Admira Ritmo T-2

 Today's flea market find & acquisition was this lovely old Spanish guitar. It was hiding amongst 3 other guitars but although this was quite dusty with a few speckles of paint it seems to have had no other serious structural issues like cracks or warps.

Having cleaned the guitar with some pine disinfectant, lemon oil for the rosewood finger board, basic wood polish for the finish and a new set of Martin folk strings (nylons) the guitar sprang back to life! A good balance across the tonal spectrum for what I can only assume was a student model guitar most likely built in the 1970's under the Admira brand and built in Spain.  

Construction appears to be laminate top/back/sides with a rosewood fingerboard. The intonation and tuning very acceptable. I could not find any dead spots and the guitar frets smoothly finished. Cosmetics about what I've come to expect from a budget range student guitar. It would be difficult to appraise the value of this guitar except I don't think I was robbed, I bought it for £10 :-) 

I imagine a similar quality Admira guitar today would be around £100. This one plays surprisingly well across the board. I do play classical style mainly so enjoyed picking out tunes on this one. Photos for reference are the actual guitar I purchased. Information on this blog posted purely because i searched Google and could find scant information on this particular model. 

Do you own this model or a very similar Ritmo, please feel free to add a comment!

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Bloxham-Simms Association Armorial

International Society of Commoners Heraldry Registration Certificate 

The Bloxham-Simms Association have had a coat of arms designed by Messrs Brian Ashier & Elliot Nesterman and has been duly registered with the International Society of Commoners Heraldry. 

The Bloxham-Simms family of Hull 1930's.

The Association consists namely of the descendants of Frank Henry Simms and wife Amanda Matilda Eliassen both of Hull. Franks was the only child of Francis Alfred Bloxham & Charlotte Ann Simms. Frank & Amanda had a large family of 13 children many of whom went on to serve during WW2. Frank & Amanda now have many descendants, many of whom still keep in touch via an online group called the Bloxham-Simms family of Hull. 

Frank Henry Simms & Amanda Matilda Simms 50th Wedding Anniversary

They celebrated their 50th Wedding anniversary in 1964.Their eldest child was Harry Leonard Simms and his eldest son was Paul Simms who married my mother Christine Frizzell in 1970. Interestingly Paul & Christine Simms celebrate their 50th Wedding anniversary in 2020. I have the curious position of being their eldest child hence I've put this blog together today to highlight the families progression.

Simms family WW2

  

Paul Simms & Christine Frizzell circa late 1960's Redcar

  

Bloxham-Simms Association Armorial

Francis Alfred Bloxham and Charlotte Ann Simms both lived in the same small market town of Shipston-on-Stour situated in South Warwickshire. Shipston was a working Wool Town and Charlotte’s Father William was employed as a Plush Weaver and Francis’s father Alfred worked as a Cordwainer (shoe maker). They were to have only one child Frank Henry Simms born in 1892 and he was moved ‘up North’ to be brought up by his Uncle George & Auntie Ann in Hull. 

My thanks to Brian Abshier of Texas for creating this wonderful armorial which tells part of my families history.

Bellenville style by Texan based artist Brian Abshier

I'm rather delighted with this new interpretation of my South African arms by the Texan based artist Brian Abshier. This particular style of rendering is called the Bellenville style of which I know very little about other than it is a style from the Middle Ages based on a collection referred to as the Bellenville armorial. I very much like how my crest Bluethroat merges into the mantling on the great helm. The artist has really captured the sackbut proper in the chief and nice to see such wonderful detail in the crest.

To see more heraldry by Mr Brian Abshier of Texas check out his web site-

Brian Abshier Heraldic Artist

The Scottish Register of Tartans

I've registered my own personal tartan. The inspiration for such was my great granda Hugh Frizzell of Greenock, Scotland, a truly grand character who led a full and fascinating life. Orphaned as a youngster at the turn of the 19th century and packed off to Canada as a Quarrier Orphan, he made his way hame to Scotland and married Christina Sutherland in 1904 and then went onto serve during the Great War with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Great Granda Hugh got shot in Egypt and was redeployed to the Rail & Water section of the Royal Engineers back hame again in Scotland at Fort Matilda Greenock  and Paisley.  Granda Hugh Frizzell had 13 children of which 10 survived to adulthood. He worked  as a railway carter and then despite failing health offered his services again  during WW2 as a Civil Defence Warden which basically did him in. He died in 1944 from failing health and serving in inclement weather he succumbed to a cerebral haemorrhage. The Home Office kindly sent me his Defence Medal retrospectively for his services rendered which I thought was a very kind gesture bringing Hugh's award up to 3 medals in total. 

