Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Family Tree UK

The cemeteries and crematorium now included at www.deceasedonline.com are: • Eastern Cemetery: over 27,000 records, from 1931 to 2000 • Hedon Road Cemetery: over 86,000 records, from 1875 to 2000 • Northern Cemetery: over 77,400 records, from 1929 to 2000 • Western Cemetery: over 98,000 records, from 1889 to 2000 • Western Old Cemetery: over 17,000 records, from 1861 to 1991 • Chanterlands Crematorium: over 135,000 records, with early records from the Hedon Road cremation site, from 1902 to 1997…

There’s a part of my tree whose branches are almost bare. Inevitably, one limb will always get left till last, though there can be many reasons why. Common surnames, repeated forenames, adoption, illegitimacy, lines that come to an abrupt halt … Or simply families that didn’t talk about the past. So, come and meet the Tonges – my mum’s dad’s side of the family – and I’ll tell you what we know, which won’t take long … First, of course, I ask my mum what she remembers about them, so this is a mixture of her recollections and childhood memories, together with a couple of my own hazy ones. Hopefully, we’ll add more as we go along. Lawrence & Lou My grandparents Lawrence Tonge and Louisa Riboldi (regular readers will…

Whenever we research our Irish ancestors we do so initially with the records surrounding their births, marriages and deaths. However, the circumstances of such events were not always straightforward, and there may be a whole range of issues that make it difficult to locate the relevant records; in some cases records were fraudulently created, whilst other circumstances may have conspired to make it difficult to locate relevant documentation. In this article I will explore the circumstances surrounding the births of some individuals, and the situations of the mothers and their children afterwards, to provide some additional context which may help with research. The lie of the land For many of our ancestors within Ireland, the most immediate pressures were those experienced within the family. Every family had its own moral…

I’m sure that I’m not the only one who occasionally takes a break from some detailed research around a particular family branch and spends a couple of hours filling in odd ‘knowledge gaps’. The majority of my 40 plus years of research has centred around the English west country (with a foray to Canada along the way) – small towns and picturesque little villages and wonderful scenery. But I do have a few connections away from the west country, so on this occasion thought that I would take a quick look online at where my early 19th century London-based maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Joseph and Mary Hatwell, had been buried. I had found the register entries many years back and never followed them up, but thought it about time just to ‘look’…

Ibegan my genealogical hobby, or rather, obsession 25 years ago… 25 years ago, genealogy was a far, far different world. 25 years later, how it’s changed! Looking back on those days of innocence, there are things that I now know that I really wish I’d known all those years ago. It would have made my life so much easier. The problem is 25 years later I’m still having to live with many decisions I made then, and the subsequent muddle. Here are six things I would tell my younger, self - borne out of experience of those 25 years. 1 Other researchers are different from you People put their trees online. They’re keen to get in touch with possible relatives, however distant, to share information. Right? Alas, no. I quickly…

Family Tree Plus is the ultimate family history community, brought to you by the team behind this magazine. The membership offers webinars, videos, a magazine archive, every new issue, and exclusive discounts and offers. Family Tree Plus webinars Members enjoy monthly webinars that dive deep into genealogy topics, techniques, and expert tips to help you uncover your family’s history. Plus, members have access to over 100 hours of on-demand video content, available anytime, anywhere, to expand your skills at your own pace! What webinars and videos are included? We offer three monthly club webinars along with at least one bonus talk – providing you with £40 worth of genealogy advice each month – that’s worth an incredible £480 per year! Each regular club webinar is recorded and added to your…

So, it turns out that reader Carolyn isn’t a descendant of King Edward VII, and reader Sherie’s grandpa wasn’t Frederick Groves Bragge. Karen Evans picks up the stories and takes a look to see what further light might be shed … Q: Just a right royal rumour Reader Carolyn Roberts writes: My great grandfather Robert Smith Grant was born in Market Drayton in 1866, the son of Elizabeth Grant, who came from a family living in Great Glen, Leicestershire. Robert’s missing father was not recorded on his birth certificate or baptism record, but I managed to establish his name by using a Y-DNA test from FamilyTree DNA, and my uncle’s DNA sample. The father was a direct male ancestor of my uncle, and his name, William Sidney Smith, is reflected…

My fascination with genealogy began quite by accident. I had never been interested in family history; I was in the process of establishing a freelance writing business, and had asked a few people I knew if they might be able to use my services. A family friend said he had a project I might be interested in, although he would understand if it wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind. He had a box of family papers, but had no idea what they contained, or when they dated from; he was keen to find out, but didn’t have the time to undertake the work himself. The big tin trunk The ‘box’ turned out to be a large metal steamer trunk, brimming with letters and business papers, most of them organised…

Exploration inspiration I read Alan Smith’s article ‘Are We Related? Modelling Ancestry and Kinship’ (FT December 2024) with interest. It covered aspects of family history I have never really considered. I was especially interested in: how do the birth places of the ancestors in our individual family trees move as we go back through the generations? I decided it would be thought provoking to look at the birth places of my direct ancestors. However, I started running out of data after about five generations! In these generations, they don’t appear to have moved far from the East Midlands. Perhaps I’m spending too much time on my One-Name Study? I should spend more time researching the wider roots of my own tree to collate more data on their movements. It would…

