I found this postcard in an old shoebox. John Redburn is my Great-Great-Grandfather.  As far as I know John Redburn (middle bottom row?) was married to Ann Abbott in 1851 somewhere in the Bethnal Green Spitalfield area.  I have no idea when this postcard photo was taken, would love to know, but it was sent out for Christmas one year. Can anyone date it by what they are wearing or from the postcard? I took great delight in seeing it again. I am always quite excited about this side of my family, as Ann Abbott’s  father was called George Dubock ( formerly Duboc) and was a French Huguenot, so mixed in with a lot of Lancastrian blood there is something a bit more, in my eyes exotic in there. I am always a bit proud of the fact that my Grandad Bootle was a Catholic so that mixes it up a bit more too.   My  lovely Bishopsgate Singers (not mine really …just a figure of speech) sung in St Botolph in Bishopsgate a couple of years ago  with me waving my arms around at the front, and in 1792 one of my ancestors was married in the same church. Big stuff for me, as my family moved around so much when I was a kid , I often feel a bit rootless, so love those sort of connections.

Not that being a 32th Huguenot French is very exotic, because 1 in 8 people who are from the UK have an ancestor who was  French Huguenot, and I have been told that we are all distantly  related to Henry the Eighth. I thought I would post this picture on my 300th post as there must be a fair amount of people out here who are by now related to these 6 men who might be searching for archives…so let me know.

SONG OF THE DAY –  Lady Gaga – Judas

A song about being in love with  Judas …ah fine continuity ha ha!…..I am posting this specially for Dark Vador who does not get Lady Gaga…fine fine…but 109 million views on YOUTUBE ( that is 109 million different computers, as it does not count hits from the same computer, so it is not 10 excited  fans in Aberdeen watching it every 4 minutes) something is working DV. I am determined to help you in your ‘not getting of Gaga’…it is all about pop …nothing else. Lady Gaga is a marvel and deserves her iconic status – a creative maverick, a really fine musician and there is something  in this pop video for everything ( well almost). The video itself which is mostly her creative  input with the help of lots of money and a great team . Watch it as you would a movie with a sound track maybe, the styling is a dream ( even though I am not into fashion much, I can appreciate it as ground breaking) and the intro and verses are so so so funky,…I am not completely enamoured by the chorus, but they keep the riff raff happy, as  in, if you miss all the musical layering and  finery of the rest of the song you can just sing along with the chorus while line dancing round the kitchen. So I recommend cranking it up watching all the pictures, listening to the poetry in the verses and chorus….and then see if it helps….Way hey!