The colour scheme for my tartan was inspired by my South African Letters Patent issued back in 2015, namely my coat of arms. It's a simple design but is permitted for any Frizzell descendant of Hugh Frizzell to use plus my Bloxham-Simms family of Hull. The design was created on the 11th November 2018 a fitting tribute on the centennial of the Great War. You can see the official registration details here- Laird Sky Tartan

Letters Patent or Certificates of Registration?

I have a few coats of arms issued by the South African Government, I’ve generally referred to the actual physical document as Letters Patent and not a Grant of Arms. A grant is seen as having been issued with some form of Royal Warrant attached to it as opposed to being issued officially by a government. Recently I had some criticism from another South African armiger stating that the arms issued by South Africa were not Letters Patent but merely Certificates of Registration. This gave me pause to think and when I asked the person who stated the above, they decided to reply with a flippant remark if that I couldn’t see the difference then clearly, they couldn’t explain it. So, what are Letters Patent? A quick glance online gives several definitions but for the sake of brevity I will refer to the online dictionary.com which says ‘an open document issued by a monarch or government conferring a patent or other right.’ (sic). 

 So the coats of arms issued by the Bureau of Heraldry, are they an open public document? Yes. Are they issued officially by their Government? Yes. Do they confer the right of ownership for a coat of arms? Yes! So why do they refer to their coats of arms as Certificate of Registration? In order to clarify this, I had to ask the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Heraldry directly. What follows is an extract exactly as stated by Mr Marcel van Rossum OMBB- 

 The College of Arms issues “letters patent” the Bureau of Heraldry issues “certificates of registration”. For all intents and purposes it’s the same thing. The College of Arms “grants” in the name of the monarch and in South Africa under the Heraldry Act (1962) the certificate is “issued”. In both cases the heraldic representation so issued and recorded affords the applicant sole ownership of the unique design. 

Yours Faithfully 

Marcel van Rossum OMBB 

Deputy Director 

Bureau Of Heraldry 

     So, there we have it, to all intents and purpose they are the same thing but different only in the language of usage. To illustrate in England law enforcement officers are referred to as Constables and in Ireland as Gardas. Here in the explanation of language we discover that indeed it is reasonable to see arms issued by the South African Government known locally as 'Certificates of Registration' to be referred more commonly in other parts of the world as 'Letters Patent'.

A new emblazon with a College of Arms design...

   My lovely new emblazon  by the very talented digital graphic artist Mr Quentin Peacock who works very closely with the heralds who are employed at the College of Arms. Quentin took my South African Letters Patent and gave it a thoroughly British Coat of Arms design. I now feel my arms have a thoroughly cosmopolitan vibe having been emblazoned by artists from Russia, Spain, South Africa, England, Scotland and Belgium. 

Arms: Per chevron Vert and Or, in chief a sackbut placed fesswise of the last and in base a thistle slipped and leaved Proper. Crest:  A bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) Proper, perched upon a wreath of Or and Vert. Motto:  Less is More. Registration: South African Bureau of Heraldry on 5th May 2015 certificate number 3850.

1918-2018 The Great War remembered.

It’s been a little while since I’ve picked up my quill and dabbled down any recent thoughts…..I blame this partly on my typewriter which is my more random ‘go to’ than public blogging. However today I thought I would reflect on the 1918-2018 centennial. One Hundred years since the Great War to end all wars finished.  To my surprise whilst doing my genealogy I’ve discovered that 3 of my 4 great grandfathers served during the Great War as well as several great granduncles. Today I thought I’d mention my great grandfather Charles Hawkins of Middlesbrough, 21 Lune Street to be exact.  He was born in 1898 on the 27^th June at 9 Elden Lane, Warrington in the County of Lancaster the child of Margaret Hannah Hawkins (formerly Rank) and Charles Hawkins although his uncle John Thomas Hawkins appears to be his probable father according to his Military service attestation records. Certainly Great Grandad Charlie was not raised by Charles Hawkins senior but was raised by his Aunty Stroyd at 28 Lune Street…..so I guess it’s probably true.   

What’s interesting when I looked into my great grandfather Charlie, he was a career soldier and during the course of his life obtained six medals for both his military and civil service.  I did notice that as gramps was a special constable during WW2 he should have automatically qualified for the Defence Medal but probably he didn’t apply for it. So I wrote to the Cabinet Office in London and they confirmed that he did indeed qualify for it, AND they kindly sent me his medal which I stitched to his other medals bringing Charlies medals up to seven in total. From his service records I could see he served during WW1 with the Sherwood Foresters & the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, quite a long period in the 1920’s & 30’s as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers and then briefly again during the earlier part of WW2 as a member of the Pioneer Corps. There appears to be some cross over service with Charlie working as a Special Constable during 1939-42 and then with the Civil Defence.

