Introduction

As always, greetings to all readers of "Daltons in History"!!

As I write, late in January, and reflect over the past month, much has been achieved in the world of the DGS.

• We published the previous edition of “Daltons in History” on this website;

• Volume 55 of the DGS Journal has been printed and distributed;

• The final two Dalton DNA Project reports have been completed and distributed;

• Plans for the DNA Project in 2012 have been agreed;

• An update has been circulated to our officers and committee members to stimulate discussion on current DGS matters;

• The online membership database is now fully functional;

• Bookings have been coming in for the Yorkshire Gathering in July;

• Arrangements for the 2013 Gathering have been put in place…..

I could go on – as always we have been beavering away to ensure that the Society meets its obligations to its members, and to you all as readers of this monthly online newsletter. Whether you are a member of the DGS, a regular reader of “Daltons in History”, an occasional visitor to this website or this is your first visit, you are all most welcome. The website is open to all and we hope that those who visit us will be tempted to dig deeper, and to return.

More details about many of the headlines above will be found below, along with all the latest news about DGS events and activities, together with other updates to keep you fully informed about what we are doing.

Correspondence section in “Daltons in History”

I hope that the content “Daltons in History” is jogging the memories of many readers, provoking questions which you may have, or reminding you of further information, substantive or anecdotal, which you might like to share with other readers. With this in mind, we now have a correspondence section in “Daltons in History”, and the first items appeared last month. I know that our Editor, Dairne Irwin, will welcome correspondence from as many of you as care to write in! So why not make a comment, provide additional information, or ask a question? Such contributions will be welcomed most warmly and we want a lively discussion ensuing, which will be of interest to all our readers. “Daltons in History” is your online newsletter, so let’s see some of you becoming regular correspondents! I look forward to seeing the correspondence section grow over the coming months!

Future DGS events

For the 2012 Gathering and AGM we are returning to Yorkshire over the weekend of Fri/Sat/Sun 27th/28th/29th July 2012. The venue for this event is the Mercure Hull West Hotel just click here, which is very accessible and ideally situated between Hull, which has a number of interesting Dalton connections, and Beverley with its Minster and excellent Record Office. The arrangements for the 2012 gathering have been published and they can be found below and in the “Forthcoming Gatherings” section of this website or just click here. These include the planned programme for the weekend, together with full details about costs, registration and how to book your place. We expect this to be a popular event for both UK and overseas members, and it is recommended that you register as early as possible. This will secure a firm place for you, and the earlier we have an indication of likely numbers, the easier it will be for us to ensure that we can accommodate as many of you as wish to come. It would be extremely helpful if you are able to return your registration form and deposit before 29th February 2012.

I am most grateful to Howard Dalton of Pickering for taking on the task of Gathering Organiser. Howard is a past DGS Treasurer and well known to many DGS members. He organised previous DGS Gatherings in Scarborough in 1992 and in Pickering in 2002.

In this month’s “Daltons in History” you will find the second in a series of articles about Yorkshire Daltons and the County of Yorkshire, which we are publishing month by month leading up to the event itself in July. This second article is entitled “The Dalton Jamboree – 9th May 1982” and originally appeared in the DGS Journal Vol 11 No 1 published back in July 1982. You will find it reproduced below. It tells of a gathering of descendants of an 18th Century Dalton who was a blacksmith in Garton-on-the-Wolds, organised by Howard in the village 30 years ago.

For 2013 we are returning to Ireland. We will be based in Dublin, as we were in 2005, and the event will take place over the weekend of Fri/Sat/Sun 26th/27th/28th July 2013. It is planned that we will stay at the Ashling Hotel, where we were in 2005. Since then the hotel has been considerably refurbished and I am confident that we will be very well looked after. You can see more about the Ashling Hotel on www.ashlinghotel.ie. Ciaran Dalton, our Irish Secretary and Chieftain of Clan Dalton, and I are now working to put a detailed programme together, and we will provide further details in July at our Hull Gathering, on this website and in the next issue of the DGS Journal. In the meantime please reserve the dates in your diary. We will hope to see many DGS members there and particularly those with Irish Dalton ancestry.

For 2014 and beyond we have a number of suggestions already. But, if you have any particular thoughts about where you might like to meet, or a particular Dalton theme you think we should incorporate, we would really like to hear from you with your ideas.

The Dalton International DNA Project (DIDP)

We are indebted to our DNA consultant, Chris Pomery for all his assistance with the project over the past six years, which includes the preparation of three issues of the very comprehensive project progress report, and most recently a series of six reports covering individual genetic families. He has also given informative presentations at our annual gatherings on three occasions. We now have approaching 180 participants in the project, and well over 80% of these are members of one of the 15 identified genetic families. The latest DIDP update will be found as separate section in this issue of “Daltons in History”. This reviews the current status of the project and looks ahead with our plans for further work in 2012.

The DGS Journal

Volume 55 of the DGS Journal for December 2011 is now available and was posted out to members towards the end of January. Any member who has not received their copy by the end of February should contact their local secretary in the first instance. As always this latest volume of the Journal contains much of interest and, if you are not a DGS member, please think about joining the Society. This will entitle you to receive the Journal regularly, and much more. Full details are in the “Join the DGS” section of this website, or just click here.

