A Journey Through History with the Davenports

Roger Davenport

Description

The main focus of this book is to answer the questions that my close relatives would have wished they had asked me before I started “pushing up daisies” . When I was at school the subject that I detested was history. Now, many decades later writing the family’s history from a different perspective. Throughout my book I highlight stories about the world that was, yet some of the outcomes have resulted in many benefits for today’s society.
When I reflect on the past, many of these events would have been regarded as irrelevant and little attention would have been paid to them. No doubt the dates of the births and deaths of Kings and Queens are important but so are many things one can learn from the quirky events and changes that happened as society progressed. Some of these were good and some were not. That is for you, the reader, to judge and hopefully, learn from them.
Throughout my book in which the stories are told, they are presented with a sense of humor and interjections.

Sujets

• Personal Memoirs
• Banking
• Bank
• Biography
• Climate
• Bogside
• Home Guard
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Balboa Press AU
• Date de parution: 11 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781982296056
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

A Journey through History with the Davenports
 
VOLUME 1
 
 
Roger Davenport
 
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2022 Roger Davenport.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
Balboa Press
A Division of Hay House
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.balboapress.com.au
AU TFN: 1 800 844 925 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-9822-9604-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-9822-9605-6 (e)
 
 
 
Balboa Press rev. date: 12/08/2022
Contents
1     An insight into my Palaeolithic forefathers
2     Reflections and Insights
3     Some of the important historical occurrences and discoveries from the previous millennium
4     My Father, Harvey Vincent Davenport: His journey
5     My Mother’s family | John Ebenezer Williams my Great Grandfather (Maternal)
6     Mother
7     My Father’s traceable relatives
8     Rifleman Stanley Mowbray Davenport
9     Albert Victor Davenport
10   Alfred Riley Davenport
11   Eric Davenport
12   I am the spoiled brat
13   My obsession with sailing
14   Frances
15   Beginning a career
16   Leaving Home
17   Investing in my future by owning my own trawler
18   The trials and tribulations of being a fisherman’s wife July 1968 to 1980
19   Packing up and preparing for the big move
20   The big move, the flight to Australia
References
Sources On Family History
Come on a Journey with me down memory lane. As it was and as it is.
I had often thought about putting my story down on paper, in fact many years ago I got as far as typing four words “The Steps of Life” and that was as far as I got.
However, when I was on board the Cruise Ship “Crystal Serenity” they were running a Memoir writing course, so I signed up. Joe Kita was the course instructor, very inspiring and encouraged me to get started. He recommended that I wrote about one snapshot in my life.
So, when I started to write my memoirs there were many choices that I had to consider. Was it to be about one event, or perhaps a specific period when I was growing up? Well, I disregarded Joe’s advice and as a result is that this book has become much more than just a memoir but traces the Davenport family lineage from King Alfred the Great to my grandsons.
The threads that are interwoven throughout the chapters highlight issues that occurred from the Ice Age period to modern times. It includes references to climate changes that occurred, cultural changes, rationing during World War 11 and my great uncles who were killed during World War 1.
Thank you, Joe, for getting me started or otherwise it would have never got further than those four words “The Steps of Life”.
I dedicate this book to my wife Frances of 53 years and hopefully with many more years to come. To my children Nichola and Nigel – I have only spoken briefly about them when they were growing up. Now that they are adults it’s up to them, if they so wish to tell their own stories.
To my grandchildren Ronan and Xander for the pleasure that they have brought into my life.
I have tried to answer the questions that none of you have ever thought to ask me to date, while I am still around to give you the answers.
Do not think that just because I have remarked on a lot of mistakes that I have come across during my working life, that they were the norm. This wasn’t so, as most things ran smoothly. In life, people will always be remembered for the costly mistakes and errors that occur, and rarely for their outstanding achievements. One can learn a lot from these faux pas, that is if they ever come to light.
Some of you reading this, might see it also as a Pandora’s Box, and if you lifted the lid who knows what you might uncover.
1
An insight into my Palaeolithic forefathers
The Stone Age
Around 650,000 years ago, Great Britain was a vast frozen wasteland uninhabitable by humans. The seas had evaporated and ended up as snow in the Northern latitudes. This resulted in sea level depths falling by up to 127metres. There were land bridges connecting Ireland with Britain and Southeast England with Northern France which was named Doggerland.

Source – DW http://p.dw.com/p/3mnql 23/12/ 2020
Geologists tell us that there were at least five Ice Ages between 800,000 and 11,500 years ago, with warming periods occurring in between. The first known inhabitants (Homo antecessors) of Britain date back hundreds of thousands of years. Archaeologists carrying out digs in recent times have made interesting finds of flint tools that date back 500,000 years. They were used for hunting the native mammals of the period. It is surmised that these earlier tribes were driven south by one of the Ice Ages. Early modern humans returned around 32,000 years ago and stayed for about 3,000 years before being driven out at the oncome of last Ice Age. The land bridge joining Ireland to Britain was submerged 16,000 years ago caused by the rising sea levels as the temperature rose and the ice caps started to melt.
There were also land bridges in the Southern Hemisphere between Australia and Tasmania 12,000 years ago and another land bridge between New Guinea and Australia 18,000 to 20,000 years ago. The sea levels have been rising well before civilisation started using fossil fuels.
The period in-between 60,000- and 40,000-years past, Britain became covered in grassy plains where woolly mammoths, giant deer, horses, and rhinos roamed. During this period the Nomadic tribes made forays exploring the region during the warm periods and these animals were seen as a major food source.
Settlement of these lands occurred around 25,000 years ago, however the climate deteriorated making the land un- inhabitable again. The people were once again driven south towards southern Europe’s warmer climate. From 12,000 BC onwards the northern regions started to become warmer. What was once an Arctic environment, was gradually changing to one of forests of birch and pine trees. Animal life started to return which included elk, small deer, pigs, and wild cattle. Humans once again started to move back up north to hunt these herds.
As time went on the population became less nomadic, setting up cave dwellings, then rectangular log cabins. The hunter gatherer culture was changing. By 4500 BC they were farming crops and domesticating animals.
The Bronze Age (2200 to 750 BC)
This period saw the Beaker People (named after their pottery jugs) moving from Spain and Portugal to settle in Britain. They brought with them many skills. They were farmers and archers, introducing many skills including metalwork using copper, gold, silver, and later bronze. They were credited with the introduction of alcohol (mead made from honey). The early Bronze Age Britons buried their dead in earth mounds. Later, they started to cremate their dead. They moved out of caves, and started to establish permanent settlements, by building groups of five or more round houses using local materials.
The Iron Age (750 BC to 43 AD)
They developed the process to turn iron ore into iron from which they were able to create weapons and farm implements. These were far superior to those hewn from wood.
As the population of Britain grew, they established tribes, often warring against each other. There was also an influx of people from Belgium, France and Germany who migrated into Britain. This had a great influence on the language and a Celtic culture arose. Extensive trading with Europe took place and life in Britain became more organised. The iron bar that had been used as a form of currency was gradually replaced by coins.
The Roman Influence (43 AD to 410 AD)
There had been a couple of unsuccessful attempts to conquer Britain by the Romans in 55 and 54 BC. Finally, in 43AD the Romans under Emperor Claudius succeeded in conquering Britain. Now when people speak or write about prehistoric Britain, they are referring to the period from the earliest known records of man until the arrival of the Roman invaders. As far as I am aware there are no known written historical records prior to the arrival of the Roman Legions.
Britain was renamed the Province of Britannia. which included England, Wales, and part of Scotland.
The Romans introduced many positive improvements, engineering and design advances, aqueducts,