I completed the Blake Newsletter Volume 12, Issue 1, 2023 yesterday and will publish it on New Years Day. I found it an interesting newsletter to write and the descendants of the Blake family at Calne and Andover number in the many thousands perhaps hundred of thousands - no ideas on that. Certainly the families in the 1400s, 1500s and 1600s were very large and many of them have disappeared from the areas in which they were born. One is left to suspect that they emigrated to the Western Hemisphere or parts of the Eastern Hemisphere - Africa, Australia, India or other areas or migrated to other parts of England/Scotland/Ireland. Definitely the numbers of Blake in the Calne and Andover areas diminished rapidly in the 1700s.
The link to Diana, Princess of Wales is most interesting and the Prince of Wales has many many people related to him in England although quite distantly! The Thomas Blake that is the ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales is in the twelfth generation back. Thomas Blake at Eastontown married Eleanor Hall but they lived a good part of their life in London, UK. Thomas' parents John Blake and Margaret Blake are a very interesting couple (and I believe that one is of the Calne Blake family - Margaret - and one of the Andover Blake family - Thomas). The newsletters do discuss this family as it was a descendant of John and Margaret Blake who was last found at Knights Enham leaving his will (he lived in London however) dated 3 Jan 1727 and probated 8 Jul 1734. His Blake line technically ended with his daughters - six in all - Elizabeth, Diana, Jane, Rachel, Anne and Sarah. I did find it interesting that one was a Diana but the direct link with the Blake family is much further back!
This morning first thing I completed the last day of Solitaire games for 2022 - it is somewhat nostalgic to do that actually. My first thing to do on my computer each day is to play the five solitaire games of the day in Microsoft Solitaire. I greatly enjoy that and it does clear out any brain fog first thing and sets my brain up for a busy day of work on my various projects.
Tomorrow is New Years Day and one would wish and pray that the war in Ukraine could be over and we could go back to just living our lives. I do try to understand the mindset of dictators and their supposed fear of the United States and NATO but it is just made up logic to justify greed and aggression - it has no substance. NATO is a defensive organization; always has been and God willing always will be. We in the Western Hemisphere and the British Isles and the European Union do not want a war with Russia or anyone else. We would like to prevent war as it is destructive to our world especially with nuclear weapons but we will not stand by and watch as Ukraine is butchered once again by the Russians who have now become the Nazis - the starvation of Ukrainians by Stalin is fresh in our minds. Looting, raping, pillaging and destroying Ukraine is a sinful and illegal act by Russia. Ukrainians defending themselves is their right - Glory to Ukraine. So ends this year and on to the next as we continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to hold off the Russian advance and to defend their people under the cruel occupation of the Russian Army in parts of Ukraine.
Belarus would do well to sit on the sidelines - Russia will do anything to try to create an incident to spark trouble on that border. Do the Russian people accept what the Nazi Psycopathic Greedy Putin and his enablers are doing in Ukraine - only they can stop it. Rise up O Russia and rid yourselves of these monsters Putin and his enablers and have the life that you deserve - Christmas with your families and a bright New Year instead of the death of so many young Russian men - not the sons and daughters of Putin and his enablers they will have a lovely Christmas with all the best things - your Russian sons are dying on Ukrainian battle fields which Putin and his enablers have created by illegally entering Ukraine.
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