John always welcomes articles and other items for publication in the Journal. Any material for publication should be sent to him as early as possible, so that he can plan for the content of future issues. John is happy to advise and assist contributors and, if you have any questions or need help, please contact him by email at johndalton78@hotmail.com.

Back issues of the DGS Journal continue to be available. On this website you can access the "DGS Journal Index" from the homepage or by clicking here. Here you will find a full synopsis of the contents of the Journal of the Dalton Genealogical Society commencing with Volume 1 published back in 1970 through to Volume 41 published in December 2004. Lists of contents are given for Volumes 42 to 55 and the full synopses will be uploaded in due course. Copies of all back numbers are available for purchase and these can be obtained through your local secretary using the order form that you will find on the link above. Details of prices, including postage and packing, will be found there as well.

We are most grateful to DGS member Mrs Pat Robinson, who holds stocks of back numbers for the Society and arranges for their distribution in response to requests from the local secretaries (address: Mallards, 3 High Street, The Green, Barrington, Cambridge CB2 5QX, UK email: gandprobinson@waitrose.com.)

Conclusion

Enjoy this month’s issue of "Daltons in History", your regular monthly update on everything that is happening in the world of Dalton family history. We will be back again in March 2012.

Thank you for your attention

Yours very sincerely

Michael Neale Dalton
Chairman and Honorary Life President of the Dalton Genealogical Society

For 2012, the DGS Annual Gathering is being held in Yorkshire and will be based at the Mercure Hull West Hotel, situated between Hull, which has a number of interesting Dalton connections, and Beverley with its Minster and an excellent Record Office. This event will take place from Friday 27th to Monday 30th July, 2012.

The Dalton Genealogical Society extends an invitation to all DGS members and their families to attend the 2012 Gathering of the Society in Hull, Yorkshire, England from Friday 27th to Monday 30th July. All will be welcome, and the theme of the weekend will be the origins and the history of Yorkshire Dalton families and particularly those with Hull connections. Coupled with this we will review some of the projects that the Society is working on and look ahead to the future.

The weekend will include the opportunity to visit a number of interesting places local to Hull, some with Dalton connections, together with talks about Dalton family history and, of course, the opportunity to meet and chat with fellow members. The DGS Annual Dinner will take place on the Saturday evening.

Full details of the programme for the weekend, costs and booking arrangements will be found below. If you require any further information or have any queries, please contact Howard Dalton (2012 Gathering Organiser - email: howard.dalton@hotmail.co.uk) or Michael Neale Dalton (DGS Chairman & 2012 Gathering Coordinator - email: michaelndalton@aol.com) who will be pleased to assist.

A note about travel arrangements

If you are travelling to England from overseas, you may wish to consider flying to Manchester in Lancashire, which is about a two hour drive from Hull. Another option is Leeds/Bradford airport, about one hour from Hull. The journey from one of the London airports will take considerably longer. Another point to consider is that London will be extremely busy at this time with the Olympic Games starting on 27th July, 2012.

For those who wish to travel by train, there is a good direct service from London King’s Cross to Hull which takes about two and a half hours.

It is anticipated that delegates from overseas will want to combine their stay in Hull with visits to other parts of the UK. There are many options – you can hire a car and explore at your leisure; you can travel by rail between the major cities; or you can take one of the many organised coach tours around the country. It all depends on what you want to see and perhaps whether or not you are a first time visitor to England.

If you need any advice, guidance or assistance with your travel plans, please contact Howard or Michael who will do their best to help you.

A note about the Mercure Hull West Hotel

The venue for the Gathering is the Mercure Hull West Hotel. This hotel has recently been transferred from Ramada Jarvis to the Accord/Mercure Group. Originally a 19th Century manor house, the hotel is set in 12 acres of gardens and is spaciously appointed with excellent facilities for conferences and events. The bedrooms are comfortable with all the usual facilities expected in a four star hotel, including high speed internet access. Further details about the hotel can be found on their website. Just click here.

Annual Gathering for 2012
Friday 27th to Monday 30th July, 2012
Hull, Yorkshire, England

PROGRAMME FOR THE WEEKEND

Friday 27th July 2012

Saturday 28th July 2012

Sunday 29th July 2012

Monday 30th July 2012

REGISTRATION FORM

The form is given below and may be downloaded as an Adobe Acrobat (registrationform.pdf) or Word (registrationform.doc) document for printing, completion and return as per the accompanying notes.

REGISTRATION FORM NOTES

The Registration Form follows. Please note the points below:

Prices for accommodation are as follows:

Mercure Hull West Hotel - £90 per night for bed & breakfast for 2 people in a double/twin room, or £80 per night for bed & breakfast for 1 person in a single room.

If you prefer to take alternative accommodation there are a number of other possible options locally. Please indicate this on the registration form and we will assist if we can. It is also possible for those who live locally to join the weekend as a day delegate.

Indicative prices for events and visits are as follows:

Subject to demand, we plan to arrange transport by coach on Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The indicative prices include an allowance for this. As soon as final details and costings are known, they will be advised to all those who have made reservations, and they will be published on the DGS website.

