Thursday, July 16, 2009

Reasons for Writing about "The Gliddons in London"

Dear Blog Readers,
I published “The Gliddons in London” (which also includes my transcript of Anne Gliddon’s “ A Family Record”),at the request of the late Keith Borrow of Adelaide, South Australia.
Mr. Borrow, a local historian of the early pioneers of South Australia, was descended from a pioneering family himself; and he had, as had his father before him, an extensive knowledge and interest in the family histories of the early South Australians.
After meeting Mr. Borrow for the first time in 1997, I kept in regular contact with him until his death. He came to know of my long time interest, and search for knowledge about members of my branch of the Gliddon family. It was also clear to him that I knew very little about those in the family that immigrated to Australia in the nineteenth century. Though, my own family will always remember, with lasting appreciation, the generous gifts of food parcels that arrived during and after World War II from an Aunt Clara Ida Gliddon – whom we knew to be a distant cousin living in Adelaide. She happened also to be a close friend of Keith.
In 1998, Keith made the suggestion that I publish a manuscript which he had in his possession, and which I discovered was Anne Gliddon’s “A Family Record”, as copied by Anne’s cousin, Clara Joanna Gliddon in 1872. This manuscript is the only copy known to exist.
Even before I transcribed the Record, there was knowledge of it existence, but not any clear detail about its content. Consequently there was a great deal of interest within the family as to exactly what it would contain.
When I did transcribe the manuscript I soon realized that both Anne’s and Clara’s intentions in writing and copying the Record, was to preserve the knowledge of the history of their family for future members who might be interested.
I believe that Mr. Borrow, who had no pecuniary interest in the document, and who, in fact, financially supported the publication of my work, was honouring the intentions of, both Anne and Clara Gliddon.
Equally I have always felt under an obligation to pass on the knowledge that was given freely to me, by imparting the same, as freely as I am able. However, publishing “ The Gliddon’s in London” which included my transcript,did required an outlay of money which was then necessary for me to recoup. Since then, however, the Internet has become a marvelous vehicle for the free transmission of information and under these circumstances I believe I too can honour the intentions of the author and her scribe.
Even so, I do not intend to digitize the book itself, as the title and its contents are still under copyright and available to purchase. Furthermore there have been many individuals who contributed to the book, who did so on the understanding that it was to be a limited edition.
At present, there are several people continuing to research, myself included. This blog gives me the opportunity to record and preserve any additional information that comes to light. I welcome contributions from other family researchers.
There are the guidelines I have set myself: :
1) I have a responsibility to protect the privacy of members of the extended family living today. For this reason any personal histories on this Blog will not extend beyond 1878, the year of Anne’s death.
2) I will only write personal histories about individuals that were closely related to Anne, except in the case of certain events or persons who merit special attention for social or political historical reasons.
3) The main aim of the Blog is to provide information that is not only of interest to family members, but also is seen to address issues of social history.
I would welcome any further suggestions or comments regarding what content should or should not be posted on this blog.

Cheers
Wendy Norman