Biographies of the Family

You might wonder why I would spend time writing about the quite ordinary people in my family, but it seems sad to me that those I have known and loved should end up as nothing but names and dates on a family tree and perhaps a few photographs. There is so much more to most people and I want to turn them into something real (hopefully) and attempt to bring them to life for future generations.

The Barnard siblings who remained in England most of their lives were Naomi, Lesley, Hugh and Joan.  Those that I knew as a child were all interesting personalities.    Physically very attractive, with an unusual upbringing.

The three younger boys in that family - Donald, Noel and David were also characters in their own way.  I never met David or Noel, but I did know Donald a little.   He has a book written about him and his flying career (some of the photos are misnamed, which was my brother, Richard's, mistake).    Noel was renowned for wild behavior as a young man, due to the ingestion of too much alcohol.   David was more stable and took over the family plantations when his father was no longer able to manage them due to cataracts.   He is the father of Sean Anthony, Prime Minister of St. Lucia (twice).   Sean changed his last name due to its connection with the landowning class.

The Barnard side also provided the names, Beausire (French) and Parker (English)  Both with a little something extra mixed in racially.

There were also cousins, Cyril, Bertie and Denis Barnard. 

My father's side of the family were mostly in the linen trade, medical field or preachers originating in Ireland, England and Scotland (Oliver, Caville, Dudgeon, Clark), or in the case of my grandmother Wales and England (Hendy/Neate).

PAMELA BARNARD (20 May, 1907- June 1997)

Pamela Hilda Barnard, was my mother, Lesley's first cousin.   They lived together during school holidays from the time my mother was 11, until she finished school at the age of 17.   Pamela's mother, Hilda Frances Marguerite (nee Stopford) Barnard (1875-1937), had a lovely house on a street fronting the beach at 14 Nelson Crescent, Ramsgate in Kent, England .   She took in the four oldest (of 7) children of her first cousin, Florence Winifred Barnard and Winifred's husband, George Ernest Beausire Barnard.   They included my mother, her older sister, Naomi, and two younger children, Hugh and Joan, when they weren't in boarding school.   Hilda was separated from her husband, Arthur Alison Barnard, who lived in St. Lucia in the (then British) West Indies, as did Winifred and her husband, George.   George and Arthur were brothers, so the children were related quite closely.  The house was large and there were servants to help.  All the children adored Hilda.  My mother particularly enjoyed it when Hilda read aloud to them, while the children lay on the floor to listen (all 5 of them).  Hilda died age 62 after a struggle with cancer, first in her facial bones and then later stomach cancer.   My mother did not visit her when she was dying.  She was very involved in her new relationship with my father, I believe, but it was something that caused her much regret later.   One of the other children didn't visit either, and Hilda's comment was "the pigs" repeated to my mother later.  Two years after her mother's death Pamela was in the Census in 1939, living in Bourne Cottage, Bridge Bean, Kent with a woman her mother's age (Sarah Francis) and a gardener.   For occupation she listed 'private means'

Pamela was 18 months older than my mother.   She was born May 20, 1907.  She never married and I know little of her life, or the reasons she remained single.    She was a wonderful letter writer and corresponded with both my mother and I, and I saved many of those letters.    She lived in London and I got to know her a little as a teenager.   I went up to London on the train by myself as a 15 year old and knocked at her door, unexpectedly.   She was home and that first time she took me for a ride on the London buses and told me various details of London history.   She knew so much and trying to absorb the information was a bit exhausting.   She took me out to lunch and later to afternoon tea and after that first visit she invited me to go again.   The second time we went to the theater.   First to a matinee production of Noel Coward's "London Morning" a modern ballet and then in the evening to a musical "Suzie Wong", which was very popular at that time.  I got home very late and my mother was awake, furious and worried as the last buses had stopped running and I had to walk home.   Pamela didn't invite me into her flat (apartment) either of those times, but would come down when I knocked at the door.  She was living at 16 Welbeck Street in those days.   I stopped going after that, as we moved to a new town and I began work and didn't get much time.   Three years later my mother and I emigrated to Canada and, sadly, I was not able to see her again..

She was an interesting woman, very well read and interested in books, travel and theater, which she would discuss in her letters:  plays she'd seen, books she'd read, interesting shops, her visits to Oberammagau and Spain.  She enclosed newspaper cuttings of interest, mostly about family history.    I will quote from some of her letters, especially those about the family.  Anything in brackets are my comments. The first are letters to my mother.  She often bemoaned the fact that my mother was so far away (California) as she felt more connected to her than the other family members, due to their common interests:

The first letter mentions my mother's maternal Uncles, William and Charles Hendy and Charles' daughter, Kay Easton who lived in British Columbia.   When I was about ten years old I found Kay's address in my Great Aunt, Mildred Hendy's possessions after she died.   I wrote to Kay and she wrote back, a correspondence that continued for many years.

