The life of a 19th century soldier

KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset REBECCA PROBERT is professor of law at the University of Exeter STEVE THOMAS is a genealogist with over 20 years’ experience PHIL TOMASELLI is a mi

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.

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

On a frosty New Year’s Day in 1944, a young soldier from Newcastle married the love of his life with barely four hours to spare. My father, Corporal George Bell, a conscript with the Royal Electrical

Back we go to the 1830s and beyond; the dark but exciting days of no censuses, no civil registration and no guarantees of what, if anything, you might find. But the challenge of tracking down William

Just where did all the weird ghosts go is a question that has been posed in Fortean Times. One answer might be Wales. Ghost hunter John Harries declared, “In order to meet a Welsh ghost one really nee