Spring in Ottawa, Canada

Another spring has come to Ottawa; the robins have returned. This morning we were greeted with ten centimetres of snow - the heavy wet stuff that does tell us spring is coming one of these days. The snow in the back yard is still at least a metre deep and higher in spots. Mind you a couple of hot days and that will quickly melt fortunately. Then it will be mud season which is really spring here; lots of mud and pretty spring flowers! The crocuses often pick their way through the snow to bloom in our back yard in the warm spots.

Working on an interesting set of wills for Captain John Blake's family of the Honourable East India Company. I know that the furtherest back John Blake lived in the late 1600s and trying to match him up with some of the John Blake wills - not an easy task given the number of John Blake wills! However it was his grand daughter Arabella Blake that started the search along with Sally Hitchin Pelly whose husband Henry Hinde Pelly and their son John Henry Pelly have quite a bit online. But working back has been a challenge and I was surprised once I found the name of the wife of the father of Arabella (also a Captain John Blake in the HEIC) that other researchers hadn't located the marriage of John Blake and Mary Tymewell at Westminster Abbey. But in general I do not see that anybody has been researching the line.

The will of John Blake, father of Arabella and husband of Mary Tymewell will appear in my blog a little later today. I am still working on the discussion.