Welcome to the 2nd part of Maundy Thursday 1988. After learning about the origins and the historic rise of Maundy Thursday, we ended the previous episode, part 1, unsure where the next Royal Maundy Service was going to take place. … Continue reading 1988 – Maundy Thursday (Part 2)
Maundy Thursday 2021 Hi everyone, Today, the 1st April 2021 should have been a very special day this year. It should have been the day of Maundy Thursday 2021, but due to the ongoing Pandemic, sadly there was no official … Continue reading Maundy Thursday 2021
“COVID-19” Oh my gosh, how the world has changed during the time that I’ve been away from my keyboard! I’m stunned and can’t quite believe what’s happened since I last posted an article. Who could have predicted that for the … Continue reading 1988 – Maundy Thursday (Part 1)
Prologue Wow, today’s installment has been a challenge, a real marathon blog to put together. Lots of happenings during this period and many donated photographs have all added to the delay of this blog. Around 35 photographs have been included and … Continue reading 1980 to 1987 – The Last Branch
I received some very sad news yesterday morning. As I was applying the finishing touches to my next to be posted blog, an email arrived from Roger Parris of New York, informing me that his mother, Hortense Parris, had died … Continue reading “Aunt Hortense” 1920-2019
Thank you all for visiting my blog and website, I really appreciate your readership. A landmark of 20,000 pages have now been viewed. This is a selection of some of the countries that visited ‘To Jamaica and Beyond’ last year. … Continue reading 2018
Hi to all my readers, welcome to the year 2019! Today is the first anniversary of To Jamaica and Beyond. I began this blogging journey exactly a year ago today. The year has come and gone so quickly, that I’m … Continue reading 1970 to 1980 – Marriages, Deaths, Retirements
The previous blog, 1963 – Jamaican Wedding Cake contained the usual selection of old-time black and white photographs from Cecil Hodgson’s albums. The years were now moving quickly forward and the world of colour photographs are beginning to appear more … Continue reading 1964 to 1968 – Back Home
It was now the year 1963. There would be just one more Hodgson from Southfield that would move to the United States of America. However, the Hodgson Emigrants moving from Jamaica into the United Kingdom were complete. There was now … Continue reading 1963 – Jamaican Wedding Cake
….Most of the Southfield Hodgson’s had now left Jamaica and migrated to either New York, America or West Bromwich, England. However, still residing in Jamaica at this time were; Southfield Pen owner, Leslie Hodgson and his wife, Phyllis Their son … Continue reading 1962 – Jamaican Independence
It was 1961. The story continues…. There were now eight ‘West Bromwich Hodgson’s’ firmly established in England. These ‘first-generation’ Jamaican immigrants would eventually be responsible for the creation of the second, third and fourth generation members of the Hodgson clan. During the … Continue reading 1961 – The Fantastic Hodgson’s
It’s been a while since I last posted, Apologies for the delay. I’ve had a busy work schedule but also this blog ‘More Nephews’ has been a little complicated. New discoveries have been made which needed to be thoroughly researched, verified … Continue reading 1958/59/60 – More Nephews
Mass Teddy had died and Mabel’s sister, Dorcas Speid had also died at Southfield. Some of the ‘Southfield Hodgson’s’ were now living at Langley, Oldbury. Cecil’s nephew, Valdie had married his partner Rhema Clarke. Cecil Hodgson had been lodging for … Continue reading 1957 – West Bromwich
Mass Teddy’s son, Cecil and two of his nephews, Valdie and Rennie had emigrated to England. The story of what would prove to be an eventful year, now continues…. Southfield Mass Teddy, whose occupation was now listed as a cultivator, … Continue reading 1956 – Rum And Salt
Valdie Moore Hodgson Arrived England 1954 It had been nearly 13 years since Cecil’s brother Aubrey – my grandfather – had died suddenly at Southfield. His five children, Valdie, Renford, Clinton, Ciseline and the youngest Colin, were all in Jamaica. … Continue reading 1954/55 – Nephews Arrive
During the years 1952-53, Cecil was living at Frank Holdsworth’s property at Rotton Park Road, Edgbaston. He was still playing club cricket with Aston Unity, and also touring occasionally during the summer months with George Headley and Co, turning out … Continue reading 1954 – New Lodgings
In Jamaica at Southfield, widower, Mass Teddy was still a very heavy drinker, regularly supping his favourite tipple, strong Jamaican white rum. Often intoxicated at a rum bar, he would tell his friends “I drink like the Scotsman that I … Continue reading 1952 – The 1751 Will
Cecil Hodgson had emigrated to England and was living in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The story continues…. In 1950 – just a year before Cecil came to England – the West Indies cricket team had toured England to play a four-match Test … Continue reading 1952 – The West Indies XI
Cecil Hodgson had left Jamaica. Firstly he went to London, then he travelled down to the Midlands. The story continues…. Being black, Cecil found it extremely difficult to find accommodation In The Midlands. The English didn’t want black people living … Continue reading 1952 – In The Midlands
