In the October 2012 issue of “Daltons in History”, the last instalment in this series covered the year 2001. This personal account of the history of the Dalton Genealogical Society by Michael Dalton continues with the sixteenth instalment, commencing at the beginning of 2002.
2002 is remembered by me as the year that our daughter Julia was married. The earlier part of the year was taken up with preparations for this important family event which took place on Saturday 22 June. It is hard to believe that Julia and Neil have now been married for over ten years and that Kate and I have three grandchildren! The wedding was of course recorded in the DGS Journal and here is a photograph of the happy couple:
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Julia and Neil on their wedding day – 22 June, 2002 |
Turning to more DGS related matters, Volume 36 of the DGS Journal was published in June 2002 and there we find a report from Millicent Craig about the DGS website, the “Daltons in History” newsletter and the Dalton Data Bank. Millicent records that the website is in its fifth year, and the monthly issues of the newsletter contain original Dalton writings supplied by Michael Cayley, Mike Dalton, Lucy Slater, Rodney Dalton, Howard Dalton and many others. Reviewing the content of Volume 5 of "Daltons in History" (all to be found in the archive on this website) we find articles on a very wide range of Dalton topics including:
• Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Parts I, II and III – Dalton references extracted by Michael Cayley
• French Connections and the Apostrophe – referring to D’Altons by Milllicent
• Dennis Dalton of California by Mike Dalton
• Commentary on the Colonists Papers, Parts I and II by Millicent
• Illinois Naturalization Records, Sections I, II and III – Dalton references
• Dalton Coats of Arms, Parts I, II and III by Lucy Slater
• Thurnham and other Lancashire and Yorkshire Recusants by Michael Cayley
• Founding Fathers, Virginia by Millicent
• Daltons in the Royal Navy by Millicent
• John Adams, Tristram Dalton, and colleagues by Millicent
• Only A Sketch Remains – about the monument at Mount Dalton, Co Westmeath, Ireland – by Millicent and Cecelia Lange
This selected extract from the index to Volume 5 of "Daltons in History" demonstrates the breadth of material being published. In addition hundreds of queries had been received – these were coming mainly through the guest page facility on the website – and led to the feature "Daltons to the Forefront", a regular round up on enquiries. Some of the responses were handled by the Dalton Query Team launched in January 2001. As of May 2002, there had been over 33,000 visits to the website. Millicent’s enthusiasm and diligence in handling all this extended also to the Dalton Data Bank, launched as a separate website on 1 September, 2001. By May 2002, this had already grown from an initial 10,000 to over 26,000 entries in the files. Much of the new data related to English counties, concentrating on those where the Dalton population is highest, Yorkshire, Lancashire and London/Middlesex, and taking information from parish registers, directories and census returns. By May there were entries in the Data Bank for a total of 15 counties. Data relating to the United States was also being added state by state and sections had been started for other countries, including Argentina, Canada, Ireland and South Africa. Millicent is to be congratulated on her enterprise in forging ahead with the Society’s online presence – she had already set herself a target when she wrote that there must be upwards of 750,000 persons of Dalton descent worldwide whom we eventually want to reach from our desktops!
For our Annual Gathering in 2002, our then Treasurer Howard Dalton had volunteered to make arrangements for us to return to Yorkshire and stay at Pickering, near his home. The local newspaper headlined their article about our visit "Daltons head for Pickering", and so we did. Kate and I had spent nearly two weeks travelling around Northern England and over the border into Scotland and we arrived in Pickering on the afternoon of Friday 30 August, 2002 to settle into the Old Manse Hotel, where most of the party were staying. That evening Howard and Jen laid on an "at home" evening at their delightful home in the small village of Wrelton a short distance away from Pickering, and we had the opportunity to catch up with everyone and meet several new members attending their first Gathering. These included Gerald Milner of Irish Dalton descent and his wife Margaret from Shoreham, Sussex, and Mel and Dairne Irwin from Lancashire, new to us then but now well known by all for their work as DGS Treasurer and Editor of "Daltons in History". Also newcomers then were David and Audrey Dalton from Holmfirth. Millicent was present and she demonstrated the Dalton website to those not fully familiar with the extent of our online presence.
