Tag Archives: Alderney

June 21, 2023 · 10:04 am

A Recent Trip to Alderney

Braye, Alderney

Following lock down I was determined to pay a visit to Alderney, the main setting for my Riduna series and birth place of Great Great Grandmother Harriet. (see family history post)

It was lovely to catch on with Paul Davies who used to run the Alderney Bookshop and became a dear friend following the book launch of Riduna in 2009, my debut novel.

Diana and Paul in 2009

Paul is now retired but we try to keep in touch and share happy memories of that period.

Then I had an appointment with a lady from Alderney Museum with whom I shared a wonderful and fruitful couple of hours, talking about my writing, projects in the pipeline, any research I need to do and projects in the future. I found the response to our conversation both heart warming and encouraging.

A special part of the trip, though, was wandering about this beautiful island once more. Little has changed. The weather last September was fantastic and the affect of lock down appears to have been relatively kind to its people, for which I am thankful.

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May 24, 2023 · 2:21 pm

Diana Mary Jackson (1958) ~ Alderney

How the island of Alderney Stole my Heart

This is my final post on our family history, showing how Alderney has been indelibly imprinted upon my soul.

Since I have no children I am the end of the line on this part of our family tree, which is one reason why, even though married, I chose to write under my maiden name Jackson.

Born in 1958, my memories of family holidays growing up are delightful, either going west to Devon or Cornwall or over to the Channel Islands, first to Guernsey (once too early in my life to remember) then to Sark when I was ten and then three wonderful breaks on Alderney, three weeks at a time over Alderney Week when I was in my teens.

And so, here’s my life in photos, focussing mainly, but not exclusively, on trips to Alderney:

Diana and Mum (Patricia Jackson) 1958
Diana (10yrs), Dad (Arthur Jackson) and sister Christine 1968
Family rock-pooling on Alderney, Diana aged 13
Mum, Diana (aged 15 yrs) Christine and Grandma Green on Braye Beach Alderney
Diana (16yrs) and Christine
Diana celebrating her 50th at the Braye Beach Hotel Alderney (2008)
Diana with husband Roger celebrating the launch of her debut novel Riduna at the Braye Beach 2009

Corblets Bay, Alderney 2009
Mum and Dad at Arch Bay in 2010 when they joined us on their final trip to Alderney
Diana Jackson 2013 with the launch of MURDER, Now and Then
First holiday of freedom from Covid lock-down in the Greek island of Tinos in May 2022

We did return to Alderney in the autumn of 2022, hopefully one of many visits to come. I feel emotionally drawn to the island; I have a connection through time and family for nearly 200 years and the Alderney will always remain in my heart.

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May 17, 2023 · 10:14 am

Exciting New Evidence (1844 to 1943) re Harriet Jackson and Thomas Jackson

I have just received an email from my cousin Lyn with some exciting new documents which she has uncovered in her loft.

The first is the confirmation certificate of Harriet Jane Hopkins (she was often called Jane) on Alderney on 10th August 1884:

The second is the actual marriage certificate of Harriet and Thomas Jackson. Up until now we only had a copy of the church records (note Harriet is Jane Harriet here):

For me these are quite poignant, when Thomas returned to Guernsey in WW2 and the family were concerned that they had not heard from him:

… and finally the news the family dreaded that Thomas Jackson’s had passed away on 26th August 1943 :

It looks like the family had to wait 8 months to hear this news.

The missing piece of the puzzle is still verification of Harriet Jane’s mother, but, since many records were lost or destroyed on Alderney during the evacuation of WW2, it is very unlikely anything will come to light now. Common sense is that her mother’s name was Jane, but we have no proof of that.

Harriet is the protagonist of my first novel Riduna.

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