Leonard’s story is a particularly sad one. It reflects several prominent themes in wider Dracup family history, including musicality, migration and mental health. Leonard was the third of four children. After an apparently uneventful childhood, he joined the Australian Navy at the tender age of 17. But, within a few years, he found himself marooned … Continue reading The Short, Sad Life of Leonard Dracup (1902-1932)
This post is about the descendants of William Dracup (1832-1910), principally his son Arthur Dracup (1872-1962) and his grandson Norman Dracup (1905-1944). It describes part of the Dracup family that established itself in the district of Shipley, a few miles to the north of Bradford, initially in the model village of Saltaire towards the north … Continue reading Arthur and Norman Dracup: From Salt’s Mill to the Middle Classes
This family history post explores how, after the death of pioneer Jacquard loom maker Samuel Dracup, three subsequent generations of his male descendants continued to manufacture them in Great Horton near Bradford, West Yorkshire. It builds upon part of a previous post, in which I described how Samuel converted himself from a traditional joiner and … Continue reading The Legacy of Samuel Dracup: Samuel Dracup and Sons
This Dracup family history post records the mostly unfortunate life experiences of Emily Dracup (1857-1919), my first cousin, three times removed. From a very early age she earned her living as a piano teacher, managing to avoid throughout her life the unremitting toil of service or manual labour. But she seems never to have performed … Continue reading The Explosive Misfortunes of Emily Dracup
Every family tree contains broken links – people who aren’t yet reliably connected to any particular branch - and the Dracup family tree is no exception. This may often be because a child was born out of wedlock, or simply because records are missing, or as yet unpublished. I find the records pertaining to Dracups … Continue reading The Picaresque Life of John Leslie Dracup
This Dracup family history explores the life and times of Ernest Dracup (1854-1931) and his immediate family. Born in Lincolnshire, he joined the Royal Marine Artillery at the age of 18, rising steadily through the NCO ranks. Then, for a further six years, he served as sergeant major in two Royal Artillery volunteer corps, in … Continue reading Ernest Dracup: The Singing Sergeant Major
. This is the story of just one of the Dracups who laid down their lives during the First World War. Canadian George Franklin Dracup was a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He had moved westward from Ontario to the prairies of Saskatchewan at the turn of the Twentieth Century and, after a few … Continue reading George Franklin Dracup: Observer, Royal Flying Corps
This is the life story of my father, George Henry Dracup. It was quite an ordinary life, given the tumultuous times through which he lived, and he was a very ordinary man. But this is an obituary of sorts, celebrating the small contribution he made to humanity. . Antecedents George was a great-grandson of Eli … Continue reading George Henry Dracup (1926-2018)
. Three years ago I published the sad story of Derek Dracup, a young submariner who perished in 1944, aboard the ill-fated HMS Stratagem. Derek was almost certainly drawn to the sea by his grandfather – George Enoch Dracup – who must have told the young boy many tales of his life as a ship’s … Continue reading George Enoch Dracup (1869-1946), Master Mariner
My post about the first wave of Dracup emigrants to the United States featured Zillah Fieldhouse, nee Dracup (b.1828) who followed the Mormon Trail from Bradford to Utah in 1866. She was descended from Nathaniel Dracup’s oldest son, John (1752-1824), her parents being Nathan (1802-1870) and Betty Dracup, nee Bottomley (b.1802). But she had a … Continue reading The Other Zillah Dracup (1830-1885)
. This is the colourful story of Arthur Herbert Dracup, also known as Herbert Dracup, who acquired an intimate and extended knowledge of prisons and penal servitude during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. His birth is veiled in some mystery. We know that an Arthur Herbert Dracup was born in Bradford in the … Continue reading Arthur Herbert Dracup (1862-), Career Criminal
This is the story of Abraham Dracup (1805-72), an ordinary working man whose otherwise very ordinary life was marked by three life-changing experiences. It describes the rise and fall of a small dynasty of Bradford cloggers, headed by Abraham and encompassing his brothers, sons and nephews. Abraham was a contemporary of his slightly older … Continue reading Abraham Dracup, Clogger, and the Dracup Clogging Dynasty
This post tells the desperately sad story of father Amos Dracup (1818-1869) and son Richard Dracup (1854-1871) who both lived in Great Horton, Bradford and whose untimely deaths – within two years of each other - were causally connected. Amos was born in 1818, the fourth child and first son of Richard Dracup senior (1788-1853) … Continue reading The Double Tragedy of Amos and Richard Dracup
