Army base in Louisiana sheds Confederate name for a Black war hero – Pleased to have had a chance to speak about WWI hero, Henry Johnson.

Was just asked to share this in one of the genealogy groups I participate in and thought it was worth re-sharing here because somehow this frustrating myth never seems to go away!

Camryn and Milo Manheim to lead off premiere of new Jewish-themed genealogy TV series – Another genealogy TV series headed our way!

How to plan a genealogy trip to connect with your roots – Whoa, is this right? Ancestry’s (ProGenealogists) roots travel services start at $3,000/day?! Time for some of us to increase our rates, eh?

Top Photo Credit: Verne Becker under Creative Commons license

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So it was all but inevitable that I would take a genealogical dive to learn more about the family that has given us Ms. Waddingham, and it didn’t disappoint.

Londoner-Manx Mix

In broad strokes, her father’s family tree has been firmly planted in London for generations, while her mother’s is from the Isle of Man. Dashes of Devon, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, and Oxfordshire make an appearance, along with a smidge (1/32nd) of German (hello, Cologne!) and two other countries I’ll explore shortly, but London and Ellan Vannin get the bulk of the credit. It was her mother’s musical talent that brought her to London linking the two sides — and that leads to my next discovery.

Music Is in Her Blood

Hannah’s mother, Melodie, grew up singing, notching contest wins from the time her age had barely reached double digits. At 23, she became the first Manx singer to join the company of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. But she wasn’t the first gifted singer in the family. In fact, Hannah is at least a fourth generation musical performer on her Manx side.

When her mother’s parents married, the local newspaper proclaimed, “Wedding of Two Well Known Vocalists,” and noted that both hailed from musical families. The bride was also praised for her piano forte skills, while the groom’s sister provided the organ accompaniment for the event.

And though the gift of musicality is pronounced in her mother’s bloodline, it’s not absent from her father’s. One of her fourth great-grandfathers was a musician as were most of his sons. While I had difficulty pinning down anything more specific, he once listed himself as a professor suggesting that he taught, there’s a hint of tin flute skills, and at least one of his sons was a violinist. As with the Manx half, it was musical talent that brought them to London — in this case, from Devon.

And So Is Heroism

Hannah Waddingham’s family has more than its share of military heroes. By way of example, I’ll share one from each half of her heritage.

Whether she knows it or not, one of Hannah’s paternal great-granduncles, George Alfred Steene, was killed in World War I in May of 1915 at the age of 23. Sadder still, he was never recovered and is still missing. His is among the names of the Hall of Memory of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing near Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium. Losing him must have been particularly hard for his mother as he was one of only two sons among her nine children, as well as the baby of the family.

One of her Manx great-grandfather’s, Egerton Watterson, was a lifelong mariner, and in that capacity, made it through one-third of a cat’s lives as he survived three shipwrecks. The first was when the Empress Queen went down in 1915 during World War I, while the second was just eight years later when he was injured after the Douglas, a steamer he was on, collided with another vessel and sank.

King Decorates Gallant Manxmen, Isle of Man Times, 29 March 1941. Courtesy of Manx National Heritage.

Decades later at the age of 57, he assisted with the Dunkirk evacuation. Serving on the Mona’s Queen which was sunk by a magnetic mine, he was thrown from the wheel of the steamer, jumped into the water, and was later picked up by a destroyer. The following year in 1941, he and his wife went to London where he received the Distinguished Service Medal from King George VI for “his coolness and courage” during the Dunkirk operation. This last episode made a lasting impression on Egerton as he took out annual memorial ads lamenting those lost on the Mona Queen that day. It’s little wonder that his loved ones chose to inscribe his tombstone with “Safe in home port.”

A Calamitous Colorado Detour

As I mentioned earlier, two other countries come into play in Hannah’s past and one of them is the United States — Colorado and Utah to be specific. Much to my surprise, Mona, one of her great-grandmothers, was born in Colorado. Mona’s Manx parents married in 1891 and her future father went off to America just months later. In December, his wife followed. Had she left a couple of weeks later, she might have been one of the first to arrive at Ellis Island as it opened its doors on January 1st 1892.

Like so many before, they went west where, it appears, her father hoped to strike it rich. Mona was born in Colorado around 1893 — probably in Rico, a silver mining town that now has a population of 288. They eventually settled in Park City, Utah, but Mona’s father continued to prospect in Colorado.

Slept the Sleep of Death, The Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), 19 August 1897. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Colorado State Library.

Tragedy struck a few years later when, “A well-dressed, respectable-appearing man about 30 years of age was found dead … in an abandoned shaft house above the reservoir on Battle Mountain”¹ in Victor, Colorado. A tax receipt for a ton of coal was found in his pocket with his name and Park City as his address, so locals reached out to the police there.

His wife was too distressed to travel, so asked that Mr. Frey, a former employer of her husband’s, identify him, which he did. A silver watch and $20 were found on him, and Mr. Frey described him as “of sober and industrious habits,” so foul play seemed unlikely. Everyone was mystified until a post mortem determined the cause of death to be heart disease, brought on by pulmonary trouble.

