Yesterday I did something I do not usually do I wrote one of our matches descending in the Blake Family of Andover line on Ancestry. His great grandmother was Louisa Mary (Blake) Hall and she was the eldest daughter and child of Edward Blake and Maria Jane (Knight) Blake. This family has a tree on Family Search which I discovered years and years ago way back when I was first into genealogy in 2003. It does take one back to the Blake family of Calne which I do consider to be incorrect given the wills of the 1500s/1400s for the Blake family at Andover. It does trace back correctly to Nicholas Blake but his father is named as a descendant of Robert Blake and Avice Wallop in the second generation from a son William who simply doesn't exist in any of the available material thus far. The dates do not work very well either so curiosity sent me to the keyboard and I sent off a note to this descendant. He has the absolute advantage of living in England and perhaps close to Winchester where all the land records are held. If he had an interest I would love to combine our mutual interest and discover more about these land records showing this Blake Family at Knights Enham from fairly early days. Because the families of England did not have surnames prior to the arrival of the Normans in England, the Domesday Book does not help in this regard. Blake is an acquired surname in this family likely although a record which I noted from the early 1300s did mention a John Blake in the Andover Manor Books. Given the yDNA result for my Blake line it does point to an ancient line in England known as the Deer Hunters and arriving in the British Isles 8,000 to 12,000 years ago. But I do need to clarify that item in the Andover Manor book and carry it forward for that plot of land at Knights Enham shown to be held by them in wills from the early 1500s on. I have used other records to try to do so but the actual Manor Books would do a better job. Time will tell on this and I may or may not hear back. His match is a good size to my brothers who match the Blake line much better than myself (two of them on Ancestry and my sister on Ancestry has a match similar to mine). So a lead perhaps or not; depends on his interest in publishing a book on the Blake family of Andover. His surname is not Blake and it was his great grandmother who was a Blake (Louisa Mary Blake), and his grandmother was the eldest daughter of Charles Hall and Louisa Mary (Blake) Hall. This was a family that my father visited as a child when they lived in the New Forest (my father and his parents lived at Eastleigh near Southampton). At that time the grandfather of my grandfather (Samuel Knight) was still living and a widower with his grandaughter's family (Louisa Mary (Blake) Hall and Charles Blake) in New Forest having lived at Turnworth prior to that time. My grandfather had been named after his grandfather Samuel Knight. Having known my grandfather very well as a child, he lived with us. I learned a great deal about the Blake family of Andover from him as a child.
Saturday and I have a few plans for the day. It is just 8 degrees celsius and not sure if we had frost last night but tonight it is going down to 2 degrees celsius so one hopes for frost; its effect on turnip is wonderful giving it that sharp taste that is so good in a chicken stew. Plus I can start to clear away all the weeds of the summer. It has been a poor year for rain this summer with very few really good soaks and the garden shows it as I did not water.
Just put out our donation for the Food Drive in the paper bag that they left in the mailbox for the Food Bank. Usually I just give food at the Metro but thought I would try this as they are picking up this morning and have a much clearer idea of what is needed by those out of work needing to feed their families. It is fairly hidden behind our large round bush so one has to actually come up the laneway to the porch to see it. They did not come so will just drop it off at Metro as usual.
Last night the sky was again so clear with the stars showing visibly in spite of all the lights around us. I do yearn sometimes for wide open spaces looking through the telescope and perhaps a different place like the Prairies where I could see the parts of Canada that I have not visited like the west past Manitoba and the north above the 60th parallel. I have spent a lot of time in the Eastern part of Canada including Labrador on one trip. I have seen a good deal of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and of course Ontario and quite a bit of southern Manitoba but would like to go to Port Churchill one day. So I did say to my daughter I would love to live in the west if that is where she could be heading when she returns to Canada (that is of course always dependent on jobs). She did apply to every Library School in Canada before she took a job outside of the country as she really did want to stay in Canada which is understandable considering she spent the first 32 years of her life in Canada and was born here. But she has enjoyed working with all of her students these eighteen years and has a number of researchers that she works with many of whom are her students now moving on to Faculty positions in their own country which is nice I think to be able to do that. Plus a country loses a great deal of talent when the students that graduate from our universities can not find a job in their own country. Universities/Colleges especially should be very careful about whom they hire and Canadians should always come first. If hiring outsiders is a benefit then where are all of the Nobel Prizes for these extraordinary people that are hired that are not Canadian. I do not think that Nobel Prizes define a university but are just an extra that is interesting when they occur; a university is defined by having people who totally understand the people of this country and one does need to be of the country for the most part although I agree over a long period of time it can be learned but that doesn't always happen (the cheering in the streets here and there in Canada for Hamas nearly two years ago now (and less as the support is still here it would appear) still ring in my ears for their absolute horror and disregard of the Israeli people who had been butchered, defiled and taken hostage (including children two of whom were murdered in captivity it appears)). In reality that need goes for all professions/trades/work in any country. I would also agree that to some extent one does need different types of material in a university setting but that is only a very tiny portion needed really as far as I am concerned (hence non Canadians should be rare). In particular one should be able to clearly understand what a professor is saying to you so the command of English/French/First Nations languages where needed is essential.
The day moves onward and I have drank my tea and must do my solitaire puzzles and then have a number of things to do as the day passes including my exercise breaks. I am not watching television once again as it has become a show rather than a true pulse on the world. I like what Prime Minister Carney is doing for the most part although I do have a few thoughts but not really that important. I hate it that in so many countries the children live in fear in particular Israel, Gaza and the Ukraine. It still annoys me that the Muslims here did not bring the children of Gaza to Canada to protect them in particular the Palestinians; that would have been a much better use of their time (those children deserve to be with people that understand them). But I am 80 and one cannot solve the problems of the world so must just live in it. This gift of God must be protected and we are moving in that direction hopefully fast enough. For myself the exercises I do consider to be very important, as important really as the food that I eat. Especially at my age of 80 years when one's health is very dependent on how well one exercises every day of your life.
Whilst out walking yesterday we happened to be passed by three Muslim men and one could feel their dislike as one passed; why should I wear a hijab this is Canada - wear what you are legally permitted to wear. To be disliked for no reason is really unsatisfactory in Canada and I am perhaps too sensitive but that is me. In this country we do not see you as other than a Canadian if you are; our respect is there for you unless you break the law but still your right to a hearing in court is always there and I respect that.
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