| Welcome Welcome (Home) UK Family Origins Introduction In The Beginning Penn Parish Records Manorial Records Stonehouse Watercroft Grove Graves in the UK Sir George Grove Letter Extracts Family Tree Groves in America Introduction to America The American Adventure Groves in Australia Introduction to Australia The Australian Family Acknowledgements Author and Researchers Technical |
About the Author I am the only child of the late Laurence Batty, and the eldest grandchild of Grace Mary Batty nee Grove, the second daughter of George Dodd Grove. My grandmother was born in Audubon, Iowa, USA on May 28th 1878. She was fond of recounting stories about the pioneering life in mid-America which included the 250 mile journey in a covered wagon from Iowa to Nebraska, a trek that involved crossing the Missouri river. Her memories went back as far as recollections of sitting on the back of the wagon playing with her dolls as a five year old. Her formative years in America always remained with her and until the time of her death in 1941 she continued to use many American words such as 'molasses' (treacle) and 'cottonwoods' (poplar trees now known as the Nebraska state tree). Getting more closely in touch with the American side of the family was inspired by a visit to England by Australian cousin Peter Trotter with his daughter Penny. When I first thought of sharing this information with interested members of the family I anticipated a book, but in this technological age and with relatives on three Continents, a website has to be the best solution. We are indebted to my father, Laurence Batty, for his original research work, and for writing the 'Grove Story' from which much of this information is taken. I am privileged to have inherited my father's research materials, and the family papers, letters and photographs, which I am endeavouring to index and store in a safe archival environment. From his retirement at 62 until his death aged 90 in l996, Laurence Batty spent many happy years researching the genealogy of his family. He started with his paternal forebears and expanded the earlier work of his older brother Felix in tracing the Batty family back to their roots in the South Riding of Yorkshire. He then turned his attention to his mother's family and researched the Groves in England back to Yeoman Grove of Penn, Buckinghamshire. Using the many letters, photographs and documents that his mother had kept, he traced the 19th century American and the 20th century Australian adventure. We have followed in the same footsteps. Personally I am pleased to have been able to take the Grove family in Penn back to 1332 and forwards to 1953 - much longer than we were previously aware. If you are able to contribute information or would like to comment, please contact me. Ann Gomar Additional Researchers Emma Mary (nee Grove) Curry (Cousin Nan), who credits her Grove aunts, Isabel, Mary and Grace and wrote down their and her own recollections of the family over many years. Lucy (nee Butt) Grove (married to John Edmund Grove 1842 - 1927), for her diary written between October 1890 and November 1891. Mary Agnes Emma Grove (Aunt May), eldest daughter of George Dodd Grove, for her recollections. Grace Mary (nee Grove) Batty, second daughter of George Dodd Grove, for her recollections and research. Jane Smith, grand-daughter of Grace Mary Batty (Grove), for putting Laurence Batty's Grove Story on computer. Grace Mary (nee Batty) Land, daughter of Grace Mary Batty (nee Grove), for preserving the various family papers and notes. Rita Mary (nee Batty) Cressy, daughter of Grace Mary Batty (nee Grove), for her recollections. Angela Meloury, daughter of Isabel Grant (nee Grove), for her two volumes of Memories of a Lifetime and for preparing the early Australian tree. Bernadette Trotter, wife of Peter Trotter, grandson of Isabel Grant, for editing Letters to Joe, research and for finding the photographs of St Andrew's, Dale, Nebraska in the Butcher Collection of the Nebraska State Historical Society. Frank Chambers, husband of Margaret Mary Hillerman, who made the first computerised Grove American family tree, and Margaret Mary for her recollections. Miles Green, Penn Historian, for information on the Grove family in Penn. The Hon Georgina Stonor, Local Historian at Stonor, for supplying information about the Groves who were christened and married in Stonor Chapel. Laura Johnson, granddaughter of Ann Gomar, for scanning the pictures. Fiona Fox-Davies, grand-daughter of Grace Mary Batty (nee Grove), for editing texts. Michael and Roland Batty, grandsons of Grace Mary Batty (nee Grove), who suggested creating a web site. |