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 VIDEO CONTENT

EDITORIAL

Assistant Editor -
Welcome TAP HERE
to watch a welcome
video from the editor

Karen Clare
From practical projects for a fabulous
karen.c@family-tree.co.uk family history, to the quest to take your
Digital Editor - family tree back to Norman times, or the
Rachel Bellerby
rachelb@warnersgroup.co.uk journey to heal a broken family …
Senior Designer - it’s all in this issue of Family Tree
Nathan Ward
nathanw@warnersgroup.co.uk

I
Designers - firmly believe that family history isn’t just
Mary Ward
maryw@warnersgroup.co.uk
something that sits on a shelf, to be taken down
and dusted off now and again. As I’m sure most of
Louise Teolis you will heartily agree, it’s part of each and every one
info@louisespixels.co.uk
of us, in our blood. And as you turn the pages of this issue
Rajneet Gill it’s just stunning to see the so many intriguing and varied
rajneet.gill@warnersgroup.co.uk
ways that our family stories weave through our lives.
Jackie Grainger Whether you’re on a mission to find out about Norman
jackie.grainger@warnersgroup.co.uk
history, and perhaps hit the jackpot with a link to an
ancestor who ‘came over with The Conqueror’. Or on a
ADMINISTRATION
quest to understand where you came from and pinpoint
Publisher - that sense of belonging. Or a journey to mend the pieces
Collette Smith
collette.smith@warnersgroup.co.uk of a fragmented family. I hope you enjoy the smashing
articles and advice from our experts and authors this issue
Associate Publisher -
Matthew Hill – including of course our Academy challenges and
matthewh@warnersgroup.co.uk DNA know-how – and that they will inspire and
Advertising Manager - help you find out more about your own family’s tale
Sarah Hopton
0113 2002925
through time. Christmas
sarah.hopton@warnersgroup.co.uk
issue of
Senior Advertising Sales -
Louise Clarke
Family Tree is
0113 2002915 on sale from
louise.clarke@warnersgroup.co.uk Helen Tovey 20 November
Marketing -
Lauren Beharrell
EDITOR
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0113 2002916

Subscriptions -
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Distribution - How to get in touch with us
Nikki Munton
Editorial 01778 395050
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01778 391171
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ISSN 0267-1131
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(Midlands) plc. Follow us @familytreemaguk

When you have finished with

this magazine please recycle it
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 3
Contents December 2018 Vol 35 No 2

7 12

ON THE COVER
12 GENERATIONS OF
CHILDREN IN CARE
Find out how Bernadette McBride
put the past to rest after uncovering
more than 100 years of inherited
18
trauma in her maternal line

18 LOOK BACK A
THOUSAND YEARS
Steve Roberts guides us through
Norman history, plus your chance to
learn about gateway ancestors

24 10 STEPS TO SMART
SEARCHING
Stick to these 10 key points for
success on the ancestral trail,
advises Katherine Jenns
INSIDE THIS ISSUE... 24
28 THAT SENSE OF BELONGING 6 FAMILY HISTORY NEWS
Explore your sense of self and Gen up on the latest genealogy
identity with Charlotte Soares news with Karen Clare

42 BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS 34 BOOKS

Try Chris Paton’s multi-disciplinary
approach to grow your family tree
50 TOP 20 FAMILY HISTORY
SOLUTIONS!
Give your research a refreshing
boost with these easy-to-do
project ideas from Helen Tovey
64 CHOOSING THE RIGHT
COMPUTER
Genealogical tech guru Paul Carter
has some unmissable advice
72 DNA NEWS!
Learn what AncestryDNA’s
latest results mean for you with
Karen Evans’ clear explainer
Latest family history reads with
Karen Clare plus tips on writing a
family history novel
38 FAMILY TREE SUBS CLUB
Join the Family Tree family and
enjoy exclusive offers
47 A CRIMINAL OR A VICTIM?
Julie Watkins investigates
the trials and tribulations of a
19th century ag lab who was
transported to Australia
55 TWIGLETS
Discover the latest tree-tracing
exploits of columnist Gill Shaw
70 SPOTLIGHT ON...
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
OF IRELAND
Tracing your Irish ancestors can
be a challenge, but Tom Conlon
explains how this society can help
78 10 RULES TO LIVE BY IN
WORLD WAR I
From letter censoring to buying a
round of drinks, Ruth A Symes
examines 10 wartime restrictions
endured by ancestors on the
Home Front to help win the war

4 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 ‘Every generation that came before us
has left an impact and a legacy...’
p42

28 68

50

87 DIARY DATES 40 THE LUNCH-HOUR 64 TECHY TIPS FOR FAMILY

Genealogical dates and new GENEALOGIST HISTORIANS
exhibitions this December Rachel Bellerby provides 60 Learn how to choose the right
minutes of family history facts and computer for your family history with
88 YOUR LETTERS fun to fit into your busy day tech guru and genie Paul Carter
Delve into our latest postbag and
find our crossword answers 66 FAMILY TREE LIVE: KEEP UP 68 YOUR MILLING ANCESTORS
WITH THE LATEST NEWS Explore the Mills Archive, a national
92 NEXT ISSUE Discover all the useful info you need collection of documents and images
A peek at our Christmas issue about our fab new 2 day family that could have been lost to the
history show nation. Simon Wills finds out more
93 YOUR ADVERTS
81 YOUR QUESTIONS 72 TAKEN A DNA TEST?
98 THOUGHTS ON... ANSWERED NOW WHAT?
Tuck into Diane Lindsay’s Letter Benefit from the know-how of our DNA is demystified by Karen Evans.
from America, as she starts family history experts Also this issue, getting to grips with
exploring her granddaughter’s your updated AncestryDNA results
international roots from Stateside
RESEARCH ZONE
Got a fam
TOP TIPS & ADVICE 56 THE FAMILY TREE ACADEMY ily
history q
Discover the answers to last We
u e r y?
welcome
queries
39 THE MARRIAGE LOCATOR issue’s tasks and tackle the latest posted to
us on
Julie Goucher shines the spotlight challenges with tutor David Annal Facebook
&
on a little-known web search gem A problem Twitter.
shared...!

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 5

NEWS
Karen Clare reports on the latest
genealogy news. Got a story to share?
Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk

Did you
Researc
know ? Free online course
hers can
crematio search b
urial and
FutureLearn’s popular free
n record
scans, m s, includ ‘Genealogy: Researching Your Family
aps to lo ing regis
photogra cate grav ter
phs of m es and s
o me
Tree’ online course in partnership with
and head onuments
stones, o , memori the University of Strathclyde restarts on
Brompto n the Royal P als
n Cemete arks 5 November, for six weeks. Grab the
https://p ry datab
ortal. ase at chance to take part; register at www.
LANSA /T royalparks.org.u
RP/TRP k/ futurelearn.com/courses/genealogy
w0005.h
TAP tml

HE RE
FOR MORE
IMAGES New WW1
resources
New lease of life The Commonwealth War

for Victorian cemetery Graves Commission has

joined forces with the

A £6.2m project has seen West London’s Brompton Cemetery restored to its
original glory, once more revealing its architectural splendour, uncovering
listed monuments and structures, and conserving its historic landscape and
charity Remembered, which
has produced the poignant
nationwide There But Not
wildlife haven for the local community. There art installations –
The four-year project to restore the Grade I-listed cemetery, where more than see www.therebutnotthere.
200,000 people are laid to rest, was part funded by the Heritage Lottery and org.uk – commemorating
Big Lottery funds with an investment of £1.7m from The Royal Parks – the the fallen of WW1, to
charity which manages the Victorian cemetery – along with generous donors, create a series of
and support from The Friends of Brompton Cemetery. The cemetery has downloadable learning
subterranean catacombs where, since 1840, more than 500 coffins have been resources for schools.
deposited, the last one in 1926. Many of the triple-shelled coffins are covered in Find out more, and
velvet, and in some cases the original floral tributes still survive, revealing how download the resources, at
the Victorians commemorated their loved ones and their attitudes to death. http://ow.ly/BPY230lI1r9
The cemetery off Old Brompton Road features a new café and visitors’
information centre and a exciting programme of events.
Find out more at www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/brompton-cemetery
Industrial school
records digitised
Seafaring family Essex Record Office has published a new image set for its
online subscribers.
The National Maritime Museum’s four new Digital images of the admission registers of the Essex
permanent galleries are now open to the Industrial School and Home for Destitute Boys for 1872-
public. Discover Britain’s story as a maritime 1914 are now available on its online subscription service,
nation through the free Tudor and Stuart Essex Ancestors. These records join the existing online
Seafarers, Pacific Encounters, Polar Worlds images of Essex parish registers, wills and selected electoral
and Sea Things galleries; www.rmg.co.uk/ registers. Find more background information about the
whats-on/four-new-galleries records, including one of the heartbreaking stories they
contain, at https://familytr.ee/essexdestitute

6 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY

Bomber Command
Digital Archive
goes live online
The International Bomber Command Centre
(IBCC) Digital Archive is a new online resource
focusing on people’s stories of RAF Bomber
Command and the bombing war in Europe
during WW2.
The archive, which is housed at and managed
by the University of Lincoln, collects oral
testimonies of veterans and civilian eyewitnesses,
and personal memorabilia, on both sides of
the conflict. Information on the website states
An obituary for Tibs, the most the experiences have ‘rarely been heard or seen
famous Post Office HQ cat outside of the owners’ family circle since the
Artemis and Apollo have taken on the role of Second World War’ and include memories from
ceremonial Postal Museum Cat, 150 years those on the ground as well as in the air.
after the first official Post Office cats More than 5,300 items can already be found on
the site, including photographs and documents
Feline purr-fessional! such as letters, diaries and log books, and it can be
searched at https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk

T he Postal Museum is celebrating 150 years since cats were officially introduced as
workers at the Post Office with the recruitment of two new furry friends.
Cats were first officially appointed by the Post Office to catch rodents in September
If you have family archive material to share,
call 01522 837707 / 837709 or email archive@
internationalbcc.co.uk
1868. Three cats worked on probation at the Money Order Office in London, with an
allowance of one shilling a week. They were given six months by the Secretary of the Post
Office to reduce the mouse problem or face the sack. Luckily the cats were very efficient
and in 1873 were awarded a rise of 6d per week, and the official use of cats soon spread
to other post offices.
The Postal Museum, which also houses the Post Office Archive in Clerkenwell,
London as well as the restored Mail Rail underground railway, has recreated the scene
witnessed 150 years ago with feline pals Artemis and Apollo who, after a plethora of ‘cat
-pplicants’, won a social media competition to be the first recruits to the ceremonial role
of Postal Museum Cat.
Cats like Artemis and Apollo would wander through the nation’s post offices, sorting
offices and even the mail rail transporting post underneath London in the hope of
catching rodents and keeping the destruction of letters and parcels to a minimum. Convict website
The most famous Post Office headquarters cat was Tibs the Great. Born in November
1950, Tibs tipped the scales at 23lbs and lived in the refreshment club in the basement
resources grow
of the building. Tibs not only kept headquarters completely mouse-free during his 14 More resources have been added to the
years’ service but appeared at a ‘cats and film stars’ party and had his portrait included free Digital Panopticon website, dedicated
in a 1953 book called Cockney Cats. Tibs worked diligently until his death in November to tracing London convicts in Britain and
1964; the last known Post Office HQ cat, Blackie, died in June 1984. Australia, 1789-1925.
Although all brilliant mousers, there is one key difference between Tibs the Great and The improvements to
Artemis and Apollo; the latter two have their own Instagram page @themainecoonlife www.digitalpanopticon.org include:
The Postal Museum recruited 12 new cats via social media over a year. To find the • the ability to search by personal characteristics
other ‘cat-pplicants’ search #jobsfurcats on social media. and life events, including eye and hair
colour, complexion, height, distinguishing
marks; marriage, parenthood and death; and
information about pardons, transportation,
Island honour imprisonment and other punishments
The Isle of Man Post Office has created a • Wildcards in searching
set of six stamps celebrating the work of • Pie charts to visualise results
Manx-born sculptor Rayner Hoff, whose • Census returns, death records and records of
work adorns the ANZAC memorials in convicts transported to Western Australia
Sydney and Adelaide, Australia. Find out • New information pages and a guide to
more at www.iompost.com/ANZAC obtaining access to underlying data.

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 7

NEWS
Historic band strikes a note for peace
whom were miners, could have foreseen that just 16 years later they
would lay down their instruments to fight ‘the war to end war’. Peace
in 1918 reunited the band and it won a host of gold medals before
members were called upon to fight a second global conflict.
WATCH After regrouping after WW2 the band faced a constant battle to
VIDEO replace worn instruments. Most members were miners and, having
TAP been helped by the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, the
HE RE band changed its named to Desford Colliery Band in 1956.
FOR MORE Band leader Peter Smith explained what the new album signified:
ARCHIVE ‘We wanted to strike a note for peace in these troubled times so what
PHOTOS
better way to stir the souls of men and women all over the world than
Desford Colliery Band in earlier with our take on a set of classic peace songs?’.
times and today, and its new Tracks vary from Pete Seeger’s meditation on mortality that inspired
album for peace the album’s title, to Bob Dylan’s protest hymn Blowin’ in the Wind and
the joyful treatment of The Beatles’ global anthem All You Need Is Love.

O ne of Britain’s longest-running brass bands is marking its 120th

anniversary with an album for peace that also commemorates the
centenary of the end of World War I.
The multi award-winning Desford Colliery Band, which starred in
the hit TV series, The Real Brassed Off, is releasing the collection of
classic peace songs interpreted for brass band called Where Have All the
Flowers Gone? on Island Records on 26 October 2018.
Based in the small Leicestershire town of Coalville, close to the
mining communities of Desford and Ibstock, the band was formed
in 1898 as Ibstock United Band. Few founding members, many of
‘Music brings people together, it’s hugely important to us and to
our community,’ added Darren Pearce, who plays the repiano cornet.
‘At times it is our family, at times it’s our comfort. It’s at the centre of
everything, our heart and soul.’
Desford Colliery was sunk in 1900 and abandoned in 1984, while
Ibstock Colliery was sunk in 1825 and later also supported brick
making. By 1914 it was producing some three million bricks a year,
rising to 10 million in 1939 and 18 million in 1946. The colliery
closed in 1928.
Find out more at www.desfordcollieryband.co.uk

New genealogy site releases

• Ancestry has launched the first batch of WW1 Pension Ledgers and
Index Cards (1914-1923), an important collection from the Western Front
Association (WFA) that provides pension details of military and military-
related personnel who filed for a pension after WW1 or, if killed, information
about their widow and/or other dependants; or next of kin if they were
unmarried and without children. The first release features two small sets of
records – Naval Ledgers and Merchant Marine Cards – and can be found at
https://ancstry.me/2O483he
The original archive of 6.5m pension records was saved from destruction in
Get ready for
2012 by the WFA, which plans to allow its members to access the records for Scottish show
free. A much larger release is expected from Ancestry in November, with more
to follow in stages; learn more in the WFA blog at Scotland’s largest Local and Family History Show takes
https://familytr.ee/wfapensions place on 27 October in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, with
• TheGenealogist.co.uk has released the third part of exhibitors from across the country and beyond.
its unique online record set from The National Organised by Lanarkshire Family History Society
1
Archives, the 1910 Lloyd Domesday Survey,
F r ee W Ws (FHS), the show will feature a range of talks, including
d
r ecorh Army WW1
this time covering Brent. This major resource, ‘The Scottish Poor Law’, ‘DNA for Your Family Tree’ and
which combines hand-annotated maps and ‘Maps for Family History’. National and local heritage
ritis 14-
residential data, is based on records created try’s B ex Cards 19 h organisations will be attending alongside other societies,
Ances In d arc
l Rolls to se
for the Valuation Office survey. The site Meda ct io n is free ay, in archives, museums, publishers and genealogy supplies
olle eD
has also published more school registers, 1920 c emembranc yal British companies. Free help and advice will be available from
until R t he Ro
adding tens of thousands of ancestors to its rat io n with familytr.ee/ Lanarkshire FHS and the Scottish Genealogy Network.
o /
Educational Records; collab n, at https:/ s Opening times are from 9.30am-4.30pm at
Legio dalroll
tryme
www.thegenealogist.co.uk/news Ances Motherwell Concert Hall, Civic Centre, Motherwell
• Findmypast.co.uk has added more than 925,000 ML1 1AB. Entry £2pp (under-12s free), talks £3 each or
Welsh records comprising parish registers and historical £10 for four; http://lfhsshow.weebly.com
publications, plus Catholic parish registers for Baltimore and New York to its
Catholic Heritage Archive; https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/latest-records

8 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY

DNA NEWS

MyHeritage sings in the changes

M yHeritage has evolved its DNA service – and revealed it is a presenting
partner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.
The genealogy and DNA site now supports the upload of 23andMe v5 and
Living DNA data files, as well as data uploads from all major DNA testing services,
including Ancestry, 23andMe (pre-V5) and Family Tree DNA (Family Finder).
Researchers who have already tested their DNA have been able to upload
DNA data from Ancestry, 23andMe and Family Tree DNA to MyHeritage since
2016, receiving DNA Matches and ethnicity estimates for free*. However, data
uploads from 23andMe (v5) and Living DNA were not possible because they
were based on a chip called GSA (Global Screening Array). Recent improvements
to MyHeritage’s algorithms now allow it to support DNA data processed on GSA
chips, including 23andMe v5 and Living DNA files. Save on t icket s!
Book your Family
MyHeritage, which is an associate sponsor at Family Tree Live next year, has Tree Live tickets
*£12 each (child today for just
ren go free) at ww
also been named as a presenting partner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, * Only £10 for FT w.family-tree.co
.uk
subscribers – se
taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel in May. Aviram Levi, chief marketing officer On-door price is
e page 38.
of MyHeritage, said: ‘As one of the world’s greatest gatherings that celebrates £14
cultural diversity and creativity, we share the Eurovision Song Contest’s values.
Helping people strengthen their bond to their families by establishing a Find FamilySearch
at Ally Pally
connection to their family history and cultures of origin makes them realise that,
while we are all unique, we are also more similar and connected than we think.’
In further news, MyHeritage DNA kits are now for sale in UK High Street The world’s largest family history organisation,
retailer WH Smith as well as direct from its site. FamilySearch, has been announced as an associate
*MyHeritage’s DNA uploads policy is changing: DNA Matching will remain free sponsor at Family Tree Live, which is taking place at
for uploaded DNA data, but unlocking additional DNA features will require an London’s stunning Alexandra Palace in 2019.
extra fee for new uploads from 1 December 2018. Find latest MyHeritage news The international nonprofit genealogy organisation,
at https://blog.myheritage.com which offers ancestral researchers billions of free
records, resources and services via its website and family
AncestryDNA updates history centres across the globe, joins MyHeritage,
FamilyTreeDNA and The Society of Genealogists as an
AncestryDNA has improved its ethnicity estimate to deliver more specific and associate sponsor at the top new show, being presented
precise results. by Family Tree in partnership with the Federation of
The updated estimate draws on a new algorithm that analyses longer segments Family History Societies.
of genetic information. New results include: higher confidence ethnicity Taking place on 26 and 27 April, Family Tree Live
estimates, with lower confidence regions removed; more specific regions (for promises two amazing days of lectures, workshops,
example, nine regions in Asia, including Japan and China, have been added) exhibition stands, free genealogy advice and shopping
and possible increases or decreases in estimated percentages from each region. In and is designed for all levels of research experience.
particular, the algorithm analyses European DNA more precisely. Keep up to date with the latest show news on the
• Read our explainers on page 75 and at https://familytr.ee/AncDNAnews Family Tree Live blog at www.family-tree.co.uk/ftre/
show/family-tree-live

By George, we’re 25!

The George Family Name Society is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special event
in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Founded at the Nant-y-ffin Motel, Llandissilio, on 10 July 1993, the society aims
to bring people with George roots together and build George family trees. More than
170 people attended the inaugural meeting, coming from Devon, Derby, Sussex, Essex,
London, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Wales and the 3rd Earl Lloyd-George, father
of the society’s current patron, was the first president.
The celebratory ‘George Day’ takes place on Saturday, 3 November in The Castle
Hotel, Llandovery, with Dr Robin Barlow speaking about ‘The Physicians of Myddfai’.
More details at http://georgefamilyname.org
Current officers of The George Family Name Society

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 9

 Wa
t r aitlcehr
YOUR FREE RECORDS
Holocaust film hits cinemas WORTH
£34!
Families on

A new Holocaust documentary film being released in UK cinemas

in November follows the incredible 3,500-mile journey of 11
motorcyclists across nine countries, on a mission to take the Maccabiah
torch from Israel to the site of the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics, for the
first Jewish Olympic Games on German soil since WW2.
Seven of the bikers in Back to Berlin are descendants of Holocaust
survivors, two are actual survivors and two are grandsons of the 1930s’
Maccabiah riders. Together they retrace the original heroic journey and
discover how they or their families survived or perished in the Holocaust.
Directed by Catherine Lurie, narrated by actor Jason Isaacs and mixing
archival footage with the 2015 journey, the film movingly, sometimes
chillingly, juxtapositions the present and past. Back to Berlin is released in
UK cinemas on 23 November: http://backtoberlin.co.uk
the 1851
Census for
Derbyshire
At Family Tree we’ve teamed up with UK family history website
TheGenealogist.co.uk to offer you selected free sources from its
extensive online collections. Read on to learn about the census
and other genealogy records you can search today for free...
1851 Census search
You can search and use the 1851 Census for Derbyshire to find
your families who lived in this beautiful and varied county with its
proud rural and mining communities, often known as home to the
Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.

WW1 centenary projects Parish registers

Search or browse for your ancestors
• Handcrafted quilts created for a family history community in the Oxfordshire Parish Registers:
project are being displayed at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire Chipping Norton 1560-1837, Wooton
from 7-9 November as part of a series of special First World War 1564-1837, Pyrton 1563-1812 and
centenary events. Crowell 1602-1812.
The Hall will be open 10.30am-1pm each day when the First
World War Centenary Quilts are on display, with the tea room How to use the records
open afterwards for a wartime-themed lunch. Fifty tickets will 1. To access your free records
be available per day for a minimum donation of £5pp (£12 simply register at
including lunch), with funds raised going to charity. There will TheGenealogist.co.uk/ftfree
be performances from Warhorse, poetry readings, the sounding of 2. To activate your content for this
The Last Post, wartime sing-alongs and more. Full details at issue, enter the code 165161.
www.kelmarsh.com/Visiting/WhatsOn and www.facebook. 3. Once activated, content will be
com/WW1-Centenary-Quilt-637161519681055 accessible for a 30-day period
(within three months of the UK
• Dedicated researchers in Powys have completed several local on sale date).
projects to commemorate the centenary.
Newtown Local History Group has been researching the Great
War and its impact and published two booklets for sale: Letters
from the Front 1914-18: Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Soldiers,
Sailors, Airmen and Others and Newtown in the Great War (£10
each). A group of local needlewomen have also produced
a commemorative banner, which hangs in the town
council offices, and the council itself has led a
Newtown Remembers project. Find the group’s
Facebook page at https://en-gb.facebook.com/
newtownhistorygroup
Oxfordshire Parish
Registers extracts

10 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Where do you think
you come from?
43% Europe West

31% Great Britain

12% Scandinavia

8% Iberian Peninsula

6% Italy/Greece

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July 2018 November 2018 Family
FamilyTree 11
OVERCOMING INHERITED TRAUMA
Reader story

Breaking the cycle:

a history of
children in care

When Bernadette McBride began exploring her maternal family history she uncovered
more than 100 years of intergenerational trauma, featuring poverty-stricken young mothers
and children in care; from a turn-of-the-century Irish workhouse and a 1950s’ mother and
baby institution, to a Salvation Army children’s home in the 1980s and ’90s. However, her
findings prove that this inherited cycle of female life circumstances could be broken...

B
y tradition, surnames have
been passed down the male
line, and therefore our male
lineage is often the first
point of call when conducting family
history. Where does this leave the
legacy of the ladies in our lives? Black
and white photographs of our female
ancestors lie gathering dust in a box in
the attic with no concrete back story;
yet, with a story to tell.
My story
My first ‘proper’ job after leaving
school was working at the General
Register Office (GRO) in the family
history department. As a naturally
curious person I found the job
endlessly fascinating, and I loved
sinking my teeth into the more
difficult cases. Yet, despite my work
experience all those years ago, I
have struggled to trace my own
maternal lineage.
Bereavement led to a renewed
interest in discovering my own female
ancestry. In my late twenties I lost
my mother. A year later I found
myself still in the depths of grief
and pregnant with my first child, a
daughter of my own. My grief was
for more than the loss of my mother
though – it was for the loss of my
mother from my childhood, and for
the loss of my own childhood. In the
1980s and ’90s I was placed on the
child protection register and was in
and out of foster care and children’s
home on a regular basis. My mother
had encountered a lot of difficulties in
her life stemming from childhood that
affected her well into adulthood.
From as far back as I can remember,
I never directed any blame for the
situation towards my mother. Even
from the eyes of a young child, it was
clear to see that she was a woman
who was struggling rather than a
woman who was wilfully neglecting
her children. The late US journalist
and women’s advocate Sydney J

12 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


Harris once said, ‘History repeats
itself, but in such cunning disguise
that we never detect the resemblance
until the damage is done’. I decided
to look into what had happened to
my mother during her childhood,
and explore the life circumstances of
my mother, my mother’s mother, and
those of her mother. My plan was
to try to comprehend a past that I
was still struggling to come to terms
with by piecing together the jigsaw
of my maternal family history. What
I discovered was an intergenerational
pattern of maternal distress and
children who had been placed into
institutional care from the turn of the
19th century in Ireland.
Tracing back
A good genealogist will tell you to
start with what you know and then
work your way backwards. I had what
seemed to be good information –
married and maiden names for my
mother, for my maternal grandmother,
and for my maternal great-
grandmother, Mary ‘Ninny’ Langton.
PATTERNS OF THE PAST
Nancy Langton as a child in Ireland, 1930s
Clockwise from top right: Nancy (left) and daughter
Debra (right) with Debra’s eldest daughter, Claire,
Bernadette’s sister; Debra as a girl with mum
Nancy in Southport, 1950s; Mary ‘Ninny’ Langton,
Bernadette’s maternal great-grandmother; Nancy as a
baby and Bernadette with mum Debra in the 1980s
www.family-tree.co.uk
I even had a possible first name for
my maternal 2x great-grandmother,
rumoured to be Lizzie. I was also able
to find birth, marriage, and death
records for my mother and maternal
grandmother at the GRO for England
and Wales, and the death record
there for my Irish-born maternal
great-grandmother.
To get even further back I would
need to find my great-grandmother
Mary’s birth certificate in Ireland to
find out who her own mother was.
On her death certificate her birth is
detailed with the date, month and her
birth year as 1898 in Ireland. Mary’s
maiden name was McCarthy; now,
there were a lot of Mary McCarthys
born in 1898 throughout Ireland! The
occupation on her death certificate
is simply detailed as ‘widow’. I was
able to find lots of information for
my maternal great-grandad, from
a newspaper article detailing his
achievements having served in both
world wars, to family stories of his
years as a publican in Liverpool. Their
pub on the ‘Dock Road’ was bombed
DECEMBER 2018 13
OVERCOMING INHERITED TRAUMA
and, when they came out of the
shelter, it was gone. Unfortunately this
also seemed to be the case with their
official marriage; I have turned all
the Irish and even UK records upside
down and there is no trace of the
marriage certificate, which could have
given me vital information on Mary’s
birth parents.
Neither was there any mention of
Mary on the many war records I was
able to find for her known husband.
With vague birth details for Mary,
and no marriage record, I turned
to the 1901 and 1911 Irish census
records and tried to cross-reference
any Mary McCarthys born in 1898
with her reported sibling names on the
household registers, but still nothing
concrete came up.
Hard times
Somewhere in between WW1, WW2
and the pub, the family fell upon
hard times in their native Ireland and
Mary’s children were handed over
into the care of the Catholic Church
community. The eldest boys were sent
to the notorious Artane home ran
by the Christian Brothers, while the
eldest girls went to an equivalent girls’
convent home. Reasons for children
going into Catholic care at that time
in Ireland, the 1920s to 1930s, ranged
anywhere from destitution to minor
offences. In the case of Mary and her
husband, they were living through
extreme poverty as a young couple
with an ever-growing family. They
were told their children could come
back to them when they were in a
better position. They left inter-war
Ireland, which held little prospects for
them, and settled in Liverpool, slowly
14 DECEMBER 2018
moving along the coast from the docks
to Formby, then Southport.
They had more children together
– in total a reported 14 – of which
at least 10 survived past infancy.
The youngest of those children was
my maternal grandmother Nancy.
She wasn’t ever taken into care,
but her birth mother’s experience
of institutional homes had a direct
impact upon the future choices she
was expected to make.
Pregnant & alone
In 1954, age 17, my grandmother
Nancy became pregnant with my
mother Debra. Unfortunately for
Nancy, she was unmarried. Her
family told Nancy, ‘If you give the
baby up, you can come back to this
house, or keep the baby, but if you
do, you mustn’t ever set foot in this
house again’. It was decided that
Nancy would go into a mother and
baby home and give the baby up for
adoption. Nancy didn’t want to give
her baby up, but with the threat of
homelessness made by her parents, she
was stuck. In the 1950s being a single
mother was a scandal and a mass of
‘refuge’ homes popped up across the
UK and Ireland to help cater for the
many of those who were in what was
seen as a shameful situation.
Information from resource websites
such as www.motherandbabyhomes.
com/the-homes tell us that most
homes ‘focused on the time during
confinement, generally six weeks
before the due date through six-
weeks after the baby was born’, with
a typical day involving chores upon
waking such as washing and scrubbing
floors. There is no record of their
www.family-tree.co.uk
stay at the mother and baby home on
Debra’s birth certificate; to avoid later
stigmatisation, mothers were allowed
to record another usual residential
address. The nearest mother and baby
home to her parents listed on sites
such as www.childrenshomes.org.uk
would have been the Mater Dei Hostel
in Blundellsands, Liverpool. Records
say that it was founded in 1949,
provided before and after care, and
it was run by Catholic Nugent Care,
so it seemed a good fit. I contacted
Nugent Care directly and at the time
of writing this article it was unable
to verify if records were still held
during that period for my mother and
grandmother. This was disappointing
news, and I suspect even more so for
those who need to access mother and
baby home records in order to trace a
A panoramic lost mother or child.
view of Liverpool, Following on from a hard-won
showing bomb adoption apology by the Australian
damage caused Government in 2013, in the UK, a
by an air raid Movement for Adoption Apology in
c1942. The Liver England has been launched that seeks:
Building can be ‘Recognition and acknowledgement
seen just to the of the pain and grief suffered by many
right of centre, birth parents and their children.’
and the River Unmarried mothers were told that
Mersey is just giving up their baby was ‘what was
visible to the left best for them and their baby’, when
of the photograph. in reality they were given little choice.
Family legend Once you entered a mother and baby
has it that home, if you were 21 or under, you
Bernadette’s were only allowed to keep your baby
great- if you had your parents’ permission,
grandparents’ which Nancy did not.
pub on the
‘Dock Road’ was A dramatic escape
destroyed during However, this tale now takes a twist.
the Liverpool Blitz In the days leading up to the end of
Nancy’s confinement in the mother
 PATTERNS OF THE PAST

