The Blacknell name is the core name in my research. There have been several variants recorded over time – Blacknall being the most common, along with Blacknel & Blacknal. I group these all together as Blacknell.
So, the long awaited 1921 census has finally been published online. At £3.50 for each record it isn’t cheap but as a devoted genealogist I have been saving my pennies in anticipation for a while. My first purchase was the record for my great-grandfather, Frederick Blacknell.
After the attempted pickpocketing, there was a long gap when the Freers were out of the limelight. The next reference found in Welsh Newspapers Online was from 28 March 1918, when the funeral of my great-grandmother, Clara Blacknell (née Freer) was reported, along with Arthur’s two months later.
We’ve tried to collect as many of the kind messages sent by friends and family when dad passed away. If you’d like to send us a message to be included please do contact us.
A service to celebrate the life of David Blacknell was held at Beckenham Methodist Church on Thursday, 29th October 2020 at 12pm. The service was officiated by the Reverend Alex Terrett.
David Blacknell’s funeral service was streamed live and we were joined by family and friends from over 75 remote locations. To help anyone who would like to watch the replay we’ve included some timings below along with the Order of Service which you can download.
Watch the video replay here
I would have loved my mum, Gretta, to be here too. Mum and Dad were very different – an Irish woman and an English man, an extravert and an introvert, one very driven and one a peace-maker, one an exerciser and one an eater – but they built a marriage that demonstrated the best of both of them.
I’m going to cover a chronology of Dad’s life – his childhood, his career, his friendships, his hobbies and his retirement. So where do I start?
It is with great sadness that Andrew & I share the news that our father passed away this morning.
One of the family history mysteries that has always been a source of fascination to me is how my great-grandmother, Clara Freer, who was born and brought up in Ruabon, Denbighshire, came to meet and marry my great-grandfather, Frederick Blacknell, who was born and brought up in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. Today, with the easy movement of people such a meeting would be perfectly normal but back in the second half of the nineteenth century didn’t everyone stay, more or less, in their home village?