Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Who Do You Think You Are?

Although the new series of WDYTYA? was announced after we had sent our last issue to press, those who subscribe to our weekly email newsletter will have been some of the first to hear about it (sign up via our website if you haven’t already). Jodie Whittaker’s episode is testament to the power of family history, and there will be more great stories in the episodes ahead. As always, join us on Twitter and Facebook to get more from the series. Many of our contributors have worked as consultants on the show, and you will see the results of their work coming up online and in the magazine over the next few months. One example is our article on pre-NHS healthcare that ties in with Ruth Jones’ episode, which is…

Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society is appealing for volunteers to help photograph and transcribe every gravestone in the two counties. The society began its Graveyard Photographic Project in February and volunteers have already photographed 119 graveyards, or 50 per cent of the total. More volunteers are needed to photograph graves in the west, from Gatehouse of Fleet to Portpatrick. To get involved, please email photostudy@dgfhs.org.uk. Volunteers from across the globe can also take part in remote transcription of the 50,000 photographs. The transcriptions will feature in e-books, and correct and add to existing digital volumes. To find out more, email miproject@dgfhs.org.uk.…

21 October 1898 Church plunged into darkness The Leigh Chronicle and Weekly District Advertiser reported a mishap during a service at St Leonard’s Church, Newark. The gaslights were lowered for part of the service, but when the time came for them to be raised again, they were turned off altogether “owing to some mishap”. The congregation was left in darkness, but the situation was fixed, and the vicar announced the next hymn – which, by coincidence, was Hail, Gladdening Light.…

Free website familysearch.org has launched a new database of Mayflower records to mark the 400th anniversary of the ship’s departure from Plymouth to America on 16 September. The database, developed with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, combines records from Mayflower Society member applications and documented descendant family trees. The database is available at familysearch.org/ mayflower and can be searched by the name of a particular ancestor.…

At one time it was rare to find anyone who had taken a DNA test for genealogy. Now it’s rare to find a family historian who hasn’t tested. AncestryDNA (ancestry. co.uk/dna) is the testing company of choice for family history. Ancestry has the largest database with more than 18 million people tested, and you will get most of your best matches there. With the big growth in the database most people are finding that they are getting lots of good matches, sometimes with second cousins or closer, right from the outset. It is always best to focus on your top matches, which effectively means those that Ancestry predicts to be related to you as fourth to sixth cousins or closer. If your ancestry is predominantly from the UK you will…

1 Start with a known cousin. Click ‘Shared Matches’ to identify a list of the matches you share with your cousin. If you match, for example, with a second cousin, then all of your shared matches will be related to you through your mutual great grandparents. 2 Create a custom group for the list of matches you share with your known cousin, choose a colour and assign a name, such as the surnames or full names of the shared ancestral couple. You can create up to 24 groups for different ancestral lines. 3 Go back to the list of matches that you share with your known cousin. Assign the same coloured dot to everyone in the shared match list, even if they have no family tree. They are likely to…

Why can’t I find a burial record when the local registers have recently been digitised? Q I’m trying to find a death record for Nicholas Huntley born in Tewkesbury (baptised 27 March 1758) to Thomas Huntley and Sarah Wilcox. Nicholas married Hester Morris (née Holburson) on 27 November 1786 in nearby Charlton Kings. Their three children were born in Cheltenham. A newspaper article places a Nicholas Huntley in Cheltenham in 1821. His daughter Cahaziah (baptised 1788 in Cheltenham) also disappears from the records after this date. Sheila Mason A The evidence you have on Nicholas Huntley’s life so far indicates that he was living in Cheltenham during the years in which his children were born. You have noted that Cahaziah/Cheziah Huntley was baptised on 23 November 1788 in Cheltenham. The…

One of the joys of French genealogical research is that so much of it is free. Each of the 100 or so departments in the country has its own departmental archives with its own, completely free-to-use website. Some have more records than others but all have digitised and put online, at the very least, their parish and civil registrations of births or baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials (actes d’état civil); land-registry maps from the early 19th century (cadastres); census returns (recensements); historic newspapers (journaux or presse); photographs (documents iconographiques); and the military conscription lists of men of an age to fight in the First World War (matricules) accompanied by a wealth of personal archives relating to the conflict gathered during a nationwide appeal, La Grande Collecte. Among the richest…