November 8, 1973  "Please can you give me the address of Kay Easton and then I can send her a copy of the family tree.  I have some letters of Willie's and some Christmas cards Charlie and Willie (Hendy) sent my mother for Christmas that she might like to have.   I am very sorry but I know nothing about the brothers, Charles and William, except that the latter had a job in Liverpool for a time and had my mother to stay for a short time on her return from a trip to the West Indies.  She was ill and never forgot how kind he was to her, giving her light, dainty meals etc.   You say she (Kay) wonders  where her parents lived before they emigrated  Well, he married after he reached Canada - presumably a Canadian girl.   I advise her to look up their certificate of marriage and death in the Canadian equivalent of our Somerset House.   This will tell her where they were living when they married, details about the parents, etc....  William died young of TB.

You can do something for me Lesley !  You know the date on which your grandparents were born - died or married !  It would help me to find out more about them." 

 A letter dated January 27, 1975 mentioning various family members:

 "You say you sometimes feel out of touch, but the truth is, now Susan and Anthony are in Canada, Rosemary in Spain, Richard in Belgium, there are only 3 old ladies left.  (My mother and I were both in California).

1. Naomi - pottering about in her garden  (Naomi had a gorgeous garden)

2.  Me - pottering about with my books.  Ex libris etc.

3.  Joan, knitting !! (Joan made gorgeous sweaters, and was an incredibly speedy knitter~!)

Of course, we still have Jan and Charlie but they are married with small children and lead quite dull lives.  Both Naomi's sons are good looking.  Very tall - Jan with a long narrow face and hair very slightly grey at the temples, is most aristocratic.  Charles utterly unlike the Hendy's darkness or Barnards, has a round enchanting face and is so good tempered.   If anyone says anything rude to him he just laughs !   The Barnards would sulk or take offense. (His son) Jason is a dear little boy with a wonderful imagination - talking to his teddy as though it was alive and answering for his teddy in a rather high, affected voice.  Jan and Stephanie have a very pretty house.   Have you met Stephanie?  She is really quiet and placid, which is good for Jan who has the Hendy nerves, although we are finding out she is not really as unruffled as she appears."

A letter dated November 26, 1977:

"You asked about your grandfather, Samuel.   He died in 1912.  He married Isabella Parker, descended from the Admiral Hyde Parker.   He was a dashing old Admiral and had a high old time with the West Indian girls when he was stationed there and I'm afraid didn't marry our ancestress !  Grandfather Samuel was a merchant, importing goods from England and and also had an arrangement recoaling steamers - if that's the right word.  You remember pictures of women with baskets of coal on their heads going up gangplanks....They say his father was a schoolmaster in Antigua.  Samuel was a very good, honest old man.    My father (Arthur) was immensely proud because, when interviewing someone in the City of London, they said "Oh, if you are a son of old Mr. Barnard of St. Lucia that is good enough - we will not need any other references."  He was a member of the Church of England.  Very Protestant and low church. He amused my mother when she stayed out there because he spent his Sundays sitting on the verandah on a rocking chair reading books against R. Catholic's, pointing out the dangers etc.  He would have had a fit at any of his descendants becoming R.C.'s!!   He was always having law cases - very touchy - and used to sue people for absolutely nothing and must have wasted a lot of money.  He had a mania for buying land and wanted his descendants to keep it and not sell.   I expect you remember the house he built.  It's a shame it has now been pulled down.   I have some photos of him and granny when they were young and I'll send you copies (comment -she forgot).  Also one of his taken  as a dear old man.   Granny B was a dreadful woman.   Ignorant and bad tempered.  He must have had a hell of a life.  She was always beautifully dressed and turned out.  Never a hair out of place.  But you remember her as well as I.  I have a sweet photo of you, Naomi and myself when babies.  You are on her lap in a long robe.

As of course you know, Grandfather and Granny B had 6 sons and only one daughter and he used to annoy his sons when they were small by saying

What are little boys made of ?

Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails

That's what little boys are made of

Sugar and Spice and all things nice -

That's what little girls are made of !!

I have a silver bracelet I wore as a child that he ordered from Paris for his small daughter.  You will gather from all this I really know little about Samuel, only little bits I heard here and there."

