FOD families who moved to Australia & New Zealand in 19th C (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, September 12, 2016, 17:44 (3003 days ago) @ jhopkins

Hi Janet,
glad you agree that's a useful site. You're dead right about the fantastic coverage in the old newspapers, especially local ones, I've spent many happy hours searching them from the BNA and excellent free-access Welsh Newspapers sites. The local Dean Forest papers I've used most are the Gloucester Citizen & Journal, which still covers the Dean very well, sadly the Dean Forest Mercury and Lydney Observer are not yet digitized for the net. As you've found, it seems that if one's ancestors were local movers & shakers, sportspeople or scoundrels then they often got mentions in the papers. Even if the articles aren't our ancestors, they still give a great snapshot of local life of their time, often making modern life seem so easy in comparison.
Your mention of your cyclist G Uncle made me smile, this was my hobby/sport for many years, so although the following article is not my relation, it's still one of my favourites of the hundreds I've downloaded. I found it while searching my dad's Lydbrook ancestors, it just happened to be on the same page as one of those. I'd got used to the fact that any accident made local news in the Victorian papers, but to see this in a "modern" one really tickled me. I think the fact that the old papers were pages of small text, with no photos and few adverts, so they HAD to use all available stories to fill each day's print.

The article from the Gloucester Citizen of Tuesday 27 September 1927 reads thus,

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Lydbrook.

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BICYCLE LEFT ON ROAD.

William John Hughes, farmer of Stowfield Farm, near Lydbrook, when returning home on his motor cycle on the Stowfield-Lydbrook road, ran over a pedal cycle which was lying in the middle of the road. He was thrown to the ground some distance away and received numerous abrasions. Having recovered from the shock he went back and discovered that the owner of the pedal cycle was lying fast asleep on the roadside.

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GlosBMD suggests it was quite a year for him

Marriage Details
Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
HUGHES William John WILLIAMS Eleanor Forest of Dean Monmouth Register Office [Closed] 1927 30 51