Wiltshire -- Week 69 -- Two Months Left

This week was a welcome break from the previous week.  Things were somewhat normal.

Monday, we spent the day doing our little errands and some cleaning.  Katja Goodlet our special friend and somewhat of a new mother, came over for a while and Annie especially enjoyed holding the baby, Jonas.  However, Annie was especially interested in trying to verify some genealogy information at The National Archives that we had previously discovered while in Chorley.   The National Archives is only open on Monday for staff use and even then, it closes at 5. We went over to work in the quiet atmosphere of the archives.  We become involved and didn’t get away until 6:30!  We may have created a “monster” when it comes to tracing family history.

We did the usual shifts at the Family History Centre on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  However, Annie also spent time on Tuesday and Wednesday, getting ready for a little home teaching social with the Carters.  They have two little girls and a little boy – Grace, Ruby and Ben and they are from America.  Anyway, we invited them for a swim at the club house and dinner afterwards.  Annie also spent time on Tuesday evening doing her visiting teaching.

Thursday, was a busy day at the archives and we even had a missionary couple, the Fowlers, join us for some special help with their family history.

Friday started early.  We knew that we would be going to Bath with other senior couples from the mission.  We also learned that Katja needed a ride to the airport to spend the week with her mother in Austria.  So we thought we could easily drop her at the airport on our way to Bath.  Things worked out well.  We got her to the airport and made it to Bath in plenty of time to join the others.

Bath Abbey

Tourist @ Roman Baths

 

Roman Baths

Tourists @ Baths; Abbey in Rear

Following a wonderful lunch, we spent the rest of the day on a free walking tour of Bath and paying to see the old Roman hot baths and ruins.  It was a great day.  We finished it off with pizza and then driving to Swindon for a three night stay.

We chose Swindon because it was somewhat centrally located to the Smart and Stagg ancestral homes.  We decided to see these places because they were between Bath and our London home and because The National Archives was closed from Saturday through Monday due to what they call a “bank holiday”.  At best we have been able to figure these bank holidays are kind of like the US Monday holidays – Equal Rights, Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Anyway, rather than spend the day at home in London we decided to see some ancestral sites.

Saturday we spent the day in the Wiltshire archives, now housed in Chippenham.  It was a very rainy day, with little impact since we were indoors.  We had fun finding old places on maps and doing some research in parish registers, monumental inscriptions, and other records.  We made lots of copies and kept waiting for the weather to break so we could get on with our site visits.  We visited Neston and found the headstone and home for Paul’s 2^nd great grandfather, William Smart.

William Smart in Bushes

Headstone Disintegrating

Neston Parish Church

William Smart Home - Neston

Ridge Farm, Neston Park Estate

We visited Lea where Paul’s great grandfather was born and christened.  We even had dinner at a pub next to the church in Lea and had a good conversation about the US and about Mormons.

Lea Parish Church (Abel Smart)

Restaurant/Pub next to Lea Church

We visited Minety where William Smart was christened and where his father and mother were married.  We lucked out in Minety and found someone watering flowers in the cemetery who just happened to know where the key to the church was and who kindly allowed us to go inside.  Needless to say, we had a great day and a very full one.

Minety Parish Church (William Smart)

Minety Church Interior

You can guess what we did on Sunday and you might be right.  Swindon, the place we are staying, has an LDS Church.  It was less than 5 minutes from where we were staying.  It’s a pretty building with a large congregation.  We thought that maybe it should be divided, but they say they need a few more members and they are about to add on to it anyway.  They are quite active in indexing and we really enjoyed our visit there.  We do enjoy our Sundays and meeting with the wonderful saints here in England.

Following Church, we decided to take a little drive (1½ hours) to the south of Swindon.  We ended up at the parish of Whitbury.  For the Staggs that are reading this, Whitbury was the last place the Staggs lived before emigrating.  It is also the christening place of your direct line ancestor, David Stagg.  What a quaint village!  We don’t know all about it in the late 1800s, but today it is still very rural and mostly a horse breeding area for racing horses.

Is There Really a Whitbury?

Whitbury Parish Church Interior

Whitbury Parish Church & Visitor (David Stagg birthplace)

Whitbury from Parish Church (John & Mary Stagg home)

Once we got to Whitbury, which was in Wiltshire but is now in Hampshire, we obviously had to make the trip back to Swindon.  It just so happens that the famous landmark called Stonehenge was somewhat on the way back.  So we made it a point to see it on the way back to Swindon.

Stonehenge

 

Guess we’ve pretty well covered another week.  We want you all to know that the gospel, our families and our friends means everything to us.  We are so pleased to serve but very anxious to see you all in the near future.  We gave the mission home a date for our returning home as July 23^rd.  We haven’t heard if they are able to get the tickets for then.

Happy Birthday to Brinley and Bryton this week.

  

Know this, that we are doing our best to serve and to work hard.  May the Lord’s choicest blessings be yours,

Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Annie and Paul, Sister and Elder Smart

Thatched Roof Cottages outside Swindon