Pamela lived at 16 Welbeck Street for many years.  She had a hip operation in 1986, which was quite successful.  She wrote the details of that to my mother, at my request, since my mother was in a wheelchair with arthritis.   Prior to the operation Pamela was literally crawling about her flat.  In 1989 she moved to 70 Marylebone High Street in London.  This letter to me was written shortly after moving into the Marylebone flat, when she was 84.   Four years later she lost a great deal of money in the Barrons Bank financial disaster, due to the rogue trader, Nick Leeson.   Like some others in the family, she was secretive about her private matters.   Her letters were always happy and upbeat - no mention of stresses !.

When I was a child in England she would often send me special gifts if I answered her letters with details of my current interests.   A guitar brooch when I mentioned that I liked certain music, some ivory chopsticks and an Asian spoon when I told her of a Chinese restaurant I liked.  She was the one who began my interest in family history, when I mentioned something about that, even sending me a huge sheet of paper with the family tree written out, all with her beautiful penmanship.  I still have that.

Another letter January 3rd - no year but likely in the mid 1970's.

"Do you remember we had quite a library each in the Ramsgate days.   You had Masefield's poems and liked Reynard the Fox and we read Rupert Brooke."

November 1991:

"Dear Elizabeth :  As you were interested in this 'odd' place I thought you might like to know something about the weird people who live in it.  It's divided into 5 flats - the top empty after the hurried departure of an Arab, Farhadi Roushan, who got into 'difficulties' and had his furniture sold to pay his debts.  He sublet among other things.  During the removal his things got stuck.  He made a flying leap outside the van from end to end - disappeared inside and put everything to rights, and emerged to find his mother shaking her finger at him and scolding.  He shouted back and waved his arms about.   All this watched by the English removal men, large and kind hearted and moving in absolute silence !  Eventually they all got in, with the furniture, the van gave a little shake, as well it might and the whole lot disappeared into the distance.

The next flat belongs to Samantha and Peter.   Just before adopting a baby they got married.  One morning a hired car drew up and waited about half an hour while the driver read a newspaper.   Presently he got out and tied white ribbons on the car.  Samantha and her bridesmaid appeared and stood outside the house.   She in a large straw hat, her friend in what looked like a knitted wool tea cosy.  She clasped a bunch of funereal white lilies.  Not a photographer in sight.  So what they waited for goodness knows.
He (bridegroom) was so proud at being married and having a baby like everyone else.  He kept bringing it into the conversation, my wife thinks this, my wife says this, etc.   He can never make up his mind whether to have a beard or not, and the result is all shaggy and untidy.  Rather like a teddy bear.  Very sweet, all smiles and you want to hug him.  He adores the baby and carries her while Samantha pushes an empty pram looking rather grim.   She is into 'women's lib' and she calls herself by the name she had before marriage.  No Mrs. for her, thank you very much.   The poor baby never has a moment's peace as they try out all the most modern ideas regarding the bringing up of children.  

We now come to the mystery of the house, Miss Haversham - her real name is Fenton but I call her Haversham after the character in Dickens' Great Expectations who when her bridegroom failed to turn up at the church, where they had arranged to get married, returned home and never went outside the house again, but stayed in her room while her wedding dress became tatters and mice made nests in the wedding cake.  Miss Fenton has relays of nurse attendants etc. to look after her.  When I just came here I asked what was wrong with her - but could never find out.   Except that she has arthritis, but personally I think she has had a slight stroke.   It was when I asked our landlord and he started to look vague and gaze into the distance that I realized I was beaten, or beat, as the jockeys would say.  I stopped trying to do good in that direction and gave it up as a bad job.  

We now come to Mrs. Corman who never, never, never, NEVER stops smoking.  Her bedclothes will probably catch alight from a smoldering cigarette during the night and we shall all go up in flames.  We are now on the ground floor and my two tiny rooms, very old maidish and tidy as you can imagine.   I am lucky enough to have a built in bookcase which takes over 100 books, but still they overflow everywhere although I am always sorting them out and getting rid of quite a lot.  On my mantlepiece I have a tall green vase and matching scent bottle, a white dingy Spanish dog, a blue tankard clock-vase with flowers painted on it and a round photo which is unusual  .  Most of these things are antique and valuable but no-one coming in guesses this.  The carpet is green, the walls pale grey.  There is a table with two silver candlesticks with green candles.   
I must not forget the basement which the landlord said was used for storage.   I returned to 16 Welbeck Street and suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with a sinking heart wondering how I could be so silly as to agree to going to live in such a (crazy?) house and imagining all sorts of horrors, - old rag and bone men coming in the middle of the night with sacks of rubbish, etc., but I need not have worried as the 'storage' consists of a neatly packed brown paper box, occasionally left here by Mr. Pain, who is very well groomed and dressed, beautifully made brown leather shoes, etc.   He hardly ever comes here and was most kind and helpful when I moved in.  Really charming.