The theme for the weekend was John de Dalton, bailiff of Pickering Castle in the early 14th century and Howard had lined up some very interesting visits for the Saturday and Sunday. But before this there was business to be attended to on the Saturday morning with a short committee meeting followed by the AGM. At the AGM it was my pleasure to congratulate both Millicent and Lucy on reaching the age of 80 during the previous year. Howard was able to give a very satisfactory report on our financial position with a surplus of income over expenditure in excess of £600 and a capital balance at the end of the year of nearly £2,500. The officers and committee were re-elected with Howard J Dalton being appointed as minutes secretary and the election of new member, Mel Irwin, to the committee. Maureen and Millicent both gave very encouraging reports of our overseas activities.
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Maureen Collins gives her Australian Secretary's report to the meeting...... |
......and Millicent Craig gives the
American Secretary's report |
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DGS members present at the meeting........ |
.......and the group assembled outside
after the meeting is concluded |
Following an excellent buffet lunch served in the conservatory, we walked up the hill to Pickering Castle where we were met by John Rushton, one of Ryedale’s foremost historians, who spoke to us about John de Dalton. His lively and informative talk gave us an insight into the history of Pickering, its castle and the influence that John de Dalton had as keeper of the castle for Thomas, Earl of Lancaster in the early 1300s. Eventually John fell from grace due to being in the employ of Thomas who ultimately lost his head. After his talk, John Rushton took us on an extensive tour of the castle remains with particular emphasis on Dalton’s role in its reconstruction and development. John Rushton also wrote an article for us published in the DGS Journal (Vol 37 pp 18-27 Dec 2002).
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The group follows John Rushton into
the castle |
John Rushton tells us about the castle
and John de Dalton........ |
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..........and members of the DGS listen
intently! |
Then we follow John up onto the castle
ramparts. |
On the way back to the hotel we were able to visit Pickering parish church where Dalton would have worshipped. The church is famous for its medieval wall paintings and John Rushton explained these in some detail. In the evening we enjoyed a very good DGS Annual Dinner at the Old Manse Hotel, which provided the opportunity to socialise and mingle with friends old and new.
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Gwyneth Allwood and her sister Maureen Handford,
Bill and Faith Keymer, Jenny Redpath and Howard Dalton |
Audrey & David Dalton, Dairne Irwin, Vic Dalton,
Mel Irwin, Millicent Craig, and another Dalton (?) |
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Sheila Dalton, Pamela and Jack Richards, John Dalton |
Lucy Slater, Alicia Riley, Peter and Joy Goater, David and Pamela Lynam |
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Maureen Collins, Gerald Milner, Kate Dalton, Howard J Dalton, Margaret Milner, Michael Dalton |
On the Sunday Howard had arranged for us to visit nearby Foulbridge Hall at Stainton, a place that was originally built around 1290 and where undoubtedly John de Dalton would have stayed in the early 14th century. The story of the rediscovery of this hall is a fascinating one and it was told to us by Mrs Jill Nutt, the present owner, who in 1981 opened up this impressive timber framed structure that had been hidden away for some 500 years as a result of being converted into a three storey farmhouse. Now a Grade 1 listed building it is a unique surviving example of this type of timber framed building in the North of England. We were indeed fortunate to be able to visit such an interesting place and we much enjoyed both the hall and its extensive grounds.
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Exterior view of house - old Hall to
left |
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Mrs Jill Nutt, the present owner, explains
the history of the Hall |
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DGS members fill the Hall! |
A group in the grounds of Foulbridge Hall |
The Gathering weekend concluded with lunch at the Coachman’s Inn in Stainton before starting our journeys home. As Howard recorded in his article about the weekend in the DGS Journal – it closed with lots of goodbyes and good wishes and a feeling that with the DGS, we have a society that is a little bit special. These are sentiments that I think we all shared and hopefully continue to share today.
2002 had been another good year for the Society and in
the next instalment I shall move on to 2003 when we visited South Wales
and launched the Dalton DNA Project.