Notes for overseas members

Members in the United States and Canada may remit to the Society’s North American Secretary in US dollars. Please convert at the rate of $1.70 to the pound sterling and send your remittance made payable to “Dalton Genealogical Society” together with a copy of the registration form to: Karen Dalton Preston, DGS North American Secretary, 2777 Turtle Head Peak Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135, USA.

Members in Australia and New Zealand should contact the Australian Secretary, Maureen Collins by email (mmcollins@ozemail.com.au) for guidance.

Please remember that even if your remittance is being sent to either Karen Preston or Maureen Collins, you must also send your registration form with all the details to Michael N Dalton at the UK address on the form.

Additional elements of the weekend programme

Please fill in to indicate your expected participation in the following events and the numbers in your party:-

Declaration

I have read the enclosed details and ticked the boxes as requested, and enclose my cheque for the total indicated above and made payable to ‘Dalton Genealogical Society’. Alternatively I have made arrangements for the payment to be sent to one of the DGS Overseas Secretaries.

I understand the terms outlined above relating to the return of deposit monies paid to the Society.

In the event of any changes to my booking or cancellation, I undertake to notify the DGS Chairman & 2012 Gathering Coordinator, Michael N Dalton, at the earliest opportunity.

Signed:  ............................................................................ Date:     ............................................................................

This article originally appeared in the DGS Journal Volume 11 Number 1 published in July 1982. It was written by the then editor of the DGS Journal and now Chairman of the Society Michael Dalton. It is being republished here as the second of a series of articles in “Daltons in History” which will appear over the coming months as we approach the 2012 DGS Gathering being held in Yorkshire at the end of July 2012. The Gathering is taking Yorkshire Daltons as its theme, and these include Daltons of Garton-on-the-Wolds, a small village which we will be visiting during the gathering on the Sunday afternoon.

The 2012 DGS Gathering Organiser is Howard Dalton, a descendant of the Daltons of Garton-on-the-Wolds and the organiser of the Dalton Jamboree in 1982. Inbetween, in 1992 Howard organised the DGS Gathering in Scarborough, and in 2002 another gathering in Pickering. Thus, every ten years Howard organises a Dalton gathering and we wonder what he has in store for 2022!

Unbeknown to the DGS and equally without knowledge of the DGS, a Dalton genealogical event took place at Garton-on-the-Wolds, East Yorkshire on 9th May last. This came about through the enterprise of Howard Dalton from Northumberland who it turns out is descended from the same John Dalton of Garton-on-the-Wolds as DGS members Mark Dalton and Dr Antony Cox (see DGSJ Vol 10 No 1 pp 12-14 and MN&Q 10.10 & 11.6). Howard was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on the Friday morning preceding the Sunday of the event and one of those who heard the interview was Mark. He arranged to attend and so the DGS was not unrepresented! The account of the event given below appeared in the Yorkshire Post on Monday 10th May as a ‘Weekend People’ feature:

Keith Nicholson attends the first gathering of some of the descendants of an 18th Century Yorkshire blacksmith.

FORGING A FAMILY LINK

Nearly 30 descendants of an 18th Century blacksmith made a pilgrimage yesterday to his East Yorkshire village.

At Garton-on-the-Wolds, near Driffield, they saw the site of the old forge, long since demolished and now part of a garden, where generations of Daltons worked.

On Saturday, the 20th Century members of the family had gathered in York for their first reunion and self-styled “Dalton Jamboree”. Some met for the first time at a dinner at Naburn Banqueting Hall, near York.

The gathering was organised by Howard Dalton, a 32 year old accountant, of Cresswell, near Morpeth, Northumberland, who with the help of others has traced the family history back nearly two centuries.

Mr Dalton carried out much of his earlier research into parish records and census forms with his late father Mr Eric Dalton, an organist at Dringhouses Parish Church, York, who died ten years ago.

Among those wearing “Dalton Jamboree 1982” badges during the weekend were Reg Dalton, 70, of Cossington, Leicestershire, his son, Jim from Carlisle, and his brother Professor Godfrey Dalton, of Queen’s University, Belfast. Reg and Godfrey are uncles of Howard Dalton, who had the badges made.

Professor Dalton was accompanied by his wife, Hilary, and their children, Margaret, 26, Elizabeth, 23, and Nigel, 17, who swims for Ulster.

The Dalton connection with Garton dates from the days when John Dalton arrived in the village in the 1700s to take over the smithy. It was passed down from father to son and the last Dalton to be blacksmith there, Robert, achieved fame through his habit of putting his name on nearly everything he made.

Howard Dalton yesterday pointed out Robert’s signature carved on the tower wall of the village church in 1809, together with the imprint of his hand. Family sleuths then went in search of a barn door hinge, also said to bear Robert Dalton’s name.

Another branch of the family was represented by Mr Mark Dalton, 32, of Kirkwood Way, Cookridge, Leeds, who can also trace his ancestry back to the 18th Century blacksmith, John.

Mark had travelled to Garton with his brother, Andrew, who played cricket for Yorkshire from 1970 to 1972 and is now the managing director of a Leeds printing firm.