I am enclosing a photo of an old Turkish lady who is very like Roushan's mother, except that she was tall and straight and would be more likely to hit you over the head with her stick than lean on it and would certainly never depend on anyone else.  But with her beads, flowing robes, head scarf she looked as foreign.   She had just come from Central Asia.   I must stop all this and go to the post and do some shopping.
Much love, Pamela"

Pamela died in June 1997 at the age of 90, just after her May birthday.   Rather a sad ending for such a nice person.   She climbed on her bed to adjust the curtains and fell, breaking her hip.   She lay for 2 or 3 days (I believe 3) until one of the neighbors noticed her mail and milk bottles piling up.  By the time she was found she was dehydrated, desperately cold and had developed pneumonia.    One of the other tenants had my cousin Rosemary's phone number but Rosemary was out of the country and couldn't be contacted.   Pamela died alone.  

In spite of her large loss at Barron's Bank she left quite a nice size estate and many antiques. Prior to the Barron's Bank disaster she had most of the contents from her mother's house in a storage facility, but after losing a great deal of her income it's believed she disposed of most of it.   About that time she asked my cousin, Rosemary, if she'd like to choose a piece of Victorian furniture.   They went to look together and Rosemary chose a nice chair.    A few months later Rosemary asked if she could choose something else, but Pamela became very annoyed, though she didn't explain why.   Presumably by then everything was gone and she didn't want to tell her.

The heirs, which included my mother, were allowed to purchase from the inventory of her estate and my mother allowed me to choose a number of items.   I thought these would be shipped to me, but unfortunately the items were delivered to my brother, Richard and his wife, Sandra, and I didn't receive most of them.  Richard's son, Patrick, brought me a few of the smaller items but the others 'disappeared' when my brother and Sandra divorced.  The divorce was a very rancorous affair and both denied having my purchases.    

Richard had also promised to give me some of Pamela's sketches/water colors, as she was a talented artist, but I never received those either !  I had wanted them for sentimental reasons.   Pamela and I had been fairly close despite the differences in our ages, and later the distance between us.   She took a great interest in my children and often requested photos of them.

Pamela was related to Admirals on both the maternal and paternal sides of her family.   Illegitimately through the Barnard side (Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet) and legitimately through her mother, Hilda Marguerite nee Stopford.(Admiral Robert Fanshawe Stopford and his 2 sons, Admiral Robert Fanshawe Stopford and Vice Admiral James John Stopford).

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If anyone with the name "Junior" is reading this blog :   Please make sure you get my permission to use and publish extracts from my blog and give me due credit.

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Info from Pamela   Charlotte Neate, my (the writer's) great2 grandmother, lived in a tiny village - Froxfield with her daughter, Mary Anne Godfrey.   They're both buried in the churchyard there.  She met William Hendy, who was Welsh, while on holiday in Bath.

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Pamela in a cloche hat, in her mid 20's.  Cloche hats were popular for some years, until 1934.  A stylish young lady, but when I knew her in her 50's she was very plainly dressed.

  

