Using campaign medals as a starting point for research

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

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

Thanks again for publishing the story of my rabble-rousing ‘Family Hero’, Maria Carr, in your February 2021 issue. As was mentioned in Gail Dixon’s article, a banner to commemorate the people and even

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

This portrait (the larger image) has been copied on Ancestry trees by many people. It purports to be my 2x great-grandfather, Cain Mayer (1841–1881) who was killed in a mining explosion at Chatterley