Charlie died on the 7th February 1969 still living at 21 Lune Street and my Auntie Carol his daughter  was the informant. Given this was nearly 50 years ago seems like a nice moment just to reflect on an interesting piece of family history.

Frizzell

Bureau of Heraldry South Africa

The Bureau of Heraldry is the official heraldic department of the South African Government. The above coat of arms is their official armorial bearings. I recently had the pleasure of receiving an official coat of arms for my KZA Music Services which largely operates as a tuition service within the Teesside area of the UK. I am very thankful to this department for their professionalism and openness in accepting my business for armorial bearings. Their ethos to the international general public is clearly the way forward and a clear example to the other few remaining official heraldic authorities. Special thanks to Mr Marcel van Rossum OMBB Deputy Director of the Bureau of Heraldry for all his help, insights and advice regarding the greater Heraldic community and for his consistent professional approach in our dealings. A special thanks to Mr Gavin Schlemmer chief heraldic artist of the Bureau of Heraldry for his wonderful art work. Truly this official organisation is a breath a fresh air and taking heraldry into a wonderful new future. 

So who are these Scandinavians that occupy 20% of my DNA? The Eliassen family.

So I find myself rather curious about these ancestry.co.uk DNA results, 20% Scandinavian? The only obvious ancestral links I can see are the Eliassen family. Looking at my paternal roots, I see that my great grandfather Frank Henry Simms married Matilda Amanda Eliassen in 1914. I was able to order her birth certificate as seen here-

My great grandmother Matilda was born in 1884 in Hull to Elias Eliassen & Matilde Knudson. My great great grandfather Elias his profession was listed as merchant seaman. This is also confirmed by the Hull 1891 census where Elias is listed as a head of his household, occupation 'Sailor'. At this stage it lists two children with Matilde Eliassen namely Magdalene age 10 & Odin age 4.


Here is a photo of their son Odin, he served with the West Yorkshire Regiment and died at the battle of Loos, France 1915.

I was able to locate Elias Eliassen & Matilda Knudson marriage license dated 1884 & a photo of Elias.

Elias Eliassen aka Charles

  

 It lists their ages as both aged 29....i'm not sure if that was completely true. Curiously, there appears to be a discrepancy in who my great great grandfathers listed father is as he is listed as Elias Davidson. Was this his step father perhaps?  Matilde's father is listed as Olaf Knudson. 

One additional record was the 1911 census and here it again states that Elias Eliassen was born in Sweden and Matilde Knudson as born in Norway. It still lists their ages as the same, this time both aged 55....so perhaps its true? Also living with them as this stage was their children  my great grandmother Amanda Matilda Eliassen and her half sister Eugenie Reinhartdsen. So I suspect Matilda Knudson was married previously before she married Elias. 

Digging a little deeper into my great great grandmother Matilde Knudson I see she does indeed turn up on the 1881 Census but living in Southhampton and married to a Mr Reinhartsen.

He appears to be not in the census which makes me wonder if that meant he was offshore at the time of the census?

Matilde was residing at 11, George Street, Southampton St Mary, Southampton, Hampshire, England and listed as Matilda Reinhartsen Wife (Head) Married age 30 born about 1851. Occupation: Yachtsmans Wife born in Norway.

The census also mentions her son August J Reinhartsen aged 2 born 1879 - Southampton, Hampshire, England and these other persons-

Johan Olsen Brother Single Male 23 1858 Seaman Norway

Thomine Reinhartsen Sister In Law Single Female 25 1856 Servant Norway

Unten Neilsen Boarder Single Male 32 1849 Seaman Norway

Eugene Reinhartsen Daughter Single Female age 0 born 1881 - Southampton, Hampshire, England

From the following records I can see Matilde's son died in 1882 at the time she had moved to Hull.

England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 Transcription

First name(s) AUGUST JOHAN ANCHOR

Last name REINHARTSEN

Gender Male

Birth year 1879

Age 3

Death quarter 4

Death year 1882

District HULL

County Yorkshire

Volume 9D

Page 179

Country England

Record set England & Wales deaths 1837-2007

England Deaths and Burials 1538-1991 Transcription

First name(s) August Johan Anchor

Last name Reinhartsen

Event year 1882

Burial year 1882

Burial date 25 Nov 1882

Burial place Hull, York, England

Place Hull

County Yorkshire

Father's last name Reinhartsen

Mother's first name(s) Matilda

Mother's last name Knudsen

Country England

----------------------------------------------------

England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 Transcription

First name(s) THORVAL AUGUST

Last name REINHARTSEN

Gender Male

Birth year 1883

Age 1

Death quarter 3

Death year 1884

District HULL

County Yorkshire

Volume 9D

Page 177

So definitely seeing some Scandinavian links here although struggled to find exactly when and where in Sweden Elias was born.  

