This
month sees the second guest article compiled by Hugh Lodge. This time,
he writes about Sarah Stuttaford - a feisty, determined Victorian woman
who married into the Stuttaford family, emigrated to Canada with her
husband and used her own skills to support herself after his death. If
you haven't already visited Hugh's website, here's the address again:
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Oaks/7236/stutford/stutford.html
.
We
were touched to receive the messages of condolence from the United
States on the death of the Queen Mother and they were much appreciated.
The feeling of sadness here was quite spontaneous and widespread, even
though her death occurred after a long and useful life.
The
Queen Mother's great age raises a point for all Family Historians to
consider as more and more people live to become centenarians. The rule
which holds back the publication of British Census Returns for a 100
years was meant to prevent intrusion into the personal lives of living
people. At the end of March, a lady called Rose Cottle, leading a
National protest against the closure of Care Homes for the elderly,
called at Downing Street to hand in a petition and to tell the Prime
Minister exactly what she thought on the subject. She made a
considerable impression in the British Press because not only was she
smart, articulate and alert, she was aged 102 and clearly still very
active. Both she and the late Queen Mother were listed in the 1901
Census which has just been published. In Britain, the number of people
living to be 100+ is now counted in thousands - soon, even a waiting
period of 110 years may not be long enough to ensure data protection for
the individual..
Please
note that if you are sending for Birth, Marriage or Death Certificates,
from April 1st 2002, all cheques should now be made payable to THE
OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS. Please note too, that the Government's
proposals for the future of Registration in the UK, as outlined in the
recent White Paper, are going to have far-reaching implications for
researchers. More details later but if you've been meaning to get a
certificate and never got round to it, don't wait too much longer.
Keep
in touch.