Astonishing new clue about the Princes in the Tower uncovered in a will Thomas More held the opinion that Sir James Tyrell was involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower. This was long dismissed as Tudor propaganda. However, evidence has recently come to light at The National Archives, Kew, which lends credence to More’s view. “I bequeath to my sonne Sir Giles his fadres Cheyne which was Yonge kynge Edward the Vth.” These are the words discovered by historian Professor Tim Thornton, which give credence to the view that James Tyrell was the man responsible for the disappearance and deaths of the Princes in the Tower. The National Archives explains: “Prof Tim Thornton from the University of Huddersfield has found a reference to a chain belonging to…

In her role as Archives Liaison Officer for the Family History Federation, Dr Sadie McMullon is tasked with ensuring family historians, and in particular members of family history societies, become increasingly aware of the ‘name rich’ projects that are taking place. The Family History Federation’s goal in appointing a dedicated Archives Liaison Officer is three-fold. Firstly, to liaise with archives for news of their current name-rich and other transcription projects of interest to the family history sector, so as to share this news with family historians. Secondly, the Family History Federation, via Sadie’s Archives Liaison role, wish to reach out to support archives who may be seeking resources to help them accomplish valuable transcription projects. The Federation’s support could take the form of volunteer recruitment, technical knowledge or funding. Thirdly,…

Newspapers offer a plethora of information to family historians; they are packed full of rich details of even the most modest of our ancestors’ lives. Think of them as the ‘Facebook’ of the day, filled with gossip, rumours and occasionally even the odd fact! For me, they are one of the most under-utilised resources, and this month we dive headlong into the stories behind the headlines, plus we have the usual mix of unusual and humorous stories that you have discovered whilst carrying out your family history research. It was reading fellow columnist David Annal’s excellent article on newspapers and their value to the family historian, in August’s edition of FT, that prompted reader Christine Chaney to look again at the newspapers, and what she discovered was a truly tragic…

Bringing historical maps into your workflow really can transform your investigations. Join me now and delve into some practical mapping methods to revitalise your genealogy! Finding a suitable map First of all, you need a suitable historical map of your ancestor’s location: think about LOCATION, ERA and SCALE. • Location: Get a specific map of your ancestor’s settlement – paper or digital is fine; • Era: Places change over time – so if we’re to gain useful insights, we want a historical map from roughly the right time period; • Scale: Local detail demands a large-scale map, showing individual buildings and other features. Where available, the 25-inch-to-the-mile Ordnance Survey (OS) series maps are an excellent option. If you’re researching UK-based ancestors during the 19th and 20th centuries, your first port…

Prior to the introduction of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales in July 1837, the responsibility for recording these key life events lay in the hands of the Established Church of England. Under the terms of Hardwicke’s Marriage Act (1753) all marriages had to take place in a parish church or chapel; only Jews and Quakers were exempt. And although there was no similar law preventing Protestant nonconformists from baptising their children in their own churches (the situation was a bit more complicated for Roman Catholics!) there was an incentive for them to have their children baptised in the Church of England, as courts of law would only accept extracts from Anglican registers as legal evidence. It wasn’t until the early 1840s as part of…

Claire Pearson asks: I would really appreciate Jayne’s interpretation of this portrait, which I think represents my 2 x great grandfather. The painting, which measures 23 x 26ins in its frame, came to me via my grandfather, Brook Donkersley, and I believe it depicts his grandfather, also called Brook Donkersley, but born Brook Boothroyd in 1851. I was never told anything about this portrait; it went straight into my parents’ loft from my grandad’s attic without my seeing it. A label on the back simply said ‘Mr. Donkersley.’ Brook was born in Honley, West Yorkshire, but moved with his wife and young family to Stocksbridge c.1883 to work as an engineer in the steelworks. About ten years later he engaged a builder to erect a pair of semi-detached houses with…

Older members of the family, and those from other branches, can be a mine of information, memories and colourful clues to the past, so don’t miss the chance to ask some useful questions. Here are ten top tips to help you: Let us help! Download our new ‘Collect Family Stories’ resource kit, detailed below, to help you think of useful questions for your relatives and get the information organised. The kit includes interview sheets, pedigree charts, ancestor fact sheets, and much more! Just register an account on the www.family-tree.co.uk website to claim your download. Be prepared Make sure your biros work, you’ve got a notebook ready, your video camera is fully charged, and the tea and biscuits are to hand… oh, and maybe some tissues too, it can be emotional!…

Ancestors look down benignly from the walls. I have my teddy bear slippers on and just at this moment all is right with my world. Except that last night, idly researching my family history in bed, rain pattering the windows, feet on a hot water bottle, cat purring nearby and husband snoring gently beside me, I came across 14-year-old Jane Anson, up before the magistrate in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, being sentenced for stealing coal from a railway siding. It was March 1880, and she was sent to prison for a month, then to a reformatory for four years, due to “her antecedents being bad.” Poor cold little Jinny. I call her Jinny because her sister Louisa was my great-grandmother and her daughter, my grandma, also called Jane, always went by the…