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, July 09, 2006

The Huntsman - Issue No 53

The Journal of the Huntingdonshire Family History Society featured my letter to the Editor - A Satisfied Member - I joined the HFHS in Dec 2004 hoping to make use of the Society records and member services to further explore the origins of the Dodsons of Yaxley. Little did I think that, when my family interests were printed in issue 51 of the Huntsman six months later, I would get an e-mail from Margaret Long of Yaxley alerting me to the research she had carried out some years ago for James Dodson of Bath. I was astounded to find that his grandfather Samuel Dodson(1868-1946) was a brother of my great-grandmother Florence Dodson(1871-1904). We are both descended from their father George Dodson, landlord of the 'Bluebell' inn at Yaxley and his wife Margaret (Smith). Following an exchange of e-mails we met in Bath in Sept. last year and James opened a bottle of champagne in honour of the occasion. My wife Theresa and I spent a very enjoyable day with 'cousin' James exchanging family data. James is coming to visit us soon in Ireland.
This is all due to the HFHS and Margaret Long of Yaxley whom we also met on our trip. We plan to be in Yaxley again soon and hoping it will coincide with a Society meeting in Huntingdon.

posted by Ian Dodson Snr. | 11:20 AM