Unhappy beginnings illegitimate children in the parish records

Nine-year-old future star of the silent screen Charlie Chaplin, his mother Hannah, and older half-brother Sydney entered the Lambeth workhouse, south London, in July 1898. The boys were soon transferr

Q My ancestor, Charles Hayes, was born on 6 October 1700 in Harrow on the Hill to Charles Hayes and Ann Ewster. He attended University College Cambridge and, described as “one of the Gentlemen of the

Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials are essential for tracing ancestors before civil registration began (1837 in England and Wales, 1855 in Scotland, and 1864 in Ireland). This month we’re on

In 1939, at the start of the Second World War, the government planned to evacuate 1.5 million civilians, mostly school children, mothers and other vulnerable people, from cities at risk of bombing to

Q My maternal great great grandfather was called John Budd. The family story is that he was abandoned in an orphanage as a baby and was given his name there. Aged 11, he was said to have been turned o

I was very interested to read Nicola Johnson’s article exploring the world of stokers in your January 2026 issue. My great grandfather, John Thomas Gray, was a stoker on the HMS Indomitable during the