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Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards
I have always enjoyed receiving Christmas cards, and find it sad that they're becoming less popular.   Perhaps the constantly rising cost of postage and cards is to blame.    Years ago I used to get 30 or 40 cards every Christmas and it was such fun going to the mailbox and hearing news of loved ones.  In those days I had numerous aunts, uncles and other relatives and we all exchanged cards.   Mine always went off with a personalized handwritten letter.    Now one is fortunate to receive a form letter !
The custom of sending Christmas cards began in England in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole, who worked for the Post Office (then known as the Public Record Office) came up with the idea, in an effort to encourage people to use the service.   He had an artist friend, John Calcott Horsley, design the first card and sold each for one shilling (12 pence , though of course you could buy a great deal more with it in those days).   The card they designed had 3 panels, - two outside panels showing people caring for the poor and the center of a family having Christmas dinner.   There were some critical comments from the public as a child had a glass of wine (how little has changed ?!).  About 1000 were printed and sold.   Those originals are now rare and cost thousands to buy.
You may view the card here, but I can't show the image due to legal restrictions !
https://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0054688
https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/the-first-christmas-card/
The first postal service for ordinary people was started in 1840 with the Penny Post.  Before that only the wealthy could afford to use the post.   New railways were being built and could carry many more letters than a horse and carriage and trains were so much faster.   Cards became even more popular after the Post Office allowed unsealed envelopes for a half penny.  (The UK still has a discount for unsealed envelopes).
With improvement in printing methods Christmas cards became popular and were sold in large numbers from about 1860.  In 1870 the cost of sending cards dropped to a half penny, even when sealed.  By the early 1900s the custom had spread throughout Europe, and was especially popular in Germany.
The first cards usually had pictures of the Nativity on them, but in late Victorian times a British bird, the red breasted robin, and snow scenes were popular since an extremely bad winter had happened in the UK in 1836, with 8 to 9 feet of snow in some areas.
Christmas cards appeared in the US in the late 1840's but were too expensive for most people to buy. In 1875 Louis Prange, a printer, originally from Germany, who had worked on early cards in the UK, started mass producing them, so they were more affordable.  His first cards featured flowers, plants and children.  Then in 1915 John Hall and two of his brothers started the Hallmark Card Co. which is still one of the largest card makers.
Annie Oakley is known for the first personalized Christmas cards  She sent them from Glasgow in 1891 to her friends and family in the US, with a picture of herself on them .   She's wearing Scotch tartan in the photo and reportedly designed the cards herself and had them printed by a local printer.   https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21915840_44034-annie-oakley-her-christmas-card
In the 1910's and 1920's homemade cards were popular.  These often had unusual shapes and were decorated with foil and ribbons.   They were delivered by hand as they were too delicate for the mail.
My early memories of shopping for Christmas cards was in a large stationery shop near our house in England.   It had steps going up to a higher level and there were literally hundreds of cards on both floors.   My mother and I would go in with a long list of friends and relatives and each card was chosen with that person in mind.   This was quite a time consuming task especially finding the right message, but I loved doing it.   This was years before 'boxed' cards became popular but since they were not expensive it made for a delightful shopping experience, at least to me as a child.

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Joseph Gabriel de Beausire (July 12, 1771   - 1845 age 74 in Metz)

l recently got in touch with a distant cousin through the internet and have been able to learn quite a bit about this great3 grandfather, whose name was Joseph Gabriel de Beausire.  He was born on July 12, 1771 in Metz, in Northeast France, near the borders of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg in the area known as Alsace Lorraine, where they spoke Alsation, a German dialect.   I also have the family tree dating back to 1440.   The family was well to do and raised thoroughbred horses.    Joseph Gabriel's father, Marie-Claude Sebastien de Beausire (1750-1832 age 82 in Metz) was a Lt. Colonel in the Surville Regiment and later a Councillor in the Parliament of Metz  and a Chevalier of St. Louis.  He married  Anne Antoinette de Goussaud.  They were royalists .  

The French Revolution began in 1788 when Joseph Gabriel was 17, and continued until 1799.  17,000 people were executed, and 10,000 died in jail.   Marie-Claude and Anne remained in France but their children left the country during the turbulence of that period.  Marie-Claude was arrested and sent to prison.   He was sentenced to death with his execution scheduled for the 29th of July 1794 but Robspierre, one of the leaders of the Revolution, was arrested the day before, and Marie Claude was reprieved.  I would love to know the details of that traumatic experience !   The most interesting thing I learned is that Joseph Gabriel's mother, Anne, was a direct descendant of Pierre d'Arc, brother of Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc).  There is a book showing their family tree, although some family members are not listed.   The book is entitled Extracts La Familia de Jeanne d'Arc written by E Debroueilles.    Pierre D'Arc was also a Chevalier du Lys.  I found this exciting as several people in our family claim to be psychic.
  

After leaving France, probably deported by the Revolutionaries, Joseph Gabriel enlisted in the Lowenstein Chausseurs, one of several British regiments raised by foreign nobles to fight the army of Revolutionary France.  He became a lieutenant, later a Captain and finally a Major.  He was wounded in St. Lucia in 1796.  His regiment was incorporated into the 5th Battalion in 1797 together with Hoppesch's Mounted Riflemen, another specialised emigre unit, both using the Baker Rifle.  After the Revolution came the Napoleonic Wars which lasted from 1804 to 1810.  
 

Later as part of his army duties, he became a harbormaster on the island of St. Lucia, where the British Navy ships were refueled with coal.  I have a couple of photos of him, in his army uniform, one of which is of a locket owned by a cousin.  I also have a photo of his grandson, Joseph Beausire,  This is of a portrait which used to hang in the Royal Insurance Company building where he worked in Liverpool.  He was a Director of the company where his uncle, Robert, was an accountant.  The company, which was very successful, (now renamed Royal Insurance Plc) is still in existence.
 

