Rowan Spazzoli

My great grandmother, Dorothy Stebbing, left a short memoir about growing up in Rhodesia. In it is one of the coolest stories I’ve ever heard, about the way her parents met.

Here’s an extract of her writing, about her parents, Edith Bluett and Harry Le Paige Heaume:

My father came [to Rhodesia] from the Channel Islands in 1908, to join the Postal Department of the infant Civil Service. He had some fascinating tales to tell of those very early days, when, for instance, there were only the two hotels in Salisbury, the Queens at the Kopje end of the town, where a newer version of the same hotel still stands today, and the Avenue Hotel on the site of our present Legislative Assembly overlooking Cecil Square – now a pleasant small park, the site of the raising of the Pioneer Standard on the first Occupation Day, September 12^th, 1890.

Dad met my mother when working in the Postal Service in England, over the telegraph. She was a telegraphist in Bristol Post Office, and when these men and girls had a slack period, they would cast about in the atmosphere for someone with whom to practise their telegraphy speed. This led, in due course, to an arrangement to meet, and to a rather unusual courtship carried on mainly in dots and dashes!

How incredible is that? My great great grandparents met each other over the telegraph, using Morse code.

What’s even more fascinating to me is that if they hadn’t found each other in this way, I wouldn’t exist today. Such a ridiculous cosmic encounter.

My mother came out to Salisbury with high ideals of Empire-building and all the rest of it, but it must be admitted that her heart sank when she stepped out of the train into the ankle-deep red dust of a Salisbury which then consisted of little more than scattered wood-and-iron shacks. On the first afternoon on which she went “calling”, with her new silver case of visiting cards, she wore the ankle-length white skirt in which she had been married, and, within a very short time of plodding along the dusty roads (albeit with ram-rod straight back and head held high under the large hat festooned with ostrich feathers).

I’ll post more about Dorothy Stebbing tomorrow 🙂 just found this story incredibly interesting. Thank you to my mom and uncle Dave for sharing it.

Image by National Archives of Rhodesia. The beginning of the city of Salisbury. Pioneer Street, Salisbury – 1891

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Song of the day: Henri Purnell & Anthony Keyrouz – Tired ft. Romy Wave

The story below is about my great grandad, Geoffrey Langdale Stebbing. He’s my mothers, mothers dad 🙂 the story below is an extract from a hook but unfortunately we don’t know the source:

In 1916 Francis Stebbing moved to Stannington as Vicar, and there he remained for 47 years, retiring in 1963 to Royston, where he died in 1970. Stannington was then a village a little way beyond Malin Bridge, where Sheffield ends. It is on top of a hill and beyond it are the beautiful but windy Darbyshire Moors. Even now Stannington is a cold place when the wind blows. The rambling vicarage where Francis reared his large family must have been icy in winter. There Lily contracted tuberculosis and died leaving Francis with one young son, Geoffrey Langdale. He married again when Geoffrey was about 12 and had six more children — Audrey, Eric, Douglas, Celia, Margaret and Peter — but Geoffrey did not get on well with his step mother. His children were told how badly she treated him. In fact her own children and grandchildren loved her dearly and one wonders if Geoffrey was simply difficult in the face of a new mother. At any rate he did not do well at school (King Edward’s in Sheffield) and when he found it difficult to get a job.

An uncle, who does hot seem to appear in the family tree was out in Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and promised to find Geoffrey a job learning to farm in Rhodesia. Thus in 1927 the young 19 year old Yorkshire boy found himself stepping off a train in the night at a siding in Bechuanaland to be met by this uncle, then sent on to Rhodesia, where he worked first on the farm of Godfrey Huggins (later Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia and architect of the Federation) at Arcturus.

Huggins was a good doctor but not much of a farmer, so after—six months Geoffrey left Arcturus and moved to a paw paw farm near Hartley where he stayed, rather unhappily for another 18 months. He did what so many did then and found a job first in the Bank, then in the Civil Service. It was while working in the Mines and Works Department that he met Dorothy.

Tomorrow I’ll continue with the story of Dorothy Stebbing 🙂

Image is from Jeffery and Dorothy’s wedding 🙂Blog: 228/365Song of the day: Nothing’s Wrong – Muse

Today we left Lisbon and travelled to the south of Portugal. We’re staying with my great uncle and aunt, and have already been treated to a wonderful evening.

We ended up chatting a lot about our family’s history, and I got to hear about my grandparents and great grandparents.

So this week I’ll be compiling these stories and sharing them on my blog 🙂 I’m excited to dive a little deeper in to the family history and write it up 🙂

Image was taken as we were leaving our hostel in Lisbon 🙂

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Song of the day: Resistance – Muse

Concert was just… wow.

Will post a proper blog about it tomorrow.

Absolutely blown away by today

Image was taken at the Rock in Rio concert 🙂

Song of the day: found it in silence -HAIM

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When I went to China in 2012 we had a simple rule: no eating at places we recognised.

It led us to some incredible meals. I ate foods that were really tasty and some that made me feel really uncomfortable

We’ve repeated the same thing in Portugal. We try to buy as local as possible. Off the beaten track, non-brand name stuff.

And so far, we’ve been treated to wonderful food and experiences.

It’s easy to go for what you know. But it’s better to allow yourself to be a little uncomfortable.

Image is of some sardines we ate at a tiny street restaurant

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Song of the day: Showbiz – Muse

Two years ago I travelled around Italy with a close friend. When we visited places, we got into a habit of just sitting down and soaking the place up.

We went to a beautiful cathedral in Milan. And we spent almost 2 hours there, looking at every single stained glass window.

When we were in Pompeii we found a sat in the Main Street for an hour and experienced the ruins.

No photos, no phones.

Just us and the moment.

Today we did something similar. We went to an old monastery in Belem. And we spent almost an hour sitting in the court yard and absorbing the incredible architecture.

The best way to enjoy a new place is not by trying to do as much as possible and take all the pictures.

Sometimes you need to just sit and soak it up

Image was taken outside the monastery 🙂

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Song of the day: Bastille – Pompeii

I’ve been at the backpackers in Lisbon for two nights. And in that time the entire social crowd has evolved and changed.

My roommates last night were entirely different from the night before. And the ones tonight will be different again.

Each person you meet here is on another part of their journey. Some have just started a 7 month trip around Europe, some stayed here as the last stop before heading home.

This coming and going, constantly changing means that the experience evolves every day, leaving no room to get attached.

I’ve always been someone who wants to hold on to things how they are. For example, when I left my university res I was distraught… because things would never be the same again.

But change is the only thing that is constant here. Which forces me to experience a moment instead of trying to preserve it.

And in turn, I’ve become comfortable with the constant coming and going.

Image was taken in the commercial square of Lisbon where I watched the Portugal vs Morocco game 🙂

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Song of the day: Don’t save me – HAIM

I’ve spent the day wondering the streets, tasting the foods and drinking the beer. I’ve also made some great friends 🙂

The magic of exploring a new city is that it’s new to you. You soak it up in extra detail and are mindful of the world going on around you.

Despite having some work to do, I feel like I was able to immerse myself in the city. A fresh perspective.

Just the break I need 🙂

Image is of my roommates , Helena and Sara, sharing a drink on the balcony of the hostel 🙂

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Song of the day: Super massive black hole – Muse