Family wills

Northumberland Archives (northumberland archives.com), which is headquartered in Ashington with a branch in Berwick-upon-Tweed, holds rich collections for family historians researching this coastal co

After the hearth tax on fireplaces ended in 1689, the Government sought a replacement. Further driven by financial losses from coin clipping, which saw criminals shave metal from coins to melt it down

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

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

Picture the scene: a former NHS chef ‘Clem’ Clements is celebrating his 98th birthday, sitting in his front room surrounded by his medications, an oxygen mask and a discreet tape recorder. He is recal

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