Finding our ancestors' death records

The British merchant service was renamed the Merchant Navy after World War 1 to mark the vital role its sailors played in wartime. That role continued in World War 2 as merchant ships carried troops a

An obituary is the notification of a person’s death with their brief life story. The length of an obituary varies from a few lines of summary to several hundred words, and obituaries can contain fanta

QMargaret Woodhall (née Smithson), born c1827 Liverpool (according to the 1851 census), was the sister of my great grandfather, James Murray Smithson, born c1835 in Edinburgh. Their father was William

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

To some of us, post-1945 seems like yesterday – but if you are a younger researcher, this era could encompass several generations of your ancestors. More recent research is an important part of everyo

When I was aged 10, the farmers used to come round the schools to pick volunteers to work on the farms during the summer holidays, mainly to help bring in the harvest. The country was still building u