A pre-World War I photograph of

the Artane Industrial School, Dublin,
and the former Limerick Workhouse
(now St Camillus’s Hospital)

The former Limerick Workhouse. Photo 2017. Picture from humphrysfamilytree.com by Mark Humphrys, http://humphrysfamilytree.com/Humphrys/limerick.workhouse.html
The former Limerick Workhouse

and baby home, one night as she lay

in bed spending her last precious
moments with her newborn baby, she
heard stones being thrown against
her window. The upside to being
the youngest of a large family meant
that some of her elder siblings had
by now moved out and had homes of
their own. At the window throwing
stones to get Nancy’s attention were
her elder sisters Doreen and Monica.
They told Nancy, ‘If you come with
us now, you can keep the baby and
stay on our farm, and we’ll help you
look after her’.
Much to the confusion of some of
the home’s nuns, the next morning
Nancy and baby Debra were gone.
Legacy of childhood
Although Nancy got to keep her
daughter, life was incredibly hard.
After leaving the mother and baby
home, Debra became desperately ill.
Doctors dismissed Nancy’s concerns
as those of a neurotic young mother,
and a single one at that. In fact Debra
had developed polio and was lucky
to survive, and she needed treatment
throughout her childhood. Her Irish
family gave her bits of Guinness for
‘strength’ as a child. Debra suffered
from a sense of rootlessness and
struggled with her identity; she never
saw her real dad, just a photograph of
him for the first time before she passed
away in 2010. Coupled with the
trauma of childhood illness, rejection
and stigmatisation, Debra struggled
in adulthood and became addicted to
alcohol as a coping mechanism for all
the deep pain she had buried.
One day, I decided to take a tour
of my past and my mother’s. I pulled
up to the address for the mother
and baby home in Blundellsands,
Liverpool, and it was a block of luxury
redeveloped flats. I drove further
along the coastline to Southport,
my birthplace, to the address of the
children’s home where I once lived,
and it was also luxury redeveloped
flats. A quick Google search gave me
a surprising contact for those who
formerly lived there. Years earlier
search results had returned nothing.
I recently emailed the contact on the
website, Major Kevin Pooley, a social
historian for the Salvation Army. He
said there were indeed records listed
for me in its catalogue, though it
would take a short time to put them
together as they were held in a secure
off-site store. It feels strange knowing
there is a box with my name on in an
unknown building in London, which I
had known nothing about for all these
years. Who knows what they may
contain, if only notes to make a sense
of the order of my earlier life.
Is this Mary’s birth?
I tried one last search for ‘Ninny’
Langton’s birth and one record for
1898 popped up that hadn’t caught
my eye before. The index register
listed the birth surname as McCarthy,
yet on clicking the image of the
record the baby is named as Mary
with a different surname; the location
named is the Limerick Workhouse.
A data input error? The mother is
named as Lizzie with the father’s
details absent.
Breaking the cycle
With a lack of a marriage certificate
it will be difficult to ever verify
Mary’s birth mother and childhood
circumstances. What this research
has shown is that up until the 1950s
when women’s rights were limited,
women had every chance of inheriting
their mother’s life circumstances
and passing them onto their own

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 15

OVERCOMING INHERITED TRAUMA
children. In my family’s case, across the
generations all the separated children
were reunited with their mother,
including myself. My mother died USEFUL WEBSITES
a proud and sober woman who had & SOURCES

‘In rising above the

overcome her demons
and in turn helped • www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content
others as a sponsor at – GRO website for ordering

remna nts of one’s

Alcoholics Anonymous certificates for births, marriages
for many years. and deaths in England and Wales
• www.census.nationalarchives.ie

a ncestors’ tr a uma,
Finding your own – The National Archives of Ireland
answers censuses 1901 & 1911
For those less fortunate and • www.motherandbabyhomes.com

one hel ps to heal

still looking for answers, or – Mother and Baby Homes website
for anyone who has been • www.childrenshomes.org.uk
in care for any period of – Peter Higginbotham’s Children’s

future gener a tions’

time, The Care Leavers’ Homes website, a spin-off from
Association offers a guide his Workhouses website at
on how to access the social www.workhouses.org.uk
services records that you • www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk
have a legal right to see and salvation_army_childrens_homes.html
obtain. It is worth noting – Salvation Army children’s homes on
that individual homes used the Former Children’s Homes website
by social services, such as those ran by • www.careleavers.com
the Salvation Army or Barnardo’s, have accesstorecords – Advice about
their own separate records that may records’ access on The Care Leavers’
offer a different insight to social Association site
services’ records. • www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk
For mother and baby home search/questions/#mandb –
records a good starting point is www. information about the Locating
adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/search/ Adoption Records Database
questions/#mandb particularly if • www.childabusecommission.ie/rpt
an adoption did take place. A list of pdfs/CICA-VOL1-07.PDF – report of
workhouses and Poor Law Unions The Commission to Inquire into Child
lists can be viewed on Abuse on St Joseph’s Industrial
www.findmypast.co.uk and also at School, Artane, 1870-1969
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk while • www.findmypast.co.uk
www.workhouses.org.uk is also • www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
worth exploring. • www.psychologytoday.com/gb
blog/the-me-in-we/201205/how
In summary, to quote Molly S trauma-is-carried-across
Castelloe PhD in her blog The Me generations – Dr Molly S Castelloe’s
in We on the website of Psychology article in full, ‘How trauma is carried
Today*: ‘In rising above the remnants across generations today’
of one’s ancestors’ trauma, one helps
to heal future generations.’

About the author

Bernadette McBride is a
writer and PhD candidate
in Creative Writing at the
University of Liverpool
where she is working on
her first novel ‘Bunkers’
and a work of
autofiction, ‘Dark Bay’.
You can find her tweeting
@b_mmcbride

16 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

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 GETTING BACK TO THE NORMANS

Did your ancestor come over

with the Conqueror?
Steve Roberts looks back to a turning point in English history; 1066, when the nation
fell to William the Conqueror, ending the era of the Anglo-Saxons and heralding a new
form of governance. Can you trace your family back to this tumultuous time?

S
axon lament
As the sun set on a
Sussex battlefield the
groans of the dying
petered out, a lament to
an England destined to change beyond
recognition. The field was Hastings,
the date 14 October 1066, and
Norman conquerors held sway.
The Norman Conquest is oft
proclaimed as the last successful
foreign invasion of these islands. It was
certainly a watershed moment. When
King Edward the Confessor died,
childless, in January 1066, there was a
disputed succession, which led Saxon,
Harold II (or Harold Godwinson),
and Norman, William, Duke of
Normandy, to trade blows near the
Sussex coast at modern-day Battle.
Normans rising
So, who were these Normans and
what was their interest in England?
Well, they originated as ‘Norsemen’
(or ‘Northmen’), the Vikings of
Norway, who found their way to the
north-west of modern France from
the 9th century AD. The Normans’
hold over ‘Normandy’ was confirmed
by treaty with the French king in
the 10th century. Conveniently (or
inconveniently if you were a Saxon),
this Norse enclave in France faced
England across the Channel.
William, illegitimate son and heir,
succeeded to the dukedom in 1035.
It took him until 1060 to feel secure,
by which time he was gazing across
that stretch of water. The story goes
that both Edward and Harold had
A 14th century conceded William could be the next
depiction of ruler. When the old king expired,
Henry II and however, Harold, the man on the
his legitimate spot, claimed the throne. Armed with
children, from left: a sense of grievance, William garnered
William, Henry papal support, so crossed the Channel
the young King, with religious fervour, as well as
Richard, Matilda, military might. He stated it was, ‘in
Geoffrey, Eleanor, defence of right that I have crossed
Joan, and John the sea into this country’.
The war of words led to the
clashing of iron and steel at Hastings.
Whether Harold died with an arrow
in the eye is debatable. Historians
suggest we may not have interpreted
the Bayeux Tapestry correctly. He
may just have been ‘cut down’ in the
battle’s latter stages, but whatever the
truth, Harold was dead and Anglo-
Saxon England perished with him.

Timeline
1066 1070 1087 1100
Battle of Rebellion in the Death of William I Death of Rufus in
Hastings and 1069-70 Fen Country, 1086 and accession of the New Forest
accession of The Harrying of led by Hereward Domesday William II (Rufus) and accession of
William I (the the North the Wake Book Henry I
Conqueror)

18 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


The Conqueror
William’s invasion gamble had paid
off and he was crowned on Christmas
Day 1066.
For the Conqueror, the problems
began after his victory, as the
Anglo-Saxon dog wagged its tail,
with rebellions between 1067 and
1071. William showed his mettle by
ruthlessly crushing these. Much of the
opposition occurred in the north, far
from his power-base, and his response
was the ‘Harrying of the North’,
which was as brutal as it sounds. East
Anglia was another hotspot, where
shadowy Hereward the Wake led
local freedom fighters. The new king
prevailed, however, and England was
transformed, with Norman customs
and landowners introduced.
Domesday
For the Saxons, it must have felt
like ‘Doomsday’. The aptly-named
Domesday Book (1086) was William’s
attempt to quantify what he had
conquered. It was also a testament to
what had changed in 20 years, with
Norman landowners parachuted in
and some land wasted as the new king
snuffed out opposition. Castles were
built to cow the locals.
William spent most of his last 15
years back in Normandy (which was,
of course, his homeland) and faced his
own Doomsday, in September 1087,
dying from injuries received while
campaigning against the French king.
Robert of Normandy was
nicknamed ‘Curthose’ (short
stockings), a sarcastic
reference to his wee
legs. Short of stature he
may have been, but he
lived into his eighties.
Relations with Rufus
were never good and
they ended up scrapping
for the English throne.
Robert also participated
in the First Crusade, the first
Christian attempt to free the Holy
Land from Muslim conquerors.
It was Rufus who would be king
though, the moniker a reference to
either his red-faced appearance or,
more likely, to his red hair. He never
married, or sired any offspring, which
not only set tongues wagging, but may
have precipitated his end.
William l (the
conqueror(1066-1087)
Robert of Normandy
Curthose, (d.1134)
Wiliam (Atheling)
(d.1120)
NOBLE ROOTS
Rufus
Rufus soon found his brother
would not go quietly. Robert
seems to have been the
more popular of the two,
possibly because he was
more malleable and more
appealing to magnates
who didn’t want their style
cramped. Early in the reign
there was a rebellion, its
instigators apparently unhappy at
the Anglo-Norman territories being
ruled separately. Rufus was, by repute,
Richard I’s Great a decent soldier, and put down this
Seal (‘Selbymay’) revolt, and another one in 1095.
The men who wrote the histories
were not keen, however, as Rufus
insisted on treating the Church as a
‘cash-cow’. ‘By the Holy Face of Lucca
neither he nor any other shall be
archbishop at this time except myself.’
Henry l
Adela-.
(1100-1135) Stephen of Blois
(1087-1100)
Matilda Geoffrey of Anjou
Stephen
(1135-1154)
Henry l
(1154-1189)

Curthose
William followed William, but Henry Richard l (Lionheart) Geoffrey John (Lackland)
it might not have been so. The (The young king) (1189-1199) (d.1186) (1199-1216)
Conqueror’s eldest son was Robert, (d.1183)
but he succeeded to the Dukedom of
Normandy, leaving the ‘lesser’ prize Arthur
of England to the younger William (d.1203?) Eleanor
Rufus (William II). Henry lll
(1216-1272)

1105 1120 1135 1139 1141 1148

Battle of Sinking of the Death of Henry I. Matilda Stephen Matilda
Tinchebrai ‘White Ship’ and Stephen seizes invades captured briefly departs
and capture loss of William throne and start England, by Matilda, but England
of Robert of the Atheling of ‘The Anarchy’ landing on the soon regains for the
Normandy Sussex coast his liberty final time

www.family-tree.co.uk
 GETTING BACK TO THE NORMANS

(When Anselm was proposed as

Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093.)
Rufus even seized the Archbishop’s
estates in 1097. The Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle derided the king as, ‘hated
by almost all his people’, the verdict
of an offended churchman.

New Forest mystery

When Rufus’s end came it was mired
in mystery. Officially, it was a hunting
accident in the New Forest. We
shall never know the truth. Was it
a genuine mishap, or was the arrow
fired by Walter Tirel, the culmination
of an assassination plot in favour of
Rufus’s younger brother, Henry? The
date was 2 August 1100.
The iconic Rufus Stone marks the
spot. Every 2 August the ghost of
Rufus is said to rise here, presumably
still trying to dodge the arrow that
did for him. Henry meanwhile seized
the treasury and throne with almost
indecent haste, as though he’d been
waiting in the wings. Rufus had no
descendants, so the path to the throne
was clear. Henry was present when
his brother was slain, so it was a short
gallop to Winchester to grab the royal
dosh. The other candidate (Curthose)
was caught with his pants down on
Crusade (wrong place, wrong time).
Henry I
The new king soon displayed his
ruthlessness and single-mindedness.
He felt Curthose was unfinished
business and invaded Normandy
in 1105, not only conquering the
homeland, but capturing his brother
at the Battle of Tinchebrai. The fate
of the unlucky sibling was to be a
prisoner for nearly 30 years.
Henry was a born soldier. Twice
he invaded France (1111-1113 and
1116-1120), emerging victorious.
Twice he invaded Wales (1114 and
1121) as he sought to extend Norman
hegemony westwards. But his reign
was not just about military prowess.
The invaders
While 1066 is generally accepted as
the last successful foreign invasion
of Britain, the Glorious Revolution
(1688) has a shout (William of
Orange landed with a foreign army
and took the throne). Arguably,
Henry Tudor’s invasion (1485)
might also be considered, as his army
included many foreign mercenaries
Henry was a skilled administrator: the
Exchequer role was developed; a
Charter of Liberties, promised
rights; the ‘Leges Henrici
Primi’ was a cataloguing
of laws. Henry valued
education. ‘An illiterate
king is a crowned ass.’ (‘Rex
See Steve Roberts’ guest
illiteratus, asinus coronatus’).
blog on the FT website at
He was posthumously styled www.family-tree.co.uk
‘Beauclerc’ (the scholar).
The White Ship
History is full of ‘what ifs’. Henry I,
the last of the Conqueror’s sons (and
only English-born one), did what
Rufus failed to do, and secured the
succession, with his own son, another
William (the ‘Atheling’ or heir).
What a king cannot legislate for
is his son and successor, and his
entourage, embarking on a booze-
fuelled crossing of the Channel.
The so-called ‘White Ship’ struck a
rock shortly after leaving Normandy,
resulting in a mass drowning, which
accounted for the prince. His death
aged 17 in November 1120 left Henry
with a problem. You have to admire
King John’s
House, Tollard his stamina, as he may have fathered
Royal, where 27 children, but William had been the
King John only surviving legitimate son. His loss
himself had a would be felt grievously, not just by
hunting lodge the king, but by the whole realm.
The tragedy of the White Ship
cast a shadow and Henry’s last years
were preoccupied with attempting
to safeguard the succession of his
daughter, Matilda. In 1127, Henry
forced his barons to swear an oath
What did the of allegiance to her, but, in an age
when a ruler was expected to be
Normans ever strong (and manly), trouble was
do for us? brewing in the shape of the last
Norman king.
The Anarchy
Here comes our crossover. Matilda
(or Maud) was married twice, latterly
to Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128. Their
descendants would be our ‘Angevins’.
The English throne would not be
hers, however, for Henry I’s nephew,
Stephen (the son of Henry’s sister
Adela), took the crown in 1135. It
was a demonstration of ‘might is right’
and launched a civil war of 19 years
dubbed ‘The Anarchy’.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicler was
still scribing even though it was
towards the end of the Norman
period. The Chronicler’s pithy
summation of these troubled times
was, ‘men said openly that Christ
and His saints slept’. Royal authority
collapsed, lawlessness prevailed, and

1153 1154 1170 1174 1183 1186

Treaty of Death of Stephen Murder of Henry II does Death of Henry, Death of Geoffrey,
Winchester. and accession of Thomas Becket penance at the young king, reputedly in a
Stephen Henry II, the first in Canterbury Becket’s tomb in from dysentery jousting accident
recognises Henry Angevin king Cathedral Canterbury
II as his heir

20 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 the barons did as they pleased.
Matilda invaded her lost kingdom
About
gateway
in 1139, establishing a foothold. She
even held Stephen prisoner briefly
in 1141, but her cause weakened

thereafter, and in 1148, she finally
quit England. The Angevin queen that
never was went back to Normandy,
leaving Stephen in possession;
however, she had the last laugh.
Stephen was another Norman falling
foul of succession problems. His
heir, Eustace, died in 1153, leaving
just the teenage William. In these
circumstances, and to bring an end
to the civil war, Stephen agreed the
Treaty of Winchester; it left him as
king, but with Matilda’s son, Henry,
his nominated heir.
An Angevin King
Henry II was the first Angevin
king and first of the Plantagenets,
who ruled England until 1485.
His marriage, in 1152, to Eleanor
of Aquitaine, saw his continental
inheritance enhanced. English kings
were now major players in France,
which led to the Hundred Years’ War
of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Once Henry became king in
1154 he acted decisively to end the
problems of ‘The Anarchy’. Illegally
raised castles were pulled down. The
jury system was established (1166)
and government centralised. Henry
subdued the Welsh and received the
homage of the Scottish king. His
move to lord it over the Church
ended in tragedy though. Having
appointed his chancellor, Thomas
Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury
(1162), Henry expected him to do
his bidding, only to find he had a
mind of his own, as they bickered
about the relative rights of state and
church. Henry had his, ‘who will rid
me of this turbulent priest?’ moment
with Becket murdered in Canterbury
Cathedral.
As if that wasn’t enough, Henry had
ancestors
A gateway ancestor is one with connections to nobility or royalty. Such family pedigrees have usually
been carefully recorded over the centuries. So finding that you’re related to such a line will mean that
you’ll be able to tap into these impressive genealogies, and thus take one of your branches of your
family tree back centuries further than you might have thought possible to King Edward III, say, or
Charlemagne...
Related to Charlemagne? Really?
Let’s look at how it is that so many people with European heritage are descendants of Charlemagne.
As we research our family trees – theoretically at least, the number of direct ancestors doubles each
generation (four grandparents; eight great-grandparents etc). However, whether it was due to cousins
marrying – either out of choice, or to safeguard the inheritance of land and titles – many of our family
trees will show ‘pedigree collapse’ (when families intermarry), with the consequence that we’re more
inter-related than we might otherwise have thought.
Being family historians we are not content with the deductions of a scientist calculating the statistical
likelihood or percentage of our Charlemagne-ancestry, however; rather we would like to find out
exactly how we’re related.
Unfortunately there is no short-cut to tracing a gateway ancestor (it is once you’ve found one, that
your research makes such leaps and bounds). Just keep on at the family tree and see what comes to
light. At every stage of your research it’s a good idea to seek out all possible documentation, to provide
additional contextual detail for your family: wills, tax, land and property records, heraldic visitations,
coats of arms – if you are fortunate enough to come across such evidence – and one of these may link
you to that noble forebear.
How to learn more about aristocratic ancestry
• Read Anthony Adolph’s Tracing your Aristocratic Ancestors – www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
• Search Burke’s Peerage – www.burkespeerage.com
• Browse the titles and surnames of existing English noble
families, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_family_
seats_of_English_nobility
• Gen up on your medieval genealogy at www. No DNA,
medievalgenealogy.org.uk
• In America, particularly, there are lineage societies
n o title,n o
established relating to pedigrees or groups of win dfall, bu
ancestors – from the Plantagent dynasty to the
Pilgrim Fathers, and of course Charlemagne – see It would b t...
e an optim
might exp istic perso
http://lineagesocietyofamerica.com ect to inhe n who
or land, bu rit a long-lost ti
t it’s worth tle
– due to th knowing th
Documentation in king! e way that
D N A is
at
– you may
Before you rush off in search of a long and illustrious not even sh inherited
with your g are DNA
noble pedigree, remember that family history – while ateway an
cestor.
Yet – desp
remembered and told as a story – needs to be factual: ite all this
–
who would
researched reliably, recorded truthfully. And, who knows, n’t wa
to find one? nt
your hard work may reward you with a gateway ancestor in !
time to come.

1189 1190 1193 1194 1199 1203

Death of Henry II Richard joins the Richard I captured Richard returns Death of Richard Capture and
and accession Third Crusade to and handed over to England after and accession of imprisonment
of Richard I (the the Holy Land to the emperor, payment of John (Lackland) of Arthur
Lionheart) Henry VI ransom

www.family-tree.co.uk
 Why the Normans
& Angevins matter
We need only look at two events that
bookend the story of the Normans
and Angevins to find significance.
The conquest of 1066 made us an
Anglo-French nation with territories
across the Channel, which would
have all sorts of ramifications in the
years ahead. The sealing of Magna
Carta in 1215 was effectively the
basis of the English constitution
problems with his sons. You could be
forgiven for thinking that providing
four adult sons would be manna from
heaven for a king, but not when they
rebel against you. Over 1173-1174,
his three eldest sons took up arms:
Henry, the young king; Richard; and
Geoffrey. Henry II clung on. His heir,
Henry, the young king, did not, dying
of dysentery in 1183. Geoffrey also
predeceased the old king, reputedly
trampled to death in a jousting
accident in 1186. The troublesome
succession was changing again.
The Lionheart
Henry was humiliated at the end
by his own bloodline, defeated in
battle by a combination of his eldest
surviving son, Richard, and the French
king. Henry died in 1189, presumably
broken-hearted. Richard would not
bow to the French king, however, his
battle-cry, ‘Dieu et mon droit’ (‘God
and my right’) asserting that, as Duke
of Normandy, he owed no homage to
his neighbour. These words became
the motto of the English royal arms.
Richard I (‘Coeur de Lion’) is,
militarily, one of our most highly-
regarded kings. He now took up the
Crusading mantle, joining the Third
Crusade of 1190. In spite of defeating
the famed Saladin at Arsuf, Richard
failed to retake Jerusalem and had to
agree a three-year truce; he was within
sight of the city, but had not the
wherewithal to retake it.
Richard was captured on his return
1209 1213
John John makes
excommunicated submission
to Rome
22 DECEMBER 2018
Christchurch Castle, which was besieged
and captured during the civil war
between Stephen and Matilda
journey and handed over to the Holy
Roman Emperor. Somehow, a huge
ransom was met, and Richard returned Read up on
to England (only his second visit), it
although within a few weeks he’d left • History of
again, never to return. He was one of England (W
the first ‘absentee-landlords’. McElwee, 1960)
While the cat was away, the mouse • A Dictionary of
did play. Richard’s surviving brother, British History
John (the panto villain), tried to usurp (edited by JP
the throne, spawning an industry in Kenyon, 1981)
literary and cinematographic classics • The Anglo
from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe to the Saxon Chronicle
various Robin Hood movies. (edited by GM
Garmonsway,
Lackland 1953)
The Lionheart met his end in typical • Quotations in
fashion, targeted by a crossbowman History (A & V
while besieging a castle. The wound Palmer, 1976)
turned gangrenous. His campaigns • Chambers
placed a burden on England’s finances Biographical
and began the dissolution of the Dictionary (1974)
Angevin empire. The fact Richard was
abroad so much also gave his barons
the independence to start fomenting
trouble. This was a chicken that came
home to roost in the next reign.
John, once dubbed ‘Lackland’, due
to poor prospects as the youngest of
the brothers, finally had his crown, in
his early thirties (1199). He had one
rival, his nephew Arthur (Geoffrey’s
son), who was older, and promoted as
an alternative king. His bid ended in
failure and death, imprisoned in 1203
and unheard of thereafter.
John’s troubled reign saw the loss
of Normandy (1204) followed by
much of the Angevin inheritance. He
1214
Battle of
Bouvines
www.family-tree.co.uk
attempted to recover his losses, but
his allies’ defeat at Bouvines (1214)
scuppered this. He also fell out with
the Church over the appointment of
the next Archbishop of Canterbury,
which resulted in the Pope placing
John’s kingdom under an interdict,
then excommunicating him (1209).
The Great Charter
John also faced the opposition of his
barons. These issues finally led him
to Runnymede in June 1215 and
the sealing of Magna Carta (Great
Charter). Nothing was quite the same
thereafter. John did not intend to
abide by Magna Carta’s provisions,
so another bout of civil war resulted,
the barons supported by the French
king. John was dying of dysentery in
October 1216, which effectively ended
the war, as well as bringing the curtain
down on the Angevins. His death,
aged 49, left a problem, however, as his
son, Henry, was just nine.
England had another succession
crisis to overcome.
About the author
Steve Roberts is a freelance writer and
author of ‘Lesser Known Christchurch’.
He is currently writing ‘Lesser Known
Bournemouth’. He has had more than
550 articles published in 70 different
magazines. He is passionate about British
history and thoroughly enjoys visiting the
many places around our islands where
great events have occurred.
1215 1216
Sealing Death of
of Magna John and
Carta at accession
Runnymede of Henry III
 S&N Genealogy Supplies
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Researching
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Researching &
Researching & Locating
Locating
Your Ancestors
Your Ancestors

& Locating
Locating Your
Howshould
How shouldyou youapproach
approachresearching
researchingyour yourancestors?
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Your Ancestors
genealogistCelia
genealogist CeliaHeritage
Heritageoffers
offersexpert
expertadvice
adviceon onhowhowtotoget
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Researching &
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andthenthentake
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researchfurther
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usingaa
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variety lesser-knownresources.
resources.InInitityou
youwill
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guidanceon onsubjects
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Ancestors
including:
Your Ancestors
Ancestors
including:
• •research
researchmethodology
methodologyand
andhow
howtotorecord
recordwhat
whatyou
youfind
find Your
• •key
keyVictorian
Victorianrecords:
records:birth,
birth,marriage
marriageand
anddeath
deathcertificates,
certificates,and
andcensuses
censuses
CeliaHeritage
Celia Heritage
• •maps,
maps,tithe
titheand
andenclosure
enclosurerecords
records

Celia
Celia Heritage
• •parish
parishand
andnonconformist
nonconformistregisters
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Heritage
• •gravestones
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andmemorial
memorialinscriptions
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• •newspapers
newspapersand
andinquest
inquestrecords
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• •wills
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andprobate
probate

• •parish
parishchest
chestand
andworkhouse
workhouserecords
records

• •occupational
occupationalrecords,
records,including
includingthe
thearmed
armedforces
forces

• •court
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manorialrecords
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• •school
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July 2018 September 2018 FamilyTree 23
TIPS FOR SMART SEARCHING
TIPS FOR SOLID SEARCHING

10 KEY POINTS
when researching your family history
Whether you are new to family history or a seasoned researcher, it is useful to
occasionally revisit some of the fundamental principles of genealogical research.
Here are 10 important points we should all try to remember, says Katherine Jenns.

1
Record all
your sources
Always record your sources so you can retrace your research if necessary and so
that other people can follow your research steps and see the evidence that supports
your findings. Always make a proper note of the sources and records you have
checked, even if the research provided no useful information, otherwise you may
find yourself repeating research you have already undertaken – and still finding
nothing useful!
2
Start with
what you
know
Don’t start your research with a person from
the past who just happened to have your family
name and try to make a connection with your
own family tree. Always start from what you
know (and have evidence to support) and work
backwards, step by step, proving, to the best of
your ability, and the records available, the right of
each ancestor to be on your family tree.

24 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 3
Kill off your
ancestors
As well as trying to find the next generation
back, remember to ‘kill off ’ each of your
ancestors. This may seem pointless when we all
know that death is one of the few certainties
in life, but it is important to be sure that the
person you are tracing is truly your ancestor.
You may have found a baptism at the right
time and place for a child with the same name
as your ancestor, but if that same child was
buried two days later, they could not have
grown up to become your ancestor. Remember,
too, that parents sometimes reused the name
of a deceased child for a later one, so you may
find more than one child bearing the same
first name in the same family. In this case,
the eldest child almost certainly died before
the younger one was born, but it can cause
confusion if the death of the elder child has
not been discovered.
5
Investigate
family stories
Don’t believe every family story – but don’t discount them
either. Keep an open mind. Family stories may be wholly
or partially fictitious. They may have been distorted as
they passed from one generation to another but remain
essentially true, so always try to check out family stories as
far as possible. Even if only partially correct, a tale passed
down through the family might provide the vital clue or
link you have been looking for. Stories were sometimes
invented to hide an unpalatable truth, so even an
apparently untrue tale may provide a useful clue.
RESEARCH ADVICE
4ofBeware
names!
Beware of abbreviations and pet names. Names can be shortened or
abbreviated in many ways and it is wise not to take for granted what the
full name would have been. For example, even a simple name like Fred
could be short for Alfred or Frederick. James might be Jim, Jas or Jem.
And Mary might have been known as Polly! A child given the same name
as a parent might be known by a middle name, or by a variation of their
name, to avoid confusion in the family – so Sarah Ann, named for her
mother, might have been known all her life as Sally or Annie; or a boy
with the same name as his father might have been called ‘Sonny’. The
order of names could also be swapped so that a child baptised George
Henry may have become Henry George.
6 Never massage the
Don’t fit the ‘facts’ to
match what you know
facts to fit
(or think you know).
Although mistakes were
made, don’t assume that
is what happened just to
make a particular piece
of information fit into
your family tree, unless,
of course, you have good reason, and supporting evidence, to prove
that there was an error. A mismatched name on a marriage certificate
may be a simple spelling error, but unless every other detail on the
certificate can be confirmed in other sources, don’t assume that to be
the case.
View original records
7
Don’t rely on transcripts and indexes. Every time information
is copied or transcribed from one record to another there is
potential for mistakes and errors to occur. Use indexes and
transcribed records as a finding aid but, wherever possible,
check the original record, or a digitised copy of the original,
so that you can see what actually appeared in the original and
to confirm that the transcribed details are not only correct but
are also a complete transcription of everything recorded on the
original document. You might otherwise miss that really crucial
piece of evidence.
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 25
TIPS FOR SMART SEARCHING

8 Confirm online
findings
Don’t believe everything you find on the internet,
especially family trees published online if it is not
clear how diligent the research has been or what
sources have been consulted. Always confirm
any information found online through your own
research so that you are confident that anything
you add to your own family history is correct.

9 Widen your sources

Don’t assume that because there seems to be no alternative,
the only record you have found must be correct. There may
be many records which, for one reason or another, you haven’t
yet found or simply can’t access. It may be that the particular
record you are searching for is not yet available online.
Alternatively, there may have been indexing mistakes so that
the record is not obviously the one you are searching for; or
perhaps the details, such as name, age or place, do not match
what you are expecting to find.
It is also possible that the record you need could be ‘closed’
for a certain period of time. The census, for example, is ‘closed’
for 100 years, and inquest papers are closed for 75 years after
the event. In this case you must either be patient and wait for
the record to become available, or try to find an alternative
source for the information you need.
Remember also that a lack of evidence proves nothing –
except that you haven’t found whatever you were looking for.
Your inability to track down a birth, doesn’t necessarily mean
that it wasn’t registered and it certainly doesn’t mean that your
ancestor wasn’t born!
If you are mainly researching on the internet, it may simply
be that the particular record you need hasn’t yet been digitised.
Or it may be that the information you think you know is
not actually correct. A birth, for example, might be registered
under a different first name or even surname to that which
you know; or even without a first name at all; or it might have
occurred at a different time or in a different place to the one
you expect.
Extend your search wider and include variant
spellings of names.