Howard explained that the reunion was suggested during a visit to his aunt, Mrs Rene Whiteman, of Bridlington, who has helped with research.

He added: “Although John Dalton’s first child was born three months before he married a local girl, I haven’t found any family scandal. Apart from blacksmiths, they were farmers and policemen – and not surprisingly, they seem to have been very law-abiding.”

Howard Dalton has become a member of the DGS and the publicity given to the Dalton Jamboree has brought about a number of enquiries from Daltons in various parts of the country. Howard has kindly referred these to the DGS and this has resulted in several new members for the Society.

It is hoped that more details of the descendants of the Garton-on-the-Wolds Daltons will be published in a future issue of the Journal. They certainly have a formidable team of enthusiastic genealogical researchers!

With the completion of our work for 2011 and plans now in place for 2012, Michael Neale Dalton, the DIDP Coordinator reviews the project as it stands currently and looks ahead to the proposed future developments.

As always, we are indebted to our DNA consultant, Chris Pomery for all his assistance with the project over the past six years, which includes the preparation of three issues of the very comprehensive project progress report, and most recently a series of six reports covering individual genetic families. He has also given informative presentations at our annual gatherings on three occasions. We now have approaching 180 participants in the project, and well over 80% of these are members of one of the 15 identified genetic families.

Issue 3 of the full Project Progress Report was published in October 2009. Since then the emphasis has been on providing updated reports for each individual genetic family, and these have been published as follows:

- Genetic Family A - the Virginia Daltons (December 2010)

- Genetic Family B - the Eireann Daltons (September 2011)

- Genetic Family C - the Carmarthenshire Daltons (September 2011)

- Genetic Family D - the Golden Vale Daltons (September 2011)

- Genetic Families E, F, G, H, J and K and R1b singletons (December 2011)

- Genetic Families Q, W, X, Y and Z and non-R1b singletons (December 2011)

All these reports have been made available to the members of the group or groups covered in each one (it is generally a requirement that recipients of reports are paid up DGS members. This enables us to reimburse Chris Pomery as our DNA consultant for the immense amount of work that he undertakes on an ongoing basis for the project).

There have been a number of innovations in this series of six reports and one of the most important of these is the inclusion of details of the oldest documented Dalton ancestor where known. Chris has emphasised to us the importance of sharing this information as part of our quest to reconstruct and establish all our Dalton family trees, and to identify the links between them. Where this data is incomplete, we have asked project participants to supply details of their oldest documented Dalton ancestor if known, so that it can be recorded in the next update of the report.

We also have coordinators appointed for the larger genetic families (A, B, C & D) and for some of the smaller ones (E, W, Y & Z). Increasingly these coordinators are taking on responsibility for working with their groups to share data about the various known family trees and to identify further research to assist in the reconstruction of the trees. As everyone who has heard Chris speak, at one of our gatherings or elsewhere will know, the DNA results are only the beginning of a sometimes long journey to piece together the complete family history, and there is always plenty of further more traditional research work to be done.

With this in mind, Karen Preston, the deputy coordinator of the project and DGS North American Secretary, and I have been in discussion with Chris Pomery about our plans for 2012. Chris has advised that we should have more focus on the geographical origins of the earliest known ancestors of each DIDP participant. He will therefore be producing two reports during the coming year – one for those with known UK/Ireland origins, and the other for those with North American origins, or origin anywhere else outside UK/Ireland. This will bring much more focus on researching the origins of each tree, and the traditional research that we want to encourage all participants to do.

In addition we still need to expand our database of DNA data, both by extending those tests still at 12 or 25 markers to at least 37, and by encouraging known male Dalton descendants of UK Dalton families to join the project. We will be contacting those who fall into this category and inviting them to participate.

As always, if you have any questions, need help with interpreting the reports or you are wishing to join the project, do please contact either myself (michaelndalton@aol.com) or Karen (karen@golden-hills.com). We will do our best to assist you, and if we are unable to help, we will refer your query to Chris Pomery. We look forward to seeing DIDP expand significantly during 2012.

During her many years as General Secretary of the DGS, Lucy Slater accumulated a vast quantity of documentation and correspondence relating to Dalton family history. Following her death in June 2008, no less than 16 arch files full of documents were passed to Michael Dalton together with an index of their contents. Michael has been delving into these archives and this is the sixth of a series of articles for “Daltons in History”, in which he shares some of this material with readers, this time from arch file number 6.

Firstly apologies to readers for the long delay since Part 5, which even I was surprised to see was a full year ago!

Index to File 6

In the Index of Dalton Documents Vols 1 to 5 we have so far found some 450 separate documents. In Vol 6 we find another 110 or so documents to review. These relate mainly to Daltons in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and the United States. Here is my selection from what I have found of interest, concentrating particularly on the Suffolk Daltons.

