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Posts from the ‘family history’ Category

Oh my goodness (Augusta update)

I’ve had an exciting couple of comments on the blog today from a lovely person who’s apparently a relative of Augusta Parsons Hylander, whose memoir I’ve been transcribing and posting here.

The comments (here and here) are really helpful, particularly in that they reveal a rather amazing piece of information about Augusta’s childhood home in Sturup. It’s not gone forever. The village was indeed, as I’d understood from my clearly inadequate research, within the footprint of Malmö Airport, and was apparently dismantled. But Augusta’s actual homestead is, it seems, still there, and still in use. They built the airport around it.

*books ticket* (no, not really. I wish.) But isn’t that fantastic?

Susan, the commenter, also mentions that there is a book in existence that documents the lost village, although I don’t know whether it’s in English.

I am full of questions: why was that homestead saved when the rest of the village was lost? What is its use now – do people live there? With an airport surrounding them? That seems unlikely, so presumably there’s another explanation. In any case, I’m fascinated. I’ll post more here as I learn it.

Klondyke, Platt Street and High Street: Augusta’s life in Waterbury continues

As of yesterday, I’ve added a new page to this site to link the series of posts of Augusta’s memoir in one place. (Obvious, right? I can’t think why I didn’t do it long ago.) I’ve also added a couple of photos of her, the only ones I’ve got. You can find the new page here, or reach it from any other page by clicking on Augusta’s name just below the blog header. Read more

Who Do You Think You Are? : Larry Lamb

I wasn’t planning to blog about this (was so knackered last week that I just couldn’t manage it after the Seb Coe episode, and thought tonight would be the same). Read more

“I guess we looked pretty elegant”: Augusta and family in Waterbury at the turn of the 20th century

The Hylanders (line 77) on the 1900 US Census. Click to enlarge

December 17, 1963: To continue with the story of my life – After getting my new sewing machine I made many dresses and earned quite a lot of money. Read more

Sparkly tiaras and top hats, 1934

Molly (on the right) with (l-r) Babs, Janette and Ella, 1934

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A baby, a canary and a Singer sewing machine: part eight of Augusta’s memoir

In Waterbury we started our life together in a small way with an apartment John had found for $8 a month. Read more

Who Do You Think You Are? : June Brown

Tonight was the first episode of Series Eight of WDYTYA?, about June Brown. Read more

Part seven: Augusta falls in love, gets married and goes to Coney Island

Splash: Coney Island, 1905. From Shorpy Historic Photo Archive, http://www.shorpy.com

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“My first venture was to buy a pair of stockings”: part six of Augusta Parsons Hylander’s account

Here is an opportunity for detective work (and speculation): Augusta refers to Ellis Island several times, but as far as I can gather, her arrival in America predated the 1892 opening of the immigration station there by a year or so. Read more

Nawal El Saadawi and her peasant grandmother

Egyptian feminist, author and activist Nawal El Saadawi was on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour earlier this week, ostensibly to promote her new book but really to give a genial, general five-minute interview across various topics. Read more

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