10 Never say never

And finally, don’t give up. What appears now to be an
insurmountable brick wall may, in time, crumble and that vital piece
of evidence which is currently proving so elusive may turn up quite
unexpectedly. That is the fascination of family history.

About the author

Katherine Jenns’ interest in genealogy began with family stories and
she has been researching her family history, on and off, since the early
1980s. She loves to visit and explore the places where her ancestors
lived and worked. Through family history, Katherine has developed
a more general interest in local and social history and has a doctorate
from Birmingham University on women in business and trade in the
19th century.

26 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

WHAT’S AT THE CORE OF YOUR IDENTITY?

A sense of belonging,
a sense of self...

What is it that gives us a sense of belonging? Charlotte Soares mulls over this
important, yet intangible, issue. After all, without a sense of where you come from,
you can feel very lost indeed...

W
hat is it that gives us generations. But maybe a trade kept village and I related stories of houses
a sense of belonging? people together – potteries, mining, and fields that pre-dated the new
Your country, your or a generational business – any buildings. ‘This was the donkey field’
home town, village or of these could keep those familial (now an acre of town houses), ‘and
community? The house you live in, or bonds strong. this once an orchard’.
the house where you were born? But I don’t know everyone. I only
Rather than a specific place, is it ‘You know everyone’ know my half-century of local history,
your own life story, tales told by wider ‘You know everyone’, my cousin and a lost landscape that newcomers
family, or family history that you’ve said, as we walked through my home are unaware of.
researched yourself perhaps, which
gives you that sense of where you fit in
to the scheme of things?
It’s hard to unpick people from
place, as even the traditions of the
country you live in all create a sense
of identity. And what happens then if
you move?
In Scotland you belong where you
grow up, for instance ‘he belongs
to Skye’. It’s a warm way to think
of your birthplace. You may move,
even emigrate, but you belong to that
ancestral home.
There will be many changes over
generations – you’ll be lucky if your
family stayed put in a home town for

28 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 LOST LANDSCAPES, STRONG MEMORIES

of coming home – instilled from

hundreds of conversations with my
They honoured authentic family furniture grandfather relishing memories of
from the Scottish farm: a dresser where the kin he had known, and distilled
in the names of the family tree I
cats had had kittens and my grandfather had
was compiling. My aged great-aunt
lain in a drawer as a baby pointed to sepia photographs of her
own great-aunts and uncles. You
couldn’t help but feel part of the
extended family.
The dreams of a diaspora My own journey home Her Scottish way of saying things
Sometimes a move can heighten a When I eventually visited Scotland I – ‘I’m away to my bed’, and she’d
sense of belonging to a place now left found some of the family farm land ‘come to stay’ (which means ‘to live’,
behind. Emigrants take that sense built over, with estates bearing their not ‘to visit’) in Scotland – meant
of belonging with them to other names so that the signposts looked the Scottishness of the old folks was
continents. They pack their treasures familiar. Each connection was a part of my English childhood. I am
into containers and trust them to the ‘welcome mat’, giving me a feeling grateful for that sense of belonging.
seas, to arrive months later – a car,
once ordinary and common, now
becomes unusual, with parts hard to
find. Small items like a biscuit tin
can bring tears when they remind
us of family no longer round the
corner to visit and chat with over
a cuppa and a bourbon. Emigrants
suffer homesickness for certain food –
smoked haddock, Marmite, porridge,
scones, certain ways of doing things,
like greeting the New Year, even a
rainy or frosty morning.
Emigrating means undergoing a
huge emotional shift to attach oneself
to a new country, even a new language
or vocabulary, with all that means –
feeling torn holding on to old culture
and history formed in the language
of your birth. New property abroad
is often renamed after the old family
places left behind, cementing a stake
in the new land, as if they’d been
there for generations. The old country
becomes ‘home’ for second generations
who may never have been there.
Even in our family, where my
grandfather had come as a boy from
Scotland to England when their
Duke landlord moved several farming
tenants of his to his English lands,
Scotland was a homeland associated
with greatness, good food and
nostalgic landscapes.
They honoured authentic family
furniture from the Scottish farm: a
dresser where the cats had had kittens
and my grandfather had lain in a
drawer as a baby. Chests called kists,
rag rugs made from old clothes and
the black fur rug that was reputedly
once a sheepdog. The sense of
belonging felt very strong.

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 29

WHAT’S AT THE CORE OF YOUR IDENTITY?

And when a distant Australian

cousin visited, and he had the family
face and our Viking blue eyes, he too
immediately belonged.

Memories that bond

Memories become strong when
glued together with emotion. You
remember the trauma long after the
happiness. If you have few childhood
memories, don’t despair, it may
mean you were perfectly happy.
It’s loss that breeds nostalgia – war,
deaths, divorce, forcing the partings
that are inevitable in life.
People tell me their sad stories.
They had photographs that were lost
in a house fire. A family Bible lost in

Below: Charlotte a move. A sampler left in Africa when

Soares’ much forced to flee a revolution.
loved family dog I read about a lady who, having lost
her home in a bushfire, salvaged items
from the wreckage and built a new
house around them – calling them
‘icons’ – a treasured plate giving her
the tiling idea for her new bathroom.
She was able to make a before-
and-after photo album through the
kindness of others who gave her their
photos. Once her new house began to
be built, she came to terms with the
loss of the old one. The view and her
local area remained the same once she
was living there. She still belonged.

Clinging to lost loved ones

Imminent loss of a home through
property development means
everything saved becomes imbued
with more meaning than it probably
deserves. We need people when we
are small, to keep us safe and nurture

Dogs having short lives will be

outlived but not forgotten

30 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 LOST LANDSCAPES, STRONG MEMORIES

us with food, shelter and love. The score

Without them we would not survive for Home,
infancy. But it is these people that are Sweet Home
important, not the pictures on the
wall, their table and chairs or books.
The disease of hoarding stems from
this wrong thinking; to compensate
for lost nurturers we cling to their
objects as if things can also nurture,
but they hold us back from our own
lives, which could blossom if not
welded to the past.
I am a fine one to talk. Having I will carry that sense of belonging with
recently been sorting my beloved me through my life, as we all do – the mix
late parents’ house, my own house is
now crowded with their unlooked-for
of places that make up our family’s past
possessions. As I have been saying to and present, even if the actual places and
my kids, ‘Possessions are nine tenths of people are no more. It’s as much a part of
the floor!’. I am no hoarder – they just
need sorting and allocating places – a
our essential being as our DNA
place for everything, and everything in
its place. And, as William Morris said, exclaimed, for there on the wall were Distant from home
nothing that is not useful or beautiful memorials for dogs I had known when To be deprived of your home –
either. Or as Marie Kondo advises, I was very small. Their names came through hospital stays, working away,
nothing that does not spark joy. back like their big bounding selves. A stationing abroad – may add a rosy
black labrador bigger than me and a glow to feelings for a much-loved
Pets – short-lived, little white poodle – the first dogs I home. Even for those sent to boarding
long-remembered knew and had learned not to be scared school, how much more important
Memories of animals trigger powerful of. Dogs having short lives will be home was when finally reunited with
emotions. I went to the ‘big house’ outlived but not forgotten. They are the family. But my mother, who
of my childhood, whose gardens were part of our landscape of belonging. boarded from early childhood, used
open to the public and suddenly to say that her school holidays were

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 31

WHAT’S AT THE CORE OF YOUR IDENTITY?
family home, this small plot of earth
may become my last tangible link
My lost landscape to the locality that means so much;
This is my lost landscape. The high rose hedge died. The caravan was where the primary school’s gone,
destroyed in the 1987 hurricane. The cottage where my grandfather and pubs changed into houses, factories
great-aunt lived was demolished. Even the spot where this was taken is demolished to make way for yet more
now underneath an extension. And yet I can revisit this scene in my mind. housing. My nonagenarian great-aunt
I am attached to this view – the caravan I used for my first writings, my used to say ‘I’ve lived too long’. To
grandfather’s house where I went for comfort. In old home movies this The caravan stay in one place certainly doesn’t
landscape leaps from the screen: three family weddings on the lawn, my Charlotte first guarantee that nothing changes.
first baby taking her first steps, the scent of the roses. I will carry that sense used for her You have to change. Ignore house
of belonging with me through my life, as we all do – the mix of places that writings, and her maintenance and the very house you
make up our family’s past and present, even if the actual places and people cousin’s ‘dead live in will fall down round your
are no more. It’s as much a part of our essential being as our DNA. ancestors’ room ears – so, so much for ‘Home Sweet
Home’. Maybe it’s the young who
have the energy and vision to make
things happen and change. And their
children and grandchildren will start
new stories of belonging elsewhere.

A respect for heritage

never perfect enough. She would be
wanting there to be no arguments
because home was this paradise that
she dreamt of while she was at school.
And then the anticipation, of having
to leave it to go back to school,
spoilt the last days of holidays
with melancholy.
Comfort in community
A community might become more
important than family with whom
relations were perhaps fraught.
Sometimes best to cut and run and
never look back.
Toowoomba, Australia, where one
of my relatives is buried, seemed like
the ends of the earth. One of my Scots
families lived there in harsh drought
conditions and, when the father died,
his family returned to Scotland where
his young widow remarried. I felt for
him, left behind. But when I found
his grave with his name on the stone,
I saw that all around him were other
I have a distant kindred spirit cousin
who had a room of ‘dead ancestors’,
as his gently teasing offspring called
it. But I saw the point. The rest of the
house could be modernised but, in
here, there was elegance and respect
for heritage and photos of as many
ancestors as he could muster. There
was a soldier’s uniform and prints
of places associated with the family
history. I thought it was a marvellous
room and vowed to have one like it
myself – something I haven’t managed
to do yet, but give me time. I vow also
to tell my grandchildren about their
wider history in the same way my
grandfather and great-aunt told me,
firing in me an interest that has
never diminished.
What remains is our story
Even if I end up in an old people’s
home in a tiny room, I will know
where I come from and why I look
like various family members, and the
emigrant Scots. He was surrounded by importance of having places to belong
a Scottish community and must have to, even if, in the end, it’s in my
known them all. mind’s eye only. We have to relinquish
With the recent deaths of my own it all in the end. What remains is
parents I have found comfort in this our story.
sense of community. My parents’
graves are among the people they
knew – neighbours, shopkeepers, the About the author
builder, the doctors, the teachers – all Charlotte Soares’ passions are writing,
familiar names on the stones, removed history, music, travel and making
from a living community to this patchwork quilts. She has self-published
sleeping one of those gone before. family histories and undertaken
No other cemetery could give such trips with other people to further
a sense of belonging. And with the their research on location, as told in
prospect of the probable sale of our ‘Genealogy angel’ (FT January 2012)

32 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

Digital exclusives
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 B oo ks
Historian Janet Few’s debut novel is based on a real 100-year-old family scandal, which the descendants had known
nothing about. She tells Karen Clare the genealogical methods and resources she used to bring the story to life

Barefoot on the Cobbles hugely supportive and understanding’; ‘I like to think that I would
by Janet Few have been equally excited to uncover such a scandal in my own family
but it is very close to the present day and in all honesty, I don’t know

D
how I would feel. I have tried to do the characters justice and to enable
ays after the the readers to view them all in a sympathetic light.’
end of World Many skills employed in her research were those she uses to create
War I a young fully factual family history stories. ‘Obviously, relying on births,
woman from marriages and deaths wouldn’t make a very interesting narrative,’ says
a North Devon fishing Janet. ‘In the absence of surviving court and coroner’s records, the
village died in the Spanish newspapers were invaluable and they were probably the source I made
flu epidemic and her heaviest use of. Old maps were also vital; I love the Alan Godfrey series
parents were accused of her of reproductions of town maps www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk
manslaughter. Barefoot on I had to rewrite a romantic encounter in a local park when I realised it
the Cobbles opens during would still have been marshland at the time.
their trial and looks back ‘I found the asylum records that I studied fascinating, they revealed
to the incidents in the so many sad stories. The case books for the Bethlem Hospital
characters’ pasts that led (Bedlam) Asylum are available via Findmypast and there is background
them to be in that place, at that time, to become accuser or accused. information on the Bethlam Museum of the Mind website at http://
‘It is,’ says author Janet Few, ‘essentially a book about people and what museumofthemind.org.uk/collections/archives
makes them behave in a particular way’. ‘Another little known source is the index to those who served in the
Janet is a well-known genealogist and historian, so what prompted Red Cross during the First World War as VADs.’ Readers can find it
her to write a novel? After completing her last non-fiction book, at https://vad.redcross.org.uk
Remember Then: women’s memories of 1946-1969 and how to write your The novel took two years to write and Janet admits to suffering
own, she decided her next would be fictional, ‘but it wasn’t going to some crises of confidence in the process, but adds, ‘now it is finished,
be this book! This particular incident just jumped out and grabbed I am proud of having written the book I wanted to write, in
me, demanding to be written,’ she explains. ‘I uncovered the story my own way’.
when Findmypast released some criminal records. During a blanket Folk musician Dan Britton – https://chrisconwaydanbritton.
search for a particular surname I discovered individuals I recognised. bandcamp.com – has written a song to accompany the novel. The
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the main protagonists were
completely unaware that their ancestors, ancestors they had known
in person, had been accused of a terrible crime. I was immediately
JANET’S 3 TOP TIPS
inspired to attack this wall of secrecy and find out more.’ Key advice for writing your own Comfortably: writing and
 Janet is also a historical interpreter for Swords and Spindles fact-based family history novel: telling your family history’ for
– https://swordsandspindles.wordpress.com – and says that, as Pharos Tutors – researching
a historian, she was ‘obsessed with getting all the minor contextual 1 Have realistic expectations. the context can often be as
details correct’ but initially found it difficult to convince herself ‘that It won’t be easy and it won’t much fun as the mainstream
this was fiction and I could just make things up to fill in the gaps... make you a fortune genealogical research
I already knew a reasonable amount about the lives of the main
characters and the locations that I needed to use but there was still 2 Take time to get the small 3 Be resilient. Nothing you
plenty to research. Among an eclectic range of things, I needed to find details correct: the clothes, write will please everyone
out what would have been shown in the cinema in the summer of the food, the weather and but enjoy the process and
1918, about the weather on particular dates, about the the slang. I emphasise the be assured that there are
treatments of various illnesses and the intricacies of early importance of this in my readers who will love what
20th century railway timetables’. online course ‘Are you Sitting you have done
The descendants of the novel’s real characters have, says Janet, ‘been

34 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


pair met during a genealogy project in which Janet was commissioned
to trace the descendants of those who perished in a North Devon
fishing disaster in 1838. One of the relatives was Dan, who composed
a haunting song about the tragedy. His song for Barefoot on the
Cobbles was premiered last November. ‘I have to confess to being quite
emotional when I heard it live,’ says Janet. It is being released on CD
alongside the novel at a launch event on 17 November.
Janet used old photographs as a starting point to bring her
characters and locations to life and these can be found on her website
at https://thehistoryinterpreter.wordpress.com
FAMILY HISTORY READS
She is now working on a new book, also based on a Devon tragedy,
set in the 17th century – which means newspapers will not be such
a fruitful source. ‘I will have less base information to work with and
a freer rein for my imagination,’ she adds. Already familiar with the
period thanks to her work as a historical interpreter, and with one
novel now behind her, no doubt she will take it in her stride.
• Barefoot on the Cobbles is published by Blue Poppy Publishing
in paperback, RRP £8.99 or pre-order before November
for £7.99 inc UK p&p (ISBN: 9781911438540) via
https://bluepoppypublishing.co.uk/janet-few-author/

Stranger in my Heart
by Mary Monro
Mary Monro knew her father, who
died when she was 18, was taken
prisoner by the Japanese during
World War II but it wasn’t until
70 years after the conflict that she
discovered the extent of his heroic
wartime escapades; launching her
own epic journey to learn about
his life, China and herself.
Stranger In My Heart (with foreword by HRH The
Princess Royal) is a beautifully poignant biography, memoir
and travelogue about the search for personal identity by
‘seeking to understand the currents that sweep down the
generations’; https://strangerinmyheart.co.uk
• Published by Unbound in paperback, RRP £10.99, and
Kindle £3.99 (ISBN: 9781911586685) via Amazon or
https://unbound.com/books/stranger-in-my-heart
The Old
Stones
edited
by Andy
Burnham
Andy Burnham
– founder and
editor of the interactive Megalithic
Portal at www.megalithic.co.uk – has
edited this hugely approachable field
guide featuring more than 750 sites
of standing stones, circles, cairns,
rock art and more remarkable relics of
Britain and Ireland’s prehistoric past.
Smartly organised by county and
area, the book features stunning
colour photographs, OS grid
references, articles from experts and
amateur enthusiasts, including top 10
tips on how to get the most out of the
local area on your visit.
With the explosion of interest
in DNA and ancient ancestry, this
gazetteer will give you the most
up-to-date archaeological insights and
theories from a respected community
of megalith experts, fans and
photographers, to take on your travels
or relish from the comfort of home.
• Published by Watkins
Publishing in paperback,
RRP £29.99, Kindle £11.75
(ISBN: 9781786781543).

A Country GUIDE TO
To Be RECORDS
Reckoned Read Patsy Trench’s

WIN! With advice for using Tro

by Patsy
We have 2 copies of
Trench
Timelines of Everything
up for grabs for FT
subscribers – see Subs
This is the
Club, page 38
biography of an ancestor who
helped to transform Australia from
Timelines of Everything struggling penal colony into thriving
nation. Author Patsy Trench, ‘a Pom’
This beautiful hardback book is an absolute treasure trove stage and TV actress now living
of history information as well as a visual treat, offering more in London, has researched the life
than 100 lavishly displayed timelines with easy-to-read text. of George Matcham Pitt, her 2x
Packed with a plethora of fascinating facts from the Big great-grandfather, through extensive
Bang to computing – via topics as varied as war, ships, the archive research including usage of
fight for the vote and US presidents – it’s aimed at everyone the National Library of Australia’s free
from eight years up, and the adults in my family were as Trove Newspapers web resource.
eager to read it as the kids! Family history researchers can use Known as GM, George’s life
it for gauging world events when their ancestors were living, spanned the best part of the 19th
while young history buffs will find it immensely engaging, century. Master of rhetoric, he was
and it even help them with their homework! opinionated and generous, and
• Published by DK in hardback, RRP £20 rose from humble farmer to be a
(ISBN: 9780241302323). landowner, auctioneer and founder
ve
Newspapers onlin
e at
www.family-tree.co
.uk/
how-to-guides/
expert-blogs
of one of Australia’s first stock and
station agents Pitt, Son & Badgery.
This is a fascinating sequel to
The Worst Country in the World,
Patsy’s 2012 biography of her 4x
great-grandmother, pioneer settler
Mary Pitt, and was assisted by funds
allocated to the Royal Australian
History Society through the Heritage
Branch of the NSW Office of
Environment and Heritage.
• Published by Prefab Publications
in paperback via Amazon,
The Book Depository and
Booktopia (AUS), RRP £10.99 /
AU$28.50, Kindle £4.99
(ISBN: 9780993453724).

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 35

26th & 27th April 2019
ALEXANDRA PALACE Live In partnership with
FamilySearch
Meet experts from the world’s largest family history website.
Plus learn now to use the free FamilySearch Family Tree, to
store and share your family story

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your research

MyHeritage
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(PS you can even take your DNA test on the stand and
they’ll post it to the lab for free).

Society of Genealogists
Discover the riches in the UK’s largest family history library
and the clues it can hold about your ancestors at the Society
of Genealogists – the UK’s National Family History Centre

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Learn from dedicated family historians and family history
societies, which are the genealogy experts in their local
area. The Federation is bringing together many of these
family history societies from all over the country. Come and
discover how they can help you!

For more information and to book your tickets visit:

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or call 0844 581 4989
For groups bookings, please call 0844 338 8002
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 BECOME PART OF THE FAMILY TREE FAMILY!

Welcome to the Family Tree Subscriber Club.

When you’ve joined Family Tree not only do you save
money on your favourite family history read,
you can also enter the ‘Subs Club’ competitions –
only available to subscribers to Family Tree

Win!
Timelines of
Everything
26th & 27th April 2019
ALEXANDRA PALACE Live
Save!
Timelines of Everything is
a colourfully illustrated
history of the world through more than
100 timelines. From the Vikings to the
history of cinema and espionage, discover
an incredible global history in this lavish Book your Family Tree Live
collection of chronologies. tickets today!
Packed with surprising facts
and details, this book will take Family Tree will be hosting Family Tree Live at the
you on a whirlwind journey stunning Great Hall, Alexandra Palace, on 26-27 April
through time. Suitable for age 2019. Don’t forget to enter your subscriber number
eight upwards, you’ll gain all (specifically FT followed by the last 5 figures of your
the general history knowledge subscriber number) when booking your tickets to get
you need, showcased with your exclusive subscriber
beautiful illustrations and easy-to-read text. Whether you want to know saving (usual price £12;
subscribers £10): see https://
key breakthroughs that set the Industrial Revolution in motion or defining
familytr.ee/SCticket
moments in the history of fashion, you’ll find it all here.
We have two copies of this gorgeous hardback book (RRP £20) to give
away, courtesy of DK. www.dk.com Keep up to date
• Also see Books, page 35. Sign up for the Family Tree e-newletter for our latest news
and handy family history advice, straight to your inbox;
Radio Caroline: visit https://familytr.ee/SCNews

Win! The Pirate Years

If you spent your youth
delighting in the output
of ‘Radio Caroline on 199’, Britain’s first
and last offshore radio station, you’ll love this
look behind the scenes by Ralph C Humphries.
Step back into the age of pop revolution, when
the legendary Radio Caroline survived storms,
drifting, piracy, rebellion, even death and the
loss of her beloved ship Mi Amigo, and shaped
the world of radio and popular music we enjoy today.
We have three copies of Radio Caroline (RRP £18.95, paperback),
courtesy of The Oakwood Press, to give away. www.stenlake.co.uk
Magnifying sheet
This handy magnifier is perfect for
taking along to archives with you,
when you need a little bit of help
to read those old documents. We
have five magnifiers to give away.
How to enter
To enter our prize draws, please email
subscriberclub@family-tree.co.uk with either ‘Timelines’,
‘Caroline’ or ‘Magnifier’ in the subject line
The important stuff
How to contact us – For all Subs Club enquiries please email subscriberclub@
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Your details – When you contact us for a discount code or to enter a competition on
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Kindly note, offers and competitions are open to Family Tree subscribers only
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December FT Sub Club offers & competitions close on
13 February 2019 unless otherwise stated

38 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 The Marriage Locator
SEARCH GEM
This issue Julie Goucher spotlights a website aimed at saving you money
T
he Marriage Locator
site at www.marriage-
locator.co.uk has existed
since 2010, is owned by
the Guild of One-Name
Studies https://one-name.org and is
freely available. It is a rather clever site
and uses the information based upon
the General Register Office (GRO)
marriages index, which can be accessed
via a number of sites, including
FreeBMD. It is ideal for those who
are new to genealogical research or
reside outside of the UK and therefore
perhaps not used to the GRO indexes.
The GRO index provides the name
of the individual, the Registration
District along with volume and page
number and the quarter March, June,
September or December in addition to
the year.
What you do not know – from the
GRO index – is the church or venue
of the marriage. It is quite possible, if
the marriage took place at a church,
to access the parish registers via either
the county archives or via one of the
online providers should you have a
subscription, and should the parish
marriage indexes be available online.
The Marriage Locator comes into its
own, however, because you can enter
into the year, quarter, volume and page
number, and hopefully the venue of the
marriage will be revealed – without you
having to buy a marriage certificate.
In some cases, the location is not
identified, and this can be for a number
of reasons; perhaps the marriage took
place in a church that shares the volume
with another in the same registration
district; or it could be because the
marriage took place at a venue that was
not Anglican. This is not because those
marriages are excluded from the site,
but because of how the GRO indexed
marriages in England and Wales.
When the information from the
registers was sent to the GRO the
material was added in a particular
order; Anglican churches in alphabetical
order followed by Jewish and Quaker
marriages, then Nonconformist and
secular marriages. In some cases,
the individual venue was not able to
retain its own register and therefore
some venues shared a book which was About the author
completed by the District Registrar. As an avid history lover,
Nonconformist and Roman Catholic Julie Goucher has been
venues were able to hold their own researching her family
books from 1899. history since the late 1980s
The site will increase and improve and has an interest in
if genealogists are willing to share the Italian ancestry, one-name
venue of marriages they hold, studies and DNA projects. Julie is tutor
especially if they took place in non- for the ‘Introduction to One-Name
Anglican venues. Studies’ course run by Pharos Tutors, and
The Guild will gratefully receive all is a Trustee and Secretary for the Guild of
submissions and you can contribute by One-Name Studies. Find her website at
emailing guild@one-name.org www.anglers-rest.net
Use The Marriage Locator website to
deduce where your ancestors tied the knot.
Once you know this, you could visit the
archive to view the actual marriage register
that your ancestors signed or you may be
able to find the entry online for free via a
website such as FamilySearch or the local
Online Parish Clerk – listed at www.ukbmd.
org.uk/online_parish_clerk – saving you
the cost of a GRO certificate or pdf
Case study In this example, we’ve found the marriage
of Edith Annie Matthews in the Guildford
1 registration district on FreeBMD.org.uk in
the June quarter of 1902. Be sure to note
down the volume and page number as
well – here ‘2a’ and ‘122’
2
Go to www.marriage-locator.co.uk and input the GRO
index details to try to locate the church where the
marriage took place. Unfortunately, in this case, the
4
site cannot locate the venue exactly, however, with
more contributed data, the site will grow
3
Edith and Charles Jelley’s marriage entry appears If you’re not able to find the marriage in a parish
in the parish register for Holy Trinity, Guildford register, you’ll need to order the GRO certificate
Matthews and Charles Jelley
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 39
BITE-SIZE FAMILY HISTORY

u n c h ho u r
The l logist
g e n ea

Being busy doesn’t mean you have to neglect your favourite hobby, you can still learn in your
lunch break! Squeeze just 60 minutes of family history into your daily routine and you’ll soon
start to see your tree blossom. It’s time to tuck into Rachel Bellerby’s genealogy treats

Know-how in under 100 words! Take a break: crossword

* Find crossword answers on our letters December
pages
Gedcom
A Gedcom (Genealogical Data
1 2

Communication) is a ‘plain text’ file with 3

no images that contains information about a

person’s ancestors and meta data which links 4
those records together. This type of file is known as a ‘common
file’, which means that multiple family history software
programs can communicate with each other, allowing you to
upload your family tree onto more than one website without 5

you needing to upload details of each ancestor manually.

Jargon-busted!
6 7

Relict 8

An archaic term for the widow or widower

of a named individual (male or female).
Often used in older legal documents such as
a will or grant of probate.
Across
Across
Down Down
3 Home city of National Archives
3. Home city of National Archives of South Africa
1 Name 1.ofName
theofUK’s largest
the UK's largest cemetery
4. Aof South
military Africa
formation that handles a particular task or region cemetery
2. Birth town of postal pioneer Rowland Hill
5. After death 6. Term showing that an incorrect fact or spelling has been
8.4First
A name
military formation
queen buriedthat 2 Birth town of postal pioneer
deliberately copied
Video of the month Cathedral
of the Tudor
handles a particular task
at Peterborough
Rowland7. Anglo-Saxon land tax
Hill
or region
Why can’t I find my ancestor on the census? 6 Term showing that an incorrect
Locate those missing forebears with this 5 After death fact or spelling has been
National Archives webinar, full of ideas and deliberately copied
8 First name of the
tips you might not have tried.
Tudor queen buried at 7 Anglo-Saxon land tax
Peterborough Cathedral

40 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


Record collection of the month
Kirkcaldy Poorhouse
Records, 1888-1912
After the Poor Law Scotland Act of 1845, Scottish
parishes were able to establish institutions to care
for the poor, house them and administer relief.
While there was a Central Supervising body, each
institution was locally run.
This Ancestry collection, provided in
association with Fife Archives, contains Poorhouse
Records for Abden Poorhouse (part of the
Kirkcaldy Combination in Fife, Scotland) ranging
from 1888 to 1912. It includes records for those
who received help from the Abden Home Poor
Law Institution, originally named the Kirkcaldy
Combination Poorhouse.
Details vary depending on record type, but you
might find facts such as:
• Name
• Date of admission
• Date of discharge
• Reason discharged
• Occupation
• Gender
• Marital status
• Religion
• Age
• Date of death.
You can search with combinations of first
name and surname, date of birth or date of
another event, gender, poorhouse admission
date and keyword.
Anniversary of the month
14 December 1918
Women voted for the first time in a general
election, following the passing of the
Representation of the People Act 1918, which gave
the vote to 8.5 million eligible women. Restrictions meant that
women voting had to be aged 30 or over and hold own rateable
property with a value of £5 or over. Five million more women
would join the electorate in 1928 following the Representation of
the People (Equal Franchise) Act.
60-MINUTE RESEARCH
1
2 3 4
Learn about this record
In this example from the Kirkcaldy Combination Poorhouse Records,
1888-1912, the inmates register shows details of men, women and
children admitted to the Abden Poorhouse in the winter of 1906.
1 Age: The person’s age when admitted. This information could
prove valuable in helping you to work out a person’s year of birth
or to track them through the censuses. Here, William Leslie is
aged 61, which means he was born around the year 1845.
As with other records, it’s always possible that the person
concerned has rounded their age up or down, for reasons
of vanity or another motive.
2 Trade or occupation: William is listed as a printer and must have
fallen on hard times, perhaps due to the fact that he would have
been close to retirement age.
3 Date of discharge: Many of the inmates listed on this page of the
register stayed for just a few months, perhaps while their family or
housing difficulties were resolved. However, William is resident at
the poor house for more than two years.
4 Remarks: Here, the register records the reason that the person
concerned left the poorhouse. In some cases, sadly, this was due
to their death, while others were released into the care of friends or
family, or at their own request – as in William’s case.
Best practice tip
Be specific!
When contacting someone to request
information relating to your family tree, try to be
as specific as possible. Most of us lead busy lives
and while we might be willing to help someone if we can, it’s
useful to send only concise information initially, no matter how
fascinating the rest of our research might be. You can always
send on further details once you’ve made that initial contact and
know that the other person is interested.
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 41
RESEARCH LANDSCAPES
Broaden
your ancestral
horizons
Genealogist Chris Paton discusses some of the parallel
disciplines that can help with genealogical research...
I
n carrying out our family
history research, we seek out
many forms of documentation
in the hope that a brief
mention of an ancestor might be
noted. Our ancestors, however,
did not just leave traces of their
existence within vital records
and documents to be found by
genealogists in archives. Every
generation that came before us has
left an impact and a legacy that can
be revealed through many other
sources and projects, each helping
to reveal the issue of who we are
and how we came to be from a very
different perspective.
Just as our sense of identity
changes with every discovery we
make from documents, so too can
the historic backdrop of where we
came from be revised, thanks to the
efforts of those working in other
42 DECEMBER 2018
disciplines. Family history is just The Statistical
one means by which we can gain Accounts of
an insight into our personal history. Scotland and
Equally important is the genre of Victoria County
history itself, and for the family History websites
historian, perhaps local history is provide useful
the field that we should immediately background
focus our eyes upon most keenly. reading for
family history
Local history researchers
When I give talks to societies
and groups about Scottish family
history, I always suggest that the
most important documents to
consider after the vital records
and the censuses are the Statistical
Accounts of Scotland, located online
at http://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/
static/statacc/dist/home These were
accounts written of every parish in
Scotland by ministers of the Kirk
in the 1790s and the 1830s/40s (a
later account, not available online,
www.family-tree.co.uk
 MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

also exists for the 20th century).