Doc 0335 – Tree of Daltons in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 1700 – 1790

This is a copy of a handwritten chart found in the Whitehead Collection held by the Society of Genealogists Library in London. Lucy obtained her copy in about 1988 and it extends a chart published in 1979 in DGSJ Vol 8 No 2 pp 12-18 under the title of ‘The Daltons of East Anglia’, by giving many more dates and details of marriages. The earliest recorded Dalton is John Dalton (1665-1712), squire of Bury and son of Thomas Dalton (1609-1672) who became Canon of Durham. The tree in the Journal was supplied by the late Lionel Weir Dalton, a descendant of this line and a DGS member. I recall corresponding with Lionel at length about his Dalton forebears.

Doc 0337 – Daltons in Suffolk parish registers 1600-1900

Doc 0338 – Extracts from ‘Hotton’s emigrants’ and other bits 1625-1750

Doc 0339 – More bits about Daltons in Suffolk 1600-1900

These comprise mainly handwritten notes made by Lucy from various registers and other sources. Together they amount to a substantial amount of data relating to Suffolk Daltons. Amongst the papers is a letter from Lucy dated 18 May 1988 to Nesta Evans, author of a book entitled ‘The East Anglian Linen Industry and Local Economy 1500-1850’, requesting help with her research. Lucy writes:

I am studying the Puritan emigration to Massachussetts about 1630-40. Among these emigrants were two brothers, Timothy and Philemon Dalton. Timothy was the Vicar of Woolverstone and slipped out of England in 1635. Philemon was a linen weaver and emigrated officially. His certificate read:

15th April 1635. These parties hereafter expressed are to be transported to New England, embarqued in ye ship ‘Increase’, Robert Lea, master, having taken the Oath of Allegeance, as also being comformable to the disciplain of the Church of England, whereof they brought testimony by certificate from ye Justices and Ministers where their abode has been viz: a Linnen weaver Philimon Dalton of 45 years age, uxor Hanna Dalton of 35 years age, son Samuel Dalton 5½ years, and servant William White 14 years.

Timothy married Ruth Leet at Gislingham in 1615, Philemon Dalton married Ann Cole at Dennington. Both these places are in Suffolk near Diss. I have no records of their births. Reading your book it struck me that you may have some records of Timothy and Philemon. The name Philemon is so rare that any record with this name on it is of great interest to me. I should very much like to see any records you may have.

Unfortunately, it appears that Lucy never received a reply, but it is interesting to see how widely she researched this Dalton family, which was of course the subject of our New Hampshire Dalton Gathering back in 2006 and we have descendants of this line in the Dalton DNA Project in Genetic Family J. The question that is now raised is whether the Bury St Edmunds Daltons are part of the same family group, and it would be of great interest to identify a living male Dalton descendant willing to join the DNA project and see if there is a match with Genetic Family J.

D0357 – “Tail Corn” village magazine of the Eversdens, Vol 15, No 3, Winter 1991

Reproduced in this magazine is a copy of an article written by Lucy entitled ‘The Leetes of Eversden’, and originally published in the Journal of the Cambridgeshire Family History Society (Lucy was a longstanding member of this Society). The article starts with the details of Ruth Leete who married Timothy Dalton and their emigration to America. It goes on to identify the earliest records of the Leete family and informs the reader that Gerard, son of Lete held land at Morden in Cambridgeshire in 1209. Four Leete brothers are said to have served in the Crusades and the lighted fuses on the family arms suggest that this service was likely. The family lived in or near Eversden for 700 years from 1200 to 1900 and there are monuments and graves to be found at Great Eversden Church. The article contains interesting accounts of the family through the centuries, and one wonders why Ruth and her two sisters, Phoebe and Debora, all emigrated. Timothy and Ruth had no children who survived them but Phoebe and Debora both had large families by their respective husbands, George Parkhurst and Jasper Blake.

L0372 – Letters from Bailey Rogers and his descent from Philemon Dalton 1987

L0373 – Letters from Bailey Rogers about Timothy and Philemon Dalton 1988

L0374 – Letters from Bailey Rogers about personal and family history 1990-1993

Bailey Rogers is a genealogist living in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA with whom Lucy corresponded at length. Bailey is descended from Philemon Dalton and took a great interest in all the information that Lucy sent to him about her research into Timothy and Philemon. Bailey was also able to supply Lucy with additional information and this contributed greatly to Lucy’s knowledge of these Daltons. All Lucy’s work culminated in an article published in the DGS Journal, Vol 19 No1 (Dec 1990) pp 15-22 and entitled ‘Timothy & Philemon’.

Conclusion

In this volume of the archives, there is another wealth of interesting material, and it is always difficult to pick out a representative selection of items. The in depth research work undertaken by Lucy continues to be in evidence and the archive is a valuable source of additional material to the many published articles, particularly for anyone interested in resuming and adding to the research already undertaken.

1. From Michael Neale Dalton, DGS Chairman

I chanced on this piece in the news on the AOL website today (29 January 2012):

Experts say that we are now at the peak of 'Cycle 24' - which is why last week's solar storm resulted in sightings of the aurora borealis much further south than usual.

But sunspot numbers are running at less than half of those seen during cycle peaks in the 20th century and experts at NASA believe that Cycle 25, which is due to peak in 2022, will be considerably weaker.

