Breaking up was hard to do

L ooking at proceedings from the Chancery Court, which are held by The National Archives at Kew (TNA; nationalarchives. gov.uk), is like shining a torch back into people’s lives in past centuries. No

This month we start off by looking at the value of personal storytelling and the power of preserving personal memories, which was inspired by a wonderful quote from Denyse Allen, of Chronicle Makers h

Recently, at the Western Cape Archives in Cape Town, South Africa, I had to suppress my tears as I finally read the horrifying details about my late mother’s tragically cruel early childhood. Iris Ale

For many years, my existence was a true case of “Who do you think you are?” I was born in 1952, and grew up thinking that my mum’s first husband was my father. His surname was Cassidy. Mum died in 198

Richmond Palace, 22 March 1603. Elizabeth I – the self-proclaimed Virgin Queen who had ruled England for 44 years, seeing off the Armada, healing religious divisions and creating a court so magnificen

They were sisters by blood – but a cruel betrayal would part them forever