. This post is dedicated to John Dracup (1787-1858), a radical shopkeeper who emerged from obscurity some 200 years ago, during the political turmoil associated with the Peterloo Massacre. In later life he became a local politician, helping to run and regulate the rapidly expanding town of Salford. Ultimately he became a member of the … Continue reading The life and times of John Dracup, Salford radical
. This is the story of a young submariner, a stoker on board HMS Stratagem, who was killed during the Second World War. Derek Dracup was a very distant relation of mine – a sixth cousin I believe – but his untimely death has haunted me since I first found him in my family tree. … Continue reading Derek George Rendel Dracup, Submariner
. This post deals mainly with the life of John Wright Sandford Dracup (1857-1911) and several other third-generation Dracups living and working in India during the second half of the Nineteenth Century. It includes material about their wives and families, so venturing into the fourth generation and featuring John’s eldest son - the splendidly named … Continue reading Dracups in India: The 3rd and 4th generations
This post is about the formation of a Dracup dynasty in Nineteenth Century India. It updates some of the material in a previous post – Dracups emigrate to…India (April 2016) – correcting errors and adding further detail derived from subsequent research. More specifically, it: Revisits some details in the life of Isaac Dracup (c.1770-1835), the … Continue reading A Dracup dynasty is founded in India
. This is the latest in a sequence of posts dedicated to the formation of a Dracup diaspora during the Nineteenth Century. Previous episodes have documented the arrival of our surname in: India, where soldier Isaac Dracup served from 1798, married and later returned to live with his wife after being pensioned off in … Continue reading Dracups emigrate to the United States: The second wave
This the third in a series of genealogical posts about how Dracups from England established themselves in other parts of the world during the Nineteenth Century. Previous posts in the series have covered the arrival of Dracups in India and Canada. These were chronologically the earliest migrations, taking place in the late 1790s and late … Continue reading Dracups emigrate to…the USA (#1)
. This is the second in a series of posts describing how Dracups from England established themselves in other parts of the world during the Nineteenth Century. Part two is about how one Dracup emigrated to Canada, so establishing a major branch of the family there. Part one was about the arrival of Dracups in India. … Continue reading Dracups emigrate to…Canada
. I have developed, updated and corrected the material below in a subsequent post - A Dracup dynasty is founded in India - published in January 2017. . This is the first in a series of posts describing how Dracups from England established themselves in other parts of the world during the Nineteenth Century. Part … Continue reading Dracups emigrate to…India
. This post describes how three Dracup brothers moved southwards from Great Horton in the 1850s, settling in Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Bedfordshire. The three in question were sons of Eli Dracup (1799-1837) – Ephraim (1828-1888), Jonathan (1832-1878) and Eli (1837-1928). Eli is my great-great-grandfather. . The brothers’ parents The previous episode in this genealogical series … Continue reading Dracups Head South!
. This post traces the early history of Dracups resident in Great Horton, now part of Bradford in Yorkshire, England. It covers a period of just over a century, beginning around 1730 with the arrival of John Dracupp (1688-1767) and his young family and ending as great grandson Samuel Dracup (1793-1866) establishes himself as a … Continue reading Dracups in Great Horton: From John Dracupp (1688-1767) to Samuel Dracup (1793-1866)
. This post draws together what we know about Nathaniel Dracup (1728-1798), the most celebrated of the early Dracups in England. My previous genealogical post, ‘The Earliest Dracups’, discusses the children of George Dracoppe, our first known ancestor. His youngest son, John (1596-1673) also called his eldest son John (1627-74). The latter’s second wife, Sarah … Continue reading Nathaniel Dracup, a Methodist Pioneer
My introductory post sets out what we know about the earliest Dracups in England. This companion piece provides some further detail about the places in which they lived. George Dracoppe was married in Ripley, North Yorkshire and at least four of his children were born there. It seems that part of the family remained in … Continue reading Where the Earliest Dracups Lived
This first genealogical post reviews the limited information available online about the earliest recorded Dracups in England..BackgroundSince 2010 I have built up a series of family trees using My Heritage Family Tree Builder. The most substantial covers both sides of my family in the UK. There are also far less developed trees devoted exclusively … Continue reading The Earliest Dracups
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