 The building occupied by the company in those days is on the historic list.   It was an award winning design from a competition, with 5 stories, built in 1896 and has now been restored and turned into a hotel.  That was not the first building used by the company.    The previous one, built in 1837, is also on the historic list.   One of the employees tracked down the present day Joseph Beausire, Robert's great grandson, and gave him the portrait.   There are no photos of Catherine Ann Beausire, so it's interesting to see her nephew and ponder whether they looked alike !
 

Joseph Gabriel had 3 children with Polly Kitty.   Very little is known of Polly.  It is likely that Kitty is not her surname but a middle name.   It was found in the baptismal records of the first two sons, Robert (born 1804) and Henry (born 1813), when they were baptized in St. Vincent Cathedral on April 14, 1813.  From DNA tests of her descendants it appears that she was Caucasian and also had some African blood with Nigeria or the neighboring countries of Togo and Benin showing up. Information found online shows that she was a landowner with slaves.  She was reputed to be very beautiful.  Robert was described in a report about his gift of some exquisite reredos to a church in England as an octoroon, which if accurate means he would have been one eighth African.   Another son, Joseph was born about 1814. 

Prior to Catherine Ann's birth Joseph Gabriel and his family moved from St. Lucia to England where their daughter, Catherine Ann Beausire, was born in Liverpool about 1815.  She was my great great grandmother on my mother's side of the family.  In 1807 Joseph Gabriel was a member of the masonic lodge in Carenage (now known as Castries), St. Lucia.   Joseph Gabriel then returned to Metz alone, and on the 9th of February, 1817 made a claim for return of half the wealth taken from the family during the Revolution, which was allowed by the government.  He either never married Polly Kitty or she had died, but in 1818 he married Anne Louise Phillipine Besser.  They also had four children together.   In 1821 he was promoted to Major and given half pay for his retirement by the British Army.   He was a Marichel de Camp d'artillerie, and a Chevalier de St. Louis.   He died in Metz in 1845 at the age of 74.   

Catherine Ann went to live in St. Lucia at some point, either with her mother or perhaps later with her husband, Thomas Collingwood Parker, who was the government auditor there and quite wealthy.  It's likely that Thomas was a friend of Robert Beausire in St. Lucia since they were the same age and of similar racial heritage, and he may have visited Robert in England if he took his accountancy training there.  They were both in the accounting business.   Thomas was born some time after late 1803 and baptized on the 6th of February, 1806.   He and Catherine Ann lived and raised their 4 daughters, including my great grandmother, Isabella Parker, in a large house called "Retreat" situated on Morne Fortune, a hill with wonderful views of Castries harbor.    The house burned down but was rebuilt much later by Isabella and her husband, after their marriage.
 

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 Notes - first son) Robert Beausire 1804-1854 m. 1) Franceys and 2) Janet Pollock. Cashier, Royal Insurance Co. Liverpool.   (second son) Henry Beausire 1813 - 1876 m. Amy Tyrer. Secretary, Midland & Grand Western Railway, Dublin

Protect Yourself/Your Family From The Scourge Of Plastic
First I should say, investigate, be suspicious. If clothing has some claim to fame, such as that it is wrinkle free (embalming fluid) or moisture wicking (https://www.shape.com/fitness/clothes/harmful-chemicals-hidden-your-workout-clothes), you can be almost certain it's not good for you ! Unfortunately this applies to a lot of products sold nowadays, not just plastics. Other than that, here are some ideas:
 
1. Avoid buying plastic or using it in all its myriad forms. This is very hard to do as many natural products have pretty much vanished. Some are available on the internet.

2. Do not buy synthetic clothing (polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, fleece etc. even spandex which replaced elastic along the way. Spandex is almost impossible to avoid.) The clothing industry is beginning to come up with alternatives (such as lyocell, tencel, modal, etc.).  These are made with fibers produced from such things as tree trunks/bamboo soaked in chemicals - however they do not leach plastic fibers. Do NOT use synthetic blankets and sheets, especially fleece !   All night long, as you turn in bed, you will be releasing and breathing in lots of fibers, especially from the blankets.

3. Do not recycle synthetic clothing. Until such time as there is a hazardous waste program in place, put it in the garbage. Clothing made from recycled fibers degrades much faster than the original product. I put mine in a plastic bag which I tie tightly to slow it's entry into the planet.