Bobbin lacemaking was a cottage industry and was probably introduced to England in the 16th century by Flemish and Huguenot refugees. A form of lace was made in England before this, but this was a type of embroidery and not the lace we recognise today. The lacemaking refugees found their way to Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, settling in Newport Pagnell, Olney and Buckingham. Another group went to Devonshire, establishing a lace industry around Honiton. They brought with them the tools of their trade and their expertise, and bobbin lacemaking soon became well established in these areas. Bobbin lace was made on a special pillow. A predesigned pattern was attached to the pillow for the lacemaker to follow. Individual threads were wound onto small bobbins. The number of bobbins needed depended on…

There are no specific records for lacemakers. They were dispersed across many towns and villages and surviving documents vary from place to place, but individuals may be found in Poor Law records and workhouse records, which can often be accessed through local archives. The websites of local museums and history societies can be useful sources too. If your ancestor was a lace trader or lace designer, you may find them listed in a trade directory. For England and Wales, check the historical directories on the University of Leicester’s website (bit.ly/LeicsDirs). They may also be named in bankruptcy proceedings – check the free online archive of the London Gazette at thegazette.co.uk as well as notices in local newspapers via britishnewspaper archive.co.uk or findmypast.co.uk. Male forebears may be found on the 1798…

BOOKS Medals: the Researcher’s Guide William Spencer The National Archives, 2008 Spencer explains how to trace individuals and actions using record collections. Medals Yearbook 2020 John Mussell Token Publishing, 2019 This describes all British and Empire medals with the medals and their ribbons illustrated in colour, together with estimated values. MUSEUMS IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM a Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ t 0207 416 5000 w iwm.org.uk IWM London has the largest collection of Victoria Crosses in the world. REGIMENTAL MUSEUMS w armymuseums.org.uk/ museum-directory Many regimental museums have significant collections of gallantry medals, which are normally on display. WEBSITE THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES w nationalarchives.gov.uk TNA’s site is an unmissable source of information and digitised records, including recommendations for awards from about 1943 onwards which can be downloaded at bit.ly/tna-recommendations .…

BOOKS Medical Services and the Hospital in Britain, 1860–1939 Steven Cherry Cambridge University Press, 1996 Cherry offers a concise overview of healthcare before the NHS. Working-Class Patients and the Medical Establishment David G Green Maurice Temple Smith, 1985 This study outlines the ways that people gained access to doctors. LOCAL RECORD OFFICES Doctors’ practices, friendly societies, voluntary hospitals, medical-aid organisations and hospital contributory schemes all kept detailed records. Many are available in record offices. MUSEUMS DINORWIC QUARRY HOSPITAL a Llanberis, Caernarfon LL55 4TY e padarncountrypark@ gwynedd.gov.uk w bit.ly/dinorwic This museum offers insight into the medical care provided to a particular industrial community. THE WELLCOME COLLECTION a 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE t 020 7611 2222 w wellcomecollection.org Discover exhibitions, online resources and archives devoted to the history of medicine.…

Rosemary Collins highlights three digital resources that caught our eye this month PODCAST UNTOLD BATTLE OF BRITAIN bit.ly/tna-untold-bob Free In this collaborative podcast, released to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Vicky Iglikowski-Broad from The National Archives, Mandy Singleton from the Royal Air Force and Lucia Wallbank from the RAF Museum share stories of the forgotten individuals who contributed to the battle. VIDEO GLOUCESTER HISTORY FESTIVAL gloucesterhistoryfestival. co.uk/family-history Free This series of videos from Gloucester History Festival is a perfect way to expand your family history knowledge from home. They include Who Do You Think You Are? genealogist Dr Nick Barratt discussing the future of family history and how to start your tree, and a series of short films about Gloucestershire history. DOWNLOAD BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1844 PIGOT'S DIRECTORY…