They note basic details about the
parishes in question: the industries
that were followed, the religious
denominations present, the names
of key landholders, the topography
of the area, and even the nature of
the inhabitants themselves. Rarely
do they name our ancestors, but
they help to provide a descriptive
tapestry onto which we can plot
the stories of those we find in
our trees. In England, the closest
equivalent is probably the Victoria
County History series – www.
victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk – that
can be equally useful.
The reason I highlight such
resources is not to tell people that
everything you need to know about
an area will be found within them. It
is actually to point out that a range a daily basis. The reason? The streets Explore the
of potentially useful resources exist were narrow and the inhabitants history of
that are not specifically genealogical threw out their daily excrement from your ancestral
at all, but which can change how their windows onto the paving below. village, town
you may think about an area where It had never previously occurred to or city to
your ancestors lived, even if it is an me – how did my ancestors go to the expand your
area that you know very well today. loo in the past?! knowledge
Places change across time, as will There are many local history of local life in
contemporary descriptions of them. societies that regularly meet to times past
There is a world of published and discuss such fascinating topics. Local
unpublished parish histories available History Online www.local-history. The online
in libraries and online, along with co.uk provides details of societies BAJR Directory
experts who have specialisms on across Britain and Ireland, many of features an
subjects that may touch on the which have useful web resources, interactive
experience of your own ancestors. as does the British Association for map of
One of the most fun articles that I Local History site at www.balh. archaeology
ever read in a local history magazine, co.uk The Scottish Local History societies at
for example, was about late medieval Forum at www.slhf.org is equally www.bajr.org/ Dig deeper
Perth, where some of my family worth bookmarking. If you have yet WhoseWho/ Another equally fascinating discipline
would have lived and worked. The to attend a local history lecture, do ArchSoc.asp that adds to the knowledge of the
author revealed that the burgh almost have a go, you will almost certainly past is archaeology, the study of the
certainly stank to the high heavens on enjoy it and come away enlightened. Could physical remains in our environment
archaeological left behind by previous generations.
finds lead While working at the BBC many
to new years ago I helped to create a
discoveries in BBC2 television series called Time
your research? Flyers, about aerial archaeology. In
a pilot programme made
in 2001, which was

3 handy never broadcast,

we commissioned

uni sites Glasgow

University’s
archaeology
Find three university project
websites with useful digital
service to carry
resources for family historians at out an excavation
https://familytr.ee/2MVgPcP in a field to the
front of Castle
Menzies in Perthshire,

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 43

RESEARCH LANDSCAPES
where we found the remains of a
garden that had once graced the
landscape. We established that it
had been destroyed by the Duke of
Cumberland’s forces during their
pursuit of the Jacobites in 1746, as
they retreated towards Culloden.
The garden’s existence had been
completely forgotten, and its story was
retrieved simply because of a series
of crop marks in the field during a
particularly hot summer, which had
been photographed during an aerial
survey. But the story of the garden was
not just about how it was destroyed
but how it had been tended to and
worked on during its existence. If your
ancestor was a labourer on the estate
at this point, or in the century before,
this may very well have been his or
her job. I took photos of the garden
44 DECEMBER 2018
excavation and subsequently uploaded
them to the Canmore database, run
by Historic Environment Scotland;
you can view them at https://
canmore.org.uk/site/84804/castle-
menzies#mycanmore-image-fragment
There are lots of other similar
archaeological projects that can
shed light on areas where your
ancestors once lived. If you
want to find out more
about the archaeology of
an area of interest, the
British Archaeological
Jobs and Resources
site at www.bajr.org/
WhoseWho/ArchSoc.
asp has an interactive
map showing where many
societies exist, while the
Council for British Archaeology
www.family-tree.co.uk
website at http://new.archaeologyuk.
org/join-a-cba-group is also worth
a visit. Many groups are also looking
for volunteers!
The academic arena
Academic research is a huge area
where material is being unearthed
and new perspectives on the past are
being generated. Many universities
are digitising collections to help
the research process; indeed, the
Statistical Accounts of Scotland,
noted earlier, were digitised by the
University of Edinburgh precisely
as an aid to help do just that. There
are plenty of similar projects across
the UK and Ireland, such as:
• University of Leicester’s Historical
Directories of England and Wales
via http://familytr.ee/FTdirec
• 1641 Depositions from Trinity
College Dublin http://1641.tcd.ie
A growing • Railway Work, Life and Death
number of database of railway accidents at
universities are www.railwayaccidents.port.
sharing digital ac.uk created by the University
resources online of Portsmouth and the National
that offer huge Railway Museum.
potential for In addition to the resources being
family history created by academics are their all-
researchers. For important study results, which
example, the can help to provide fresh insights
Railway Work, into our ancestors’ lives and times.
Life and Death When I studied the University of
website boasts Strathclyde’s postgraduate diploma
a large database course in genealogy 10 years ago, I
of names and took my ancestral interest in Perth
resources and used some of the resources
I had previously found to try to
contribute more to the burgh’s
story. Having been granted access
to the records of King James VI
Hospital in Perth, I investigated
the hospital’s role in the 19th
century as one of the burgh’s major
land holders and feudal superiors,
Past
showing how decisions it had
taken in terms of property
deals had helped to shape
Perth the modern city we know
today. As part of my
research I established
Chris has made his research into the what happened to
King James VI Hospital’s role in 19th areas such as Carr’s
century Perth freely available online Croft, where my own
at https://scotlandsgreateststory. family had lived, and
wordpress.com/free-items understood why they had
eventually moved away – not
least because of the increase

in property values there with the
coming of the railway.
Many academic dissertations
are subsequently published within
journals, which can be consulted
in university libraries and other
platforms, such as JSTOR www.jstor.
org – indeed, so potentially useful
is JSTOR that the North of Ireland
Family History Society throws in
access to its Irish Collection as part of
its annual membership subscription;
see www.nifhs.org/membership/
benefits-of-membership
In the genes
There is one other documentary
source that is unique to every
single one of us, and that is the
DNA that we each carry within
us. There are many DNA-based
academic projects in existence
that try to tell the story of how
we as a species have migrated to
regions worldwide across time.
University College London, for
example, has its Molecular and
Cultural Evolution Lab – www.ucl.
ac.uk/mace-lab – investigating the
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH
R e s e ar c h
DNA testing is demographic history of various t ip!
now the next step populations and ethnic groups Explore the Inte
for many people in Africa, Europe and the rnational
Societ y of Gene
tic Genealogy
researching their Middle East. For the humble website to lear
n more about th
ancestry genealogist, the University use of DNA for e
family histor y
of Strathclyde’s Scottish DNA research at
Project teamed up last year with ht tps://isogg.o
rg
Living DNA www.livingdna.
com and the Scottish Association
of Family History Societies www.
safhs.org.uk to help extend the archaeology and local history are
level of understanding of genetic just some of the parallel disciplines
inheritance throughout Scotland, as that can help with family history
part of the One Family One World research. Perhaps now is the time
Project. Its dedicated page is at to broaden your interests!
www.livingdna.com/one-family/
research/scotland About the author
Whether you wish to participate Chris Paton runs the Scotland’s
in such a project or not, the DNA Greatest Story research service
within you is a key resource, and www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk
simply testing with a company such and teaches online courses through
as Ancestry.co.uk, MyHeritage.com www.pharostutors.com
or FamilyTreeDNA.com may still Among his many publications are
help you to connect with distant ‘Discover Scottish Church Records’
cousins you may never have known (2nd ed) and ‘Discover Scottish Civil
about before, and perhaps help to Registration Records’, available from
circumvent those irritating brick www.my-history.co.uk
wall problems. He regularly blogs at
DNA testing, university research, www.britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 45
 Just starting your
family history?
If you’re wondering how to begin tracing your family tree,
here are three simple steps:

1. Begin with yourself

The first step is to write down the date and
place of your birth. Do the same for your
parents and grandparents. Include marriage and
death dates where applicable. These core clues
are the start of your research and you can now
work back generation-by-generation growing
those branches of your family tree as you
Check out the ‘Getting
gather more ancestors.
started’ section of our
website which has free

2. Ask your relations guides to researching your

family tree, with free videos
and downloads too, go to:
http://familytr.ee/NewtoFH

Search your home for family history treasures

such as old photos, scrapbooks, and birth,
marriage and death certificates. Ask your
family whether they have family papers and
pictures that could help your quest too.

3. Draw up your family tree Keep up to date!

Sign up for our
free newsletter at
Now that you’ve collected some information, http://familytr.ee/FreeFHnews
it’s time to fill in a basic family tree. We to keep up with our latest
have a free downloadable chart at family history news
http://familytr.ee/FreeFHTree

START TODAY

FamilyTree
WITH YOUR FRE
E FAMILY TREE CHA
RT
MARCH 2018 www.family-tree.co
.uk

DIG DEEPER!
Already doing your family history? How to get more from
the major websites
• Ancestry • FamilySearch • Findmyp
ast
• FreeUKGenealogy • TheGen

Check out the growing collection of ‘next steps’ guides on our

ealogist
£5.25

website and join our Family Tree Academy Facebook group to FREE
RE
CORDS
WORTH
OVER

help you find out even more about your family history! £59

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mothers
in the Great War
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The worry, the history website
– four years of wait
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TRANSPORTED DOWN UNDER
Criminal
or victim?
Julie Watkins investigates the life of a 19th century convict
ancestor who was transported to Australia for a series of
burglaries but made a good life down under
W
hat would cause
a normally hard-
working middle-
aged man to turn
to a life of crime, resulting in his
transportation to the other side of the
world? I wanted to find out whether
Jacob Cliff was really a criminal or
simply a victim of circumstance.
Jacob the ag lab
Born in January 1806, the ninth of
13 children born to Isaac Cliff and
Elizabeth Andrew, Jacob Cliff spent
the first half of his life working on
the land in the small rural county of
Rutland. By 1850, he was aged 44,
just 5ft 3.5 ins, middling-stout in
build, with grey eyes and an oval face.
By this time, his hair had gone grey.
In the first part of the 19th century,
rural areas were managed by the
long-standing open field system
which meant that poorer inhabitants,
such as Jacob, could use the land to
grow grain and vegetables in order
to survive. Gradually, however, a
rapidly increasing population, the
introduction of mechanised farming
and the impact of the Government’s
Enclosure Act meant that rural life
would be changed forever.
Enclosure was enacted in Jacob’s
home village of Morcott in 1835;
neighbouring areas were enclosed at
about the same time, and it was the
accepted practice across England by
1850. This meant that previously
common land was now managed by
tenant farmers, and men such as Jacob
were subservient to them as farm
servants or labourers. It was believed
that enclosure would make the land
more productive so that everyone
would be adequately fed, and people
would either work on the farms as
labourers or head for the rapidly
growing towns where new, modern
factories offered a different kind
of employment.
For a man such as Jacob, this
modern thinking did not work out
as planned. At 44, Jacob may have
been considered too old to retrain
for a job with modern technology
at a factory, or even to adopt the
new mechanised farming methods.
His physical strength may have been
spent after many years of hard labour.
Edwin Chadwick’s 1842 Report on the
Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring
Population of Great Britain calculates
life expectancy in Rutland as 52
years for professional trades, 41 for
tradesmen and just 38 for labourers
like Jacob. In 1841, we know that
Jacob was working as an agricultural
labourer on a farm owned by the
Shelton family in the nearby village
of Seaton. In his mid-thirties, he was
the oldest servant; the remaining three
were still in their teens.
Crop failures & famine
Naturally, agriculture depended
on the weather and the 1840s was
a particularly bad decade for the
farming industry. It had started well
enough, but then the summer of 1844
was exceptionally dry immediately
www.family-tree.co.uk
Reader story
Morcott Church followed by an extremely cold winter.
in rural Rutland, The next summer was wet and
where Jacob’s cold, and this contributed largely to
parents were probably the most devastating famine
married and he Europe had ever seen. Ireland was
was baptised, worst hit, although the effects were
and Oakham felt across Europe. Persistent and
Castle, where he heavy rain coupled with cold summer
faced trial temperatures meant that potatoes,
Ireland’s staple food, rotted in the
ground and created perfect conditions
for Potato Blight to spread.
Due to consecutive poor wheat
harvests across Europe, crop failure
was also experienced across a wide
area. In light of the grain shortages
in Britain and the rest of Europe, it
was decided in 1846 that the Corn
Laws would be repealed. These laws
had been introduced in 1815 for the
addition of import duty so that it
was expensive to import grain from
outside of Britain, therefore favouring
the British farmers. In order to
improve the supply of grain in light of
the famine and crop failures, the Corn
Laws were repealed so importation
would be cheaper. However, this had
a negative effect on Britain’s farmers
as they had to compete with cheaper
imports and some predicted ruin for
British agriculture.
A serial burglar
When we next hear of Jacob on 4
July 1850, he is appearing before a
magistrate at a court Quarter Session
at Oakham Castle. It was claimed that
on 24 June 1850 he, ‘with force and
arms at the parish (of Seaton) one
DECEMBER 2018 47
TRANSPORTED DOWN UNDER
Julie found Jacob Cliff working for the Shelton family on the 1841 Census
but he was in Oakham Gaol on the 1851 Census (pictured)
casement of the value of one shilling,
one iron stanchion of the value of
eight pence and two feet of wood of
the value of 4d the property of one
Robert Shelton… then and there
feloniously did steal, take and
carry away’.
Jacob was found guilty of breaking
and entering with intent two quarts of
brew to the value of one shilling of the
goods and chattels of Robert Shelton
and sentenced to 21 days’ hard labour.
The 1851 Census tells us that
Robert Shelton was a farmer with
400 acres of land and the employer
of three indoor and four outdoor
labourers. He was the youngest son
of the Shelton family for whom Jacob
was working a decade earlier, so they
had known each other for quite a
while. Clearly something went wrong
for Jacob to be no longer employed by
the Sheltons, and for him to be going
armed to Shelton’s property intending
a forced entry and stealing property.
Jacob was in court a second time on
2 January 1851, having been caught
breaking and entering on 16 October
1850. This time his target was Thomas
Tyler of Morcott, a farmer of 100
acres who employed two labourers and
a female servant. The charge was with
force and arms, two pounds weight of
horsehair, value three shillings of the
goods and chattels of Thomas Tyler,
being found feloniously did steal, take
and carry away.
Jacob was again found guilty
and this time was sentenced to two
months’ hard labour.
On a third occasion, Jacob targeted
a much smaller farm in Hambleton
owned by Nicholas Needham. He had
just six acres and worked it himself
48 DECEMBER 2018
with assistance from his two teenage
sons. The crime was committed on 20
March 1851, so Jacob was barely out
of prison after his latest stay. This fact
did not go unnoticed by the court as
it recorded, thus: ‘On 2nd January,
convicted of felony. Said conviction
still in full force, strength and effect
and not in the least reversed, annulled
or made void.’
Appearing in court on 10 April
1851, again at Oakham, the report
continues: ‘The said Jacob Cliff, late
of the parish of Hambleton, labourer,
being so convicted of felony as
aforesaid, afterwards on 20th March,
one fork of the value of one shilling of
the goods and chattels of one Nicholas
Needham, being found feloniously, did
steal take and carry away.’
It was more hard labour for Jacob;
six months this time.
The final straw
After three convictions and the best
part of a year’s worth of hard labour,
one would think that Jacob had
learned his lesson, but no. There was
one more to come.
Jacob appeared in court one last
time on 16 October 1851 charged
with committing another crime against
a farmer on 21 June, while his latest
sentence was still in force. His victim
was Thomas Pridmore in the village of
South Luffenham. He had a farm of
220 acres and employed six labourers.
Jacob was accused of sheep stealing,
more precisely, one lamb. On all his
previous three convictions, Jacob had
pleaded not guilty and been found
guilty. This time, he changed tactic; he
admitted the crime. Here’s how this
sentence was recorded:
www.family-tree.co.uk
A pair of handcuffs on display at
Rutland County Museum. They
date from about 1850, so may
have even been used on Jacob
A report in the Stamford Mercury of 17 October 1851,
available in Findmypast.co.uk’s British Newspaper
collection, reveals the transportation sentence
Transportation
Transportation was the sending of
convicted criminals or other persons
deemed undesirable to a penal
colony. In England, the practice
began in the early 17th century when
convicts, political prisoners and
prisoners of war were sent to the
Americas in order to colonise the
land. After the American Revolution,
attention switched to the newly
discovered land of Australia. In 1787,
the First Fleet of 11 convict ships set
sail for Australia, arriving at Botany
Bay in 1788. Further convict ships
arrived during the next few decades
and gradually the east coast of
Australia was populated.
Western Australia received a few
juvenile convicts from 1842 but
was not formally established as a
penal colony until 1849. Between
1850 and 1868, 9,721 convicts were
transported to Western Australia on
43 convict ship voyages. Jacob Cliff
was on one of these voyages, on the
convict ship, Adelaide, arriving at
the Swan River Colony, Fremantle,
Western Australia on 18 July 1855

‘He confesseth and saith that he is
guilty of the felony. Thereupon it is
considered by the court and the court
doth therefore order that the said
Jacob Cliff be transported beyond the
seas for the term of ten years to such
place as Her Majesty by and with the
advice of Her Most Honourable Privy
Council shall be pleased to direct.’
Between his sentencing at Oakham
on 16 October 1851 and his departure
on the convict ship Adelaide on
19 April 1855, bound for Western
Australia, Jacob was kept in prison,
firstly at Oakham, then at Millbank,
Pentonville, and finally to Portland on
the south coast of England, which was
to be his departure point. We know
from the ship’s record what Jacob
looked like. Interestingly, he had the
distinguishing mark of a broken nose.
One wonders if that was the result of
an altercation on one of the occasions
when he was caught stealing!
The other side of the world
The Adelaide was a 640-ton ship built
in Calcutta in 1832. She left Portland,
England, on 19 April 1855, arriving
in Fremantle, Western Australia on
18 July 1855. She had spent 90 days
at sea and was carrying 259 convicts
and 93 passengers. The ship had left
Portland with 260 convicts but one,
by the name of John Mitchell, died
during the voyage.
The Adelaide’s captain was
M Longman, and the ship’s surgeon
was J Donnelly. Also on board was
D Antrobus whose job was religious
instructor. The 93 passengers were
made up of 30 pensioner guards
and their families: 21 wives, 22 sons
and 20 daughters. Pensioner guards
were retired British Army soldiers
attracted by the offer of a new life, six
months’ employment and a grant of
land on arrival. Their duties were to
accompany convicts on the voyages
and see to the smooth running of daily
life on board. On arrival in Australia,
these men were not retained as
permanent convict guards and usually
sought work among the free settlers.
However, they were always on hand to
help in case of an emergency.
Convicts were normally sentenced
to seven or 14 years but others, like
Jacob, were sentenced to 10 years.
More serious offenders were given life
terms. If convicts were well-behaved,
they could qualify for a Ticket of
Leave, Certificate of Freedom, a
Conditional Pardon or an Absolute
Pardon. Jacob’s Ticket of Leave was
granted as he embarked the ship, so
that, on arrival, he could live in the
community under the auspices of
the prison authorities. In 1857, he
qualified for a Conditional Pardon,
which meant he could live as a free
man, the condition being that he was
forbidden to ever return to Britain.
According to the Eastern Districts
Chronicle on 13 July 1883, Jacob
appears to have lived the remainder
of his life in the service of the
Burges family, agriculturists who had
emigrated from Tipperary, Ireland,
in 1830. His death in York, Western
Australia in 1883 at the age of 77
received a mention in the newspaper.
Most notable is the length of time
that he’d been in the family’s employ
– 30 years – so he must have started
working for the Burges almost as soon
as he arrived in Australia. It is also
satisfying to note that his boss was
www.family-tree.co.uk
CRIMINAL ANCESTORS
The final prison
quarterly return
noting Jacob’s
embarkation
for Australia –
also available
on Findmypast
– shows his
‘exemplary’ the chief mourner at his funeral, and
conduct that Jacob did well enough to be able
to bequeath his money to friends and
The report of acquaintances, a stark contrast to the
Jacob’s death in desperation he’d experienced many
Australia in the years earlier.
Eastern Districts
Chronicle in About the author
1883, found on Julie Watkins was born in Peterborough
https://trove. into a railway family and started
nla.gov.au/ her family research in 2003 with her
newspaper/ grandfather’s birth certificate. She wasn’t
article/ expecting to find anything mind-blowing
148585667 but has come across a few interesting
characters and now wants to put some
‘meat on the bones’; discovering more
detail about her ancestors’ lives rather
that just having a list of names and
dates. Julie has recently begun module
three of genealogist Gill Blanchard’s
‘Writing Your Family History’ course
and hopes to turn Jacob Cliff ’s story
into a book.
USEFUL WEBSITES
• www.findmypast.co.uk – for
newspapers & criminal records
• www.bayanne.info/Shetland –
North Isles Family History
• www.booty.org.uk/booty.
weather/climate/1800_1849.
htm – Booty Meteorological
information site
• http://fremantleprison.com.
au/history-heritage/history/
convict-database/ – Fremantle
Prison Convict Database
• http://members.iinet.net.
au/~perthdps/convicts/
con-wa16.html – details of
the Adelaide on Convicts to
Australia website
• https://morcott.files.
wordpress.com/2013/05/
morcott-village-plan.pdf –
includes Morcott village history
• www.nationalarchives.gov.
uk/education/victorianbritain/
healthy – Victorian Britain:
A Healthy Nation?
• https://trove.nla.gov.au/
newspaper – National Library of
Australia’s free Trove digitised
newspapers resource
DECEMBER 2018 49
WAYS TO GET ORGANISED & HAVE FUN
Idea ilyso
s & lutionsst
history enthusia
for today’s fam
From getting organised to digging deeper, plus having plenty of family tree fun
along the way, Helen Tovey’s collection of ancestor projects are very do-able
and will give your family history a refreshing boost
W e all work really hard
gathering clues about our
ancestors’ lives, puzzling
over those missing
details, rejoicing in every fascinating
new snippet found about the past. But
do you sometimes feel that you could
do with a little help with keeping your
voluminous findings organised, give
yourself the opportunity to focus on a
particular aspect of your research, and
also get the chance share (even show
off!) your family history with the rest
50 DECEMBER 2018
20 FAMILY TREE
PROJECTS
FOR YOU
of your kin? Here we have 20 very
practical projects that will help you do
all these things. You most definitely
don’t need to do them all – pick and
choose a few that appeal and just
watch your family history flourish.
GETTING ORGANISED
Get your family history organised
so that you can find what you want,
when you want it
www.family-tree.co.uk
1
Your family history files
If you have digital files littering
your computer desktop, or paper
ones all over your actual desk, don’t
despair – good habits are just around
the corner.
Your first step is to put them all in
an actual folder or computer folder
labelled ‘Family history to be sorted’.
Then set yourself a goal to spend
a specific amount of time each day
organising them, and you’ll soon be
making headway.
For your digitised files (Word
documents, downloads, etc), you may
wish to set up a specific file-naming
format so that all your records can be
listed in an orderly way. A useful file
naming format can be SURNAME/
first name/day/month/year/occasion.
This format can work for digitised
documents or photos.
Paper filing continues to be a
popular way of recording family
history, and a very useful system is to
use colour-coded ring binders, starting
with one binder per grandparent,
expanding the system as you discover
more details.
Your home archive
2 Your family history research
findings are likely to be just part
of the material that you’re trying to
keep orderly in your home archive

however. Do you have boxes of old
letters here, and other miscellaneous
family artefacts and photos there – all
which have yet to find a suitable home
in your home? Take charge of the
situation and appoint yourself
‘Home Archivist’.
Now you can – gradually – begin
to bring order to the chaos, labelling
boxes, files and folders, and creating
an index for easy future reference. A
realistic solution might be to have
a filing cabinet for documents, and
memory boxes for 3-D items.
As with organising your family
history research above, don’t rush
the process of organising your home
archive collections. It’s much better
to be methodical, keeping items with
each other, in the that order you’ve
inherited them, say, and gradually
enjoy the task of getting organised.
Tip: Professional researcher Sue
Adams’ blog at https://familytr.
ee/Suecatalogtips makes for
inspiring reading – why not follow
in her footsteps and apply the same
methodical finesse to the way you
treat your own ‘home archive’ too.
Create a certificate
3 shopping list
Make a list of all the birth,
marriage and death certificates you’d
like to order, and order at least one!
DISCOVER MORE, SHARE MORE
Gradually you can work through your
list, in time ordering all those that you
would like to study. With the GRO
pilot service still in place, for
birth certificates 1837-1917 and
deaths 1837-1957, the £6 pdf
download makes for much more
affordable research than the £9.25
printed certificate.
Create an up-todate
4 GEDCOM of your
family tree
GEDCOM is invaluable as it is
multipurpose (it can be uploaded and
downloaded to key online family trees;
imported and exported to most family
history software).
Backing up your files
5 GEDCOM format is also a
great way to future-proof your
research: if your computer dies, you
potentially risk a lot of palaver to
ensure you can access your family tree.
However, if you have regularly
backed-up your research as a
GEDCOM file, then you can get
going on your genealogy fairly swiftly
again by importing your GEDCOM
backup to whatever new family history
software and computer operating
system you choose.
Be sure to create backups of the
photographs you’ve taken on your
digital camera or smartphone, and
www.family-tree.co.uk
pictures, diaries, and documents etc
that you’ve scanned in too.
Family history is fun, but it does
take time and dedication to discover
all that you do. So be sure to protect
your research. You can backup to disc
and the cloud as well. Make a note in
your diary for your next backup date,
and you’ll never have that sinking
feeling of losing research.
DIGGING DEEPER
Focus your concentration on a
particular research task and see
your knowledge grow. Here are
some ideas
Write a history of
6 your home
Modest, modernist, massive or
minuscule – create a record of your
own home. Take photos of the interior
and exterior, your gadgets, heating and
lighting, the furniture and furnishings,
your car and garden etc too. Write up
an account of what you know about
your home: when it was built, why,
a mini history of your street or area.
Describe your home exactly as it is.
In time, this will be fascinating to
read – you know that’s true. Imagine
a description of a home in the 1940s,
and how interesting (and nostalgic) we
would find such a record today.
Map your kin
7 Where people were born, the
reasons why they moved to live
and work in the places they did, all
would have had major influences on
the lives our ancestors led. Plotting
the places that your ancestors once
lived on a map is a great visual aid to
your research. It might provide you
DECEMBER 2018 51
WAYS TO GET ORGANISED & HAVE FUN
with inspiration where next to look
for clues too.
You can mark locations on a printed
map, or create a bespoke Google Map
of your own, or add your findings to
www.historypin.org or
www.waymarking.com
Visiting their graves
8 Plan a trip to visit the final
resting places of those in your
family – paying your respects is one of
the most fundamental things family
members do. Remember that many
people had no gravestones, but a visit
to the graveyard in which they are
buried will allow you to see the area
and perhaps spot the names of other
relations’ memorials.
Before you set out, plan thoroughly
by taking a trip on Google Earth and
Google Maps and using historic maps
52 DECEMBER 2018
and local history photo collections
showing the place in bygone times
too. This online reconnaissance is time
very well spent in enriching
your family history knowledge
(even if you only make the trip
from your armchair!).
Choose just one
9 surname
Dedicate yourself to learning
as much as you can about one of
the surnames on your family tree.
Explore the origins and meanings,
distribution, variations, and DNA
projects that might be related to
it and more. See if anyone else
is conducting a one-name study
or other project related to your
surname. Write up your discoveries
so that you can easily recall what
you’ve found.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Gen up on your
10 Latin vocab
Up until the 1700s Latin might
be found in family history records
that you need to use. Learning the
key words will help you tackle old
documents, and help you decipher
the words on gravestones too. See
the FamilySearch ‘Latin Genealogical
Word List’ to start cramming: https://
www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/
Latin_Genealogical_Word_List
Time to time travel
11 The famous phrase ‘the past is
a foreign country’ is something
family history researchers will
Get your understand. Choose an era and
Family Tree spend time immersing yourself in
Diary 2019 the past. Perhaps you’d like to focus
See your family
history flourish with
your attention on a particular era,
eg interwar, Victorian, or Georgian.
the Family Tree Diary Or maybe you’d like to research a
2019. Each week theme over time, looking into the
includes a family history of, say, home life, transport,
history challenge for working conditions or worship.
you to do to inspire
and grow your Put on your
family tree.
Treat yourself and 12 detective hat
We all have family history
buy one at https://
familytr.ee/FTdiary mysteries, but as you gain more
(£4.99 plus p&p) experience, it may be that you
can now solve a long-standing

conundrum that once foxed you.
Why not get a large piece of paper
and set up an evidence board (as
shown in crime dramas on television).
Add the information you know, and
the questions that are bugging you.
This visual aid will help you think
like a detective, and may provide the
inspiration you need to solve your
brick wall. It may arouse the curiosity
of other members of your family too –
everyone likes trying to solve a puzzle.
Medical matters
13 Taking a look at the ages and
causes of death of the people
on your family tree can be interesting
and enlightening, alerting you to
possible medical conditions, as well
as giving you insights to the health
and occupational hazards that
people in your family have faced
in past generations.
OLD PHOTOS
Photographs are some of our most
precious family items. Taking time
Get creative and
produce bespoke
labels (eg including a
photo of the original
cook and a scan of
their recipe) to label
your family history-
inspired makes, bakes
and gifts
DISCOVER MORE, SHARE MORE
to digitise yours is time well spent
Get scanning
14 Scanning your old photographs
is the perfect way to preserve
the likenesses and information in the
pictures for the future. You can also
share these digital copies with family.
Wondering where to begin?
Challenge: set yourself a goal, of
scanning 15 photos a day, every day
until you have completed the task.
As you go, be sure to go through
your digitised photos and edit the
file names so that they include
those all important details of names,
places, dates and occasions. Your
descendants will thank you for this,
and won’t be left wondering which
ancestors are shown.
Create a slideshow or
15 photo book
Once you’ve digitised your
photos, then there is so much that
you can do with them.
• Bring your online tree to life
If you have an online tree, adding
ancestor photos is a great way to
bring colour and context to your
www.family-tree.co.uk
family record, and better capture the
attention of your family members.
• Put together a slide show
Have a think how you’d like the
pictures to play. Would you like to
arrange them chronologically, or
theme them? Would you like to add
captions? Having old photos safely
tucked in a box is fine, but it’s much
more fun to see them and share them
with family.
• Make a photo book
Using one of the online services,
upload your digitised photos and
create a photo book. You can choose
to print several copies, and they make
lovely gifts for even the non-family
historians in the family, or simply
for your own enjoyment. There are
numerous sites offering photo book
services. Keep an eye out for discount
offers. Sites to try include:
https://cewe-photoworld.com/
photo-books
www.photobox.co.uk
and www.bobbooks.co.uk
• A family tree display
Making your family history visible in
your home is the perfect way to keep
it part of the conversation, shared with
DECEMBER 2018 53
WAYS TO GET ORGANISED & HAVE FUN
family members.
Photo displays are a great way to
start. Perhaps you can create one of
your father’s line, father to son etc;
pictures of all the school children
over the years, or holiday snaps over
the decades. Family history-inspired
creations make lovely gifts too –
whether a family tree chart, or copies
of old family photos as framed gifts.
DNA DISCOVERIES
Whether you’ve yet to take a test, or
have made that step already, there’s
so much to learn about DNA. The
more you understand about the
tests, the more useful you’ll find
them in your research. DNA can be
a novel way to pique the interest of
the wider family, too, and get them
excited about their family history
Expand your DNA
16 knowledge
To learn more about DNA, set
aside time to study, and make use of
the valuable free information found
on the website of the International
Society of Genetic Genealogy:
https://isogg.org
54 DECEMBER 2018
Share your results
17 more widely
Each of the DNA testing
companies has their own database
of test results. To maximise your
chances of finding family connections
through your DNA test results, be
sure to transfer them to GEDmatch.
At GEDmatch you can also upload a
GEDCOM of your family tree too.
In addition, transfer your results to
participating DNA test companies.
By taking these steps you’ll increase
your chances of making connections,
regardless of which company a distant
relation has tested with.
FUN STUFF!
All of family history is fun, but
these ideas below get you away
from the screen, and give further
opportunities to get your family and
friends involved in the wonderful
world of family history discoveries
Create a sound track
18 Think back over your life and
choose 10 songs that mean the
most to you – your very own Desert
www.family-tree.co.uk
Island Discs, if you like. Listen to
them, and write down why you love
them and what was going on in your
life when you fell in love with them.
Ask your family members to do the
same – these personal play lists are
perfect for for family get-togethers and
audio trips down memory lane.
Make a Christmas cake
19 Our ancestors’ years would
have been marked by feast
days and celebrations, many of which
have become lost in the mists of
time. Traditionally known as ‘Stir-up
Sunday’, this is the day when folk
would make their Christmas puddings
in preparation for the festivities
later in the year. In 2018 the date it
falls on is 25 November.
Not a fruit cake fan? Have a
think about the other family recipes
that have been enjoyed over the
generations and gather them together
in a notebook or blog for sharing with
fellow family members.
Did (does) your granny cook a
delicious steamed pudding, or make
prize-winning marmalade? Ask for the
recipe and make it yourself. It’ll be a
comforting trip down memory lane to
cook up these familiar flavours, and
while your family are tucking into the
vintage recipes, you can regale them
with tales of ancestors past.
What’s on near you?
20 With all that the internet
has to offer, it’s tempting
to spend all our family history time
online. However, in a town near you,
there’s likely to be a family history
society. For a good list of family
history societies see www.ffhs.org.uk
or ask at your local library for advice
about local organisations, such as
branches of the U3A www.u3a.org.uk
or evening classes.
Dedicating time to improve your
family history know-how, taking
a class, learning with others, is an
excellent way to enhance and refresh
your genealogy skills.
Tell us your plans & projects!
We’d love to hear about your family
history discoveries – let us know
about your projects and plans, large
and small – and we can share them
in a future issue of Family Tree. Please
email helen.t@family-tree.co.uk
including a relevant photo.

