Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Family Tree UK

VIDEO CONTENT TAP HERE to watch Helen Tovey’s welcome & introduction Ping! One of the most exciting family history things that happened to me this month was that a possible ‘4th cousin or more distant’ got in touch with me, having spotted the connection on FamilyTreeDNA. I know, it’s pretty far removed, right? And we all have thousands of these remote but tantalising kin connections in our match lists, so why was this one so intriguing? Because the email came from a Family Tree reader, and we’ve shared many emails over the years – so it was that feeling of knowing someone already... and then realising that you’re actually related... hopefully. I also love this little episode as it illustrates how we need all the tools in the genealogy tool…

In 2022, the parish registers and electoral registers for East and West Sussex were launched online for the first time. This June, the historic wills and probate records were added to this online offering. All of these digital records are free to access on Ancestry at both record offices and libraries throughout Sussex enabling more people than ever to delve into their pasts and discover their families’ history. Wendy Walker, County Archivist at West Sussex Record Office, said: ‘Our collaboration with Ancestry has opened up our historical resources to everyone both locally and across the world. Whilst the parish and electoral registers provide us with the names, dates and places of residence of our ancestors, the wills and inventories allow us to learn more about their lives and in some…

The Friends of Horton Cemetery is a charitable organisation whose goal is to bring dignity and respect to the memory of the many tens of thousands of mental health patients, including war heroes, who died within the Epsom Cluster of asylums. Of those who died in these hospitals while they were in operation, 9,000 remain buried on a neglected piece of land in Epsom, Surrey. Volunteer researchers are writing the life histories of these individuals, bringing them back into modern memory. Each story is unique, often highlighting the plight of those afflicted with mental illness in the early 20th century. Find out more about the work, and how you can help, at https://hortoncemetery.org…

It was a good few years back, when I was gingerly inching my way along the very first branches of my tree – and, admittedly, pretty clueless about what I was doing – that I came across a surprising record. Well, I say surprising; in truth, my cousin had already unearthed the bones of the tale in the pre-internet days, but I hadn’t expected anything to just pop up at Ancestry, quite like this, and quite so readily. A simple, but startling, start I’d typed in Catherine Riboldi but left the other boxes blank, and after scrolling past reams of Rabolds, Riebolds and the like in the Americas, England, Ireland and beyond, I found something that made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It comes from…

This is partly Peggy’s story but, as well, the story of the organisation to which she belonged. During the last two world wars fought in Europe men and women, but mostly men, from all walks of life joined the military services to assist in defeating the oppressive forces on the continent who threatened freedom. By the end of the Great War almost one quarter of all British men had served in the armed forces. They were the first to join the battle but were followed quickly by others from countries around the world, most notably countries that would eventually form the British Commonwealth of Nations. Conscription was part of the process starting in January 1916 (Military Service Act). There were categories of workers who were exempt from military service in…

It’s never easy to know where to start with a case study like this, with threads that spin off in every direction. As, with so many of the best family history stories, it doesn’t really have a beginning or an end. So, what's the story? It revolves around a woman called Kate Wright who was born on 14 November 1873 in Southwark, south London and died, as Kathleen Oliver, in the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford on 19 December 1946. She had married a man called William Oliver in Lambeth on 19 September 1908 and, if all we were interested in was collecting and recording the dates of Kate’s ‘vital’ events, that would be the end of the story. But as we will see, there was so much more to learn…

How? The Study Club is included as part of your subscription to Family Tree magazine (print or digital edition). Where? The meetings take place online, on Zoom. When? Usually on the second Monday of the month, 6.30-7.30pm. How do I get the Zoom link to attend? In order to get the full benefits of subscribing to Family Tree you need to register on the Family Tree website. Once you have registered, you will be able to use your log in to: • find the Zoom links for the upcoming Family Tree Study Club meetings at • view all the videos in the video library You will need to log in to www.family-tree.co.uk to obtain the Zoom link. To find the link, once you are logged in, click ‘Study Club’ from…

It’s so exciting! You’ve just received a marriage certificate and have new family names. There’s so much new research to do and before you know the clock says its 2am and somehow you missed dinner, not to mention bedtime. Confession time. Before I started planning my research, I was the person who jotted down research notes on the back of envelopes (really hard to file later on). When I wrote physical notes, I might have forgotten to write the source of my information on my page and I didn’t think about how I was going to file these notes. Time visiting a library or archive was precious (and it still is) and so I would take notes, photocopy and photograph books and documents, and try hard to remember to record…

“A fourteen-year-old boy should never have to ask the questions Who is my mother? and Who are my family? These were not easy questions to formulate in the mind or the mouth because the question comes with others . . . What did I do to deserve this?” In his profoundly moving memoir, My Name Is Why (2019), acclaimed poet Lemn Sissay touches on the role of understanding family background and knowledge of one’s own childhood in finding hope amidst adversity. Sissay had a disrupted childhood: separated as a baby from his mother against her will, growing up in an area with which he had no family connection. The rejection by his foster family at the tender age of 12 only added to the disarray. In the following years, he…