According to a paper published by the Met Office, there is a 92 per cent chance Cycle 25 and those taking place in the following decades will be as weak, or weaker than, the 'Dalton minimum' of 1790 to 1830. During this period, temperatures in parts of Europe fell by 2C.

It is also possible that the solar energy slump could be as deep as the 'Maunder minimum' between 1645 and 1715, the coldest part of the 'Little Ice Age' when the Thames and the canals of Holland froze solid.

Has anyone ever heard of the ‘Dalton minimum’ of 1790 to 1830 and, if so, which Dalton gave his name to it?

2. From Maureen Collins, Secretary for Australia and New Zealand

A few years ago I participated in Dublin (at an Irish Genealogical Congress) in a DNA project and since then I have received email newsletters from the SMGF (Sorensen Molecular Genealogy Foundation). I took part because I was able to as a female and it was some long time before the DGS became involved in DNA as a major project. The following is a snippet from the latest newsletter with the heading, “Telling your children about their family history”. It sounds like a good idea to me so I thought I should pass it on.

"If you make it boring it will be boring. Start with an attention getter and make sure you are a good story teller. Anyone would be interested in seeing a picture of their great-grandfather who looked just like them. And any child would like to see his grandfather's school report card when he was their age".

3. Maureen Collins, Secretary for Australia and New Zealand

I was at a seminar the other Saturday and the following list was handed out. It might interest our researchers and it will already be available via various search engines..

Archives and Libraries

Kent Archaeological Society: http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/research.htm

Kent Archives Service: http://www.kentarchives.org.uk

Australian libraries

Fisher Library: http://opac.library.usyd.edu.au/

State Library of NSW: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/using/search

Births, Marriages and Deaths

FreeBDM: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

Kent Marriages: http://www.genealogylinks.net/marriages/uk/england/kent.htm

Kent Parish Registers online: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,342304.0.html

Medway Ancestors: http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/

?Mode=Search&PathList=/Z4a_Medway_Ancestors/

Mid Kent Marriage Index: http://www.woodchurchancestry.org.uk/midkentmarriages/

UKBDM: http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/index.php?county=128&form_action=county

Cemeteries and Obituaries

Kent genealogy cemetery links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/kent/ken-cem.htm

Census

Ancestry (subscribe/SAG): http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/census/uk/default.aspx

Family Search: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1

&recordType=Census

FindMyPast: http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

Free Census: http://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

Convicts from Kent

Criminal in the 18th, 19th & 20th Century: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/

research-guides/criminals-18th-20th-centuries.htm

Old Bailey online: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

Prisoners Transported from Kent 1851-1852: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/trans1851.html

Family History Societies

Tunbridge Wells Family History Society: http://www.tunwells-fhs.co.uk

North West Kent Family History Society: http://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/

Folkestone and District Family History Society: http://www.folkfhs.org.uk/

Around our area: http://www.folkfhs.org.uk/Links.htm#AroundOurArea

Kent Family History Society: http://www.kfhs.org.uk

Genealogy and General websites with Kent Links

Cyndi’s List: http://www.cyndislist.com/eng-ken.htm

Family History Library Catalogue: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

Genuki: http://www.genuki.org.uk/contents/KENcontents.shtml

Kent Gen Web: http://www.rootsweb.com/~engken/

Here’s History Kent: http://www.hereshistorykent.org.uk/

Historic Kent: http://www.historic-kent.co.uk/index.htm

Historical Directories Searchable Digital Libraries from 1850-1910: http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/findbylocation.asp

Linkpendium Kent: http://genealogy-uki.linkpendium.com/eng/kent/

National Archives Documents Online: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline

Kent County Data Collections: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/Places/UK/England/Kent/Default.aspx

Kent Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/kent/index.html

Kent Genealogy: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/index.html

Kent genealogy directories: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/kent/ken-dir.htm

Maidstone Borough Summons for Pavement repairs 1760: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/summons.html

Registration Districts Kent: http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/ken.htm

Society of Genealogists (UK): http://www.sog.org.uk/prc/kent.shtml

Victoria County History of Kent Vols 1, 2, 3: http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/vch/kent.shtml

Workhouse (The): http://www.workhouses.org.uk/

Online Parish Clerk - Kent: http://www.kent-opc.org/

Genealogy Mailing Lists, Message Boards and Genealogy Chat Room

Ancestry Message Board: http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.britisles.england.ken.general/mb.ashx

Rootsweb Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

International Genealogical Index

International Genealogical Index (IGI): http://www.familysearch.org

IGI batch numbers for Kent: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/

IGIBatchNumbers/CountyKent.htm#PageTitle

IGI Middle name index: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/KentMiddleNamesIGI.htm

Maps

Old Maps: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genmaps/genfiles/

COU_Pages/ENG_pages/ken.htm

Military

Ancestry Military records: http://landing.ancestry.co.uk/ukmilitary/collections.aspx

Kent Genealogy Military links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/kent/ken-mil.htm

War Dead Roll of Honour: http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Kent/

Newspapers

UK GDL: http://www.ukgdl.org.uk/index.php

?form_action=county&county=118&classification=16

Maidstone Journal 1786-1841: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/mstjournal.html