DEBBIE KENNETT Debbie is well known on the family history circuit for her talks on DNA. She has also written a lot on the subject, and on page 19 shares her advice for getting more from an Ancestry test. JAYNE SHRIMPTON Jayne has consulted on previous series of WDYTYA? but this is the first in which she will appear. Look out for her in Ruth Jones’ episode, and pick up some of her tips on page 28. DR STEVE THOMPSON When you watch Ruth Jones’ episode, also look out for Steve who will be explaining the background to her grandfather’s medical role. You can read more about it on page 72.…

Findmypast launches private-messaging feature Family history website findmypast. co.uk has introduced a private messaging feature similar to those offered by other genealogy subscription services. The feature enables subscribers who receive a tree-to-tree hint to privately message the owner of that tree. All Findmypast users now have an inbox, but you will need to have a paying account or take out a free trial subscription to initiate contact. Findmypast said the change was in response to requests from users. Reading University gets a ‘Virtual Reading Room’ The University of Reading has announced a Virtual Reading Room to increase free access to its archives during the ongoing coronavirus lockdowns. The Reading Room (vrr. reading.ac.uk) provides galleries of images for everyone to explore. There are also high-quality digital versions of books and documents,…

Proposals to close London’s Guildhall Library to the public and merge its services with those of the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) have been halted by the City of London Corporation. At a meeting on 21 September the Corporation’s Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee declined to approve the proposals to make the Guildhall Library’s archives accessible via the LMA’s site in Clerkenwell from 1 April 2021. The proposals received criticism on social media, with Ian Anstice, who runs the Public Library News website (publiclibrariesnews.com) and Twitter account (twitter.com/publiclibnews), accusing the corporation of trying to close the Guildhall Library “with no consultation and just one (remote) public meeting”. A spokesperson for the corporation commented that officers will now “consult widely and work up more detailed plans to be brought back to committee…

AncestryDNA (ancestry.co.uk/ dna) updated its customers’ test results with new ethnicity estimates on 11 September. Instead of two DNA populations for the whole of the UK and Ireland, the company now has four: England & Northwestern Europe, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This led to many UK users seeing changes in their DNA results, including increased Scottish and Irish DNA, and some criticism on social media. Genetic-genealogy expert Debbie Kennett told WDYTYA? Magazine: “I think it’s a good move that they’re trying to separate out the four different countries of the UK, but it seems to me that there needs to be a bit more work on this. I suspect there may be limitations with the reference panels they’re using.” She advised customers to look at the range given for each…

Recently I’ve been doing some research and analysis relating to surnames. In England, surnames became hereditary in the 13th or 14th centuries. The ‘fixing’ of a name – so that it passed on to the next generation – was initially found in the South and Midlands, and by the mid-14th century the trend had reached northern counties. Before that time a man called, let’s say, John the Carpenter would actually have worked as a carpenter, but he might have been the son of Thomas the Weaver. In other words, there was no transmissible surname in the sense that we understand the concept today – people were known by personal labels that related to their trade, parentage (Williamson), place of origin (Singleton), or physical characteristics (Redhead). In early medieval lists of…

ANCESTRY ACADEMY w ancestryacademy.com/ understanding-dna View presentations for tips and tricks on using your DNA results and understanding the science. ANCESTRY’S APP w bit.ly/app-store-anc w bit.ly/play-store-anc Download the Ancestry app from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store so that you can access your family tree, your matches and your ethnicity estimate on your mobile device. It’s useful to have the results to hand when visiting friends and relatives. Perhaps seeing your results might tempt them to test! ANCESTRY’S BLOG w blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/ category/dna The blog has useful educational material, although less content has been published recently. ANCESTRY SUPPORT CENTRE w support.ancestry.co.uk/s/ ancestrydna The DNA section has lots of useful articles and explanations, and is searchable by keyword. Its content is updated regularly. ANCESTRY’S WHITE PAPER ON DNA MATCHING w…

