Dear paul

I have just read Diane Lindsay’s piece (FT June) about decluttering. That did ring a large bell. I have been doing family history for something like 65 years. I have managed to file a lot of the infor

Dear Simon, The history of Pitman shorthand told by Angeline Wilcox in the July edition of Best of British (Write on Time) evoked so many memories. I was amazed to learn that Isaac Pitman actually cre

I am writing in connection with Sarah Williams’ article “What’s in a Name” in the July issue of the magazine. My great great grandmother, Ann Rogers Wardleworth née Bell, was widowed in 1860 at the ag

Q Is it possible to have a death in a workhouse with no subsequent death certificate in 1885? I have the record from Ancestry of the death. Mary Ann Arnold born 1854, death May 1885 (maybe Mar 1885),

When I first started to trace the Tonges, my mum’s dad’s side of the family, I thought they might be a tad predictable. We didn’t know very much about them, but surely if there were any interesting ta

I must extend my huge thanks to Jon Winder for his excellent article Swings and Roundabouts (July). I am currently scribbling notes which I hope to turn into a memoir of my childhood, and one chapter