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Life in lockdown

From Anita Benson:

Lockdown has brought its challenges. Full of good intentions, I planned to:

(a) contact my many DNA matches (very few have ever contacted me);

(b) go through my family tree with a fine-tooth comb looking for errors and people who need further research;

(c) catch up with my reading;

(d) learn some new Yiddish words;

(e) brush up my Hebrew reading skills.

To be truthful, most of the above did not happen apart from the DNA matches, and of those that did reply we could not manage to work out how we were actually related.

I have learnt some new Yiddish words thanks to Facebook and Yiddish word of the day taught by a lady called Rukhl Schaechter.

However, as I am fortunate enough to have a garden – albeit a rather messy one – I decided to grow vegetables. So far the potatoes are growing at an amazing rate, as are the runner beans, chard, onions and herbs. By the way, they are all in containers so even if you only have a balcony it can be achieved. Thank you, Wilko, for staying open during lockdown, enabling me to purchase my seed potatoes and onions sets without having to order on the Internet.

Thinking about the garden as I am slowly tidying it up, I am now in the process of planning future planting. Some synagogue gardens have been successfully planted using a biblical theme, sourcing plants with biblical names such as Jacob’s ladder, Rose of Jericho, Solomon's Seal, to name but a few.

Taking inspiration from biblical gardens I will plant a family history garden. I will do my best to source plants with the given names of my Anglo-Jewish ancestors, which should not prove too difficult as they had English and Old Testament names rather than Yiddish names. The many Rachels, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Catherine are the names of some distant grandmothers. The husbands were named Abraham, Isaac, George, Henry and Barnet. Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. I know we have some very keen gardeners amongst the membership and even a few who are allotment holders.

The other activity which is keeping me occupied is sourdough baking, which I find fascinating. I am sure this is how my Galician ancestors must have baked bread, probably using rye flour in their sourdough starter. My London maternal great-great-grandfather, Abraham Nunes Martines (Martin), was listed as a baker on my great-grandfather’s wedding certificate. The 1851 censuses had him listed as a confectioner, as was his father Moses, which is actually a different occupation. Victorian bakers bought buckets of frothy brewer’s yeast from their local brewery so it would be unlikely he used sourdough starter to bake his bread.

The occupation of one of my ancestors is listed as seamstress. This is one activity which I will definitely not be taking up even if lockdown continues.

I have just discovered that Amazon Prime Video has a few programmes of genealogical interest. One is called DNA Detectives, which I shall certainly investigate.

What have other members been doing during lockdown? Please let us know!

Comments

Thanks Anita! I have been gardening too, but the family tree kind. Regular tasks include pruning, trimming wayward or untidy branches, researching treetops (which my family tree program Reunion helpfully highlights for me), and trying to join branches that are currently hanging unconnected.

Low-hanging fruit has been getting tidied up too: people with no recorded birth place, people with no surname or no first name, and people who really shouldn't still be celebrating birthdays at the age of 150.

I have realized that I find this activity quite therapeutic, and maybe that's what we all need in these times when it seems to be hard to concentrate on larger projects!

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