The site is provided by the current generation of their
descendants to help maintain cousinly links amongst ourselves, and to provide a point of
contact for others with an interest in our family history. For over a hundred
years, a "Budget" (i.e. a folder) of letters has circulated around
representatives of each branch of the family - a process which continued until recently, but which has now been mostly replaced by email communication among those members of the family who wish to take
part - contact us via the link below:
Other visitors may wish to contact us at
The Original
Budget
There is no record
of who the first correspondents were in 1893. When May Fox, the daughter
of Sarah Maria, and the eldest grand-daughter of John Eliot and Maria
Howard, started circulating a package (a "budget") of letters among
her brothers and sisters and her uncles and aunts, she had no idea that
she was starting a cycle of letters that would carry on for one hundred
years, and is still going strong. Now there are about eighteen
correspondents, and it takes about a year to get round if all goes well.
There is no record of it ever having been totally lost, but there have
been several long delays. It must have progressed faster in its earlier
days, as now in 2007 it is in its 108th circulation. It is not
surprising, when one remembers how often they visited their children and
other relations and maintained such a correspondence, that the family has
hung together on the thread of the Budget like beads on a well-loved
necklace.
And if you have ever wondered why its
called "The Budget", here is a dictionary definition of the word's
etymology:
Middle English
bowgette, from Middle French bougette, diminutive of
bouge leather bag, from Latin bulga, of Celtic origin; akin
to Middle Irish bolg bag; akin to Old English belg bag.
Definition #1
chiefly dialect : a usually leather pouch, wallet, or pack; also
: its contents
See the Parties page for a history of the many
times that family members with Budget connections have gathered together
socially for meals or sporting activities.
.