Chatham News Index 1895 – 1965: http://www.gparrett.btinternet.co.uk/chatnews/

Kent People in British Newspapers 1800-1822: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/kentnews.html

Australian Marriage Notices for People from Kent 1840-1865: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/ausmarr.html

Photos

Kent Old Photos: http://www.oldukphotos.com/kent.htm

Kent Churches: http://www.churches-uk-ireland.org/kent.html

Kent Cemetery Photographs: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/area.php

?area=Kent&country=En

Footsteps Photos: http://www.footstepsphotos.co.uk/Kent/kent_index.htm

Old Photos of Kent: http://www.visitthepast.co.uk/group2932.html

Subscription Sites

Ancestry.com (subscribe/SAG) (Card Catalogue for Kent): http://www.ancestry.co.uk

FindMyPast (subscribe/SAG) (National Burial Index): http://www.findmypast.com/home.jsp

Origins Network (subscribe): http://www.origins.net/

Wills and Probate

National Probate Calendar on Ancestry: http://www.ancestry.co.uk

National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/willsdeathduties.asp

Kent Will Transcripts: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/wills.html

Will transcriptions online: http://www.willtranscriptions.co.uk/counties/kent.htm

Kent Probate & Related Indexes: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/probate.html

Robert J. and Winifred Dalton

The fourth instalment of the Dalton family who were descended from John and Susannah Dalton of Ireland, based on information given by Bill Dalton of Gig Harbour, Washington, USA with additional information from the Editor.

Their eldest son Robert J. Dalton and his wife had moved from Aberdare Wales and were living in Pennsylvania, USA. Their first son John E. has already been born on 8th October, 1870 in Wales.

A possible data entry for Robert’s application for citizenship can be seen in a source which lists immigrants who have applied for naturalization papers in the District Courts of Alleghany County Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Vol. 5 1880-1887 141p page22. Another and probably more likely one is Robert Dalton Year 1871 age 26, estimated birth year about 1845 in Ontario, Canada Source Publication Code: 1823: 14 Primary Immigrant Dalton, Robert.

Robert and Winifred Dalton lived in Pennsylvania from at least December 1872 when their second son James Francis was born. Son Peter followed in 1874 followed by daughters Mary Agnes in April 1876, Susan 1877, then son Robert in May 1879.

On the 1880 Census the family are found living in Jefferson Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania. Robert is listed as a miner, aged 32 years, who had been unemployed for 7 months in that Census year. Other family members listed include his wife “Winneyfred” aged 26 and children John, 9, born in Wales, and born in Pennsylvania James aged 7, Peter 6, Mary 5, Susan 3 and Robert 1. Also living with then were 2 boarders, Owen Clarke aged 29 and Barney Collins aged 25 both Irish miners. The elder 3 children attended school whilst the younger were at home.

Jefferson Township was founded on 22nd January, 1828. It was named in honour of Thomas Jefferson the third President of the United States – the author of the Declaration of Independence. The Township was created from the old Township of Muffin. The Township was located along the southern border of Allegheny County in a terrain which includes rolling hills and wooded areas.

Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the USA

The earliest families to settle there were farmers but later in the 19th Century there was a shift in the local economies when coal mining became the main industry, as it did throughout Western Pennsylvania. In 1860 the population was 1601, in 1870 2066 and by the time the young Dalton family appeared on the Census the population had risen to 3277. On maps of this time can be seen marked many coal and slip mines. An area is named Coal Valley. This area became an important coal mining area after the family had moved with the large Number 7 Coal Mine opened by Pittsburgh Terminal Coal. The company built a mine community, in an area known today as The Patch, where they built 50 homes for their workers, a company store, a movie theatre, post office and school.

Allegheny County Mines (See hatched areas)

Undated picture of a Mine First Aid Team

Above is an undated picture of the First Aid Team from the Argyle Mine, in South Fork, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. On the back is written: H R Fitzgerald, J A Dunsmore, Sup't, Guy P Masters, Sup't, John Sloan, James Sargent, Steve Pulaska, John Dalton, Ralph Kunkle. (Photo courtesy of Sharon Sheldon, of Alexandria, VA). Not known if John is from this family. There is a memorial to these miners: http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/camargyle1.html

A John Dalton also appears on the memorial for Vinton Mines, Cambria, PA: http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/camvinton11.html

Other children continued to be born in Pensylvania at regular intervals - William Joseph 2nd April, 1881, Elizabeth C. 6th May, 1883 Alegen County, Thomas E. 28th January, 1887, Johanna T. March 1888, Edward N. 25th June, 1890 and finally Charles T. born 8th January, 1894.

Not many families can claim that they appear twice in the same year on a Census, this Dalton family can. In the 1900 Census they are first listed on 4th June, 1900 in Enumeration District 36, Supervisor’s District 19, Page 6A and B living in a rented house at 26 Hoadley Street, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Father Robert is a day labourer, he is a naturalized citizen who arrived in US in 1871 and has lived in the same country for 27 years. With him is his wife Winifred who also arrived in 1871 along with his eldest son John also a naturalised citizen and a steel worker, the latter had been unemployed for 4 months. James, a steel worker, has been married for a year. There is no record of his wife at this address. Daughter Mary is at home as well as Robert who has been working for the past year at the steel works. Son William has had 3 months unemployment but the rest of the time has been a rod worker. Daughter Elizabeth probably helped at home whilst Thomas, Johanna and Edward were at school for varying lengths of time according to the Census. Edward the youngest was at home. Fifteen children had been born to the family but only 10 have survived.

