‘guild records led to a breakthrough’

Many, many years ago – nearly 60, to be exact – I began to research my family tree. These were the olden days, long before the internet was even a twinkle in a scientist’s eye. My grandfather was able

Unusually, my story begins at the end with the perplexing death certificate of my great grandfather William Taylor. William died aged 71 in May 1938, in Gosport, Hampshire, and the death was registere

Q I have a query about my ancestor Henry Clark born in 1893 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He emigrated to the US in 1922, leaving Liverpool on 10 November 1922 and arriving in Montreal Canada, then he heade

Family history research can, as we know, take us down many paths with surprising outcomes but I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that it would result in my cousin and I standing on a foot

There are many occupations described in historical documents or censuses that almost no one is gainfully employed doing any more. People my age may remember certain jobs that have gone by the wayside.

An old man lives at the bottom of my garden. His name is Robert Barkus, or Bakehouse, or Bagust. Nobody is quite sure. But I often sense him around when I’m gardening, and I’ve found out a fair bit ab