George & Rosanna

2013.05.21

Looking back at the life of George T. Swales, the month of May was filled with many important, life changing events. Earlier in the month, on the 3rd of May, 1902, he married his beloved Rosanna. Today, May 21, 2013, marks the 96th anniversary of another significant occasion in George’s life, his “voluntary” enlistment in the British Army.

By 1917, George, Rosanna and their young son, Bernard had lived in Fall River, Massachusetts for nearly 10 years. Presumably they had no intentions of moving back to England, but for whatever reason, had not yet become naturalized citizens of the US.

Family lore has it that George went away one weekend in March of 1917 on a “toot” with some friends and somehow ended up in Canada. What happened from that point on, we can only speculate. Most likely, George was stopped at the border on his return to the US and was detained by Canadian officials because he was a British citizen. At this point in World War I with the British Army in dire straits, conscription had been instituted and all British men from ages 18-41 were required to serve in the military for the duration of the war. According to George’s military records, he arrived in Glasgow, Scotland on March 20, 1917 aboard the ship Saturnia, a steam ship that regularly traveled from Montreal and Quebec to Glasgow.

From Scotland, George made his way to Burnley, Lancashire, England, the city he had emigrated from in 1907. By this point in time, all of George’s sisters and their families had immigrated to Fall River, so he moved in with Rosanna’s sister, Polly Bradshaw, and her family at 44 Holbeck Street. George was ordered to appear for a physical on May 21, 1917. Although at 44 years old he was considered over age, George passed the physical and was deemed fit for enlistment. By the time the war ended, the maximum age limit had been raised to 51 years old.

For the next two years, George was in His Majesty’s service, abiding by the oath below, which he swore to uphold on this date, 96 years ago:

I, George Thomas Swales swear by Almighty God, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King George the Fifth, His Heirs, and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, in Person, Crown, and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and of the Generals and Officers set over me. So help me God.

2013.05.03

Happy 111th Wedding Anniversary to George and Rosanna!

On May 3, 1902, George Thomas Swales married his beloved “Annie”, Rosanna Cuppello, in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The ceremony most likely took place at St. Mary’s, a Roman Catholic church within one mile from where both the Swales and Cuppello families lived.

Both George and Rosanna were 29 years old at the time of their wedding, about 4 years older than the average bride and groom for that era. The couple had known each other since childhood. They were both born in Clitheroe, Lancashire and lived on the same street growing up. Later, both the Cuppello and Swales families moved to Burnley, again living within less than a mile of each other.

So what took George and Rosanna so long to get married? It appears that the biggest deterrent was distance. From May of 1891 through Spring of 1901, George lived in the United States. His initial reason for going to the States was to accompany his 8 year old niece, Mary Ellen, to Jamestown, New York so that she could be reunited with her mother, George’s sister Rose, who had emigrated the previous year. George stayed on with his sister and niece and the three eventually ended up in Fall River, Massachusetts. After ten years of life in the US, George moved back to Burnley and within a year, married Rosanna.

2013.04.10

To the faithful George and Rosanna reader, the above letter may look familiar. Originally published on this blog last November on the 95th anniversary of its writing, the letter was sent from the trenches of WWI France by George T. Swales to his wife and son back in Fall River. I am thrilled to announce that an excerpt from George’s letter will be included in an upcoming book by British author, Jacqueline Wadsworth. According to Jacqueline:

This book will use the letters to tell the human story of the First World War - what mattered to the soldiers, sailors and airmen, their feelings about the war, how the conflict changed them, and how normal life continued in the Edwardian world at home.

Many thanks to my niece, Nicole, a middle school history teacher, for introducing me to Jacqueline. For more information about Jacqueline’s book, visit her site, http://soldierletters.blogspot.co.uk/

2013.04.03

April 3, 1908, 105 years ago today, was a very sad day in the lives of George and Rosanna. Their “bright boy” and eldest child, five year old John, died suddenly of scarlet fever. John was a fair child with golden hair and large, expressive eyes. According to the death certificate shown above, he had been only been under the care of a physician for one day before he passed away.

John was buried the day after his death in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Fall River, Massachusetts. In the days before antibiotics, scarlet fever was considered an extremely contagious disease and by state law, a public church funeral was forbidden. John’s funeral was most likely limited to close family members either in George and Rosanna’s home or at the cemetery.

