With my family it is hard to distinguish between them and friends, but here they are:
My first public appearance in August, 1939 (at 152 Sladefield Road, Birmingham).
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My favourite photo of brother Tim: multi-talented,
razor-sharp and lightning wit, but then I am biassed!
May, 1948 |
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Tim as he would prefer you to see him!
May, 1990 |
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Margaret, Mary and Susan: more like sisters than cousins. Always great fun to be with and kindness itself.
Claybrooke Magna, 1994 |
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Steve, Sharon and Martin: three of my first cousins once removed. Always great company!
Christmas, 2001 |
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German relatives: cousin Ann and husband Jochem. Great friends, regular visitors and generous hosts on (very!) many occasions.
Claybrooke Magna, 1993 |
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A first cousin once removed, Marion Serres is a regular visitor to these shores from her home in Salinas, California.
Claybrooke Magna, 1993 |
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Some of my Canadian relatives: cousin Maureen, husband Cliff and their descendants.
London, Ontario 2001 |
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Louise Shakespeare: one of my first cousins once removed - on her wedding day.
She married Dylan Rhys Stanley and I was invited 'to represent the rest of the Shakespeare family'.
Moreton Hall, 2003
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James Albert Spargo IV: my most recently discovered relative! We are third cousins. Jim stumbled on my web site and saw the photo of John Cornish Spargo - and realised immediately that we were relatives because he has a copy of it too. What a marvellous coincidence!
Tallahassee, Florida 2003 |
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My second cousin Bob Shakespeare and family: stepmother Isobel, daughter Lynette, and wife Wendy.
Bob's a piper, and inherits his father's and grandfather's sense of fun, Lynette's a heavyweight academic and the whole, talented, family forms a folk dance band!
Henley-in-Arden, May 2004 |
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James Freeman, my thirteenth first cousin twice removed, is one of the new arrivals - and the tenth member of the family since 1837 to be given the name James.
Fortunately (for him) he wasn't named after me!
Yate, August 2004 |
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My first cousin once removed, Michael Freeman, married Joanna Kate White.
Bristol, June 2005 |
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Stuart Fisher. First cousin once removed, tall and handsome with excellent social skills. The next generation of family photographer - whenever I am ready to step aside!
Stuart graduated in 2007 and hopes to become a professional photographer. He already has his own web site.
Claybrooke Magna, 2005
(Photo by Tim Perkins) |
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My youngest and oldest cousins: David Shakespeare (L.) and John Freeman, 55 and 72 respectively, during David's visit from Canada.
Bath, June 2007
(Photo by Susan Coultrup) |
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James Albert Spargo VI, my third cousin twice removed, arrived on 25th June 2008 to lengthen one of the longest lines in our family's history. James Albert Spargo Senior was the first member of his family to be born in Birmingham in 1866.
Harrisburg, PA, USA, June 2008 (Photo by James Albert Spargo V!) |
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My first cousin once removed, Martin Milnes, married Sarah Dewes on 5th July 2008.
The bride's family are keen supporters of the Leicester Tigers Rugby team.
Here are the happy couple, at the Welford Road ground where their reception was held, with the Heineken Cup. (Click on the pic.)
Leicester, July 2008 |
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On the same day another first cousin once removed, Wendy Shakespeare, married Simon Bickley in Aldridge, Staffordshire.
With Wendy's marriage the surname Shakespeare dies out in her generation of our family.
Their wedding reception was held at Penns Hall, where this photo was taken.
Sutton Coldfield, July 2008
(Photo by Ann Schmidt, the bride's aunt) |
