Every life story is extraordinary.
Listen to my episode of the brilliant Family Histories Podcast!
Read my latest family history blog posts …
A cautionary tale of four Fannies
Family History has plenty of potential pitfalls. In this blog I look at why a man married the same woman twice, and how his daughter married, but died a spinster…
A History of Forge Cottage, Drayton: Part 2
Meet the eclectic families who lived in Forge Cottage, Drayton, Vale of White Horse in the 20th Century.
A History of Forge Cottage, Drayton: Part 1
This is the story of the extended family of blacksmiths who lived and worked in my house and garden for most of the 19th century.
A Hull fish-worker fights fascism
Hull fishworker Dick Mortimer was one of thousands of brave men and women who volunteered with the International Brigade to fight fascism in Spain 90 years ago.
William Hobbs Bradfield the younger
Even the dullest-looking document is a record of someone’s life (or death), and can set you on a path to discovering surprising stories from the past.
William and Frederick: Case 2
In 1888 Amelia Carter and her young daughters Rose and Alice were admitted to Greenwich Workhouse after Amelia’s husband Frederick Cross had deserted them. But Alice’s father was WILLIAM Cross, and Rose was later baptised to Frederick CARTER. Can you help me solve this family history paternity mystery?
William and Frederick: Case 1
My 2x great grandfather William Taylor was a bricklayer, and a brick wall! Follow along with my research as I use traditional and DNA evidence to piece together a genealogical puzzle and uncover an alternative identity.
A Herculaneum Potter
230 years ago dozens of families from the Staffordshire potteries migrated to Liverpool to become the workforce at a huge new pottery factory, Herculaneum. The family of enameller John Edwards was one of them.
The lost boys … and girls — tips on searching for missing children in your family tree
In this blog post I’ll be investigating a story about a man who was reported to have had his 30th child in 1866, and sharing some methods for finding children who were born in England in the 1800s.
Hannah and Percy: a WW1 Story
Percy Kirk joined the Hulls Pals in 1914 and saw action in Egypt and France. Back home, his new wife Hannah endured zeppelin air raids while preparing for the birth of their first child.
More blog posts to explore …
Genealogy tips and case studies
Five reasons ancestors used surnames as middle names
I’m a British Library reader, and you can be one too!
WW1 and WW2
The brother who never came home
Mabel Maultby: a WW2 nurse and civilian casualty
After the Great War – A plea for lighter work
Victorian Crime and Justice
A double murder attempt in Drayton
‘Peculiar’ and ‘Unnatural’ Crimes: Infanticide
‘Peculiar’ and ‘Unnatural’ Crimes: a ‘venereal affair’
Extraordinary action for seduction
Scoundrels and absconders
Deodatus Eaton: a life of scandal
One wedding, one fake marriage and no funeral
Deserted, defaulted, discharged
Social history
A person unknown drowned in the Thames
Christmas cheer in the workhouse
Queen Alexandra and a progressive police orphanage
Eccentric characters and extraordinary lives
Geagle Badcock sniffs out a criminal
William Gunton Saword part 1: Clerk of the Royal Yacht Augusta
William Gunton Saword part 2: Butler of Greenwich Hospital
Polly Smith and ‘the Gosling’ (Servants and Employers Part 1)
Millicent Gifford and D’Arcy de Ferrars (Servants and Employers Part 2)
Alfred Munday: ‘an expert orchid grower’
James Benwell: a humble man of science
The lightning rod of Esculapius Wood
Health and Mental health
Eliza Saword – a short life remembered
Mysteries and investigations
Raised by an aunt and uncle; part 1: The mysterious locket
Raised by an aunt and uncle; part 2: A transatlantic record
Who was Harriet Horlock? Part 1: A genealogical puzzle
Who was Harriet Horlock? Part 2: The skeleton in the cupboard
Who was Harriet Horlock? Part 2: Harriet’s secret is revealed!
Back to England: the search for my English ancestors who emigrated to Canada
A sense of duty: a 1907 triple drowning in San Francisco Bay
And the odd ones out
My strangest (and spookiest) heirloom
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