DIGGING DEEPER
Twiglets
W
e’re down to the last
two. Of the siblings of
my 3x great-grandfather
Joseph Wrigley, there’s
only James and Nathan left to play
with, and after failing miserably to
locate their brother Henry last issue,
I’ve a mind to try to crack this pair in
one go and move on.
At least this time we’ve got a
head start. I know both lads were
christened at the Collegiate Church
in Manchester – James in 1829 and
Nathan in 1833 – and both appear on
the 1841 Census of Woodward Street
with their widowed mother Agnes
and the rest of the Wrigley crew. I
fish Agnes’s other censuses out of my
toppling pile of printouts and ah yes,
being the youngest, both boys are still
single and living at home on the 1851.
James, aged 22, is a calico weaver born
in Harpurhey, and 18-year-old Nathan
is a print looker born in Manchester.
Come 1861, the boys have moved on
– but where, and how far into the 19th
century can we go with them?
Right, let’s take them one by one,
James first, and a swift search at
Ancestry.co.uk finds him easily on
the 1861, albeit with Harpurhey
transcribed as the Indian-sounding
‘Habpalay’ and a wife, presumably
Harriet, as exotic ‘Harrieal’.
No matter, it’s our James all right.
The couple are living at 37 Ridgway
Street, Ancoats; James is a cotton
weaver, aged 32; Harriet, born in
Chorlton, is 30; and they have three
children – Walter, aged nine, Jane,
seven, and Samuel Squiggle, aged
one. This enumerator certainly has
interesting handwriting.
It’s quite a houseful, as there are
three lodgers as well – a 42-year-old
widow called Kate Tabhenor (at least,
I think that’s what it says), unmarried
30-year-old Ann Preston (or similar)
from Yorkshire, and a one-year-old
baby called Joseph Preston, born in
Newton, Manchester.
I try the same search at Findmypast
in case it had better luck with
Diarist Gill Shaw charts
the rollercoaster ride of
researching her family history
deciphering that writing, but it has no
James and Harriet at all. Hmm, let’s
try an address search instead and aha,
here we go, 37 Ridgeway Place – that
sounds close enough.
Click through to the transcription
and crikey, this one’s more fun still.
Now we’ve a household headed
by a precocious four-year-old
James ‘Wesley’, plus lodgers Ann
Preston, 20, Kate Jachura, 62, and
Josep Marton, four, from Boston,
Lincolnshire. What a lesson in trying
to cross-reference as many different
sources as you can find! If you’d been
looking for any of those lodgers, let
alone James Wrigley, you’d have been
blown totally off course.
This enumerator certainly has
interesting handwriting
According to the transcription,
the older James ‘Wesley’, Harriet,
Walter and Jane are living in a
separate household next door to little
James. And then I get the lightest of
goosebumps because next door to
them is a curtain maker called Henry
Wignall, clearly born in Droylsden,
Manchester, in 1822 (the transcript
has it as ‘Ironville, Derbyshire’). Let’s
just say I’ve not entirely given up hope
of finding a certain Henry Wrigley,
born c1822, and this Mr ‘Wignall’
might be worth five minutes of my
time some day…
But back to James, and I doubt
I’m going to glean any more from
this 1861 Census, so let’s change tack
and look for his marriage to Harriet,
probably in the early 1850s, and also
the children’s births to identify little
Samuel’s other forename.
Good old FreeBMD, here we
go: James Wrigley married Harriet
Hewitt in December 1851, and baby
Samuel’s middle name is Henry,
after his grandfather. But ah, looking
further down the page of results, it
seems Samuel died just months after
the census was taken.
www.family-tree.co.uk
On to 1871 and with all the
transcription shenanigans, I’m
pleasantly surprised to find this
census super-legible. James is 41 and
now a ‘fancy cotton weaver’. Harriet
is 40, and there are three children
– Walter, now 18, an iron turner,
Jane, 17, a cotton worker, and a new
daughter, Ann A, aged five. Ooh,
what does that ‘A’ stand for? Agnes,
the family favourite? (Quick search at
FreeBMD and yes, it’s Ann Agnes.)
But 1881 isn’t to be. There’s no sign
of either James or Harriet, but there
is a likely looking death entry in 1876
for a 48-year-old James Wrigley (so
born c1828, which is spot on). And
it looks like poor Harriet died just
two years later, at the same age. I’m
reminded how bleak – and short – life
often was in this energetic, inventive,
but desperately overcrowded city.
Well, we’ve not left much time
or space for Nathan have we,
but hopefully (barring bonkers
transcriptions) with that unusual
name, he should be easy to track.
This time, I’m looking for a
marriage at FreeBMD first, and
hey, easy peasy: in 1855 Nathan
Wrigley married either Mary Ann
Clayton or Mary Ann Keel. Over to
Ancestry to do an all-records search
for a Nathan Wrigley born 1833, and
what, no… Just four results: the 1841,
1851 and 1861 Censuses, and a civil
registration death entry dated 1870
for a Nathan Wrigley, born 1832.
Just 38 years of age.
I click through to the image of
Nathan’s one and only married
census, and it feels odd to look at
this, knowing the outcome. Nathan,
a tailor by trade, is 27. Mary Ann a
year younger. Nine years from now,
these three children, James, aged five,
Agnes, three, and baby Nathan, two
months, will be fatherless.
Sometimes, in this all-absorbing
and thought-provoking hobby of
ours, a snapshot of one moment in
time just catches your heart, and
makes it skip a beat for all those
ancestors that came before.
About the author
Gill Shaw is a writer and former
assistant editor of ‘Practical Family
History’. She lives in Cambridgeshire
and loves singing, and tracking down
elusive ancestors.
DECEMBER 2018 55
IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS
ILY TRE
AM
F
AC
ADEMY
Read on to find out the answers to last issue’s Family Tree Academy challenges.
Our Academy tutor David Annal explains all
Your document challenge:
The answers
Last month we focused on Army
service records. Our first document
was a certificate of discharge
issued to William Mansfield
I W hat was William’s trade?
William was a silk dresser.
II In which two regiments did
William serve and for how long?
He served for two years and six
months in the 3rd Regiment of
Foot and for two months in the
114th Regiment.
III W hat was the cause of
William’s discharge?
William was discharged as a result of
being ‘weak, sickly and lame of right
leg from a wound received in the
Island of Grenada in the month of
March 1796’.
Secondly, we have the service
record of William Taylor who
enlisted in the Border Regiment
IV W
 hat did William have tattooed
on his left forearm and why
might this have been important
56 DECEMBER 2018
Discover the answers to
E
last issue’s challenges
How did
you do?
to the authorities? that William’s father was dead
A sailor’s head. In an era before but you would, of course, want to
photography was commonplace, confirm this with further research.
records of recruits routinely
included a physical description HOW DID Your brainteaser challenge
of the soldier. The most YOUR A NSW ER The answers
important reason for this S We all know about the three
COMPA R E?
was to help identify him in If you found an main branches of the British
ything puzzlin
cases of desertion. or have used si g, armed forces (the Royal Navy,
milar records
in your own re the Army and the Royal Air
search and
V W hy would you not would like help Force). However, over the
, join the
find William in the Family Tree Ac years, there have been a number
ademy
Facebook grou
1901 Census? p of other sections of the armed
The Military History Sheet forces which have contributed in
records the fact that William was in times of war and peace.
South Africa between 27 September How many can you think of?
1899 and 23 April 1901. The 1901
Census was taken on 30 March – The list is almost endless
a few weeks before his return but includes:
to England. • the Militia
• the Royal Marines
VI William was awarded the medal • the Home Guard
with five clasps. Can you list the • the Fleet Air Arm
inscriptions on the clasps? • the Royal Naval Division
Tugela Heights; Relief of Ladysmith; • the Royal Naval Reserve
Cape Colony; OF [Orange Free] • the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
State; Transvaal. • the Yeoman Guard and
Yeoman Warders
VIIWilliam’s next of kin was given • The Royal Flying Corps and the
as his mother, Mary Taylor. Royal Naval Air Service were the
What might you infer from this? forerunners of the RAF
It would be reasonable to conclude • Both the Coastguard and the
www.family-tree.co.uk
 ILY TRE
AM

E
F
AC
ADEMY

Merchant Navy played active roles
in times of conflict
• And let’s not forget the significant
contributions of the Women’s Army
Auxiliary Corps, the Women’s
Royal Naval Service and the
Women’s Royal Air Force.
Your case study challenge:
The answer
Researcher and medal collector
John Sly was trying to find out
more about a man called Herbert
Day who enlisted in the Yorkshire
Regiment (the Green Howards) in
October 1894
This turned out to be another
excellent example of the fluidity of
our ancestors’ names.
Examining the service record
Herbert Day’s service record provided
a number of useful clues, including
his mother’s name (Susan), his
supposed age at enlistment (20 years
and 2 months), and his place of
birth (Machingreen, Essex). A bit of
research revealed that this referred to
the hamlet of Matching Green, in the
parish of Matching, a few miles south
of Bishop’s Stortford. have been living in 1894.
I was able to determine that the Even better, I found Herbert Dellar
larger part of Matching Green was in still living in Whitwood in 1891,
the Epping registration district but with his mother now described as
the southernmost parts of the village Susan Day. This was clearly our man.
extended into the Ongar district. Susan Dellar had married
This was an important piece of Henry Day at the parish church of
information; it meant that, whatever Whitwood Mere on 24 December
else we uncovered, we would expect 1885; she was described as the
to find our man’s birth registered widowed daughter of William
either in Epping or Ongar. Drayton. This led me to her first
marriage (as Susan Drayton) to Josiah
Studying the census Dellar at Haydon, Essex on 7
further afield January 1865.
We had already established that there
was no suitable birth registration for
a Herbert Day and that there was
DO YOU H AV E
no sign of him in the 1881 or 1891
A DIFFER ENT A
Censuses. There was also no trace If you wrote do
NSW ER?
of a woman called Susan living in wn different
answer s to thos
e we’ve
Matching with a son called Herbert covered here,
join the
of the right age, but I found a very discussion in
the
interesting entry elsewhere in the Family Tree Ac
ademy
1881 Census. Facebook grou
p
A nine-year-old boy called Herbert,
the son of the widowed Susan
Dellar, was living in Whitwood,
Yorkshire, his place of birth given Using the new GRO
as ‘Essex, Matchen Green’. This was online index
of particular interest as Whitwood It was all coming together but the
is only a mile or so from Castleford, problem of finding Herbert’s birth
where Herbert’s mother was said to certificate still remained; there was no
birth registration under the surname

The 1881 Census, showing Herbert Dellar, born in ‘Matchen Green’

The 1891 Census, showing Herbert Dellar – this time his mother is listed as Susan Day, as she had married Henry Day in 1885

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 57

 Dellar either. This is where the new
online GRO index proved its worth.
A search for anyone called Dellar
with the mother’s maiden name
of Drayton at in the GRO birth
indexes online at www.gro.gov.uk/
gro/content revealed the birth of an
Albert Dellar, registered at Ongar in
the September quarter of 1871.
Herbert/Albert had apparently
adopted his stepfather’s surname
when he enlisted in the Yorkshire
Regiment in October 1894. This is
particularly odd as he was 14 when
his mother remarried and Mr Day
doesn’t seem to have been around
for too long; by the time of the 1891
census, Susan was a widow again.

Tying up the end of his life

Following his discharge from the
Army in 1902, Herbert appears
to have reverted to using his birth
surname. He married as Herbert
Herbert Dellar in 1905, he’s recorded under
Dellar’s name, that name in the 1911 Census (in
as recorded the Leeds workhouse infirmary) and
on the 1911 he died (as Herbert Dellar) later the
Census same year.

Your transcription
challenge:
The answers
We showed you a
medical history sheet
taken from a service
record dating from
the 1880s/1890s,
some of which was
very difficult to
read. Compare your
transcription with
David Annal’s, our
Family Tree Academy
tutor (see left)

58 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS
J oin the Fam ily Tree Acade my &
be com e a sk il le d fa mil y h is to ri a n
Running all through 2018, the Academy learning experience has been helping you discover more about the
records, resources and research skills you need to become the best genealogist you can be. We have had case
studies for you to pit your wits against, documents for you to decipher, and more…
How does it work?
With every issue of Family Tree
we have been setting genealogy
challenges to help you improve
your research skills and make your
family history investigations
more rewarding.
With professional researcher
David Annal as tutor, in Family Tree
we have been giving you the chance:
1. To tackle research case studies
2. Learn about a broad range
of records
3. Take your research to the
next level.
Who can join?
The Family Tree Academy is
available FREE to all readers
of Family Tree.
About the Academy
The Family Tree Academy is your
opportunity to really hone your
family history research skills.
We know how frustrating it is to
have family history brick walls, and
we aim to help you solve them.
ILY TRE
AM
E
F
AC
ADE MY
We also know how much fun it is to
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discover new records to explore and
we really hope you find your studies
E
F
with the Family Tree Academy
extremely rewarding.
Just go to the next page to begin
studying this issue’s challenges – then
get the answers in the Christmas
issue of Family Tree, on sale from
20 November.
AC
Getting ready for the test
This December issue is the final part ADEMY
of the 2018 Academy series, and in the
next issue – our Christmas one – we
will be setting a genealogy test for you
to see how much you know and how
The syllabus
much you’ve learned over the past year! What do you study?
These are some of the great topics
we have covered in the Family Tree
Looking forward to 2019! Academy in 2018: wills, electoral
We’ve been really delighted with
registers and poll books, quarter
the feedback about the Academy
over the past year and are happy
sessions records, the hearth taxes, tithe
records, protestation returns and oaths
to announce that the Family Tree
of allegiance, parish registers, militia
Academy will be returning in 2019
lists, manorial court records, valuation
– starting with the January issue.
office survey field books and maps, the
Here’s to another great year of
1939 Register, Armed forces records,
genealogy learning!
and gravestones and memorials
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 59
IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS
Document know-how
A mini history
of Royal Naval
service records
With a history that can be
traced back to the early 16th
century, the Royal Navy is the
oldest of our armed services, yet
the main collections of naval
service records don’t stretch
back as far as the records of
our Army ancestors. It’s not
until continuous service was
introduced in 1853 that we start
to get comprehensive records of
the men and women who served
in Britain’s Senior Service.
Luckily, there are other sources
we can use to reconstruct
Service record
Have a look at the service
record of Reginald John Pitt
on the opposite page and try
to answer these questions:
I How old was Reginald
when his fi rst period of
service began?
II Reginald became an
‘Ordinary Seaman’ on
30 November 1909.
What is the significance
of this date?
III What tattoos did he have
and where were they?
IV. Reginald was promoted
five times. What were the
six ranks at which
he served?
V. Reginald’s fi rst ship was
the Ganges. He also had
five periods of service on
60 DECEMBER 2018
Your documents & sources challenge
Royal Naval service record
earlier service, notably the vast
collection of Muster and Pay
Lists (dating from 1667). See the
ADM 36 muster rolls, spanning
1739-1861 on Findmypast, for
instance – shown here.
There are also pension records
(from 1789), certificates of
service (from 1802) and medal
rolls (from 1793), all of which
can help to put flesh on our
naval ancestors’ bones.
Find out more via The
National Archives’ online guide,
which explains the records, and
where digitised collections can
be accessed.
See www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/help-with-your-
research/research-guides/
royal-navy-ratings-pensions
the Pembroke. These ships
had special roles. Can you
fi nd out what they were?
VI. What was the name of the
ship that Reginald was
serving on at the end of
the First World War?
VII. On 1 September 1928,
Reginald was transferred
to HMS Danae. This
is the last entry on his
service record but there’s
no fi nal discharge date.
How could you fi nd out
what happened to him
after this?
VIII. The service record
doesn’t include any
references to medal
awards. How could you
fi nd out which First
World War medals
Reginald was awarded?
www.family-tree.co.uk
 ILY TRE
This issue we’re focusing on Royal Naval service records. AM

E
F
Have a look at the image and see if you can answer the puzzles we’ve set
AC
ADEMY

Tip!
xxx

Please contact
helen.t@family-
tree.co.uk if you
would like to be
emailed any of the
documents on the
Academy pages for
closer study

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 61

 Improve your
palaeography skills Your transcription challenge
Our very first Family Tree Academy handwriting challenge was a section of a will dating from 1857.
Now we’re going back nearly 200 years to the will of Ann Samways of Dorset, which was proved at
the Archdeaconry of Dorset in January 1676/77. Have a go at transcribing the first nine lines

g
Strategic sleuthin Your brainteaser challenge

Y
Question: ou’ve found an ancestor in the census so you know how old she was and
where she was born, but when you come to look for her in the GRO’s birth
indexes, you find two people of the same name who might be her. What
strategies could you use to help you decide which is the right person?

62 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 ILY TRE
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Research thinking skills

E
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AC
ADEMY

Your case study challenge

AC
H
ave a think and see which solutions you can find for reader Annette

ADEMY
James’s case study below. Then compare your thoughts with David
Annal’s advice, which will be published in the Christmas issue.

J
ohn Bone Lewis was the first born of seven children, traced so far,
and this is where the mystery begins. His father John baptised the
We hope you’ve enjoyed the Family
first three children at St Marylebone Church between 1817 and
Tree Academy challenges. Please
1828 with the surname Bone: John Lewis 1817, Caroline 1819 and
contact helen.t@family-tree.co.uk if
Charles George Lewis born 1821, but baptised in 1828. To date I have
would like to be emailed any of the
been unable to explain the gap between 1821 and 1828.
documents on the Academy pages
It states on all of their baptisms that John was a stockbroker and his
for closer study. To find the answers
wife was Caroline (except for John Lewis where it states his mother
to this issue’s questions, see the
was Catherine), but perhaps this was just an error on the clerk’s record.
Christmas issue, on sale from
To date I have not been able to find a marriage of John to a Caroline/
20 November
Catherine, either as Bone or Lewis around 1817.
Further children were born: Edward in 1829, Thomas 1831, and George
1833. But these children, along with those born earlier, were all baptised Join the Family Tree Academy Facebook
together at St Pancras Church in 1833, the family living at Field Terrace. group and chat to fellow FTA students
At this point all the children were baptised with the swap of surname to http://familytr.ee/FTAcademyFacebook
Lewis – Bone being used as the middle name. Again the father is John,
profession stock broker and mother Caroline. At the time I could not find
any reason for the change of name and research became complicated as I For useful Family Tree
had to keep checking both surnames of Lewis and Bone. Academy resources and
I then discovered an additional son Alfred Bone Lewis born in 1834 printable study sheets go
baptised at Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch, using the surname Lewis, but to www.family-tree.co.uk/
again retaining Bone as a middle name. His father’s profession is stated as FamilyTreeAcademy
a clerk, perhaps times were hard or maybe John’s health was failing?
Had John Bone died in the years between 1821 and 1829, it seemed Take the Family Tree AM
ILY TRE

Academy test!
Your first

E
F
strange that profession and first Christian names remained the same and document challenge
Write your answers about the document here
AC
ADEMY

both Bone and Lewis had been used on their baptisms on each occasion. In the Christmas issue I

The only other alternative was, was Bone the mother’s maiden name? we will be setting you a II

Some years ago I slowly went through the 1841 and 1851 Censuses challenge! This will be your III

spending many, many hours and finally discovered Caroline with chance to take the Family
her younger sons listed with the surname Williams. She must have Tree Academy test and see IV

remarried, being listed as a widow both on the 1841 and 1851 Censuses how your family history V

in Shoreditch. I traced Caroline’s death certificate in 1852, aged 55 years. research skills have grown Document challenge.indd 1 18/10/2017 13:26

This stated she was a widow of John Williams and that she had died of over the past year as
drowning in the Regent’s Canal! Someone very kindly traced a report you’ve been learning with Family Tree
in the Ipswich Journal in 1852 which indicated she had drowned herself,
being unable to pay back a loan she owed. How very sad…
The family had fallen on hard times over the years. Was this why each Missed an issue? START TODAY WITH YOUR FREE FAMILY TREE CHART

FamilyTree
FamilyTree
MARCH 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

time they moved area they had changed surname? Bone in Marylebone, Don’t worry if you’ve
DIG DEEP ER!
Lewis in St Pancras and, finally, Williams in Shoreditch. missed an issue as each more from
How to get
the major websites

To date I have been unable to find any marriages of a John to a month we’ve set new • Ancestry • FamilySearch • Findmypast
• FreeUKGenealogy • TheGenealogi
st

FREE
£5.25

Caroline with either of them using the surname Bone, Lewis or Williams. questions so you can join
RECORDS
WORTH OVER

£59
I have detailed information on several generations of Bones who were in any time. If, however,
BOOST YOUR
stockbrokers but cannot find a link. As to John’s death, am I looking for a you would like to get the Remembering RESEARCH!
mothers Learn easy ways
to build a family

Bone, Lewis or even maybe Williams? It still leaves me with a mystery to complete 2018 syllabus,
history website
in the Great War
The worry, the wait
– four years of dread

be solved. you can buy digital BE A PHOTO DETECTIVE ROLL UP, ROLL UP DIG FOR VICTORY

The two eldest sons continued with the surname Lewis, but the younger back issues at https:// Don’t miss the clues in
old family albums
How to organise a successful
family history event
We show you how to
plant a WW2 garden

family grew up using Williams as their surname. pocketmags.com/family- p01FT_March.indd 1 31/01/2018 10:24

I would love to find out more on John and Caroline, whether as Bone tree-magazine
or Lewis. I have recorded very many records for stockbrokers with the
surname Bone to try and find a connection, but for now it remains a
mystery. Can anyone solve it for me?

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 63

GADGET KNOW-HOW FOR GENIES
RESEARCH
ZONE
e c h y tip
T for family s
historians
This issue genealogical web guru Paul Carter suggests what to look for when buying a
new computer for your family history

Y
our old computer has
seen better days. Tasks
seem to take a little bit
longer and it’s become
the norm to go make
a cup of tea while waiting for it to
power up. You know it is time to
look for a replacement but with a
dizzying array of options and some
impenetrable technical jargon, it just
feels easier to persevere with that old
PC on your desk.
It’s a familiar story and one I hear
often, usually accompanied by the
next question, ‘which one should I
choose?’. While the requirements and
budgets for each of us may differ,
there are a few things to look out for
and some tips to help you navigate
your way through that jargon.
Start by determining what exactly
you are going to use the computer
for. Video editing or the latest
computer games will require a more
powerful machine than one for general
productivity tasks (of which family
history research can be included).
Consider whether your computer is
to keep at home or to accompany you
on research trips and to archives. How
much space do you have available and
do you have somewhere to leave a
desktop computer set up permanently?
Sitting at a laptop for a length of
time won’t help your posture, so
consider adding an external monitor
and keyboard.
It’s obviously important that a
laptop is portable, and the screen size
dictates the overall size and weight
of what you’ll be carrying around.
The average size for a laptop screen
is 15 inches (measured diagonally)
although smaller 11 or 13-inch are
available as are larger 17-inch variants.
Desktop monitors are available in
much larger sizes. The choice is down
to personal preference and the quality
of your eyesight but spend some time
before you buy ensuring the display is
comfortable to read.

Jargon-busting the
components
A common reason to upgrade a
computer is its speed, so it’s important
your new one is responsive and doesn’t
keep you hanging on. Different
components in a computer combine
to determine how fast it will be and
it’s these which can be the most
confusing. A little understanding of
what each does, and what the
Time to change your old PC? Decide what computer best suits your needs for family numbers mean, will help in your
history research today decision making.

64 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 TECHNICAL ADVICE
Processor
The processor is the hard-
working chip, considered the
brain of the computer, through
which every arithmetic function
is passed, to browse a website or
open an email. You will likely be
choosing between a computer
with a processor made by either
Intel or AMD. Speed won’t be
determined so much by the
manufacturer but by the power
of the processor; measured in
number of cores and clock
speed. Multiple cores mean more
functions can be processed in
parallel, so processors with two
(dual) or four (quad) cores tend
to be faster. The clock speed,
measured in gigahertz (GHz),
defines how fast the processor
can run. The higher the GHz
and the more cores, the better
the performance.

Memory & storage

Computer memory and disk
storage are often confused but
serve very different purposes.
Computer tasks are held in memory
before being passed to the processor.
The more memory a computer has
(measured in gigabytes or GB), the
faster this process will run. Don’t
consider computers with less than
4GB, although 8GB or more will be
noticeably faster.
Computer memory isn’t permanent
so when a computer loses power,
it is erased. Your files therefore are
stored more permanently on a hard
disk drive (HDD). Measured in
gigabytes or terabytes (one TB is
approximately 1,000 GB), a disk’s
capacity determines how much data
can be held. Video files and photos
need more storage than emails or
documents, so a larger disk would
be needed if you plan to store lots of
photographs. Newer solid-state disks
(SSD) run considerably faster than
the older HDD format, but at a
price premium.
Operating system
To pull everything
together, a computer needs an
operating system, software which
manages the computer. You will
mostly likely buy a computer with
Microsoft Windows 10 pre-installed.
Apple Macs are good quality and easy to use, but be aware that family tree software tends to be
available for either Windows or Mac, not both, so this may affect your choice
The operating system will come for either Windows or Macs and will
with some productivity software, to therefore limit your choices.
handle common tasks such as web
browsing, email, word processing What about Chromebook?
and photo editing. Any other Chromebooks are lightweight laptops
software you purchase or download designed for those who spend most
for free is installed on top of the of their computer time online. These
operating system. devices cannot hold the amount of
software and data as a fully-featured
Apple as an alternative PC or Mac and should not be
The quality and ease of use of considered as a direct replacement.
the Apple Mac, despite the price
premium, does make it a viable If your old computer still has some
option as a new computer. A Mac’s life in it, consider donating to your
components can family history society, voluntary
be compared organisation or a charity. Before you
in the same do, ask an expert to help remove all
way but there your sensitive information!
are a few factors
to consider. About the author
The macOS Paul Carter is a web designer and
operating system genealogist, based on the Kent coast, who
is quite different has developed website solutions for a number
to Windows. of professional genealogists, family and local
Software designed history organisations. He is the technical
for Windows will not lead for Name & Place, the online database
run natively on an app for one-name and one-place studies;
Apple Mac and vice versa, www.nameandplace.co.uk
although software providers often Paul is also website manager for the
A laptop could overcome this by producing different British Association for Local History
be the answer for versions for each. Be aware that family (BALH), an AGRA Associate and can be
portable research tree software tends to be available found on Twitter at @_pacarter

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 65

 ilywTitrhetheeLlaivteest news
Famup
How to keep

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

Pop over to our dedicated show pages
at www.family-tree.co.uk/ftre/show/
family-tree-live – here you can read
discover more about what’s in store at
Family Tree Live
Find out about the key organisations
that will be bringing their resources and
expertise to Family Tree Live. Details of
our lecture programme, exhibitors and
other treats will be revealed here on
our website
Browse through our Family Tree
Live show blog, heaped with
inspiration and information about
what we’ve got planned to help
you revel in your family history
discoveries at Family Tree Live

Planning your visit

Be sure to check out the visitor information on our website too. Go to https://familytr.ee/visitor
This web page has got so many valuable tips to help you plan your day:
Coming on public transport?
Learn about the free shuttle bus
from Alexandra Palace Station and
Wood Green underground station

Travelling by car?
Free parking is available

Have a full-time carer or

attendant? A free ticket is available
for them when a ticket is purchased.
Find out how to apply at
https://familytr.ee/visitor

Disabled access required?

Family Tree Live will provide full
disabled access

66 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 COME & BE INSPIRED!

How to book your tickets

There are three ways you can book your tickets

• Call 0844 581 4989

• Or for groups bookings, please call 0844 338 8002
• Or to book online, just follow the instructions below

Go to https://familytr.ee/booktickets and click on Select how many tickets you would like. Your ticket
‘Get tickets’ is valid for any one day of the show (if you would like to
attend both days, select 2 tickets)

Booking tips
• Accompanied children
enter free, but be sure
to let us know if you are
bringing under-16s
as we’re planning
activities to inspire
your young Twigs!