The Simms family of Hull part 2

So today I was able to finally get some conclusive proof about my paternal origins and answer some questions about the Simms family of Hull. Having taken the ancestry DNA test a few weeks ago they provided some fascinating insights into understanding a bit more about my great grandparents Frank Henry Simms and Matilda Amanda Eliassen.

From my DNA result I could ascertain that i am carrying the Scandinavian markers of my great grand mother Amanda Matilda Eliassen. Her parents Elias & Matilde were from Sweden & Norway and came to England in the 1850's. My genetic markers were actually very specific to East Norway. The 30% Irish is due to my mother's family being Frizzell. Hugh Frizzell my great grandfather as we have already established his father James Frizzell was from Ireland. The 43% being from Great Britain is mainly the Simms & Bloxham lineage which are very old family lines. I have especially to thank cousin  Mark Hunter for bringing this to light and David Bloxham for finding the genetic DNA markers which confirm the Bloxham line.

So it would indeed appear that my paternal great great grandparents are indeed Charlotte Simms & Francis A Bloxham. David Bloxham (distant cousin) was kind enough to throw up this DNA table which shows that although we spring from different Bloxham lines we shared the same ancestor John Bloxham 1770-1842.

Finally nice to see how the Simms/Bloxham family fits into the full genealogical picture of my family. Irish, Scandinavian DNA might explain the red hair, blues eyes and obvious deep English roots.

The Simms family of Hull part 1

So i'm now researching my paternal origins. The above photo shows  my paternal roots. This photo taken in Hull circa 1934 shows my great grandfather Frank Henry Simms centre back row and to his right my grandfather Harry Leonard Simms. Frank Henry Simms & his wife Amanda Matilda Eliassen married in 1914 and as you can see 20 years later they were the parents of 13 children. Although large families were the norm back then theirs still appears to be larger than normal as can be seen from this article taken from the Hull Daily Mail April 2nd, 1945 p.3

Clear the family as a whole committed themselves to the war effort during the difficult period of world war two. I note my grandfather who was their  eldest child Harry Leonard Simms born in 1914 was working in an aircraft factory in 1945. Several of his siblings were in service during the war......it would be interesting to do further research with the MoD regarding what my granduncles & Aunts did during the war.

Harry Leonard Simms I note married in 1955 his common in law wife Margaret Louisa Elizabeth Stella Dye (previous marriage dissolved).       

They had several children, their eldest child was my father Paul who was born in Hull in 1947 so clearly they had been together several years before they officially tied the knot. My father Paul married in 1971 to Christine Frizzell and my parents had three children in total, myself, Edward and Rosemary. Rosemary died as a baby. I'm effectively the eldest child of the eldest child of the eldest child leading back to Frank Henry Simms of Hull.

Interestingly Frank Henry Simms was born in Brailes in 1892, the son of Charlotte Simms my great great grandmother. On his birth certificate there is no father listed which did mean for decades there was no way of researching our paternal lineage.

Thankfully a distant cousin Mark has been able to shed some light on this closed area. It does now appear that the father is likely Frank Bloxham and to shed some light on this i have gone ahead with a DNA test with ancestry.co.uk to discover if this is the case. Results to be provided once they are available but as Mark has pointed out it seems very unlikely Charlotte Simms would have brought an Affiliation Case against Frank Bloxham if this was not the case. Attached is the news paper article that shows her case against Mr Frank Bloxham.

To be continued...

Gongs from the Ministry of Defence

A couple of years ago I discovered my Scottish grandfather's old leather passport in a clear out and it subsequently led to me writing a letter to the Ministry of Defence requesting if my grandfather had any military service. It transpires not only did my grandfather serve in WW2 but he had never got round to applying for his service medals during his lifetime which meant that as i was his next of kin the MoD were obliged to send me  his service medals & service records. This came as quite a surprise to me! The medals now reside in a box frame on my office wall. I'm actually quite proud that my grandfather contributed to the war effort for nearly 10 years of his life serving in Iceland, Norway & Austria.

George Alexander Lever Frizzell

Austria 1945

Scottish Roots!

So family tree, everyone has one. It’s curious to discover that one does indeed have Scottish roots. I must say I really love this photo of my Scottish great grandfather Hugh Frizzell of Greenock, who knew? I certainly did not know I had a great grandfather jumping out on the trenches fighting the Hun in the Great War 1914-18. It transpires he served with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders as a Corporal and after being shot was sent home and eventually transferred to the Royal Engineers.  Fascinating stuff!

Here he my great grandfather Hugh Frizzell with his wife Christina Frizzell (formerly Sutherland) at their marriage in 1904