My old friend Willie Haswell has sent me a copy of his memoirs published under the auspices of the Living Memories Association.  Willie is now in his 90th year.

The Canongate is in Edinburgh and of course has nothing at all to do with Bristol Family History – except that over a quarter of a century ago I traced Willie’s ancestors. Although he and his parents and grandparents are and were Scots, the Haswells originally came from in Wiltshire and until recently some strands of the family remained in the Bath area.

My endeavours came to a halt with Daniel Haswell. He was born about 1775, reputedly at Bradford on Avon, a weaver by trade, who joined the army in Jersey in 1806, at the late age of 31, married a wife called Isabella and begat of long line of soldiers who served in various regiments of the British Army, becoming Scots somewhere along the way. If anybody can find Daniel’s baptism, Isabella’s maiden name or a record of their marriage, Willie and I will be your friends for life.   

If your immediate ancestors were poor and grew up in the Canongate, then Willie Haswell’s book is for you. I cannot recommend it too highly.

The recent funeral of Harry Patch, "the last fighting Tommy" of the First World War, prompted me to look again my uncle's war records which I obtained a few years ago from the National Archives at Kew.
He was Private Thomas Unsworth of the Middlesex Regiment and unlike Harry, who was a very young man when he joined the Army, Uncle Tom was already thirty three years old when he was called up.
He was a Londoner, and served with the Middlesex Regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force 11th October 1916 to 17th November 1917. These dates include the time his Regiment spent at Ypres, and thus, like Harry, my uncle was at Passchendale. He rarely spoke of the war, though I do recall the expression "ock-eyed in mud", (e.g. hock high!).
He was eventually invalided home with bronchitis - presumably from being weighed down with the heavy khaki uniform and wet through for days on end. This probably saved his life for he lived well into his eighties. He finished his war service with the Suffolks, for men were often transferred to other regiments to fill the gaps left by the dead. One of the few things I know is that at some time he had been an officer's batman.
Unfortunately he died more than 40 years ago when family history was only in my head as an idea because my time was taken up with my first baby. I guess I thought he'd be around forever. If only I had asked - even the name of his officer - I would have had a starting point. Take this as a lesson. Most people will demand "How far have you traced back?" And it's always good to boast. But it's far more important to ask those alive now about their lives. The official records will still be there long after individuals are gone.
Even so, the records often give up previously overlooked secrets. Today, as I was glancing through his papers again, I noticed something I had not spotted before. At his attestation Uncle Tom was asked "Have you ever served in any branch of his Majesty's forces, naval or military?" He had replied "Yes". Well, well. I never knew that. Surely he had not joined up for the Boer War? It just shows there is always another trail to follow.