4. Cover heavily trafficked areas of synthetic carpet with a natural fiber rug (wool, cotton, jute). Also cover the areas where children play. Replace the carpet with something better as soon as you can (tile, natural carpet). Hold your breath when emptying vacuum dust  or dryer dust into the garbage !

5. Keep your food and drinks covered if they are sitting out. There are waxed cloths you can buy or use a clean cotton dish towel, even aluminum foil.

6. I segregate my clothing, I make a cut in the label of the synthetics, where possible so I can discriminate. I wash synthetic on the delicate cycle and then hang to dry. I do not put them in the dryer. There are filters you can buy to trap the fibers in the wash but that residue will go in the trash and end up leaching out, albeit more slowly. 1,900 miniscule fibers leach from each synthetic garment, at a minimum EVERY SINGLE TIME IT'S WASHED. Some thick fleece produce 2 million at a time.

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Plastic was developed in 1907 but did not come into large scale production until the 1940's. In the 1970's the first synthetic clothing was produced and since it gives the textile industry more profit, it is now used in billions of garments. Plastic production has exploded with approximately 150 million tons at the present time ! So in a relatively short period of time it has polluted the entire planet and everything on it, even the bodies of insects. It's psychologically difficult to protect yourself against microscopic objects especially when the danger comes from everyday objects but the fibers are now in the water (rain/ocean and fresh), in the air you breathe, both indoors and out, and in your food.

The garment industry has been aware of the problem of synthetic microfibers for almost 20 years. They have immense lobbying power and so far have managed to block even feeble attempts by lawmakers to bring it to the attention of the public.

　

The Greatest Threat to Life on Planet Earth
 - SYNTHETIC CLOTHING

I recently saw a brief mention of pollution from plastic microfibers (PMFs) in the oceans in a news article, and my curiosity was piqued. I decided to investigate and what I read appalled and alarmed me. Here is my report:
PMFs are now found throughout the US in the water supply (94%). There seems to be some sort of cover up going on about this invisible problem, even though synthetic/plastic microfibers are causing immune system damage and/or weakening the health of all creatures that ingest them. That includes humans but particularly aquatic creatures from water fleas to plankton (which are killed by them) to whales. Synthetic fibers are found in nylon, polyester, fleece, acrylic, rayon and even spandex, etc. all made from by-products of crude oil. The damage is even worse from thick fleece and (unfortunately) from clothing made from recycled plastic. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-new-york-river-dumps-millions-of-fabric-microfibers-into-the-ocean-daily/

In humans, plastics generally disrupt the endocrine system and affect all glands in your body, including those that control your moods. https://www.livescience.com/26496-endocrine-system.html
Even garments that are part synthetic are just as polluting. Only 100 percent natural materials, such as cotton, wool, linen, silk, hemp, cashmere, jute etc. are safe. The unique shape of PMFs causes them to attract dangerous and carcinogenic chemicals that are also in water, such as dioxin, PCBs and pick up bacteria (see end of article); and from the fabrics all the dyes and chemicals that are used and sometimes flame retardants and even waterproofing chemicals (in fabric furniture). In addition, even the production of synthetic fabrics involves the use of large amounts of dangerous chemicals.


A minimum of 190,000 fibers leach from each garment into the drains every time it is washed, depending on the washing method, with the number increasing as the garment ages. Some release 250,000 or more. Only the largest - about 40 percent are filtered out by sewage plants; the rest enter the environment. Even the most sophisticated RO system only catches the larger fibers. 0.6 to 1.7 million TONS A YEAR is one estimate, with the number rising all the time as the garment industry makes less and less clothing from natural sources. https://storyofstuff.org/uncategorized/the-story-of-microfibers-faqs/

A small amount are shed as you move about. The California legislature recently debated a law to label all garments with easily visible warnings and a request that synthetic garments be handwashed, but it did not pass. The garment industry lobbied against it ! It probably wouldn't have helped much, but at least would have made the public aware. Even handwashing won't solve the problem if you use a dryer, as that spews massive numbers into the atmosphere, where the fibers presumably are breathed in. It is now legal in California to use a laundryline and hang your laundry outside to dry, with certain exceptions ! (see Assembly Bill No. 1448). I found no information about lung damage in my research. I have a book, The Secret Life of Dust which was written prior to awareness of this problem. It mentions that all dust spreads across the planet, for instance dust from the Sahara Desert, so this scourge is being spread planetwise through the air. I found no mention of whether they are carried in rain water.
PMFs have been shown to pass the blood/brain barrier, and in fish cause behavioral changes such as slower eating and less exploration of surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-brain-fish-affected-plastic-nanoparticles.html

