Lives on the ocean waves tracing your mariner ancestors before 1914

On 21 October 1805, smoke filled the skies over the seas west of Cape Trafalgar, a headland in the Province of Cádiz in the southwest of Spain, as a fierce battle raged. After nearly five hours of int

Crime has always been popular with family historians. We all love a rogue (up to a point, anyway), and finding out you’re related to one can lead to some interesting avenues of research. The more seri

We ended last month looking at the soldier’s pocket books of the 19th century. Sadly very few of these documents survive. They are NOT included in any Army papers that have been stored over the years.

I remember, many years ago, a potential client making a very specific request. They wanted me to research their family but they were only interested in the direct male line. ‘I don’t want to know abou

Britain’s libraries and institutions are being called on ...

Most of us have unfortunate brick walls in our family trees – those frustrating relations who seem to have appeared into the world as if from nowhere. Perhaps a person does not feature in the baptism