‘The NZEF were thrown into the firing line when they waded ashore’ A bleak windswept churchyard overlooking a blustery coastline on a small Scottish island contains a lichen-spotted headstone erected by a son in loving memory of his mother. A century and a half later, England-based New Zealander and direct descendant Bo Harris (née Law) came to this remote spot, ran her fingers over the headstone’s lettering and watched the waves crash on the shore below on her journey to reclaim her ancestors. Along the way, she found heroes, pioneers and a victim of a modern-day plague – and even took to the sea herself. Bo first came to England in 1979. To gain a work permit, she had to prove that she had UK ancestors. Her research triggered an…

‘For some researchers, the process became an emotional experience’ Almost every town and village in Britain has war memorials commemorating the local men who were killed in the service of their country, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Many family and local historians have researched the stories behind the names, but Ryedale Family History Group (RFHG) in North Yorkshire has taken its research a step further. Earlier this year, the group published its 20th book about the stories behind local war memorials, this one focusing on the memorials in Gate Helmsley, Upper Helmsley and Warthill. The series of books began in 2010, with a £47,400 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (now the National Lottery Heritage Fund), as part of an RFHG project called ‘Looking Back But Moving…

ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk/search/places/europe/france Ancestry has many French records, including records from Allier, Alpes-Maritimes, Alsace-Lorraine, Marne, Oise, Paris and Saone-et-Loire. ARCHIVES NATIONALES w archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr The website of the national archive has various online tools to help you identify the documents you are searching for. Some databases/records are accessible directly via the online catalogue. EUROPEANA w europeana.eu Find books, documents, newspapers, artworks and oral histories from collections across Europe. FRANCE GENWEB w francegenweb.org View links to many important genealogical sites, including the departmental archives, as well as online research tools such as glossaries, gazetteers and republican-calendar converters. THE FRENCH HOSPITAL w frenchhospital.org.uk The French Hospital was founded in 1718 to provide care for poor Huguenot refugees. GENEANET w en.geneanet.org This thriving website has elements of both familysearch.org and genuki.org.uk, with a detailed…

1 AGE WHEN BOUND This will enable you to calculate an ancestor’s year of birth. Most were 14–18 years old. 2 NAME OF PERSON TO WHOM BOUND This is the name of the apprentice’s master. Sometimes an individual captain is named; at other times it’s a shipping line – for example, Donald Currie & Co. 3 CAUSE OF DEATH This is given for apprentices who died before they completed their training. The unfortunate Joseph Shaw died when his ship Cecilia sank. 4 REMARKS “Fishing” means that your ancestor has joined the fishing industry, opening up potentially new lines of research. 5 DESERTERS Apprentices who ran away are marked “deserted” or “des”, and their last ship is usually named. Henry Stump absconded from the Coronilla . 6 CANCELLED APPRENTICESHIPS These are…

£40,000 The total spent on importing thread for the Buckinghamshire lace industry in 1780 1871 The year a bobbin was made to commemorate the hanging of William Bull for the murder of Sarah Marshall 10,000 Number of yards of lace among the stock of bankrupt lace trader James Marriott sold by auction in 1791 Tanders A half-day holiday for lacemakers held on 30 November, the feast day of St Andrew, the patron saint of Midlands lacemakers…

Timelines are a great way to present your family history, and Tiki-Toki makes it easy to share your photos and research on an entertaining and informative timeline that anyone can view over the internet. We’re focusing on the web-based version of Tiki-Toki in this tutorial, but paid-for apps exist for both Macs and Chromebooks too. The free version of Tiki-Toki allows you to create one timeline, and doesn’t allow you to upload any photos directly; instead, you must store them on another site and link to the photos. We recommend signing up for a free account at imgbb (imgbb.com), and uploading your photos to an album set to ‘Private (anyone with the link)’. After uploading, roll your mouse over a photo in imgbb to reveal a series of icons –…