Iwas told that my maternal great-grandmother, Annie Newman (b.1871, Coleby, Lincolnshire) was one of seven sisters who grew up in a tiny two-up twodown cottage, in Coleby near Lincoln. My nan, Mabel, was Annie’s only daughter. In 1985, I started researching my family history, starting with these seven sisters. Pretty early on, with the help of the Lincolnshire Family History Society, I found the marriage of their parents, Robert (b.1821) and Sophia (née Crampton b.1830) Newman in Coleby in 1854. Tragically, their only brother, Charles, born in 1855, died shortly afterwards. But hang on, I counted eight daughters, what happened to the missing sister? Fast forward to 2009. I was about to attend the graduation ceremony for my MA in History. With days to go, I got a surprise phone-call.…

Isle of Hope Michael Hawkes & Susan Hawkes, with Stephen WunderliBorn to unmarried Irish parents in 1961 in London, author Michael Hawkes would become one of the tens of thousands of Irish babies to grow up denied the knowledge of and care of their birth families. The system that underpinned the situation was one that seamlessly combined the Roman Catholic Church’s desire to punish sinners and cleanse society of babies born out of wedlock, and the State’s desire for economy – and, there is no shying away from it, a deeply judgmental society that left vulnerable new mothers feeling so desperate that they had no other choice other than to ‘give up’ their babies. Thus the babies were institutionalised, or adopted, often overseas, and often with scant (or no) legal…

Women and inheritance of real property Re: Wayne Shepheard’s article (FT June 2023). Wayne Shepheard states that “daughters were prevented from inheriting [real] property”. This is not correct, however, and the picture is more nuanced. Under common law, land (‘real’ property) was indeed inherited solely by the eldest son. All daughters and younger sons were excluded from inheritance, which kept estates intact. Moveable property such as money and chattels could be disposed of as the testator wished. However, if there were no sons but one or more daughters, the daughters would inherit the land in equal shares – they would be co-heiresses at law and they or more usually their guardian were in control of their land until they married. Even after marriage, although the rents and use of the…

This month contains another eye-wateringly significant birthday. I shan’t tell you which one, because old hands have probably sussed it from my many nostalgic references and if you’re a newbie, it’s a good exercise in detective work. A clue: like Cleopatra, my salad days are long over. Excuse the prevarication, but I find that if one tells all (such as – ‘I’ve lived under three monarchs’), then people start making assumptions. Like one is either: cute (grr!) or dotty, (moi?). And, as we all know, unfettered assumption is an extraordinarily bad habit for family historians. With faculties still surprisingly intact then, and speaking of salad days, I will admit to accidentally ordering twelve perfectly ripe avocados from Ocado, a mistake anyone could make on an elderly iPad mini. Maybe it…

The records available are for English and Welsh births from 1837 up to 100 years ago (1923), and English and Welsh deaths from 1837-1887. Not all birth and death records are available but if you’re lucky enough to find your selected record available digitally, you can purchase this as a digital image for £2.50. Writing on his Scottish Genes blog (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) genealogist Chris Paton said: ‘This is a massive step forward for English and Welsh researchers, who have been discriminated against for years with regards to cost effective access for research into their own vital records, but this is still only a job half done. Fingers crossed that someone up high in the Westminster government will see the wisdom in completing the job, and levelling up access to such important…

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) writes: ‘Can you help us shape our services? If you have previously served in the armed forces (or have a relative who has) with an unclaimed medal, we would like to speak to you. The MOD are working on a digital service that will issue previously unclaimed medals and we are looking for people to take part in our research. ‘A research session will last 30-45 minutes, will be held remotely and we will arrange a suitable date and time with you. We are unable to offer any monetary incentive for this research, but your feedback will help us shape the service for all users.’ To find out more, email DBSDIT-AGPFDSUserResearch@mod.gov.uk…

When I studied history at school I was introduced to the concept of sources. There were three types: Primary Source “An artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic.” Primary source, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Primary_source, accessed 2nd January 2023. Secondary Source “A document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere.” Secondary source, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Secondary_source, accessed 2nd January 2023. Tertiary Source “An index or textual consolidation of primary and secondary sources.” Tertiary source, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Tertiary_source, accessed 2nd January 2023. I forget the exact wording used by my teachers, but the versions from Wikipedia, above, are close enough to how I remember them. But when…

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) is a major website resource for family historians that offers access to more than 30 billion records, many of them specific to the UK and Ireland. In addition, the site also hosts user-submitted family trees, and the results of millions of DNA tests from users across the world, allowing us to connect with distant family members across the British and Irish diaspora. However, Ancestry is also quite a beast to get to grips with, and in this article, I will discuss some of the more useful tools and research practices to get the most from it. What’s most important on the home page? Ancestry’s home page can be quite daunting to behold, with various panels designed to try to grab your attention, such as ‘Your daily picks’, ‘Hints…

Your family photos Keith Watson writes: I regularly read Family Tree and am fascinated with the old family photos analysed in your Photo Corner. I have recently been sent copies of two old photographs from a 3rd cousin in the USA. Neither of us know who the gentleman in the single photo (No.1) is, other than it might be one of our ancestors. Although it was apparently taken by William Punderson Glaisby (1847-1919) an early York photographer, it may have been taken over to the USA when the family branch emigrated in 1883, or could have been sent later. No.2 reportedly represents my 3x great-grandparents who passed away between 1868 and 1875. I don’t hold the original photographs, so unfortunately can’t advise on the types of photo or their backing,…