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.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Meeting David Jones after 60 years!

Theresa and I travelled by train from Woking to London to meet David, my mother's first cousin, on 19th Sept 05.We met at the Family Records Centre in Myddleton St. This was the first time we had met in over 60 years although to be honest we cannot remember the first occasion. We are both in a family photo taken in 1943 to celebrate the diamond wedding anniversary of George and Emma Jones at Forest Gate. I am a baby in my mother's arms and David is sitting at the front of the family group.
We had a lot of catching up to do. David is retired and living with Angela and has been doing a considerable amount of work on the Jones family tree. He has spent a lot of time researching records in the FRC and the London Metropolitan Archives and exploring graveyards in the Greater London Area. We visited the FRC and the LMA which are adjacent to each other and he outlined what records are available in each. We had an enjoyable day together. Since I returned to Ireland Dave has identified 62 Buckea family members, some of them related to Elizabeth Buckea (mother of Emma Jane Jones). This should keep us both occupied for some time to come.

posted by Ian Dodson Snr. | 12:11 AM