• If you subscribe to Family

Tree, be sure to get your
discount: just enter ‘FT’
and the last 5 figures of
your subscriber number
in the promo code field.
If you have recently
subscribed (or renewed
your subscription)
to Family Tree and
experience any trouble
with entering your number,
please email exhibit@
warnersgroup.co.uk

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 67

 RESEARCH
THE MILLS ARCHIVE

ZONE

© Mills Archive Trust

st
© Mills Archive Tru
Your milling
been catalogued about a mill, such
as photographs of the mill and its
machinery, large scale drawings,

ancestors
survey reports, indentures, deeds,
ledgers, billheads and receipts.
The Mills Database is growing all
the time, so please tell us if you know
of a mill that we haven’t included as
many mills disappeared before mill
surveys began in the 1920s. We have
The Mills Archive, based in Reading, boasts an important only catalogued a small proportion
national collection of more than 3 million documents and of the millions of items we hold but
it’s worth enquiring as we may have
images relating to all aspects of milling that would otherwise information about a mill in our general
have been lost. Simon Wills learned more from the archive’s county collections or uncatalogued
information manager, Elizabeth Trout archive material. The library has many
books and journal articles about mills
in particular counties and booklets on

Q What information does the

Mills Archive hold about named
trade directories but this is only a
small proportion of the millers and
mills still standing.

individuals who worked in mills?

A It can vary from a photograph

of a named person to an original
millwrights that have existed over time.
The library books and journals contain
thousands of other names; there are
Q If you don’t have information
in your own archive, are you
able to suggest alternative sources?

Mills Archive
document that mentions the person,
or research notes that record the name
of the person. Sometimes collections
books about specific families, and
recollections of the lives of millers. A We have a page of alternative
sources on the Family and Mill
History pages and our family history
information
manager
Elizabeth Trout
relate to a particular individual or an
entire family history. Only a small
percentage of our collections have been
Q Could you give examples
of information that the
archive might provide about a
team can provide advice on finding
records https://millsarchive.org/
services/family-and-mill-history
and the archive’s catalogued in detail to item level, so it particular mill? Researching milling history is
home, beautiful
Watlington House
in Reading,
is worth contacting us anyway.
The Mill People Database records
over 62,000 names of mill owners,
A We can tell you a lot about the
mills your ancestors worked at.
The Mills Database, of over 11,500
complex as mills are often mentioned
within other documents. Tracing the
lives of mill people can lead you to
Berkshire millers and millwrights that have mills, is a useful place to find the relevant documents about the mill.
been transcribed mainly from specific archive material that has It is worth remembering that mills

68 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 OCCUPATIONAL RECORDS

were the worst place to keep paper
documents and over time thousands
of documents and images were
destroyed by damp, fire, flood, pests
and vermin, or were lost when the
mills ceased working.
Depending on the era being
searched, some documents and images
might be found in county archives,
parish records, probate, estate or
manorial records. Newspapers, trade
directories and census returns are also
good places to find names.
st
© Mills Archive Tru
© Mills Archive Trust
and could be dangerous. There are the ultimate fate of the original Collection related
many stories of fires, floods, storms, documents and images in the future. to William Cornwell
machinery accidents and explosions We encourage people to make of the Sun Flour
in mills that all brought personal provision for them to be donated to Mills Company,
peril. We find interesting stories every an archive, whether it’s a local county and a photograph
day, such as the young man who archive or the Mills Archive. of Sandhurst Mill
wrote on the back of a Dutch mill employees
postcard in November 1918: ‘Dear About the author
Auntie, I escaped from the Germans Dr Simon Wills is a genealogist Inset, opposite:
a few days ago... and on crossing the and author with more than 25 years’ Darsham Post Mill in
border found an armistice in place... experience of researching his ancestors. Suffolk (top) with Mr
Syd’. Nothing to do with mills, apart He has a particular interest in maritime Robinson the miller
from the picture, but a story to be history and natural history and his latest on the ladder, and
investigated and told nonetheless. book is ‘The History of Birds’. He is also Heasman Bros of

Q Would the Mills Archive be

able to help people understand
what it was like to work at a mill?
In the year that we celebrate
women’s suffrage, we discovered that
one of our major collectors, Miss
author of ‘‘How Our Ancestors Died’ . Rowfant Mills,
West Sussex

A We have books of recollections

about life in a corn mill but are
keen to know more about the lives
EM Gardner, was very involved in
the women’s suffrage movement and
famously toured the UK in a caravan
FACTS & FIGURE
S
The Mills Archive
of workers in other types of mill, in 1908. We have many stories of the has:
• over 62,000 nam
particularly industrial mills. Visitors role of women in milling. es
• over 11,500 mills
can also learn about the construction • more than 3,500
books
of mills, the machinery and milling
processes, as well as the industries
that were powered by wind and
Q Would you like to hear from
readers who have photographs
or documents about ancestors who 2 MILLION
on mills & milling
heritage

documents
water. Our mill expert can answer worked in mills? is the number of
at m igh t have
& images th
technical questions.
A Definitely! We are delighted when
people tell us about documents ended up in a lan
not rescued & pres
df ill site if
er d by
ve

Q Is there a person associated with

milling who has particularly
captured your imagination?
and images of their milling families
and encourage them to visit to show
us. Our mill experts can help them
the Mills Archive

RESEARCH
A There are so many stories that
it would be hard to pick one
person. The lives of millers and
interpret what they have found and
our archivist can provide advice on
how they can look after and store their
The Mills Archive
enquiries from fam
welcomes
ily historians
& visits by appoin
milling people are fascinating, and documents and images. tment. Find out
more at https://m
help us to understand that working We are happy to receive copies illsarchive.org
in a mill was physically hard work of images but our concern is

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 69

KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES
Spotlight on…
Genealogical Society
of Ireland
Tracing your Irish ancestors can be a challenge to even the most experienced of family historians.
Tom Conlon of the Genealogical Society of Ireland explains what support the society
offers and the many benefits of membership
I
f you go down to Hardy’s Bar
in Dún Laoghaire at 10.30am
on the fourth Wednesday of a
month (except December) you
are likely to encounter a group of
guys and gals from the Genealogical
Society of Ireland (GSI) sipping
coffee and discussing DNA profiles,
cemetery records or censuses. Dún
Laoghaire (which is pronounced
‘Dune Leereh’, having been called
Kingstown until 1922) is an historic
seaside suburb six miles south of
Dublin. The society’s coffee meeting
is open to all – just pay for the coffee.
Just down the road on the second
Wednesday of each month, you can
attend the open monthly lecture of
the society by paying a nominal €3.
The lecture is videoed and appears on
YouTube within a couple of days.
Irish genealogy is particularly
difficult. Only two censuses are
available and civil records did not
start before 1864 for most of the
population. Native Irish family names
were frequently changed, either
by the influence or compulsion of
conquering armies at home or by
immigration officialdom in countries
such as the US. Hence the need for
70 DECEMBER 2018
advice and help from societies such
as ours.
The Genealogical Society of Ireland
is 28 years old and adopts actively
the ‘Principle of Public Ownership
and Right of Access’ to our heritage,
including our genealogical heritage.
In parallel with that principle, the
society adopts an open approach to its
various activities and meetings. Some
of the influence of the society in
Ireland can be seen in the wide range
of Irish genealogical records which
have become available free of charge
over the years.
Resources & help
You can call in to the society’s Archive
and Research Centre (named the
Daonchartlann, which translates as
‘The People’s Archive’) just off the
M50 motorway at Loughlinstown,
south of Dublin, for free advice
and help with your family
history on Wednesdays and
on Saturday afternoons.
Highlights of the collections family history societies will be
available online include:
• The censuses of 1901 and
1911. Virtually all previous records and local expertise that
census records have been
www.family-tree.co.uk
The society destroyed. Later censuses are stored
meets in the and not yet released
historic seaside • Genealogical civil records (100 years
town of Dún for births, 75 years for marriages, 50
Laoghaire, years for deaths) are available online.
just south of More recent records require a manual
Dublin city application and payment of a fee
• Most historic church records of
baptisms and marriages are available
– with free access to non-searchable
original registers, or with searchable
It is small enough to be
a very friendly society
records through the Findmypast or
Ancestry subscription sites.
The society’s flagship project at the
moment is the Irish DNA Atlas, in
collaboration with the Royal College
of Surgeons in Ireland. The society
Meet society experts has sought out volunteers each of
whose eight grandparents were
At Family Tree Live many
born and lived within a small
geographic area of each other
there, giving you the chance and the College has analysed
to discover more about their the DNA to show regional
variations within the country.
can boost your research In the analysis, it has become
 THE SOCIETY SCENE
obvious that the Irish population GSI delegation
developed on a regional basis which at the Seanad
matched exactly the historic tribal (upper house
kingdoms of the country, rather than of the Irish
county and province boundaries parliament) with
imposed by the English administrators Senator Fintan
in later centuries. The project has Warfield (third
received widespread international from right)
acclaim.
Ireland has had an historic tradition
of emigration, and the Irish diaspora
abroad is many times greater than the
national population. The society
has members across the globe and
likes to keep in touch with the
many genealogical societies
throughout the world.

Small & friendly

Ours is not a big society. Its Lua Ó Scolai
membership is measured in hundreds, (director and
and so it is small enough to be a very archivist) and
friendly society, with most or all of Eddie Gahan
the regular attendees being personally (director,
known to each other. The society has outreach) at the
a very active outreach programme, GSI Archive and
in which members provide lectures Research Centre
and/or advice booths at exhibitions,
meetings, and so on. What they lack
in numbers, they make up for in
enthusiasm. It is set up as a registered
charity and as a limited company,
with a democratically-elected board of
10 directors, each with cabinet-style
responsibilities.

Watch
Many of the GSI’s lectures can be
watched on YouTube: visit http://
familyhistory.ie/wp/lectures-3/
How to join
Annual membership is €40 (€20 for students) and
members receive a monthly e-newsletter and an
annual journal.

Members are welcome to attend any of the society’s

meetings and lectures and to use the archive at
Dun Laoghaire. The society’s projects also welcome
volunteers, and tasks can include helping to digitise
records and cemetery recording.

Website: www.familyhistory.ie
Tap above to watch a GSI lecture
Email: eolas@familyhistory.ie

Visit the GSI’s website at www.familyhistory.ie for more

information about its work and activities, including the
exciting Irish DNA Atlas

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 71

THE FACTS YOU NEED
Ta ken a DNA test?
RESEARCH
ZONE
DNA tests are becoming ever more popular but the results can seem bewildering can’t
they? Help is at hand, however, with family historian Karen Evans’s practical advice for
making sense of your DNA test results for your family history research
O nce you have received your
DNA results, and got over
the initial excitement, you
will probably look at all
the matches with a growing sense of
confusion and surprise.
In every issue of Family Tree, we
will be looking at different DNA
conundrums and I hope that this series
will help you:
• make sense of your test results
• find family connections worldwide
• and get the answers you need to your
DNA questions.
Rea de r question
Q
Reader Vic Grimes writes:
My brick walls follow the routes
of my Y-DNA and mtDNA.
72 DECEMBER 2018
Now what?
DNA SERIES
About my father line
The Y-DNA goes back to Ireland and
my 3x great-grandfather. His name
was John Grimes and I believe he was
born in 1825. I only guess this as his
death certificate had him aged 77 in
1902. On the census in the UK he A
I know Ireland records are quite
sparse so it’s not easy to find. I
appreciate some help in finding them
or more information.
For genealogical purposes there
are three tests available from
said he was from Ballyglass in County a variety of companies – Y-DNA,
Mayo. I cannot find a birth for him so mtDNA and autosomal.
I cannot go further back. If you’ve tested then you have
probably used an autosomal test. This
About my mother line test delivers matches from all sides
The mtDNA is a lot more of the family, because our autosomal
complicated. My 3x great- DNA is inherited from both parents
grandmother could have been born in who in turn inherited it from their
Ireland. Her name was Cecelia Cassell
and would have been born around
parents. These matches can relate
back many generations (my furthest
1844. She died in India in 1874. She confirmed match is a 6th cousin)
married a Charles Brewer, if it is the but the chances that the test will
right one, in St Peter’s in Dublin on accurately detect a ‘cousin’ decreases
12 October 1863. with the distance of the relationship.
However, this month we are going
to focus on the other types of test
available to help us on our genetic
journey – the Y-DNA and
mtDNA tests.
Mini guide!
How Y-DNA
tests work
Y-DNA The Y-DNA test can only be taken by
X Is passed from males. In humans each cell contains
father to son. 23 pairs of chromosomes with
Females do not chromosome 23 determining the sex
inherit it. Therefore of an individual. A chromosome 23
only males can pair made of XX is a female, an XY is
take a Y-DNA test male. All unfertilised eggs in a female
www.family-tree.co.uk

contain one X chromosome whereas
sperm either carries one X or one Y. If
the egg is fertilised by sperm carrying
an X the resultant baby will be a girl, if
the sperm is carrying a Y then the baby
is a boy. Females therefore don’t have
the Y chromosome to pass on.
Y-DNA tests basically follow the
male line or the father of the father of
the father (see the illustration, left).
What can you learn from a Y test?
Although the Y chromosome mutates
(changes), men with the same Y
chromosome can trace back to their
common ancestor.
The changes may also show who
a line descends from. In my (very
simplified!) chart – above – we have
male whose Y chromosome I’ve called
‘R2’. He has four sons, but one son
receives a slightly mutated version of
R2 which becomes R2a.
Other mutations happen over time
on other lines. Mutations still show
that they are all descended from man
R2 but on some lines you are even
able to see which son males are
descended from.
Y-DNA doesn’t mutate as quickly
as my chart suggests but it helps me
imagine how we can find our paternal
genetic line and how closely we may
be related.
Where can you get a Y-DNA test?
At the time of writing
FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe and
Living DNA sell Y-DNA Haplogroup
testing (a Y-DNA haplogroup is a
group of people who are descended
from the same male line) but only
FamilyTreeDNA offers matches to
others in its database.
What is Y-DNA testing useful for?
Y-DNA testing can be useful for:
• Working out whether men with
the same surname are related. This
is particularly helpful as you can
connect with others who may have
researched their line further back.
• Connecting paternal lines where
paper or traditional records are
unavailable.
• Checking whether siblings
have the same father.
• Males with no
knowledge of
their parental line (eg
adoptees or those
Leading DNA testing companies
with an illegitimate FamilyTree DNA, MyHeritage DNA
brick wall) can get
an indication of their
biological father’s
surname through
their Y-DNA.
www.family-tree.co.uk
GENES KNOW-HOW
Tracking Y-DNA
Karen Evans’ diagram shows
a very simplified version
of Y-DNA haplogroup
inheritance and mutation
How can a Y-DNA test help Vic?
As Vic can’t get past his 3x great-
grandfather it could be beneficial to
use the Y-DNA test in conjunction
with an autosomal test to find other
Grimes male and cousins who link
him to this family. Of course, this will
only work if, as yet unknown, relatives
have tested.
Vic is a direct line Grimes so he
could test but if his father is still living
then I would suggest testing him first.
There are various levels of Y-DNA
test and it is the most expensive of the
three types of DNA test (autosomal,
Mt and Y) – but it could just break
down that missing great-grandfather
brick wall.
Want to learn more?
I’ve just skimmed the surface of this
fascinating subject. To find out
Comthee & chat to more about Y-DNA testing I
experts found these sites really useful.
• https://isogg.org/wiki/Y_
chromosome_DNA_tests
• www.professional
and Living DNA will all be at familyhistory.co.uk/
Family Tree Live blog/2018/07/
26 and 27 April 2019. demystifying-dna-2-y-
Come along and learn more!
dna-tests
Tickets on sale from
www.family-tree.co.uk • www.familytreedna.com/
products/y-dna
DECEMBER 2018 73
THE FACTS YOU NEED

Mini guide!
to others in its database.

What is an mtDNA test useful for?

How Mt-DNA
tests work
An mtDNA test looks at
the mitochondrional DNA.
Mitochondria are found in human
cells and each mitochondrion is like a
power house where chemical energy is
converted. Although both males and
females have mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA), only females pass it on via
their egg, therefore the mtDNA test
will give you the mother’s mother’s
mother line (see chart below).
How useful is an mtDNA test?
The main problems with using
mtDNA as a tool for genealogical
purposes are twofold.
1 Mitochondrial DNA mutates
extremely slowly (maybe once every
8,000 years!), so even if you find a
match, your shared ancestor could
be many thousands of years back.
Mitochondrial DNA testing can be
useful for:
• Linking maternal lines where paper
or traditional records are unavailable.
• Determining whether two females
with the same maiden surname
are related.
• Checking siblings have the same
mother, or cousins share the same
maternal grandmother.
• Determining the earliest known
origins of a maternal line by linking
with matches who have researched
their line further back.
• Find the ‘right’ mother of a group of to explore your maternal line back
siblings if a male ancestor married into ancient history and show its
more than once. geographic migrations over time.
• In line with autosomal testing, it can It is an intriguing insight into your
help determine if cousin matches are deep heritage and cheaper than a basic
related on your paternal or maternal Y-DNA test, however it is not going to
side of the family. Again, the quality help with more recent family history.
of your results is all dependent on If I’ve whetted your appetite to find
who else has tested. out more about mtDNA testing, then
these sites may be of interest:

2 The surname will change every
generation, thus making it difficult
to trace.
Where can you get an mt-DNA test?
At the time of writing
FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe and
Living DNA sell mtDNA haplogroup
testing (an mtDNA haplogroup is a
group of people who are descended
from the same family female line) but
only FamilyTreeDNA offers matches
How can an mtDNA test
help Vic?
mtDNA testing alone is not
going to help Vic get past
his Cecelia Cassell brick wall
as each generation back will
have a different surname, so
even with an excellent match
it would be difficult to find
the MRCA (most recent
common ancestor).
mtDNA tests allow you
Look online
• https://isogg.org/wiki/
Mitochondrial_DNA_tests
• www.familytreedna.com/
Want to keep up to date about products/mt-dna
all things genealogical DNA?
These great blogs are written What should Vic do next?
by experienced, knowledgeable I noticed Vic had a tree on
and enthusiastic professionals. Ancestry which indicates
• yourgeneticgenealogist.com possible locations in Ireland
• http://blog.kittycooper.com for both his paternal and
• http://thednageek.com/blog maternal lines. He could look
at his DNA test to see if these
places are reflected in his
cousin matches. Vic will also have
access to ethnicity estimates which,
although accuracy is questionable (and
potentially evolving), may point to a
strong Irish connection, validating his
paper research thus far. If Vic hasn’t
already, he could check out www.
irishgenealogy.ie/en and the Catholic
parish registers at the National Library
of Ireland – https://registers.nli.ie –
for more paper trails.

About the author

Karen Evans is a former primary
school teacher who has been tracing her
mtDNA family history since 1983. DNA testing
Is passed from a mother is her passion but in her spare time
to both her daughters Karen loves dressing and dancing in the
and her sons, but only Regency period.
her daughters will pass
it on

74 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


‘Why has my ethnicity estimate changed?’
If you have an AncestryDNA test you may have noticed there has been an update to ethnicity
results. If you haven’t already done so, pop across to the DNA story on your DNA home page
and see what happens! So, what has Ancestry done and what does it mean for us?
Karen Evans explains
F
irstly, I want to stress that
your DNA hasn’t changed
or been altered in any way,
the change is the ‘tools’
Ancestry uses to analyse it.
I tried to think of an analogy which
helped me to understand what it is
that Ancestry has updated.
I’m imagining when we sent
Ancestry a DNA sample in the past its
experts looked at it with a magnifying
glass and, using what they saw and
based on their other samples too, they
told us that our sample had an awful
lot of similarities to other samples from
particular places (reference samples).
This gave our ethnicity estimate. With
the update they have taken another
look at your sample with a microscope
rather than a magnifying glass and can
see a lot more. They have also looked
at everyone else’s samples and, using all
the new things they can see, decided
what samples you are now most like.
Ancestry doesn’t use magnifying
glasses and microscopes but a new
algorithm that analyses longer
segments of genetic information. It
has also increased the reference samples
to 16,000 and added more regions.
This more in-depth look means
Ancestry feels your new updated
ethnicity is more accurate.
This is my simplified way of getting
to grips with the changes and I am
no genetic scientist, so if you would
like to read the science behind it all
then Ancestry has produced a white
paper to accompany the update, found
at https://support.ancestry.com/s/
article/AncestryDNA-White-Papers
What does it mean for me?
Some people are jumping for joy at
their new breakdown, feeling it more
accurately reflects their paper trail thus
far. Other people are just having a
breakdown that the new ethnicities are
‘wrong’. I personally don’t feel that the
These maps
show Karen
Evans’s father’s
previous
AncestryDNA
ethnicity
estimate (top)
and his updated
one (below)
results are either ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ but
ongoing. Your ethnicity is an estimate
based on the best algorithms the
companies have.
People seemed shocked that they
have regions which are not reflected
in their trees: ‘My family have lived
in England since the 1600s so how
can I have Northwestern Europe
in my estimate?’. The truth is that
populations moved around, a lot, and
these ethnicity estimates can predate
paper evidence. We have only to look
to North America or Australia to see
how migration can alter population.
You may have noticed some
regions which show in your paper
tree but were of a low confidence
have vanished, or conversely regions
are now dominating your results. My
father’s results are a good example.
Ancestry explains that the new
algorithm makes results more precise,
‘but as the different boundaries of
Europe have changed and evolved so
much over the years… the DNA for
www.family-tree.co.uk
DNA NEWS
different European regions can present
very similarly. The updated algorithm
has been designed to more precisely
analyse European DNA and as such,
many of our UK customers are
seeing substantial changes in their
DNA results’.
About those cousins matches
Whatever has happened to your
ethnicity estimate, your cousin
matches won’t change, the DNA you
uploaded to other sites doesn’t need
reloading and your paper tree hasn’t
suddenly become suspect. What I
am certain of is that, in future years,
your ethnicity results will continue
to change as companies further adapt
and refine the tools they use to work
out where you really came from. How
exciting is that?
Want to read more?
https://dna-explained.
com/2018/09/13/ancestry-2018-
ethnicity-update
DECEMBER 2018 75

ADVERTISING FEATURE
T
he poet and writer
Siegfried Sassoon was
born on 8 September
1886 in the small Kent
village of Matfield.
Despite his Germanic first name
his ancestry was not from Germany
but a mix of English and Middle
Eastern. His father was from a
family of Baghdadi Jews who were
merchants and his mother was from
an English family of sculptors. Using
TheGenealogist we can find his birth
registered in the BMD indexes for
Tonbridge area of Kent.
Siegfried’s mother, Georgiana
Theresa Thornycroft, used her middle
name of Theresa when she signed the
1911 Census; though it is reported
that she was known affectionately
as ‘Ash’ by her son. She was part of
the artistic Thornycroft family. Her
father Thomas Thornycroft, mother
Mary, brother Hamo and maternal
grandfather John Francis were all
well known sculptors. Another of
her brothers was John, the founder
of the successful Thornycroft naval
engineering company.
Born in London in the year 1853,
her name, we can see by using
TheGenealogist, was registered simply
as Georgiana Thornycroft.
In 1884, when she was 31, Theresa
married the 23-year-old Alfred Ezra
Sassoon. Not only was she older
than her husband-to-be but she was
a Christian and his Jewish family
were so unhappy with the match
76 DECEMBER 2018
‘Mad Jack’
Siegfried Sassoon
Nick Thorne looks at the war poet and writer’s family line
his Military Cross (MC) for the first
time in this edition. The reports say
that although he was an efficient
company commander, depression
at the horror and misery that the
soldiers were forced to endure created
a contradictory manic courage, and he
was nicknamed ‘Mad Jack’ by his men
for his near-suicidal exploits. On 27
July 1916 he was awarded the MC for
conspicuous gallantry during a raid on
that they disinherited Alfred. Theresa Photograph of the enemy’s trenches.
and Alfred had three sons of which Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried became one of the leading
Siegfried was their middle child, but by George Charles poets of the First World War in
the marriage didn’t last and Alfred Beresford, and which he wrote works that described
left his wife and boys. A search of the poet’s details the horrors of the trenches, while
the death records on TheGenealogist in the Army List also satirising the patriotic jingoism
reveals his passing in 1895 when he of October 1916, of those who he thought were
was just 34. from within the responsible. He made a lone protest
If we look for their son in the Military collections in 1917 against the continuation of
Peerage, Gentry & Royalty records on TheGenealogist the hostilities in his Finished with
on TheGenealogist we can find an the War: A Soldier’s Declaration. His
entry for him in Kelly’s Handbook to declining to return for duty resulted in
the Titled Landed and Official Classes his admission to a military psychiatric
1942. This gives us certain facts about hospital diagnosed as suffering from
Siegfried’s life that we can follow up,
including his war service.
We also learn from this record that
his education included schooling
at Marlborough and so by turning The Illustrated
then to the Educational Records on London
TheGenealogist we can find Siegfried’s News dated
entry in the Marlborough College 5 December
Register 1843-1933. This lists his 1863 and
birth date, father’s address, more 1 June 1872
details of his war service and some
of his published works.
Near-suicidal exploits
on the field of war
Following the trail of his First World
War service there are a number of
records to find for Siegfried from
within the Military collection on
TheGenealogist. For example, we find
him in a number of Army Lists with
the one for October 1916 having
the symbol of crossed swords before
his name, which denotes that he
was on war service. It also records
www.family-tree.co.uk

shell shock. Within the Casualty
List records on TheGenealogist
we can find Siegfried listed twice.
The first was in April 1917 when
a German sniper hit him during
a raid near Fontaine-les-Croisilles
in April. While recuperating
back in England, it was then that
Siegfried decided to make his anti-
war stance known as his Soldier’s
Declaration. On 13 July, not
long after returning to the Front
line, Siegfried was wounded once
again, but this time it was from
‘friendly fire’. Near Arras,
as he returned to his trench,
a British soldier shot him in
the head, mistaking him for a
German soldier.
With ancestors who had
fought in the First World War
very often they were recorded in
a Roll of Honour for their school,
university or some other organisation.
TheGenealogist has a number of
these available to search within its
comprehensive military collection.
Though Siegfried Sassoon was not
himself brought up as a Jew, because
of his ancestry we can find an entry
for him in British Jewry Book of
Honour to honour his award of the
Military Cross. The citation reads:
‘SIEGFRIED LORAINE SASSOON
For conspicuous gallantry during a raid
on the enemy trenches. He remained
for one and a half hours under rifle
and bomb fire collecting and bringing
in our wounded. Owing to his courage
and determination all the killed and
wounded were brought in.’
Research in newspapers
& magazines
Another great line of research that we
can pursue with ancestors who served
in the First World War is
to use the newspapers
and magazines on
TheGenealogist is offering Family Tree
TheGenealogist. readers a 15-month subscription for
For example, the price of 12 months on its Diamond
browsing The subscription. Visit TheGenealogist.co.uk/
Sphere newspaper FTADV25 to claim this offer today!
we can see that
Siegfried was having
his poems published next to
articles on the war in 1919, and this
while he was a serving officer.
The newspapers can be used to
build a picture of a family in other
time periods as well.
TRACING A WAR HERO & POET
BT27 passenger Siegfried’s father, Alfred, was born
list for Sassoon’s in 1861 in the St Pancras area of
voyage from London to the wealthy merchant
Plymouth to Sassoon David Sassoon, a British
New York on 19 banker and businessman. Going
January 1920 back another generation and using
the Newspaper and Magazine
collection, we are able to find a
number of articles in The Illustrated
London News (ILN) about Siegfried’s
great-grandfather, David Solomon
Sassoon who had been the Treasurer
of Baghdad. From these we can learn
about the journey that the family
made as they fled from Baghdad to
Bushire and then Bombay in India.
This was when plague and the
breakdown of government made it
unsafe to stay in the Middle East. The
Sassoons then expanded the family
business to Shanghai, Canton and
Japan before Seigfried’s grandfather
Sassoon David Sassoon and his half-
brother Albert David Sassoon (later to
be knighted) moved to Britain
to be educated.
In contrast to the
image of David
Solomon Sassoon,
published on 5
December 1863
in which he was
resplendent in the attire
of a Baghdadi Jew, the 1 June
edition of The ILN for 1872 shows
us the difference in his son’s dress.
Viewing this newspaper article on
TheGenealogist gives us a splendid
line drawing portrait of Sir Albert
www.family-tree.co.uk
Sassoon in western dress.
Passenger lists
As one may expect, with an
international business family, the
Sassoons travelled extensively and
so appear in many of the Board of
Trade passenger lists that can be
found on TheGenealogist. If we look
at the 1920s decade of BT27 records
of outbound passengers there we
can find the 33-year-old Siegfried
Sassoon travelling from Plymouth to
New York. What is interesting from
looking at the image of the page is
that Siegfried has been recorded as
intending to make the USA his place
of permanent residence. This voyage
was on 19 January 1920 and the
author was on a lecture tour.
He did, of course, return to Britain
where, after a succession of love affairs
with men he eventually married
Hester Gatty. A trip to Gibraltar in
1934 records the 47-year-old author
and his 27-year-old wife on the P&O
ship, the Strathnaver.
We can use the civil registration
index records on TheGenealogist to
find their marriage and get all the
details needed to purchase a certificate
from the General Register Office. In
the case of Siegfried and Hester, the
particulars show that they married in
Christchurch in the fourth quarter
of 1933. This marriage was not to
be a successful one, with the couple
separating in 1947. It did, however
produce a son, George Thornycroft
Sassoon, whose birth we can also
trace in the indexes of 1936 on
TheGenealogist.
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon died on
1 September 1967 and a search of
the death records on TheGenealogist
reveals that it was recorded at
Warminster in Wiltshire.
With a number of different
record collections available on
TheGenealogist we have been able
to discover information about the
author’s fascinating family history. We
used the newspapers and magazines
collection, his entries in the military,
education records and the passenger
lists. Along with the census, births,
marriages and death records, many of
the documents that we have used here
can also be employed to find our own
ancestors using the extensive resources
of TheGenealogist.
DECEMBER 2018 77
IN DEFENCE OF THE REALM

10 rules to live by in
WORLD WAR I
As our ancestors celebrated the Armistice 100 years ago, they would have
looked forward to the lifting of many restrictions they had endured in
wartime Britain. From letter censoring to buying a round of drinks, Ruth A
Symes reveals 10 rules that controlled everyday life on the Home Front

T
his 11 November will be the
centenary of the Armistice of
World War I – an occasion
when our ordinary ancestors
took the day off work to
celebrate the end of a four-year-long conflict
the doings of their neighbours to ensure that
no-one stepped out of line.
For our ancestors who hadn’t been allowed
even the simple pleasure of buying their
friends or work colleagues a round of drinks
without facing a fine for nearly four years, the

Did
that had irrevocably changed millions of Armistice, when it finally came, must have
lives. For those members of our families who been an immense relief not only because it

had remained on the Home Front, the war
years would be remembered as a period of
darkness, quietude and sobriety, an anxious
time in which people kept a watchful eye on
you know?
saw the cessation of hostilities with Germany,
but also because it marked the end of a large
number of restrictions that had greatly affected
the normal workings of domestic life. Almost a million arrests were
made for breaches of DORA
during the war years. Our
ancestors lived with the anxiety
of knowing that punishments
ranged from fines and
imprisonment to
execution

World War I: Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)

Regulations published in the Defence of
the Realm Manual (5th edition), February
1918. Download the manual to read from
the Internet Archive at https://archive.
org/details/defenceofrealmma00grearich
The Defence of the Realm Act of 1914 (aka DORA), which came into
force on 8 August 1914 (just five days after the start of WW1), had been
designed to give the Government greater powers over communities in
order to keep them safe from attack or invasion, buoy up morale and
maintain productivity during the war years. DORA was seen as a means
of curbing the growing power of the trade unions, holding back the cause
of the suffragettes (who were becoming violent and causing considerable
social unrest) and keeping a tab on German business people residing in
Britain who were universally suspected of spying.
DORA was amended and made more forceful as many as six times
between 1914 and 1918. The Government now had the power to
requisition buildings and take over any land for war purposes. In many
types of employment, wages were either kept at the same level or
lowered, and striking in workplaces was forbidden. Clocks were put
forward by an hour on 21 May 1916 (via The British Summer Time Act) to
allow our wartime ancestors more daylight hours in which to undertake
productive work. All these major changes must have been unsettling for
the man-or-woman-in-the-street, but it was the smaller, and seemingly
more trivial, regulations brought in by DORA that came to irritate many of
our ancestors most and that are the most intriguing to contemplate today.