And so it was that five-year-old Mona journeyed to the Isle of Man, the home she had never known. Due to this sorrowful twist of fate, one of Hannah’s great-great-grandfather’s is buried in Victor, Colorado, and should she ever attend the Sundance Film Festival, she would be walking in her ancestors’ footsteps.

Emerald Isle Ancestry

As someone of half-Irish heritage, I have a habit of seeking out Irish roots in others, so was pleased to determine that Ms. Waddingham is at least 3/16ths Irish. One pair of her great-great-grandparents hailed from Cork, while a third came from Dublin. His parents married in Dublin in 1845, but trace back to Donegal (possibly Buncrana, but that’s not confirmed) and Offaly. Given that Hannah’s Ted Lasso character owns a team called the Greyhounds, how fitting is it that Killeagh — known for the famous racing greyhound, Mick the Miller – gets the bragging rights?

1845 Dublin marriage record of third great-grandparents (as seen on the Irish government’s invaluable site, IrishGenealogy.ie)

Five Generations of Harry Waddinghams

Some families pass names down, but most only make it to three or so generations. Not so with the Waddinghams who have successfully shepherded the name Harry through five. Among these is one who represents both the heroic and musical aspects of Hannah’s family.

Her grandfather, Harry Waddingham, joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 and was one of only 26 survivors (out of well over 600) on a ship that was torpedoed by a German E-boat during the Dunkirk evacuation. A year later, he was on another that was sunk by Italian aircraft.

Is this tale ringing a bell? Yes, Hannah had both a grandfather and great-grandfather go down on ships during Dunkirk. Between the two, they survived a total of five shipwrecks. Toss in the Colorado misfortune, and you begin to appreciate how against-the-odds her very existence is.

Returning to Harry, I invite you to enjoy this 2023 BBC interview with this remarkable 106-year-old contributor — yes, 106 — to her gene pool as he describes his Naval experience.

When he’s not responding to requests to recount his World War II days, he’s been known to entertain others at the keyboard of an organ, serve as a church steward, and write poetry. Should you ever find yourself in need of a pick-me-up, I recommend reading his COVID-inspired verses which end with advice to “smile and make a happy face.” Luckily for all of us, his granddaughter’s been listening and paying it forward.

¹ Gilling Is Found Dead, The Victor Record (Victor, CO), 19 August 1897. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Colorado State Library.

Top Photo Credit: Hannah Waddingham on March 20, 2023 in the Oval Office of the White House (P20230320AS-2571, cropped) (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz). For more, check out these delightful photos of President Biden and First Lady Biden meeting with the cast of “Ted Lasso”.

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Bailey Bailey Explains How Her Extremely Unique Name Came to Be – I feel you, Bailey Bailey.

Photo Credit: Robert Kroos under Creative Commons license

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Photo Credit: Scott Ableman under Creative Commons license

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Transkribus User Conference 2022 – A whole conference “that brings together researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines to explore the future of handwritten text recognition” – with particular emphasis on technology for doing so!

Their ancestors came to America. After Dobbs, they want out. – Have been wondering when this phenomenon would get covered.

“Paige thinks her great-grandparents might even be proud of her efforts to find a way out. ‘They came over looking to the future, right? They probably had a similar thing, where they had to break up with their past,’ she says. ‘In that way, it almost feels like the family tradition.'”

For the First Time, Government Asks Public for Input on Census Design – Want to weigh in on the 2030 census design?
h/t (@dickeastman, www.eogn.com)

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Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them – New book alert! There’s a lot of familiar territory here for genealogists, and at the same time, you’ll be surprised by how much you *didn’t* know about the U.S. census. It’s like getting a backstage pass! You can also learn more by attending this online event with Dan Bouk. Another online event, hosted by the National Archives, is taking place next month.

This Prince George’s County Plantation Museum Is Bringing Stories Of Enslaved People Out Of The Shadows – Very pleased to see this happening in my old backyard of PG County.

WWII Detroit native’s remains to be interred at Arlington – Welcome home, Sgt. Adolph “Leonard” Olenik. Honored to have researched your family. (This was a challenging one, so am especially grateful).

Genealogy Research in the Year 2070 – How very strange to wake up and read this. Someone predicting what genealogy would be like in 2070 made a hypothetical granddaughter of mine the client – which I especially love since I have no children. Very grateful to this writer for giving me future descendants! , y’all!

Photo Credit: Alicia Soltani under Creative Commons license

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Who Do You Think You Are? Allison Janney Review

Police Are Using Newborn Genetic Screening to Search for Suspects, Threatening Privacy and Public Health – This is disturbing.

Photo Credit (Hatfield-McCoy GeoCoin): SonnyandSandy under Creative Commons license

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Getty Images Launches Initiative to Elevate Black History and Empower Storytellers

Sandra Boynton’s CHANSON PROFONDE with Yo-Yo Ma – Love this! Perfect for July 14th

Nick Offerman confronts bittersweet ancestral past

Photo Credit (The Café in the Crypt): Michael Brace under Creative Commons license

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Billy Porter discovers the real story behind great-grandfather’s death and Twitter is in tears – WDYTYA is back, y’all

Photo Credit: Corey Taratuta under Creative Commons license

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Who Do You Think You Are? Season 11 Promo Reveals Emotional Journeys

Top Photo Credit: Georgina Dhillon under Creative Commons license

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