Theodore Veale from Dartmouth, a 23-year-old private in the Devonshire Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) in September 1916 for rescuing a wounded officer at the Somme. The citation in the London Gazette reads: “As he could not carry the officer by himself, he fetched volunteers, one of whom was killed almost at once, and heavy fire necessitated leaving the wounded man in a shell hole until dusk when Private Veale went out again with volunteers. When an enemy patrol approached, he went back for a Lewis gun with which he covered the party while the officer was carried to safety.” Writing to his mother later, Veale remembered that: “We tried to pull [Lieutenant] Savill back. We got about 80 yards, and then had to rest. The corporal stood…

Our visit to East Sussex coincides with the national mood going in two directions – cautious optimism that we are over the worst, clashing with autumnal anxiety of a potential second wave amid retightening social restrictions. With all this in mind, it’s worth emphasising that family historians should check that any museum, library or record office they intend to visit is open for business before setting off, and make allowances for booking an appointment in advance and longer-than-usual response times to online queries. We caught up with Brighton and Hove archivist Andrew Bennett, who reports that staff at The Keep – the home of the East Sussex Record Office collection, the city’s local-history and museum collections, and the University of Sussex’s Special Collections – were kept very busy throughout lockdown.…

You have an incredible treasure trove of family recipes, photographs and drawings. How did you go from finding the collection to publishing it in your book? It all began with two beautiful watercolour albums, which were started by my 4x great grandmother and belonged to my grandmother in New Zealand. Then when Mum died in 2007, in the roof of her house I found a box containing her family’s recipes, contributed by my 3x great grandmother, my great great grandmother and my great grandmother in India where they were born. This business of the family and India and Scotland sort of sowed a little seed in my mind, but I didn’t know how to develop it into anything that would be a cohesive, interesting, flowing book. It’s taken a long…

1901 CENSUS John Walter was born out of wedlock in 1894, the son of Elizabeth Clements. Elizabeth married in 1897, but we found John Walter living with his maternal grandmother Sophia Smith in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, in 1901, rather than with Elizabeth. Census returns are available on all of the major genealogical websites. Members of ancestry. co.uk can view John Walter’s census entry at bit.ly/ anc-1901-johnwalter-clements . MEDAL INDEX CARD John Walter’s First World War service record was among those destroyed by a fire in London in 1940, but his MIC lists the medals he was entitled to for his service during the conflict. The card is available on Ancestry at bit.ly/anc-mic-jwc. COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES BURIAL RECORD John died during the war at the young age of 24. Jodie was able…

NORTH NOT SOUTH I was very pleased when we received the September issue of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine to see an ‘Ancestors at Work’ article about Scottish fisher girls. I am a trustee at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre on North Shields Fish Quay, and have done some research on the subject. I was looking forward to getting some new links. But what a shock when I saw that South Shields had been identified as the stopping port in pursuit of the ‘Silver Darlings’, rather than North Shields. These are two distinct towns separated by the River Tyne and hundreds of years of rivalry. The herring girls are a famous and colourful strand of our local history. There are still local connections in the community today.…

The world’s largest DNA sequencing of Viking skeletons has revealed that many popular ideas about them are wrong – and that they weren’t all Scandinavian. A team of international academics sequenced the whole genomes of 442 skeletons of men, women, children and babies found in Viking cemeteries in Greenland, Ukraine, the UK, Poland, Scandinavia and Russia. They found that Viking identity was not limited to people with Scandinavian ancestry. Instead, the genetic history of Scandinavia was influenced by genes from Asia and Southern Europe before the Viking Age. Some people with Pictish heritage also adopted the Viking lifestyle. Prof Eske Willerslev of Cambridge University, the leader of the six-year project, said, “This study changes the perception of who a Viking actually was.” The study also found genetic differences between different…

ONLINE DEVON FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Various dates e virtualtalks@devonfhs.org.uk w bit.ly/devonfhs-events This month’s talks from Devon Family History Society cover subjects including ‘Researching a West Devon Parish’ and ‘Exeter Cathedral Yard Fire and Exeter’s Ancient Buildings’. Free. INSTITUTE OF HERALDIC AND GENEALOGICAL STUDIES Various dates e registrar@ihgs.ac.uk w bit.ly/ihgs-zoom-tutorials The institute’s tutorials are delivered via Zoom and include such topics as the origins of surnames, manorial records, and records of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. £10 each. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES Various dates t 020 8876 3444 w nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/ visit-us/whats-on/events Don’t miss webinars from The National Archives in Kew on using TNA’s online catalogue Discovery (10 November) and finding records of railway workers (17 November). Plus, there will be online talks on Black History Month and a 17th-century witch hunt…

FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES w familyhistoryfederation.com/ societies-az w safhs.org.uk Regional family history societies can be invaluable. Many hold local records that members can access for free, and can give lots of advice on the local area. Find out more on the websites of the Family History Federation and the Scottish Association of Family History Societies. HOCKEN HERITAGE COLLECTION w bit.ly/hocken-heritage Housed at the University of Otago, the collection includes wills, church records, school records, deeds, and many documents relating to the region’s early settlers. PAPERS PAST w paperspast.natlib.govt.nz This fascinating collection of New Zealand’s newspapers, magazines, journals, letters and other printed material is hosted by the National Library’s website. It’s free to search, and is well worth an afternoon’s perusal.…

Did my convict ancestor stay in Australia, or return to the UK? Q My ancestor Thomas Stubbs was found guilty of theft in 1840 and transported to Botany Bay for 10 years. I have established that he was on board the Eden , which sailed in July that year. Recently, I discovered that he was granted a Ticket of Leave Passport on 16 July 1849 on the recommendation of the commissioner of crown lands, Darling Downs in Queensland. Can you please advise how I might be able to discover what happened after that? Did Thomas Stubbs stay in Australia, or return to the UK? If he stayed, did he die there and how would that be registered? Barry Hawkes A It can be difficult to trace a convict once their…

In the classic 1949 Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore!, the people of a remote Scottish island are delighted when a ship full of whisky is wrecked on their shores – and they steal the cargo, against a backdrop of tax regulations and Second World War privation. The film is based on a novel by author Compton Mackenzie – and a letter held in Gwent Archives reveals the real-life incident that inspired the story, as education and outreach archivist Rhiannon Phillips explains. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE LETTER TO OUR READERS? The letter is part of a collection of correspondence between the writer Compton Mackenzie and Mrs Syssyllt Avis Gurney. She was the daughter of Frederic George Morgan, the 5th Baron Tredegar, and Dorothy Syssyllt Bassett. Compton Mackenzie and Avis Gurney formed…

BOOK Tracing Your Merchant Navy Ancestors Simon Wills Pen & Sword, 2012 Learn how to explore the lives of forebears in the Merchant Navy at every stage of their careers. MUSEUMS MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM a Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AQ t 0151 478 4499 w bit.ly/mersey-maritime Find out about Merchant Navy seafaring and the port of Liverpool. The museum also has an associated archive. NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM a Greenwich, London SE10 9NF t 020 8312 6608 w rmg.co.uk Uncover maritime history in art, maps, artefacts and displays, and step aboard the Cutty Sark. NMM has extensive archives too.…

BOOKS Lace Villages Liz Bartlett Arima Publishing, 2006 Bartlett discusses the various villages in the East Midlands that were crucial to the development of bobbin lace. The Romance of the Lace Pillow Thomas Wright HH Armstrong, 1919 This history of the bobbin-lace industry is available for free from the Internet Archive (archive.org) at bit.ly/arch-lace-pillow . WEBSITE LACE IN CONTEXT w laceincontext.com Run by Oxford University, this website includes an interesting set of articles on different European-wide aspects of the history of lacemaking.…

THE LONDON GAZETTE w thegazette.co.uk All awards of gallantry medals will be recorded in the London Gazette . Note that the search engine can be somewhat temperamental. WIKIPEDIA w en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_awards_ and_decorations_of_the_United_Kingdom Detailed and informative descriptions of each gallantry medal can be found on Wikipedia. AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH MEDALS w petergh.f2s.com/medals.htm Peter Ghiringhelli’s website offers a very useful overview of British gallantry awards, orders, decorations and campaign ribbons.…