78 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 WARTIME RESTRICTIONS

WHAT OUR ANCESTORS COULD NOT DO

1 Talk about naval or military
matters in public places/spread
rumours about military matters
Don’t imagine that your ancestors sat around
discussing the war with their neighbours and
workmates. The law required everyone to be
tight-lipped about what was going on unless
they were within the privacy of their own
homes. Conversations across the garden fence
must have been limited anyway since newspaper
censorship meant that ordinary people could
discover little in the press about operational
movements. Letters sent home by the troops
serving in France were also vetted with any
passages that could potentially lower the
morale back home, often crudely scored
out by senior officers.
An officer’s dugout on the Front,
August 1915. Letters sent home by
troops were vetted by senior officers.
Inset, a notice to mail sender warning
that content referring to Zeppelin raids
has been censored under DORA 1914
2 Use invisible ink
when writing abroad
Vetting of mail to the troops abroad
also took place to ensure that no secrets
were passed to the enemy. ‘Invisible
ink’ could be made from a variety
of substances including lemon juice,
nitrate, soda and starch and even semen!
The messages were then revealed by
holding the paper over heat, ironing it,
or painting over it with a natural PH
indicator such as boiled red cabbage. In
1915, German Anton Kupferle – posing
4 Buy binoculars
Strangely enough, your ancestor on the Home
Front is very unlikely to have owned a pair of
binoculars! Those who tried to buy such items
were suspected of being spies intent on snooping
on naval ports or other sensitive military areas.
Moreover, binoculars and many other optical
items were desperately needed by the military.
The British optical industry, which consisted
chiefly of one firm (Chance Brothers), couldn’t
cope with demand, and our relatives would
have seen plenty of adverts in the newspapers
appealing for the public to donate their own
binoculars and similar items (sometimes with
the promise that they would be returned to their
rightful owners once the war was over).
Ironically, the biggest pre-war supplier of
binoculars to Britain had been Germany and
now a dirty deal with the enemy was mooted.
The Germans apparently agreed to supply the
British with over 30,000 pairs of binoculars in
return for rubber for the tyres of their military
vehicles. It’s not clear whether the exchange ever
actually happened.
3 Ring church bell s
Our ancestors’ home towns and villages were
quieter places than they had been in the earliest
years of the 20th century. Church bells no
longer rang at night (their use being reserved
for situations of real alarm) and striking clocks
were silenced. Our Great War ancestors were
not allowed to whistle in the street (in order to
hail a taxi, for example) since it was thought the
sound might confuse other people into thinking
that there was an imminent air-raid.
6 Melt down
gold or silver
Metals of all kinds were in great demand during
World War I for the making of war machinery
and weapons. If you have been rummaging in the
family jewellery box to find clues to your family
history you are unlikely to find any gold or silver
items purchased during the war. Instead, you
might come across contemporary jewellery made
from natural or inexpensive materials such as
copper, brass, aluminium, mother-of-pearl, wire,
wood or coins. This jewellery was sometimes
known as ‘sweetheart’ jewellery since it was often
made and sent by army personnel to their loved
ones back home.
In 1914, for economic reasons, the
Government suspended the Gold Standard
and asked our ancestors to hand in any gold
sovereigns. These 22-carat coins were worth £1
or 20 shillings and they could now be swapped
at the nearest Post Office for newly-produced
Treasury notes. The Government used the
precious metal to pay off its international debt, to
finance the War Effort and to replenish the Bank
of England’s reserves. By 1918, civilians were
also firmly prohibited from melting down silver
currency in order to profit from the newly high
price of silver.

5 Trespass on railway lines or bridges

as a businessman – was discovered to
have sent secret messages to the enemy
using invisible ink and writing between
the lines of otherwise innocent-looking
commercial letters. Kupferle killed
himself before he could stand trial but
not before composing a suicide note in
which he admitted he was a spy.
It’s worth remembering that people were not allowed to move about as freely round their local
area as they had done before the war, and that certain parts of the towns in which they lived
might have been out of bounds. DORA forbade civilians from congregating or trespassing on
railway bridges or in tunnels, for example. It was of paramount importance that the railways
and ports were kept running safely as there were no major roads, heavy vehicles or air transport
to move munitions, supplies and the armed forces.

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 79

 IN DEFENCE OF THE REALM
7 Light bonfires,
fireworks or fly a kite
Some of the simple outdoor
pleasures of life were outlawed by
DORA. Kite-flying, for example,
was prohibited because it was
thought that such entertainment
might attract a Zeppelin attack or
might be wrongly interpreted as a
signal by the military. And for the
four years of the war, your ancestors
will not have celebrated Guy Fawkes
Night because both bonfires and
fireworks were banned.
A party of men of the Leicesters
going home on leave for seven days
from the Front at Estaires, France, on
28 August 1915. When they returned
home to wartime Britain they would
have found much stricter laws
imposed on pubs and drinking
8 Drink as much
as they liked
In order to keep the workforce
hangover-free and as productive as
possible, the Government cut licensing
hours. Gone were the bucolic days of
the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
Pubs could now open only between
midday and 2.30pm and then had to
close until 6.30pm. They could then
open again until 9.30pm. People were
disallowed from buying rounds of
drinks for friends and colleagues, and
pub landlords were permitted to water
beer down. People were also no longer
able to buy whisky or brandy in railway
refreshment rooms – presumably to
ensure that their tongues didn’t wag on
their ensuing train journeys!
80 DECEMBER 2018
Skeleton of a German Zeppelin brought down near
the Essex coast in 1915. Once air raids began in
1915, blackouts were imposed in some areas
9 Have lights visible at night
Although blackouts are more usually associated
with the Second World War, they also occurred in
a piecemeal way during the First World War after
the advent of German Zeppelin attacks on Britain
in 1915. In certain areas, all lights visible from the
outside of any house had to be extinguished or
obscured within specified hours, and motor vehicles
were not allowed to use powerful lamps.
In the Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel, Dr
Picton, was fined a total of 7s and 6d for not
obscuring lights correctly in his home on two
occasions in April and June, 1916. Ironically, the
same doctor was called to attend at an accident in
November 1916 when a car driving with reduced
motor lamps hit a small boy and crushed his leg.
10Give bread to horses or
chickens (or feed wild animals)
Our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors were
renowned for their kindness to animals. Indeed,
in cold winters, such as that of 1890-1891,
newspapers had specifically asked the public to
put bread out for wild birds. It was now made
clear, however, that this must stop, and that bread
should be reserved for the populace.
Although formal food rationing was not
introduced into Britain until 1918, the Government
was keen to ensure that no food went to waste well
before this. Over the course of the war, agricultural
food production declined and prices went up.
When Germany introduced a policy of ‘unrestricted
submarine warfare’ on 9 January 1917, the supply
of imported food lessened and our ancestors had
to become more thrifty and ingenious in their
shopping and eating habits.
www.family-tree.co.uk
It is hardly surprising that after four
years of restriction and austerity, our
ancestors marked the Armistice with
such huge vigour. They lit the streets
with torches, fireworks, bonfires and
illuminated street signs; they created
joyful noise by whistling, cheering,
playing musical instruments and ringing
church bells. Though there were still
post-war restrictions due to a shortage of
coal supplies, and a need to ration food,
the nationwide Armistice celebrations
signalled that the darkest days of war –
abroad and at home – were at last well
and truly over.
About the author
Ruth A Symes has been interested in
family history since childhood when she
spent hours at her grandmother’s knee
listening to tales of past relatives. She
studied English literature at Cambridge
University and has a PhD in women’s
history from the University of York. After a
career in academia and editing, Ruth now
combines freelance writing with looking
after her family. Her latest book ‘Tracing
Ancestors Through Letters and Personal
Writings’ is published by Pen & Sword.
Useful resources
Look online
• http://holmeschapelhistory.
co.uk/downloads/
leaflets/9Rulesandregulations.
pdf – How DORA affected the
Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel
• www.thegazette.co.uk/all-
notices/content/217 – Explanation
of the Defence of the Realm Act
• www.bbc.com/education/guides/
ztx66sg/revision/3 – The Domestic
Impact of World War I
• www.lavenderandlovage.
com/2014/11/on-the-home-front-
original-wartime-recipes-from-
the-great-war-1914-to-1918.html
– Recipes from World War I
Read up on it
• Victory 1918: Celebrating the
Armistice in Photographs
by Mirrorpix (The History Press, 2018)
• Voices from the Past: Armistice
1918 by Paul Kendall
(Frontline Books, 2017)
DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS

Your questions
answered
With our panel of experts Jayne Shrimpton, Emma Jolly, David Frost and Helen Whittle
The mystery of Aunt Aussie
• Evidently these people were fairly comfortably
placed financially, for the farmhouse appears
substantial and they have use or ownership of a
chauffeur-driven car, the driver in his peaked cap just
glimpsed at the wheel

• The loose style of both women’s garments and their

low calf-length hemlines confirm a date in the 1920s,
probably a year between about 1922 and 1928

Q A
This photo depicts Isabella Fraser and her older sister
Margaret Derrett née Fraser. Margaret was my great-
grandmother, born 28 October 1856, Old Machar (now
Woodside), Aberdeen in Scotland, to parents John Fraser and
Margaret Cumming. The photo shows the Derrett family farm ‘Pine
Hill’, Patea, New Zealand and would have been taken before 1936,
when the Derretts retired to town. Isabella is the mystery here.
• On the 1861 & 1871 Scottish Censuses, she is not listed with the
rest of the family – nor is she on the shipping record when John,
Margaret and seven of their children emigrated to NZ on the
Mairi Bhan, arriving at Port Chalmers, Dunedin NZ on
25 July 1874
• On her Intention to Marry record of August 1875, Margaret stated
that she had been in NZ for 13 months, supporting that arrival
date: she married Edward Derrett on 26 August 1875. I have no
birth record for Isabella so could that be established from the
sisters’ clothing?
• Two stories are in circulation about Isabella, who apparently was
the tomboy of the family. Reputedly she went to Australia for work
and was thereafter known to the family as ‘Aunt Aussie’. A tough,
strong woman, one version claims that she masqueraded as a man
and worked in an outback pub in Australia, her true sex only
being discovered when she died. The other version is that while
masquerading as a man, she either drove a bullock team or worked
on a ship; she was killed in an accident and subsequently was
found to be a woman. I feel sure I now have the right Fraser family
but because Isabella is missing from family records, I am still not
100 per cent certain. Any help concerning the photograph would
be most appreciated.
Rae Acherman
www.family-tree.co.uk
Sometimes a family photograph, once accurately dated,
can provide an important missing link in the historical
record – for example, evidence of a person, place or event
that has otherwise escaped attention. However, I’m afraid that this
evocative outdoor scene showing two elderly ladies outside a family
property resolves few of your specific queries. Given the imperfect
image, the sisters portrayed squinting into the sun, this is probably
an amateur snapshot taken by a friend or relative using a personal
camera. Both ladies are well-dressed in a feminine fashion typical
of the 1920s: neither appear in the least masculine, so no real clues
there to support family rumours. You don’t mention who is who, but
judging from their respective appearances, I assume that Margaret,
your great-grandmother, is the more frail-looking lady seated on the
running-board. She wears a smart, conservative suit comprising a
comfortable jersey top or belted jacket and coordinating skirt, with
high-necked blouse underneath. Her fine white hair may be kept
long, drawn back into a traditional bun, her shoes substantial and
functional. She would be aged around 70 here.
The standing lady definitely looks more youthful with her upright,
confident bearing and may perhaps wear modern bobbed hair. She
also appears more casual perhaps, in a linen dress, but also the more
stylish and fashionable of the sisters, in her modish bar shoes –
popular by the early 1920s – beads and earrings.
In my view the ‘Isabella’ figure could conceivably be 10 or more
years younger than Margaret, which might help with finding
her elusive birth record. We might surmise that visually ‘Isabella’
gives the impression of a modern, forthright woman, but nothing
about her appearance in this photograph particularly suggests
unconventional tendencies, so I’m afraid you may need to dig deeper
among the printed records to discover more about her. JS
DECEMBER 2018 81
DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS

The 1911 Census

shows Edward and
wife Mary with children
from their marriage, and
daughters from Mary’s
previous marriage

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decision

Who was Mary Robinson?

Q
I wonder if you can help me with a conundrum I have
about my father’s birth. My father, Terence Craig, was a
twin to Edward, born in Bishopsgate, London in 1904.
His mother’s name on the birth certificate is Mary Robinson.
No-one in the family has heard of this name. As far as we know, our
grandmother’s name was Mary Maud Lee. She was married before
my grandad and then her name was Mary Maud Mackway.
We would like to know why Mary Robinson is on the twins’
birth certificate.
June Bridges
Mary Maud’s mother had the maiden surname of Huard.
I then searched for a possible marriage between Mary Maud’s
parents and found the following: Dec 1862; Mary Ann Huard &
Edward Lee; Shoreditch; 1c, 382.
When your father was baptised on 2 October 1904 at St Botolph’s
Bishopsgate, his parents’ names were given as, Edward and Mary
Craig and their address as 14 Rose Alley.
Your father’s birth certificate is a little odd in that the mother’s
name is given as, ‘Maud Craig formerly Robinson’ and the
informant’s name is, ‘M Lee’, who was not described as the mother,

A
The 1911 Census shows the twins with their parents,
Edward and Mary Craig, in Shoreditch. Both Edward
and Mary were born in Bethnal Green. Edward was 40
and Mary was 42. Also in the house were Edward’s stepdaughters,
Mary (20) and Rhoda (15) Mackway. According to this census entry
Edward and Mary had been married for 12 years by 2 April 1911.
Their marriage entry appears to be: Sep 1898; Craig Edward/
Mackway Mary Maud; Shoreditch; 1c, 275. A copy of the London
marriage register entry is on the Ancestry database. The couple
married at St James Shoreditch, and Mary is shown as a widow and
the daughter of Edward Lee, basket maker.
A marriage was registered in Sep 1885 (Bethnal Green; 1c; 366) of
Mary Lee and William Mackway.
I found a possible birth record of Mary Maud Lee on the GRO
website www.gro.gov.uk with the following details: Lee, Mary
Maud; Huard; Sep 1866; Bethnal Green; 1C, 211. This indicates that
but instead as someone who was, ‘present at the birth’. This seems an
understated description if this was the mother! Your father was born
at 14 New Street, Bishopsgate, but M Lee lived at 14 Rose Alley,
Bishopsgate. The registration took place 60 days after the birth.
As Mary Maud’s mother appears to have been named Mary Ann
Lee (née Huard), could it be that she was the ‘M Lee’ who registered
the birth of your father? If so, is it possible that she made a mistake
in giving her daughter’s details and gave the name Robinson, instead
of Mackway? EJ
The birth indexes on gro.gov.uk usefully
show the mother’s maiden name so
providing an additional clue, even before
you’ve ordered the actual certificate

Digitised parish register entries can provide as

full details as an official marriage register, as
seen in this marriage register entry found on
Ancestry for Edward and Mary

82 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

 YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED

Not an easy life...

Q
I would be grateful for any
advice or information concerning
Kate Hooppell (1838-1892)
who married my 2x great-uncle, Ebenezer
Thorne. Kate was born at Ringmore,
Devon on 13 July 1838 and I have a copy
of her birth and baptism certificates,
and her entries in the UK 1841,
1851 and 1861 Censuses, but cannot
find her in the 1871 Census. Kate
was the only surviving child of Ellen
that’s another story! From the information • Seeking clues in France
I have already obtained, I have reached the One reason for Kate not appearing in
conclusion that Kate didn’t have an easy or the 1871 Census is that she might have
very happy life with Ebenezer. been in France, although she could have
Sue Sweet travelled there earlier, perhaps with her
governess. Travel was much less formal in
those days and you’re unlikely to find
I have reached the conclusion that much, if anything, about Kate’s time
in France. It’s just possible she might
Kate didn’t have an easy or very have featured in the census taken in
happy life with Ebenezer... 1872 in France, but in order to access

and Robert Hooppell. Robert died
in January 1854 and I have a copy of
his will showing that Kate inherited a
substantial income from her father. I am
convinced that one of the reasons why
Ebenezer married her was because of her
independent means. I have a copy of her
marriage certificate for 4 May 1872 and it
appears a marriage settlement was signed
the day before. Kate and Ebenezer sailed
to Queensland on the Western Monarch in
December 1875 and on the journey, their
daughter, Ethelwyn Mary, died from
‘gastric catarrh’. My questions are:
1 Kate died from pulmonary TB on 30
April 1892. Her obituary in the Brisbane
Telegraph of 4 May 1892 says that Kate
‘devoted herself in conjunction with
George Dawson, of Birmingham, to
the education and improvement of the
factory girls of that city, aiding both
by her purse and personal efforts in
maintaining the night schools and Sunday annuitant in 1871 but that could have been nature is patchy and if you’ve not found it
schools established by that gentleman’.
How can I find out further details?
2 The Belmont and Bulimba Creek
Heritage Pages article – www.members.
optusnet.com.au/belmont.history –
also mentions that Kate Hooppell was
educated in France and gave French
lessons to girls in the Belmont area of
Brisbane. How can I research her time
in France?
3 I have a photo of Kate’s gravestone in
Cleveland cemetery. I am intrigued to
know why there is no mention of Kate’s
husband Ebenezer or her daughter, Kate
Carina Thorne.
Ebenezer subsequently married legally
once in Australia and bigamously in
England and after that in New Zealand, but worth searching.
A
What a fascinating story. Kate’s
father, Robert, was clearly well- French genealogical research tools are
to-do as he’s described as a
landed proprietor and so, in 1861, is she.
The inference from the 1841 and 1851
Censuses is that Kate’s mother, Ellen, died
in childbirth.
• Might other people lead to clues?
It would seem Robert may have left a legacy which sounds below the status of Kate’s
to his niece Ann Jellard Colliver who is
shown as (presumably) Kate’s governess in
1851 and was later shown as an annuitant.
Another niece, Catherine Lear, is shown
as housekeeper. I mention these because
if you can’t find someone in a census it’s
often worth looking for other known
family members in case they lead you to an
answer. I didn’t search extensively but, in
this case, the unusually named Ann Jellard
Colliver, who seems to have married a man
named Hill, didn’t. She was listed as an
the result of a legacy from her late husband. in a Devon record office it is likely not to
• Contact the local archives
There’s no obvious reason why a girl born
and brought up in rural south Devon
should be interested in factory girls in
Birmingham or what the relationship with
George Dawson was. A little ferreting
in the Birmingham archives might help.
Try www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/
cadbury/archives
When you make contact with the archives
specify your interest in the George Dawson
and Kate Thorne names and why. Archivists what you say about other marriages, it’s
can be very helpful if they know what you
are looking for.
• A newsworthy event
Birmingham newspapers are quite likely
to have carried the story so would be
that you would need to know the
department where she was resident.
less well developed than those for
Anglophone countries.
• Considering Ebenezer
Ebenezer looks to have been a problematic
individual and he may well have been after
Kate’s money. He’s described as a printer,
father. As a single woman she would have
had control of her own possessions but as
a married woman she became effectively
one of her husband’s chattels. This changed
in 1870 to the extent that women gained
possession of their own earnings. Not
until 1882, well after Kate’s marriage, did
they retain the same right over their other
possessions as applied to single women.
I wonder if the marriage settlement you
mention was intended to circumvent this.
The survival rate of legal documents of this
have survived. On the other hand, given
its importance, it may have travelled to
Brisbane and survive in a repository there.
• Kate’s grave
I presume you’ve looked to see if Kate
left a will. If she did, it’s likely the
executors will have arranged the funeral
and the headstone. As the priest’s name is
mentioned, the church records may reveal
something. One can only guess why her
husband does not get a mention, but given
not surprising. Perhaps he’d already done a
runner. If Kate’s daughter married or had
moved away it’s unlikely she would have
been buried alongside her mother. Did
local undertakers advertise in the Brisbane
Telegraph and, if so, have any of their
records survived locally? DF

www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 83

DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS

In search of my English great-grandmother

Q
I have spent the past 27 years researching my family tree Morgan on her death certificate. Her residence at the time of
in Scotland and I have got back to mid-1600s. I have one marriage was Marylebone, London but her birthplace on her death
English entrance into my family tree, that being my great- certificate is given as Hampshire. For some reason you have also
grandmother on my father’s side, and this is causing me a brick wall. linked her to Chichester, Sussex. I can understand that after so many
She is named Frances White aka Fanny, born c1844 according to years of research you have ended up thoroughly confused. I did
her marriage certificate, which took place in 1874 in Kirkaldy, Fife, check out the Chichester James White/Mary Potts family but cannot
Scotland. Her age is entered as 30 years, find any link to London or Scotland.
married to John Deas, born 12 October My great-grandmother is
1846, in Pathead, Dysart, Fife. Her causing me a brick wall. Looking at relevant GRO entries:
address at time of marriage is entered as Where were you born? The only relevant GRO registrations seem to
Marylebone, London, but I could find be Marylebone March 1842 and Septmber
no definite information on her in that area. I have a copy of her 1845 but, using the new GRO search facility, I see that neither
death registration entry for 1908, residing at 3 Kinnaird Bank, have the mother’s maiden name as Sandford or Morgan. There are
Perth. Her age is entered as 66 years, which suggests date of birth numerous other Fanny/Frances entries 1841-1845 but, again, none
being 1842. show a likely mother’s maiden name.
I can find no identifiable trace of her birth registration or baptism.
I suspect she was born in the Middlesex area; there is a possible entry Re-examining the evidence:
in Middlesex, St Pancras, 55 Portland Place on the 1861 Census. Having followed some of your trains of thought without much
Perhaps, however, she was born in Hampshire (as stated on her death ‘profit’, I re-examined everything carefully.
certificate), or possibly around the Chichester area in Sussex (there You found her son Charles Baxter Deas on the 1901 Census with
is a John White and Sarah with an Elizabeth Sandford age 60 in the his aunt, Mary Ann Burley. For some reason you have identified
1841 Census, however I cannot find any marriage of them or birth Mary Ann as Fanny’s aunt whereas she is almost certainly her sister.
of a Frances or Fanny). Using that ‘fact’ I found the following:
I do have all the records for the children that Frances Deas (née • 1841 Census, Stafford Street, Marylebone. James White age 80,
White) and her husband John Deas brought into the world. independent, born Scotland, Ann White, 30, not born Middlesex,
One of them was Charles Baxter Deas, who moved down to Charlotte White, 6, not born Middlesex
London to work and got married there and died there. I did a census • 1851 Census, Robert Street, St Pancras. James White, widower age
check and discovered him in the 1901 Census showing him residing 95, annuitant, born Scotland. Ann White, daughter age 40 born
at that time at 25 St Mary’s Terrace, St Mary, Paddington, London. Chichester (was this where you made the link?), Fanny White,
He was listed as nephew with a family called Burley, the head of granddaughter age 10 born London, Amelia White granddaughter
which was called Charles Burley; wife, Mary Ann Burley (soon to age 6 born London.
discover née White, an aunt of Frances). This Fanny is about the right age, right location and links to
Frances Deas (née White) had another son, John White Deas (my Scotland and Marylebone.
grandfather) who married Alice Mary Campbell Gray and had three
sons, one of whom was called John Burley Deas (my uncle). However, I also found this on the 1851 Census:
I feel that we are looking for: 32 Park Street, St George Hanover Square Mary Ann White servant
• James or John James White, born c1826, possibly in Chichester, age 23, housemaid, born St Martin in the Fields; Fanny White age
London or Hampshire. 13, servant, born Farleigh, Hampshire.
• John White, born c1825, possibly in London (I wonder if This is not to say that Mary Ann and Fanny are sisters but there is
Frances got mixed up as to whether her father was a James or John). only one other servant in the household, which would make quite a
The only trace of all above together anywhere in the 1841 Census, coincidence, especially with Fanny being so young to be away from
the year I would expect to see almost all together due to ages, is in her family.
Portsea with parents James White and Ann (possibly Ann Stevens). There are three possible place names ‘Farleigh’ in Hampshire
I cannot supply any more information on this, other than I have – Farley Chamberlain near Winchester, Farleigh Wallop near
searched all the best sites for the required records to no avail so far. Basingstoke and Fawley near Southampton.
I would be happy just to find out the birth details of Frances/
Fanny White, with possibly her parents’ marriage and birth details. Going back to the 1841 Census I found:
Both their parents’ details would be a huge bonus. Fawley: James White, 35, born Hants; Mary 26, born Hants;
Tom Deas Charles, 12, not born Hants; Thomas, 9, born Hants; Henry, 6,

A
What a tangle! Your ‘question’ can be summarised briefly
to your quest for Fanny/Frances White who was born
c1842-1844 who married John Deas in Fife in 1874.
born Hants; and Fanny, 3, born Hants. (Frances baptised 8 April
1839, Fawley.)
As Charles was ‘not born Hants’ it is possible that Mary Ann, born
St Martin in the Fields, could also belong to this family.

Let’s look at what we do know: About Mary Ann’s married years:

Her parents are shown as James White and Sarah Ann Sandford Mary Ann White married Charles Burley on 5 October 1851 at St
on her marriage certificate and John James White and Mary Ann Martin in the Fields. I have not managed to find a full transcript or

84 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk


image online so cannot confirm her father, but the censuses give her
birthplace as ‘Soho’, Marylebone, London or St Martins. The couple
do not appear to have any children of their own although I did not
find them on the 1861 Census, which is known to be incomplete for
parts of London. In 1871 there are just the two of them.
On the 1881 Census they have a niece, Alice White, age 15, born
Kilburn with them. In 1891 a servant, another Mary Ann White, age
28 born Marylebone, and 1901, as you already know, the nephew,
Charles B Deas. Charles Burley died in 1904 and Mary Ann in 1908
(Charles B Deas was her executor).
Revisiting the Deas family:
I ‘revisited’ the Deas family in the hope of finding further clues. You
listed a child, Walter Deas, born 1882 but I can find no trace of him
in any record. There was indeed a Walter born around this date but
he was the son of William Deas. John and Fanny did have a third
child, Fanny Mary born 1875, but she died in 1882. Along the way
I also noted the family of William Deas, born Fifeshire c1806, a
seedsman, living for many years at Arundel, Sussex.
You have listed Fanny’s parents as James White and Sarah Ann
Sandford (from her marriage entry) or James White and Mary Ann
Morgan (from her death registration) but I have found no trace of
either of these marriages in England or Scotland. Either lady may of
course have been a widow when she married.
Thoughts on the surname:
Sandford seems to be an uncommon surname with no concentration
of occurrences although there is a handful of poor law records shown
Comparing facial likeness
Q
Is there anyone with expertise at facial recognition, or is it
possible to reverse the age effect in photographs? Here (this
page and overleaf ) are the photos I’d like to be looked at.
First, here is a known photo of Emma Stevens, my great-
grandmother, born in Shepherds Bush, 1861, who emigrated alone
to New Zealand in 1879. In this photograph taken in Christchurch,
New Zealand, she is pictured with her granddaughter, born in
January 1914.
I have also discovered undated photos of a ‘Miss Stevens’, taken at
Tyree studio in Nelson, New Zealand. She looks years younger, but
I cannot accurately calculate her age: the noses on the two are very
similar and my husband thinks they could be related. However, my
Emma Stevens did not have any daughters, although she did adopt a
girl when she married in 1895.
When the photos of Miss Stevens are enlarged we see that her
complexion is poor: my Emma Stevens, when imprisoned for assault,
went on record as ‘pock pitted’.
I’m hoping these photos represent the same person but I require
someone with expertise. To complete the back story: my great-
grandmother landed at Lyttelton in 1879 then sailed to Nelson
where her cousin Stephen Mockett and family resided. She was there
until October 1880 when she moved to Christchurch to have her
first illegitimate child in January 1881. She could well have returned
to Nelson for a visit and had her photo taken. Tyree Photographers
did take photographs of the Mockett family. I have just read a book
on single girls emigrating to Christchurch in the 1860s/1870s and
there were complaints from the middle/upper classes about these
www.family-tree.co.uk
YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED
on discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk for a family in West Sussex/
Surrey. Morgan is far more common and, although of Welsh origin,
is liberally distributed throughout the country, which is no help here!
Back to the birth, marriage & death indexes:
Again using the GRO register search facility I did find a White/
San(d)ford family in Chard, Somerset at the right period. The
parents were John and Fanny and their many children included
a daughter, Frances, born 1835 (from the census – their earlier
children date from 1829 so are not included in the GRO register).
This Frances married 1856. I tried the same technique for White/
Morgan but there was a much larger number of entries spread all
over the country (no Fanny/Frances 1837-1851).
Was there a will?
I have looked for James/John White and Sandford wills but have
not seen anything that caught my eye. You have not mentioned
any occupations so I am unsure of the status of the family. Charles
Burley is shown as a carter/carrier but Charles B Deas became
a surveyor’s clerk and his brother James White Deas a baker, so
there may well be family wills which might give a snippet of
information. The James White age 95 on the 1851 Census is
described as ‘independent’ but I have not been able to find a likely
death registration which might lead to a will. There are many ‘loose
ends’ but I hope I have given you some new ideas. In particular I
would suggest you go back over your previous research and take out
anything you have not proved as there seem to be some dubious
pieces of information which have crept in. HW
girls of ‘loose’ character
dressing in white gowns.
Miss Stevens is in white!
Margaret Armstrong
A
Firstly there is no
successful facial
recognition
software that I know of,
available to the general
public, that can accurately
‘reduce’ the appearance
of age in old family
photographs. Any systems Emma Stevens with her
or apps that seem to offer granddaughter. Reader Margaret
this are likely to produce Armstrong wonders, whether she
erroneous or inconclusive is the same person as the woman
results. The most reliable shown, overleaf?
method is:
1 To date the relevant photographs accurately, to establish correct
timeframes for each and from there calculate likely age ranges for
their subject.
2 Then, compare the images by eye and, using the dates determined,
consider whether a match is feasible.
Admittedly we all see things slightly differently and have varying
ideas about age and resemblance: some of us have a better ‘eye’ for
detail than others, but no opinion can be 100 per cent certain as
DECEMBER 2018 85
DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS

judgement, not fact, is involved.

