Ian Dodson Snr : The Dodson Family Tree

It all started in the kitchen of my mother’s house in Shannon on a Sunday afternoon in the Spring of 1998. I was visiting with my wife Theresa, son Ian and some of my brothers and sisters were there. My mother was recounting stories of the war years, the nightly London blitz, meeting my father, falling in love and the deep sorrow when he was killed in Sicily. Tales of the blackout, bomb shelters, ration books, the struggle to survive, the funny moments and the sad moments.

They were all there – the Dodsons, the Robinsons, the Smiths and the Jones, the family intrigues, the births and the marriages, and the dates recalled with the precision of Big Ben striking the hour! Suddenly someone said “All of this will be lost if we don’t write it down”. I got a sheet of my mother’s notepaper and I recorded the first few names and dates. The Dodson Family Tree was born!

For several years it was left aside, a page added here, a name added there. However trips to Yaxley England, Canada and Southern Italy, where I knelt beside my father’s grave for the first time, have started me on an exhilarating journey into the past. What started as a collection of names and dates has come alive, for these are real people, my people, who experienced the same emotions, dreams, joys and sorrows as you and me. I hope that my children’s children will make this voyage of discovery with me. To contact me, please e-mail iansnr at iandodson dot com.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Keeping up with the Jones'

When Theresa and I were in London in 2004 we visited my mother's first cousin Don Jones in Dagenham. This led to a contact with Don's brother David who was also researching his own family history. Since then we have been in contact by e-mail sharing information on the Jones family. David has carried out most of his research on the ground in London, which he has shared with me, while I have had the benefit of my mother's memories of her mother (Elizabeth Jones) and great grandparents (George Jones and Emma Jane Collins). My mother's collection of photographs has also helped to fill in the gaps. I have yet to meet David Jones and we hope to get together when I am in London in Sept.

posted by Ian Dodson Snr. | 12:25 AM