George was devastated that his little boy was not allowed a proper church funeral and blamed his local parish priest for the decision. My guess is that George did not understand that it was state law, and not necessarily church law which prohibited a church funeral. George publicly denounced the priest and vowed to never go to church again. Thirty six years later, George’s words were remembered by the local priest who denied the burial of George’s body at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, which was operated by the Catholic church. George was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery and is the only member of the family interred there.

Pictured above top is Rosanna’s locket which contains photos of sons Bernard on the left and John on the right. The center image is a copy of the official death certificate from the city of Fall River. The bottom photo is of Rosanna and youngest son, Bernard around 1918. Rosanna is wearing the locket.

2013.04.01

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today we celebrate and remember Florida Bouchard Swales, born on this day, April 1st, 1908. Florida was the wife of George and Rosanna’s son, Bernard.

The top photo shows Florida sitting at her kitchen table on Easter Sunday, 1969. In the middle photo, Florida, on the right, and her sister Blanch, on the left, are shown at the beach in the summer of 1930. The bottom photo shows a close up of Florida in a grade school photo in the late 1910’s.

2013.03.31

Happy Easter!

2013.03.30

For Holy Saturday, we have a beautiful Easter card sent to Rosanna in Fall River, Massachusetts from her sister Kate Cuppello Tomlinson of Burnley, Lancashire, England.

This postcard was published by the German company, E. A. Schwerdtfeger & Co. According to the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City, this company specialized in real photo postcards, “their best known postcards are of fashionable women, often in exotic costumes”.

2013.03.29

In keeping with the somber tone of Good Friday, we have another sad postcard from Rosanna’s collection. Sent for Easter 1908, this card contains a special note from Catherine Cuppello in England to her son-in-law, George T. Swales, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Catherine wrote to inform George of the death of his friend, Thomas Biggins, who died on April 4, 1908 at Victoria Hospital in Burnley.

Thomas was born in Burnley in 1877. He served in the military for six years from 1900 to 1906. Census and military documents list his occupation both prior to and after his enlistment as a weaver. George and Thomas most likely were acquainted through work, since George was a weaver as well.

Catherine wrote:

Dear son

I hope you Will notice This cross And Bear it patiently

The sad news of your ould chum Thomas Biggins

I hope you will offer your holy communion up

This Easter sunday Morning in Behalf of his poor soul

To George

Poor George received this note from Catherine in the same mailing as the cute postcard for his little son John, who, unbeknownst to the family in England, had died on April 3, the day before Thomas Biggin’s death.

2013.03.24

Since today is Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week, we will focus our attention to some of the many beautiful Easter postcards from Rosanna’s collection.

Today’s card was sent to Rosanna and George’s five year old son, John, in Fall River, Massachusetts from one of Rosanna’s family members in Burnley, England for Easter 1908. Easter Sunday fell on April 19th that year but sadly, poor little John never saw this card. He died suddenly on April 3 from scarlet fever.

In those days, the mail was shipped across the Atlantic by steamship, so a card or letter would arrive at least two weeks after its initial posting. The cheerful card above most likely was sent around the same time as Rosanna’s letter informing her mother and siblings of John’s death.

2013.03.17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In honor of the day, we remember George’s mother, Mary Duffy Swales, pictured in the top photo. Mary was born in the early 1840’s in County Mayo, Ireland to Peter Duffy and Mary Malley. Her birth occurred a few years before the Great Famine, a catastrophic period in Irish history which lasted from 1845 to 1852. The first record of Mary Duffy in England is her marriage to George Swales on December 30, 1855 in Cross Canonby, Cumberland. At some point prior to 1855, Mary emigrated to England. Most likely, Mary left Ireland in her teen age years, which means she would have been a famine survivor.

The assumption that Mary left Ireland after the famine is based on the birthplace of Mary’s third child, a daughter named Rose Ann. Rose was born in County Roscommon, Ireland in 1862. The other children of Mary Duffy and George Swales, four daughters (Catherine, Mary, Elizabeth, and Martha) born between 1857 and 1866 and one son in 1872 (George Thomas), were all born in England. It would appear that Mary and George made a trip back to Ireland to visit Mary’s family. Baby Rose was born during that stay in Ireland. County Roscommon is adjacent to Mayo, the county in which Mary was born.

Rose Ann Swales, later known as Rose Ann Malone, is pictured above in the second photo with her daughter, Mary Ellen Malone. Mary Ellen is on the left, Rose on the right. Rose was very proud of her Irish heritage and sent numerous St. Patrick’s Day post cards to her brother George Thomas, his wife, Rosanna and their young son, Bernard. Above is one such card sent to 13 year old Bernard, 93 years ago today.