. I’m not sure who this Sam is – is he related to one of you? My branch of the Vospers came to America in 1872, earlier than the time period of this book, but it was interesting nonetheless. There is one small passage about the SMALE family: “We played with the three Smale girls and Cicely Hamilton, who lived next door.” Unfortunately I can’t remember all our cousins’ surnames, to tell you if your family is mentioned in it.
The book is not indexed, but there are many pages of lovely old photos:
My overall impressions were:
1. Life was hard there, but people were happy working hard.
2. Things were more primitive than I imagined, with no electricity or running water for a long time.
3. People travelled much farther and more extensively that I realized.
The book is written like a collection of short stories, which makes it ideal for some easy reading.
I did an internet search for this book and came up with: https://www.bookfinder.com/author/natalie-allen/ - if you’re interested.
I’ll be returning the book to Susan in the near future – many thanks to her for sharing this glimpse into the Cornish past.
OH! I think it’s time for Poldark to start, too!
Hope you are all doing well,
Cousin Teri
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