The spring national lockdown was a unique time, and many of us found escapism in our favourite hobby. Deborah Flint was no exception, and she decided to explore a longtime mystery centred on a photo taken over 100 years ago. MY BRICK WALL I have always been captivated by a picture of my grandfather Captain John Cecil Timbey (known as Cecil) dating from the First World War. It was sent from France “with love” to his sister Elsie. Mum was only nine years old when he passed away, and – at the age of 87 – remembers little about him, apart from the fact that he was a hard-working man who loved spending time with his family. Pictured with Cecil are two men in uniform, identified only as “Capt Howett”…

The mixed economy of care that existed before 1948 is illustrated by the career of Henry Richard Jones, grandfather of actor and writer Ruth Jones who appears in Who Do You Think You Are? on 2 November. In 1926, Henry was appointed secretary of the Neath and District Medical Aid Society, an organisation that provided GPs and other services to its members in South Wales. In the same year, he became a local representative on the hospital contributory scheme at the largest voluntary hospital in the region, the Swansea General Hospital and Eye Infirmary. From 1926, he served on the hospital’s Board of Management and various of its committees, dedicating more time to the development of health services. Henry lost his employment in 1948 when the NHS was founded, but…

1066 The Battle of Hastings, which took place about seven miles north-west of Hastings, ends in a Norman victory. 1753 Lewes physician Richard Russell moves to Brighton. His enthusiasm for seawater bathing helps to promote the town as a seaside resort. 1768 Political activist Thomas Paine moves into a house in Bull Lane, Lewes. His 1791 book Rights of Man proves a great influence on the American Revolution. 1839 Sussex County Cricket Club, the oldest first-class county club, is founded. It wins its first County Championship in 2003. 1850 The British Government sells Brighton Pavilion, built as a pleasure palace for George IV, to the town for £53,000. 1862 After four years of digging in dire conditions, Woodingdean Well finally reaches water. At a staggering 1,285 feet, it is the…

BONIFACE This surname appears across East and West Sussex in the 1881 census, particularly around Brighton and Eastbourne. BOTTING The patronymic from Bott is most common in south-east England. BURTENSHAW About 60 per cent of all of the Burtenshaws recorded in the 1891 census were living in Sussex. CHATFIELD This habitational name derives from Chatfields in (West) Sussex. FUNNELL In the surname dictionary Patronymica Britannica (1860), Mark Lower argues that this East Sussex name might be a corruption of Fontenelle, in Normandy. GANDER This might be an occupational name for a keeper of geese, or a nickname for someone resembling the bird. HOBDEN Regular hotspots in the census include Heathfield, Herstmonceux and Keymer. PACKHAM This habitational name is thought to come from either Pagham in Sussex or Pakenham in Suffolk.…

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? From Monday 12 October, 9pm BBC One and BBC iPlayer Well, this is an unexpected but very welcome surprise. Earlier this year, with the coronavirus pandemic playing havoc with filming schedules, there were fears that we wouldn’t see any new episodes of WDYTYA? until 2021. Instead, just as we went to press, it was announced that the first four shows of Series 17 will air this autumn. The series kicks off with Jodie Whittaker, star of Doctor Who and Broadchurch, who has romantic ideas about how her paternal grandmother, Greta, came to have the middle name of Verdun, famed as the site of the longest battle of the First World War. Except, as so often happens with WDYTYA?, the story Jodie finds isn’t quite…

Victor Nutt remembers visiting his gran, Sarah Wilmot, in New Eltham, South-East London, and watching her cooking up mash for the chickens. He can also see his dad and grandad playing cribbage at the dining-room table. It’s a cosy picture of 1950s life, and there is little to hint at the struggles Sarah (née Manning) had to overcome from the earliest age. “Gran was born on 11 March 1884, in Bermondsey, London,” Victor says. “Her mother was Annie Zilpah Manning. She was aged just 15 at the time and was unmarried.” Annie was just a child herself, but like so many Victorians, she had to grow up quickly. “She was born in 1868 in Bermondsey to a carpenter Joseph Manning and his wife Sarah Rogers. At the age of 12,…