About our experts
Your known photograph of Emma
Stevens must date to c1916 as the child,
born, you state, in January 1914, appears Jayne Shrimpton is a
to be about two to three years old. Emma professional dress historian
wears a smart daytime costume – a tailored and ‘photo detective’. She is
suit comprising a skirt and long jacket, the photograph consultant for TV
jacket style featuring large buttons most series ‘Who Do You
typical of the early-mid 1910s. Her high- Think You Are?’ and her
necked white blouse is rather outmoded for books include ‘Tracing Your Ancestors
1916, so she appears quite conservatively Through Family Photographs’
dressed, as she might well be considering www.jayneshrimpton.co.uk
her age: about 55.
Regarding the photos (right), the David Frost’s interest in
distinctive puffed style of these sleeves genealogy was sparked by
dates firmly to the 1890s, probably the unexpected appearance
1894-1899, a timeframe also consistent of a distinctly dodgy family
with the lady’s softly frizzed hair member in 1967. He’s
and neat, high chignon. Dress-wise relieved to find that every month still
and physically she looks to be aged brings new discoveries. He’s been writing
somewhere in her 20s, whereas your on genealogy topics since 1991.
ancestor Emma Stevens was then aged in
her mid-late 30s, unlikely to be wearing Emma Jolly MA is a
such a light ensemble – unless she chose London-based genealogist,
this ‘maidenly’ image for her wedding writer and AGRA member.
in 1895. In my view, there is a degree Her books include ‘My
of facial resemblance between the two Ancestor was a Woman at
women, but their lips and hair textures War’, ‘Tracing Your Ancestors Using the
differ greatly and unfortunately it is Census’ and ‘Tracing Your British Indian
difficult to make a positive match. JS Ancestors’. www.emmajolly.co.uk

Helen Whittle is a freelance

These two photographs show a younger woman dressed in late-Victorian ‘full researcher of genealogical
dress’ or evening wear. This is demonstrated by her low neckline or décolletage, and historical projects,
short sleeves and prominent floral corsage. Gowns of this type, fashioned from fine who deals with all types of
white or pastel-coloured material, were favoured evening wear for young unmarried archival record from c1400
women, being considered youthful (and by inference ‘pure’ and ‘available’) to date. She has written articles for various
publications, lectures to various local
groups, and is currently revising her PhD
thesis which relates to society in Sussex in
Pass it on the Civil War/Interregnum period c1635-
For a family historian with 1665. She is also editor of ‘West Sussex
ancestors in the building History’, the journal of West Sussex
trade, the following may Archive Society.
well be of interest.
Nicky Rogers writes:
I have copies of the
Slate Trades Gazette
dating back to 1945 If you ha
ve a ple
and copies of The Roofing you’d lik a for help
e to mak
very hap e,
Contractor up until the py to pu we are
the Q&A blish it o
1980s, free to a good home pages a n
help?’. A s a ‘Can
(just for the cost of p&p/ lternativ you
our Face ely, post
b it to
shipping). can help ook page and w
you cas e
If the publications are of interest, t the net
clues on for
contact helen.t@family-tree.co.uk line!
and she will forward your email

86 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk

DIARY
DATES
Find or post diary dates at
www.family-tree.co.uk/Events
for FREE or email them to
editorial@family-tree.co.uk
NEW EXHIBITIONS
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms:
Art, Word, War
British Library, London
Discover 600 years of treasures from
the British Library’s own collection,
such as the spectacular illuminated
Lindisfarne Gospels and Bede’s
Ecclesiastical History, alongside
stunning finds from Sutton Hoo and
the Staffordshire Hoard. This is the
largest ever exhibition on the history,
literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon
England, revealing the sophisticated
artistic and written culture of the time,
and the kingdoms’ links with Europe
via migration, travel, trade, religion and
conquest. Ends 19 February 2019.
• £5-£16, members free; www.bl.uk/
events/anglo-saxon-kingdoms
The will of Wynflaed, an
Anglo-Saxon noblewoman
Bejewelled: Badges,
Brotherhood and Identity
Museum of Freemasonry, London
Bejewelled is the first major exhibition
of masonic jewels in the UK,
showcasing more than 150 jewels
back to the 18th century. Specially
crafted jewels worn by Freemasons
signify what lodge they belong to, or
to mark significant events; each tells
a personal history of each Mason as
well as of freemasonry itself. Artefacts
include jewels secretly crafted from
scrap metal by PoWs in Singapore
during WW2. Ends 24 August 2019.
• Free entry; http://freemasonry.
london.museum/event/bejewelled-
badges-brotherhood-identity
Making a New World
IWM London & IWM North
Making A New World is a season
of free events and exhibitions
exploring how the First World War
has shaped the society we
live in today. Multimedia
exhibitions include ‘I Was
There: Room of Voices’,
a sound installation View the Making a New
World trailer at https://
featuring the personal
familytr.ee/iwmnewworld
stories of 32 real witnesses
who lived through WW1
and the Armistice; ‘Mimesis:
African Soldier’, which remembers
the millions of Africans and people
of colour who fought and took part
in the war, and ‘Renewal: Life After
The First World War in Photographs’.
Ends 31 March 2019.
• www.iwm.org.uk/seasons/
making-a-new-world
TAP
HE RE
FOR MORE
IMAGES
A locket jewel issued to stewards
at the 1897 Royal Masonic
Benelovent Institution festival,
Province of Sussex
© The Library and Museum of Freemasonry
www.family-tree.co.uk
WHAT’S ON
TAP
HE RE
FOR MORE
IMAGES
The Tsar and children, 1915
The Last Tsar: Blood & Revolution
Science Museum, London
30-second This exhibition, marking 100 years since
watch... the brutal execution of the Romanov
family, investigates the role of science
in the extraordinary lives and deaths of
Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and takes
visitors behind the scenes of one of the
greatest mysteries of the 20th century.
Rare artefacts, including diaries,
possessions and jewellery found at the
murder scene, help bring the personal
lives of Tsar Nicholas II and his family to
life. Ends 24 March 2019.
• Free, but booking is required: www.
sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/
last-tsar-blood-and-revolution
DECEMBER 2018
1 December Workshop
London. John Hanson FSG will give
a full-day workshop
on ‘Family Historian Software for
Refreshers’ at the Society of Gen
Beginners and
ealogists. A laptop is not
required but students should go prep
about using the software.
ared with questions
• 10.30am-5pm. £35. Society of Gen
ealogists, Goswell
Road, London EC1M 7BA. Book
via events@sog.org.uk
or 020 7553 3290; www.sog.org.uk
5 December Festive meeting
Peterborough. Peterborough and
District FHS members
will be joining together to share fami
ly Christmas customs
and memories of past festive occa
sions, with a family
history quiz, games and seasonal
fayre.
• 7pm for 7.30pm-9pm. Visitors welc
ome (suggested
donation £2pp), members free. The
Salvation Army
Citadel, 1203, Bourges Boulevard,
Peterborough,
Cambridgeshire PE1 2AU; www.pet
erborofhs.org.uk
7 December Talk
Bedford. Norman Holding, Vice-Pre
sident of Bedfordshire
FHS and one of its longest-serving
members, is giving a
talk about his 50th great-grandfather.
• 7pm for 7.30pm. Members free,
visitors £1. Drama Hall,
Mark Rutherford School, Wentwor
th Drive, Bedford
MK41 8PX; www.bfhs.org.uk
DECEMBER 2018 87
 Your
SHARING YOUR VIEWS
letters
A letter from a lad at the Front in 1915, the value of leaving no stone unturned, and other memories
A letter from the Front, 1915
Private George W Short of the 2nd
Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was
my great-uncle. His life was brought
to an end in 1915 when, at dawn on
25 September, he went over the top
for the last time at the Battle of Loos.
I only recently learned about
George, who was born in 1897 and
enlisted in the first week of September
1914. He and about 30 others
signed up in Hove on the same day
for service in the New (pals) Army
battalions that were being raised for
the Royal Sussex Regiment (RSR).
It seems George was one of four lads
who were accepted for military service
on that day even though they were
under age, the youngest being 16.
(The recruiter obviously had ‘poor
eyesight’). Sadly three of four of these
young soldiers were to fall.
Once I began looking into George’s
life I immediately got enthused in
learning what I could. I was given
a photo of him and also his Death
Plaque from a relative. While
researching the internet I found a
mention of a George W Short which
indicated the existence of a letter
within the archives of The Sussex
88 DECEMBER 2018
Daily News. The archives are kept at
The Keep in Brighton and I started
to search the microfiche files in its
reading rooms. It was indeed a letter
from George.
George had written the letter to
his mother Martha on 13 May 1915
while resting in billets at Bethune.
This was just a day or two after he had
taken part in perhaps his first battle,
The Battle of Aubers Ridge, in which
the battalion had entered the action
approximately 850 men strong but
suffered 103 killed, 338 wounded and
121 missing in just a few days,
9-11 May.
This is George’s letter printed by
The Sussex Daily News on 20 May in
its ‘Letters from the Front’ column,
which was dedicated to the Royal
Sussex Regiment. George wrote:
I am sorry to have to tell you that poor
F Bowles and P Smith are wounded.
We had a big fight on Sunday, (your
birthday if you remember). I wrote a
letter to you on Friday to wish you many
Happy returns of the day but could not
get it posted, so I carried it with me into
the scrap. I am sending it within this
letter, so it is worthwhile keeping and
www.family-tree.co.uk
you would think so if you knew what it
went through while in my possession.
Well, on Saturday night we moved
up to the place we had to charge. On
Sunday morning, at 04:30, our first
gun spoke and fired a few “coal boxes”
til 05:00 and then all the guns started.
The earth seemed to shake and tremble,
shells flew over our heads and you
couldn’t hear what the next man said to
you, if you tried.
It was like one continued roll of
thunder, we all thought there could
not be one possible man alive in front
of us. Smoke and dust and all manner
of things were flying about over the
German lines. Then after half an hour
of this we had the order to charge. We
all streamed out over the parapets and
lined out beautifully. We advanced till
we got just over a hundred yards from
the Germans, and then their machine
guns started on us. They absolutely
mowed our chaps down and we flopped
down and remained as still as mice.
Poor old P Smith was next to me and
The photos below he got hit in the arm. Tell Mrs Smith
show George’s not to worry; he’s all right. The next
grave, George two on my left were wounded and the
himself, and the next poor fellow was dead. Our officer
Lone Tree got up to advance and was shot in the

leg. It was murder. How they managed
to keep all right under that terrific
bombardment, I don’t know.
Well we laid there for a little while
and then we started to make a hole to
dig ourselves in. Our entrenching tool
was our real pal. We remained there all
day, with shells and bullets flying over
us. Our company, which went out with
260 men or more and 5 officers had as
many as 200 casualties.
I don’t know what happened to the
trenches after we left, whether they were
taken or not, but the aeroplanes that
went up said we had fewer casualties
than the Germans. If that is so they
must have lost a great number of men.
You should have seen our poor chaps try
to crawl back. I started to at about 5.30
and it was one of the most risky things
I have ever attempted. When we got in,
I and another chap went back to find
the regiment, or what was left of it, and
found it behind the firing line. Then we
marched to a barn and had two nice
blankets each and hot tea and rum and
plenty of it. Of course we have felt the
effect of the strain these past few days,
otherwise there is nothing much wrong
with me.
Pete has joined us, but he’s in another
platoon. My pal has been shifted to
another platoon, so I’m rather on my
own. Still I keep on smiling and I am
not downhearted.
Our Colonel told us the French has
surrounded a large body of Germans
down by Arras and had made great
captures including 40 officers, 12 guns
and 50 maxims; so that’s good work.
I hope I shall see you all soon,
although this business doesn’t seem like
stopping yet. Could you send me a small
parcel out please, as I could do with a
bit of cake and a sucker or two? Don’t
send condensed milk: I’ve got a tin of
that. If you could send some dripping in
Slide to view gallery of pictures
a tin I should be very pleased with it,
for that’s nice tack and in these times
a luxury.
Well I shall have to close now so good-
bye and God bless and keep you all and
what ever you do don’t worry.
F Bowles was (I believe) Private
Frederick William Bowles G/1166.
George was G/1173, so they probably
enlisted on the same day. P Smith
was (I believe) Private Percy Charles
Smith G/1169 who also enlisted on
4 September 1914, so it is likely he
enlisted with Fred and George.
So we can tell from the letter that
George, Percy and Fred probably
along with other pals went over the
top together, side by side, all of them
going into battle along with someone
they knew from home and had also
enlisted with. Sadly, we have not been
able to shed any light on who ‘Pete’
was in George’s letter.
And so the summer of 1915
drew on.
The dawn of 25 September 1915
found the 2/RSR in the second line of
trenches in support of the first wave of
British troops to attack.
From their position the open
terrain rose gradually across no-man’s
land to the German Front Line,
sitting on a slight rise to the west of
the Loos-La Bassee Road. To their
left was a position on the battlefield
known as Lone Tree, and to their
right, a German advanced trench into
no-man’s land known as Northern
Sap. The battlefield was overlooked by
the remnants of the pre-war mining
industry, large slag heaps that granted
the Germans extensive views of the
British positions.
On 25 September, George (who
by now would be considered an
experienced soldier) faced the German
trenches once more, this time it was at
'The Battle of Loos’.
It would appear George made it
again to the middle of no-man’s land
and for another time he probably had
to try and take cover from machine
gun fire and also the gas. The position
that he made it to is well known as
‘The Lone Tree’ and it was marked on
all the maps at the time.
Alas this was as far as he got.
George died there and was buried just
south of The Lone Tree together with
four other men from the 2/RSR.
www.family-tree.co.uk
HAVE YOUR SAY
The original ‘Lone Tree’ was cut
down after the battle, many veterans
taking sections of it away as souvenirs.
It was not until 80 years later that in
1995 a new tree was planted on the
site by members of the Western
Front Association and a small
memorial erected.
George William Short was my
great-uncle. His sister Dorothy
Rosabelle Natalie was my
grandmother. I discovered George’s
forgotten letter in the archives of
The Sussex Daily News 101 years later,
and while the immediate pain is less,
the direct connection and sadness is
as real.
I am led to believe his mother
Martha never got over the loss of
George, the three medals he was
posthumously awarded have not
been kept in the family and sadly
his handwritten letter has not been
handed down.
I am left wondering if his mum sent
that small parcel to him. If she did, I
do hope that he received it.
My thanks go to Andy Bailey, who
has been so knowledgeable and
helpful in obtaining and extracting
some of the details contained in this
story of George.
It is now 100 years since the
Armistice and I would like George’s
story to be known as far and wide
as possible.
Bev Pook
A valuable tribute
Read Bev Pook’s full story of her
great-uncle – a young soldier who
gave his life in a French field a century
ago – in a blog post at www.family-
tree.co.uk – complete with further
pictures. This is an inspiring family
history tribute to a WW1 ancestor,
and a detailed account of his service to
his country in the Great War
Leave no stone unturned
I have been researching my family
history for over 20 years, covering all
branches of both my maternal and
paternal sides of my family.
My father’s side (and my maiden
name) was Whittaker, which I believe
to be the Lancashire spelling – (with
two ‘t’s, as opposed to what appears
to be a Yorkshire spelling with just
DECEMBER 2018 89
one letter ‘t’. Who said the War of the
Roses was over?) – and was relatively
straightforward to trace. All good Red
Rose stuff!
However, my mother’s maternal
side proved to be another matter. My
grandmother was born in 1889 in
Salford in Lancashire. The youngest
sibling of this generation of the family
was George, born in 1906 in Salford.
A story abounded within the family
that George had not returned home
at the end of World War II, but
arrived some time later. I don’t recall
anyone ever discussing or questioning
the reason.
Each Christmas when I was a child,
my family had three gatherings, one
at my parents’ home on Christmas
Day, one at the home of George and
his wife on Boxing Day, and one at
the home of another of my mother’s
uncles on another day over the
Christmas season.
George was the quietest member
of the family and I do remember that
one year I received a fountain pen as a
gift. Great-Uncle George quietly took
me to one side and explained how to
use and care for my pen.
Only recently did I begin to ponder
the possibilities of why George had
not returned home when the Second
World War was over and I decided to
find out whatever I could about him.
I put his name into a search engine
along with his date and place of birth
– Salford and 1906 along with World
War II, 1939-1945.
Result: his Army number, regiment
(The Royal East Kent Regiment),
Army number 5949562, and the fact
that George had been a Prisoner of
War, number 141632 at the Stalag
Camp in Germany, Camp X1 – A,
Altengrabow, Saxony – Anhalt.
He had been a Prisoner of War and
no one in my family had ever spoken
about it – if they even knew. George
died in July 1965 with his wider
family either never having known why
he had not returned home at the end
of the war or it had perhaps been too
painful a subject to mention.
Having lost contact with George
and his family when they left Salford
in the 1960s, I was delighted to see
him when I accidentally bumped into
him at a holiday resort some years ago.
That moment remains deep in my
memory of my big, strong but gentle
90 DECEMBER 2018
dark-featured great-uncle.
Every story should have a happy
ending – and mine does too.
We are now in regular contact with
George’s family.
I suggest that the moral of the story
is that as family historians we should
never leave any leaf unturned, and
never be afraid to venture into what
may turn out to be difficult pastures
– your story may have a similar happy
ending, and it is surely worth
trying to establish the full story
of a person’s life!
Ruth Maguire
Revealing redacted secrets
With luck, bearing in mind that it
doesn’t always work, you can get past
the redacted lines in the 1939 Register.
Take for instance a now deceased
husband and wife, whose details are
therefore shown. Redacted lines below
them are likely to be their children as
they are clearly at the same address.
Using the civil registration marriage
index you can find the couple’s
marriage, with the bride’s surname.
Then, you search the civil registration
birth index for five years after the
year of marriage plus or minus five
years for any births with the father’s
surname, and the mother’s maiden
name. Extend the search out to 10
years to make sure 1939 is covered if
you need to. Also, now you have the
precise date of birth from the 1939
Register for the parents you should
be able to pick up their deaths and
maybe probate.
Sue Ikin
Miners’ medal
I was still a young girl when my
mother showed me the Albert Medal
won by her grandfather, Charles Day.
It was awarded for helping to save life
following an explosion at Baddesley
Colliery in north Warwickshire where
he worked. This took place in 1882.
When I was much older and my
interest in family history began, I
wanted to find out more about this
disaster. It was a big part of my family
history as not only did my great-
grandfather win his medal but his
three eldest sons all died from burns
received following the explosion, as
did my mother’s other grandfather,
Joseph Clay. I did a lot of research
into this disaster and eventually wrote
www.family-tree.co.uk
a book about it in 2009.
The Baddesley colliery disaster
began when an underground fire
was discovered on 1 May. The mine
filled with thick, black, dense smoke
trapping nine miners working in a
deep part of the mine. The alarm
was raised and teams of rescue parties
worked through the night to get to the
trapped men. At about 8 o’clock the
next morning an explosion occurred,
causing burns and other injuries to
most of the rescuers. Most of them
managed, with help, to get back
to the pit top but three remained
underground, including the owner of
the mine, William Dugdale.
Posts from our More men, including my great-
Facebook page: grandfather, volunteered to go down
again to rescue these three men. For
I found the article these efforts four first-class and six
https://familytr. second-class medals were awarded. A
ee/GuarDNA total of 32 miners lost their lives, 23
interesting and rescuers and the nine trapped men.
there should There was a special ceremony at the
be some sort Corn Exchange in nearby Atherstone
of warning that
on 19 February 1883 when the medals
results can show
were presented by Lord Leigh, Lord
unexpected
Lieutenant of the county of Warwick.
results, however,
the same can Lord Leigh began with a speech,
be said to those which included a statement from the
who want to Home Office giving the reasons why
embark on our the medals were awarded.
addictive hobby, The part referring to my great-
even without grandfather is below:
DNA, as there CHARLES DAY, collier, Baddesley,
can be an even was employed as a deputy at the Colliery.
wider range of Having been on duty from 2pm on
sad, unpleasant,
Monday, the 1st of May, he was at the
disturbing and
pit bottom about 10 o’clock that night,
brilliant results.
when his son, Joseph Day, also a deputy,
Perhaps that
is the draw for
on descending the upcast shaft to relieve
some! his father, discovered the smoke.
Ann Simcox ... after sending word to the manager,
returned into the mine by the downcast
Regarding one shaft. He and his son then endeavoured
of our #family to creep under the smoke over the
historymonth ‘brow’ of the engine plane, but found
tips: it impossible to do so without help. He
afterwards took part in all the attempts
Ask your
made to rescue the nine imprisoned ...
relations well
Notwithstanding the many hours he
before it is too
had been on duty, and the shock to his
late! I have none
to ask, so have
system caused by the explosion, he was
had to rely on one of the party of six which first after
my own and the accident descended the mine and
elder brothers’ rescued Mr Dugdale, and again made
memories. one of the second party, which rescued
Not good. John Collins. He volunteered also for the
Carrie Hurd third party, but, owing to his exhausted
state, was not allowed to go down again.
His unflinching bravery
and endurance was
marvellous; and GET IN TOUCH
he refused to leave We love reading
his post until carried your letters and try
away by order of Mr to publish as many
Stokes. He had three as possible. Find
sons fatally injured by out how to contact
us on page 3
the explosion, of whom
the eldest, Joseph Day,
displayed, whilst enveloped in
flame, acts of bravery and self-
devotion of the very highest character.
These acts of conspicuous bravery have
won for him the esteem of all, and Her
Most gracious Majesty the Queen has
been pleased to confer upon him this
distinguished token of her favour, ‘The
Albert Medal of the First Class’.
The medal is still in the family,
and I have a photo of my great-
grandfather wearing it.
Celia Parton
Searching St George’s Chapel
I am the archivist of St George’s
Chapel, Windsor. Our website was the
subject of a feature by Julie Goucher
in FT August. I am pleased to be
able to inform FT readers that the
catalogue conversion project Julie
wrote about is now complete and the
full catalogue of our archival holdings
is available to the public online:
www.calmview.eu/stgeorges
I was made aware of the feature
when one of your readers got in touch
about her family history, having
discovered us through the article. I
would like to thank you very much
for featuring us.
Kate McQuillian
Now you see it; are in place to demolish it and go
now you don’t before it is too late.
In 2016 my daughter Patricia Holmes
decided to treat
me to outings as Clarifications, corrections
presents, which Army grades
I have been Thank you to Sophie Pigott for
thoroughly clarifying Army grades.
enjoying. I pride ‘FT September 2018, Adèle Emm
myself, despite my age, is asking about the mention ‘Grade T’
to having a good memory on her father’s National Service Grade
but do own up to one or two Card. She misread the T, which is in
slight lapses, otherwise it could cause fact a 1 as a Roman numeral ‘I’. On
family arguments. This summer I the card the character was followed by
decided to write about these outings, ‘one’ – spelling out the single character
where we had been, where we stayed grade. The asterisk on the card also
and what we had seen. One outing sends the reader to a note at the
in May 2017 caused me to question bottom of the card, explaining that
my memory because neither I nor my the Roman numeral will be entered in
daughter could remember the name of red ink eg ‘Grade I (one)...’
the hotel where we stayed. Sophie admits that knowledge
I could remember the day of travel of Army grades is new to her,
by train to London, the underground but recommends readers to
stations, the direction we walked, even https://hatchfive.wordpress.
the roads we walked. I could describe com/2017/10/24/national-services-
the road where the hotel was situated act-medical-grade-card
and how, after changing, we had again 7. Anglo-Saxon land tax
dor queen buried at Peterborough
walked to the theatre, but could not
deliberately copied
6. Term showing that an incorrect fact or spelling has been
name the hotel.
Shh! No peeking…
2. Birth town of postal pioneer Rowland Hill n that handles a particular task or region
I was positive as to where we had 1. Name of the UK's largest cemetery al Archives of South Africa
been staying, although it was only one Here are your answers to the
Down
night. Google Maps will help me, I crossword on page 40
thought. It didn’t. Not to be beaten, d
my daughter’s assistance was now
required – she was bound to know.
l c r
After all she is much better than I on e n i r e h t a k
the computer – but no. 8
Then a discussion took place. That
g s t
7 6
grey area on Google Maps is where s
it must be, I said, but my daughter n d
thought it wasn’t as far up the road as
that. Back to my laptop and I wonder i o
if anyone can guess why we couldn’t s u o m u h t s o p
find the hotel! 5
It no longer exists. Since October r w
last year the Thistle Euston Hotel, e k
a lovely park behind and other
properties bounded by and including
d n a m m o c
Cardington Street, have all been
4
d o
demolished for the HS 2 at Euston.
a i
I do not know how many more
r o t e r p
3
of the streets locally are doomed. k b
The Lost Tunnels are a bit close for 2 1
comfort. Some of the buildings are
really quite new and it is almost
December
unbelievable that we talk about saving Making contact
the planet, must recycle, but it is To get in touch with any of our
alright to demolish buildings and trees letter-writers, please email
for highspeed travel. helen.t@family-tree.co.uk and we
So if you wish to visit your heritage will forward your correspondence
area – start by finding out what plans
www.family-tree.co.uk DECEMBER 2018 91
 Ch
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 YOUR ADVERTS
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present with the past.”  E-mail: linksresearch@aol.com
l BEDFORDSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,
HUNTINGDONSHIRE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE family and local
history research undertaken by experienced researcher. AGRA
member. Enquiries welcome. Colin Davison, 66 Sudeley Walk,
Bedford, Bedfordshire MK41 8JH; Tel: 01234-364956; email:
colinndavison@gmail.com;
website: www.fourcounties-genealogy.co.uk
l BERKSHIRE based genealogical researcher with 30 years’
experience in family history. Contact Louise Fenner at
22 Causmans Way, Tilehurst, Reading, RG31 6PG.
email: louise.berkshire@gmail.com
l BIRMINGHAM, WALES, ALL UK. All family tree and local
research undertaken by experienced researcher. Vince O’Connor
10 St Giles Bletchingdon Oxfordshire OX5 3BX.
vince@ichthusfamilyhistory.com
l BRISTOL - Call Sovereign Ancestry 0845 838 7246
l BRISTOL Margaret McGregor, experienced qualified researcher
Tel: 01179507508; email: questions@wheretheresawill.org
l BUCKINGHAMSHIRE - Call Sovereign Ancestry 0845 838 7246
l BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and surrounding counties. Family and
house history research by experienced qualified researcher.
AGRA and APG Member. All enquiries welcome, reasonable
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l CAMBRIDGESHIRE - Call Sovereign Ancestry 0845 838 7246
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94 DECEMBER 2018 www.family-tree.co.uk
l DERBYSHIRE - Call Sovereign Ancestry 0845 838 7246
l DERBYSHIRE Family and local history by conscientious and
friendly researcher with over 30 years experience.
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825132; katehenderson16@gmail.com;
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l DEVON and SOMERSET family history research. Free
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l DURHAM See Cameo Family History NORTHUMBERLAND
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l ESSEX Contact sought from any reader researching families
with the surname ‘TABOR’ especially in the region of West Essex.
paultabor@hotmail.co.uk
l ESSEX Professional research. Glynis Morris, AGRA,
56 Armond Road, Witham, CM8 2HA; 44-1376-516315;
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l ESSEX/LONDON. Rita Harris, 71 Vicarage Road, Chelmsford,
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Enthusiastic research at reasonable rates.
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l HERTFORDSHIRE - Call Sovereign Ancestry 0845 838 7246
l HERTFORDSHIRE and LONDON family history
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l HUNTINGDONSHIRE Family & Local History Research.
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lreland. 15 Whitechurch Drive, Ballyboden, Dublin 16, Ireland.
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DECEMBER 2018 95
 YOUR ADVERTS
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THOUGHTS ON...
My transatlantic tree
Diane Lindsay never lets the opportunity to revel in history pass her by and on her recent
trip to the States has been investigating her granddaughter’s international roots
I
’m no Alistair Cooke, but I’m
endlessly intrigued by the life and
times of America, especially now
a branch of our family is putting
down roots. So writing from San Jose,
California, here then is my own Letter
from America.
Each visit, I add more to my
daughter-in-law Amy’s family tree,
though it can be fraught sometimes.
It seems rude, when greeting extended
relations, to add, ‘By the way, where
was your grandad born?’. At best
it looks nosey, at worst it feels like
poking family skeletons. Fortunately,
I spent a few days with Amy’s mum,
sharing granddaughter Ruby while her
parents enjoyed a brief jolly in Santa
Barbara. In between school runs,
karate lessons, Chef Li’s for tea and
Yoghurt Land for treats, we bonded
over our lives, our childhoods and
those things that made us different but
essentially the same.
The main difference I’ve found
from my own family history is the
sheer scale of movement over five
generations. No drawing a 20-mile
radius around family groups here,
or nipping over into the next parish
to find a likely marriage! On the
maternal side, from 1800 to the
present, Amy’s family stretches
from coast to coast, New York
to California, and all points in
between, with, strands of Scottish,
Irish and Norwegian marrying in.
Her grandma’s side is almost pure
Portuguese back to around 1840. Her
grandfather’s line is equally interesting,
and more accessible at the moment.
Although America is a relatively
young country, Amy’s family tree
basically mirrors the history that
made this vast land. I’ve heard it
said that Americans envy our long
98 DECEMBER 2018
LETTER FROM AMERICA
From 1800, Amy’s family stretches
from New York to California
history. What nonsense! Having made
numerous forays into the history
of the United States to produce
timelines, I can tell you it would take
me another lifetime fully to get to
grips with its intricacies. For example,
the earliest direct ancestors I’ve found
include one Levi Wheeler, born in
1813 in Utah, and aged two when
the Battle of New Orleans took place,
and Benjamin Curtis, born in 1827 in
New York and aged nine when Davy
Crockett died at the Alamo.
Being the imaginative family
historian that I am, as I research (to
the theme tunes from West Side Story)
I feel like I’m wandering through
American novels, from Arthur Miller’s
Death of a Salesman to Steinbeck’s The
Grapes of Wrath. And oh how lovely
www.family-tree.co.uk
are the place names, as a change from
tiny English villages: Grand Rapids,
Long Pines, West Lake, Mink Creek,
Logan Cache, and the gorgeously
simple Bend, Oregon! Even as a
child I loved the names of US States,
and small town place names are
equally evocative.
Personal names are intriguing:
instead of my ubiquitous Williams
I’m revelling in Budds, Cyruses,
Calvins, Levis and Noahs, and the
adorable Friend, aged seven. The
grandmas are remarkably familiar,
with Annies, Marians, Sarahs and
the lovely Stella Almeira. One of my
best sources has been Billion Graves,
which considerably expanded results
from conventional sources.
Like my family, there are (so far)
no illustrious forebears, just people
struggling hard to make a living.
Interestingly however, unlike mine,
most of them could read and write,
recorded in censuses. Some actually
owned their small piece of land and
even their own homestead, unheard
of amongst my family till my parents
bought a house in 1961.
So 6,000 miles from home, and
two more weeks, I’ve a lovely long
interesting way to go and I’ve barely
scratched the surface. Wish me luck
on the Oregon Trail!
About the author
Diane Lindsay has been addicted to
family and local history for more years
than she cares to admit, still teaches
it to anyone who will listen, and
often slips it cheekily into her creative
writing class. She has enough brick
walls to keep her going for many years
and plans to live long enough to knock
down every one. She finds it very hard
to take herself too seriously.