A voyage of family discovery reveals poverty and imprisonment in the
West Country; the development of new trades in the industrial
revolution; a Rabbi who doubles up as a pawnbroker; and middle-class
prosperity and tragedy in the Birmingham jewellery trade. Starting with
only minimal knowledge of widely dispersed ancestors this journey tracks
down ancient relatives from Wales, the West Riding of Yorkshire,
Somerset, Dorset, Poland and Russia. Two mayors make fleeting
appearances (one in Gloucester, the other in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne).
One great uncle is found to have designed the iconic gantries in the
Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast where the Titanic was built. A
great, great, great grandfather has questions to answer about the
treatment of child labour in his Calderdale spinning mill.
Starting in the late 18th century Beneath the Shelter of an Ancient Tree
catalogues how and where these diverse characters lived, how they made
their living, and the ups and downs of family fortunes. It comments on
some of the pivotal moments that affected their progress, and draws on
contemporary sources, some family memoirs, and genealogical records to
build a picture of how working people and artisans gradually -
throughout the Victorian era - improved their lot in life.
