Oliver William BOWDLER, 13th Batt. Gloucester Regt (General)

by JaneyH , Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Saturday, May 24, 2014, 16:22 (3839 days ago) @ Jefff

Glad I was able to help - I've received so much assistance with my research on this and other forums so it's good to think I can give back a few nuggets of advice rather than simply asking for it!

My family tree software is groaning a bit at all the information I have about my Forest of Dean ancestors so I'm now in the process of writing it up into a proper narrative. As always, there are still big gaps and questions left unanswered, but I guess that's part of the fun. Once I get the pension records I'm not sure how much else I can do. I'm toying with the idea of a visit to Gloucester Archives to look at records for Westbury Workhouse. This might help me to piece together what happened to my great-grandmother: whether she stayed in the workhouse for long or was let out again. It could also show how long my grandfather (Oliver William's eldest son) and his siblings were in there for.

My Mum didn't know he had been in the workhouse at all so this piece of the jigsaw was quite a shock. She only knew that grandad had had a difficult childhood and had been looked after by "Aunt Mollie". Whether this was Oliver's own aunt (Mary Bowdler) or someone who worked at the workhouse is still a mystery. My Mum visited her in Cinderford as an elderly lady around 1950 and was bequeathed a set of silver hairbrushes when Aunt Mollie died. My grandad must have been fond of her as my Mum is named Molly!

By the way jefff, I read a comment of yours on another thread on here (I forget which) where you said you did have interests other than Bowdlers. I wondered if by that you meant that the Bowdlers were a particular interest of yours through family connections?