PMFs are also ingested in your food, with an estimate of over 100 dropping onto one plateful of food as you eat, in the average home. They are in beer, in sea salt (660 pieces a year) ; in food cooked with water, and in irrigation water where they are absorbed into the soil and may affect plants, including your fruit and vegetables. Sewage sludge from human waste used for fertilizing crops, contains them, as do sludge ponds, and various industrial processes. Most bottled water has about 150 pieces per bottle. Alarmingly they are even in honey. Could this be another reason for the huge decline in the number of bees and recently the documented "alarming decrease" in the number of insects in general ?  Without insects and plankton we will be in danger of starving, not only ourselves but most creatures.

Most PMFs enter the environment from the US, so we are the most responsible for polluting the entire planet. A friend in Pakistan tells me that in his country the poorer people cannot afford to buy natural garments, in spite of the discomfort of synthetic clothing in the heat of summer. Water dispersed from carpet washers is likely teeming with millions of them. Then there are the fibers percolating through the soil from landfills mostly from old clothing and carpet. 5 billion lbs of old carpet are disposed of each year in the US, though a small percentage are made of natural fibers and recently many are recycled. Some sort of hazmat program should be set up if you wish to dispose of your PMF products, to prevent them seeping into the ground water. It is hard to believe that the people who developed synthetic fabrics did not have some idea of the havoc they could cause ?! Similar fibers are in car tires and those also end up in the water and air. In our attempt to solve one problem we create another, since used tires are now recycled in various ways, including tarmac for roads, which wear down , also releasing PMFs into the environment. Plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade so the problem is increasing exponientially. PMFs are also in the intestinal tracts of fish so it's particularly unwise to eat creatures you consume whole, such as mussels, oysters etc. (70 pieces each serving)

(There is still a problem from microbeads which were banned in 2017, during Obama's administration, from "rinse off cosmetics". That law contained a loophole, which corporations have taken full advantage of, to continue use of them in other cosmetics, detergents and sandblasting materials. California and some other states are working to pass new protections.)


Synthetic fibers are much cheaper than natural ones so allow manufacturers more profit. On a recent expedition to buy Christmas gifts I was shocked and depressed to see the piles of synthetic clothing, particularly thick fleece. Are manufacturers trying to get rid of their stockpiles as they are afraid of a ban or consumer backlash ?! The problem was discovered in the early 2000's and in 2011, Mark Browne, a researcher, reached out to apparel makers for help with a study. All declined except women's apparel maker Eileen Fisher, though in early 2015, Patagonia, the developer of many PMFs, commissioned a study from the Bren School of Environmental Science at UC https://www.outsideonline.com/2091876/patagonias-new-study-finds-fleece-jackets-are-serious-pollutant
Manufacturers are researching new chemicals with which to treat fabrics in an attempt to solve the problem, but more chemicals ....? In the meantime more and more clothing with PMFs is being produced and less from natural fibers. I just bought my usual jeans which have always been cotton with a little latex and now see they are part polyester. I will be returning them to the store. Tree trunks are soaked in chemicals like sulphuric acid and zinc to make a new fabric, Tencel, though that does not contain PMFs. Each garment has a content label but the past few years those are not usually in the neck or waistband but concealed in the lower part of the garment, making identification more time consuming. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/may/13/clothes-companies-microfiber-pollution

Microfibers are an increasing problem as they filter throughout the environment and could eventually threaten the health of most creatures on our beautiful planet. I just read an article about the astronauts in which they said that the only color to be seen from space came from Earth, life on which, in the age of crude oil, we seem to be destroying. Ultimately it will be up to you, the consumer, to make choices that protect the planet, and the sooner the better. You can continue on, or you can avoid these products. More recently it has been found that they are causing reproductive problems in wildlife, such as failure to calve in whales.


(Update January 1, 2019 - Dr. Andrew Weil - bacteria are in the fibers. This could cause problems for those who swim in lakes, rivers, even the ocean, though some bacteria are killed by salt water. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/31-fla-infected-bacteria-salt-water-f8C11379013

Insect "Armageddon" report in guardian.co.uk (not yet connected by them to PMFs) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers

wash post Oct 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/are-synthetic-fleece-and-other-types-of-clothing-harming-our-water/2016/10/28/eb35f6ac-752e-11e6-be4f-3f42f2e5a49e_story.html?noredirect=on


(c) Elizabeth Donnell- 2019