Dear paul

Exploring the tangled roots of a family tree is rarely straightforward. What begins as a search for dates and names often unravels into something far more. A bit like rummaging through an old attic –

Further to Dr Mike Esbester’s article “The Reign of the Railway” in the October issue, may I add another angle to the fascinating story of our railways and what they can tell us about family history –

“One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb,” goes the old proverb. The meaning is simple: if you are going to be punished for a small crime, you may as well commit the bigger one. In the early

Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers: From an early age, I have always loved reading and writing. My best subject at school was English to the detriment of maths, and I managed to become top

Q I can’t find any information about my great grandfather, William Smith (1871–1907), before 1893. In the 1901 census, he declares himself to be William Thompson, a “Traveller CT”, born in Scotland. H

In a John Behan bronze, collector Jacqueline O’Donovan, a child of the Irish diaspora, can sense the desperation of a starving people forced to flee their land