But on 14th June, 1900 the family are enumerated again living at 49 Hoadley Street, Cleveland this time in their own house with a mortgage. They have apparently moved since the beginning of the month. There are also some changes in the second entry – the parents and eldest son arrived in the US in 1872 not 1871, married son James has not moved to this address with his parents, times of unemployment and school attendance have also altered.

Cuyahoga County was part of Greater Cleveland, a metropolitan area in North – East Ohio. Today it is the most populous county in Ohio. The county is named after the Native American word (possibly Algmquian) Cuyahoga meaning crooked river. The county was established on 7th June, 1807. During the Nineteenth Century the population expanded rapidly as the iron and steel industry expanded. A report by the Board of Trade in 1884 stated there were 147 establishments manufactures in iron and steel. By 1880 the population was 196,943, by 1890 it had risen further to 309,970 and by 1900, when the family appear in the Census, the population was recorded as 439,120. The area was expanding rapidly as by 1910 the population reached nearly 638,000.

More next month.

Greetings from cold, but sunny Las Vegas! We are still in the embrace of winter here in the Las Vegas Valley. But, so far, no snow this year; I keep hoping though! Palm trees do look strangely pretty with snow on them.

I hope that you are enjoying the winter weather where you are. It is a good time to stay in and work on a little genealogy research!

DGS on Facebook

One of the big trends these days is social networking, and the DGS is not to be left out of this phenomenon!

The DGS has had a Facebook page for over a year; we are listed as the Dalton Data Bank. Recently our Facebook page has been updated with a new Facebook feature called Timeline.

Facebook presents an excellent vehicle to showcase all of the DGS' history. The Timeline begins with "Born" (the date when the DGS was first established), and ends with "Today", so any and all information will be gladly accepted. We would like to add all events (Gatherings, meetings, etc.) throughout the long history of the DGS, with or without photos. We need help from the "old-time" members that can add events to the Timeline.

When you go to our Facebook page, you will see the Timeline in the blue ribbon on the right hand side of the page. You can use Timeline to view photos from various years.

Clicking on a particular year will bring to photos from that year's events.

To find our Facebook page, you can use the "Find us on Facebook" logo on the bottom of the Dalton Data Bank home page, or use the this link: http://www.facebook.com/dalton.databank

If you already have a Facebook account, PLEASE join and "like" the Dalton Data Bank page!

NB: If you have event photos to contribute, please send your information and photos to David Preston at dpreston@golden-hills.com

Now to the usual monthly statistics.

Web Sites Update:

For the period from 1 January to 24 January 2012

Updates to the Data Bank:

None during January 2012.

DDB Web Site Usage Statistics:

27,237 visitors came from 88 Countries / Territories

DDB Web Site Usage Statistics

Top 10 Pages Visited

Visits by Date

Dalton Forum:

There are a total of 267 Posts in 163 Topics by 358 Members.

During the reporting period, there were 10 new topics added, 15 new posts and 24 new members added.

DGS Web Site Usage Statistics:

1,431 Visits from 33 Countries / Territories

DGS Web Site Usage Statistics

Top 10 Pages Visited

Visits by Date

Dalton Data Bank Site:

12,769 Visitors reached the Data Bank by clicking on one of the 1,877,732 Google Ads served during the reporting period.

11,800 Visitors viewed the “Join Us” pop-up on the Databank site. The diagram below depicts the Top 5 Countries and Rest of the World where these visitors were located:

Visitors to the Data Bank

Google Ads for new memberships:

This Ad Campaign generated 2 visits to the Membership information from 443 Google Ads served during the reporting period.

With warm wishes to you all,

Karen Dalton Preston
North American Secretary

Thank you to all who have contributed to the February 2012 issue of "Daltons in History".

Mel and I hope you have all now fully recovered from Christmas and the New year!

Please send me any ideas you may have for future articles or areas of research we could look at. New ideas are needed!!

You will see that we have started the new "Correspondence section". Please make use of it! Mel did last month and has been getting help from another DGS member in trying to find his american roots. Thank you Cathy, your help is appreciated.

Please consider contributing a short description of any Dalton-related travels you may have undertaken anywhere in the world. Also members who are travelling to do research, visit a Dalton-connected site, or have made a connection to a distant cousin through the DGS. might be interested in letting other members know what they are doing through "Daltons in History". Photos from your travels would be appreciated. Also, it would be a way of helping members get to know each other a little better, and might help members who are widely dispersed geographically to feel a bit more connected.

Contributions for the March 2012 issue need to be with me no later than 25th February, 2012. (e-mail: dairneirwin@ntlworld.com).

Please continue to stick to the set deadlines!! There is no excuse for missing the deadline - PLAN AHEAD!!

Finally, Mel and I wish you all happy trails!!