Useful Advice For Those New To Family History…. Interview Your Oldest Relatives. Hurry! Interview Your Parents, Uncle’s and Aunt’s Use A Dictator Ask Them Questions. Just Let Them Talk Play Back What They Said Review What They Spoke About Write … Continue reading 📝 Family History Top Tips
The opportunity to emigrate from Jamaica to the United Kingdom had arrived. Cecil was about to move to England…. Southfield 1951 Cecil Hodgson was still a single man living in Southfield. At the age of 40, he was still an … Continue reading 1951 – On English Soil
The United States had suffered no direct bombing damage to their country during the war, but it was a much different situation in the United Kingdom. Parts of the country had suffered much destruction from the German bombing runs. 1948 … Continue reading 1948 – The Windrush
The story continues…. The Southfield Hodgson’s were still keen to go to America. After the end of the war, two more of Teddy and Mabel’s children – Hortense and Linton – were in America. I have no details of their … Continue reading 1947 – Lock Of Hair
Thank you all for visiting my Blog and Website! Next Blog: Sunday Continue reading 1st January – 1st March 2018
Mass Teddy had lost his wife Mabel. Their son Leslie had changed his mind about going to America and come back to help look after Southfield. He would write to his brother Maurice in New York, telling him that their … Continue reading 1945 – War’s End
I love this drawing. Apart from my close family, nobody has ever seen it. I have the drawing in a frame and it has been hanging proudly on my stairwell since 2008. I see it every time I walk up … Continue reading 1902 – Our Ancestral Home
Previously on To Jamaica and Beyond…. World War 2 had been running for 5 years, but was now in it’s final year. Ida Mae and Maurice were in New York with their families. Cecil was at Southfield, back from the … Continue reading 1945 – The Family Mourns
A recap…. War was still raging. Cecil’s Nephew, Vin, had been working as a farmer in America. Cecil had studied at the Farm School in Kingston. It was now his turn to go to the States. A bit of updated … Continue reading 1944 – American Farmer
War Food Administration World War 2 was ongoing and America was now heavily involved. Food was in shortage so America developed an ‘Emergency Farm Labour Program’. They chose to use Jamaican’s and others in this program. Kingston, Jamaica – 29th … Continue reading 1943 – War Food
Southfield Pen Cecil was about to leave Southfield and move to the capital, Kingston. “Why was he going to Kingston?” In the capital there had been a ‘Government Farm School’ operating at Hope Estate, Kingston since 1910. At it’s inception, the … Continue reading 1942 – Farm School
Cecil Hodgson’s brother Aubrey had died. It had shocked the whole family. Mabel was running and working at her mothers shop at Belle Vue. The wealth of the Hodgson’s was in decline. Emigration To America Before World War 2 Since Ida … Continue reading 1941 – Pearl Harbor
The story so far. Some of the Hodgson’s and Mair’s had emigrated to America. Ida Mae wanted the rest of her siblings to join her in America. World War 2 was ongoing. Mass Teddy’s sister Emmy had been deceased for … Continue reading 1941 – The Racetrack
This lady was Mass Teddy’s sister. The story continues…. Looking closely at her portrait – taken around 1923 – she appears to be a distinguished lady. She looks white but was in fact partially black. When I say partially what … Continue reading 1941 – The Gentlewoman
Great Britain – 3rd September 1939 11.15am – A radio message is announced by the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, that the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland has expired. He says, the British ambassador to Berlin … Continue reading 1939 – Britain Declares War
A good question! Here’s the answer – Over the last 18 years, I have been writing a family history book that now contains about 500 pages. It has never been my intention to have this book published and sold. The original … Continue reading Why Run A Blog?
Uncle Cecil was my dads Uncle. He was born 1911 at Southfield Pen Great House, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica to Mass Teddy and Grandma Mabel. A middle child of their nine children, his full name was Walter Cecil Hodgson but he … Continue reading Uncle Cecil
You might be interested to know why I started researching my family history. I brought my first ever computer on christmas eve 1997, at a time when computers were just beginning to go mainstream. Amongst the selection of accessories that … Continue reading What Inspired Me To Research
Hello again…. Let me tell you about how my family ended up in West Bromwich. Both my parents were born in Jamaica. They lived in a Parish called Saint Elizabeth on the South West side of the island. My mother, … Continue reading My Parents
Hello everyone – My name is Robert Hodgson and I live in West Bromwich, England. Welcome to my family history blog To Jamaica And Beyond. To Jamaica And Beyond is the result of an 18 year study looking into the … Continue reading My First Post
To Jamaica And Beyond 