Breaking up was hard to do

As regular readers of this column will know, unusual anomalies in birth, marriage, and death records are far from uncommon. What they do offer, however, is the opportunity to dig a little deeper into

It’s the pub-quiz question that no one would ever get right. Which medieval nation permitted no-blame divorce, provided a form of consumer protection, and offered illegitimate children the same inheri

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

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

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

My February issue of HistoryExtra magazine arrived today and I was fascinated to see the cover image informing readers of “Lucy Worsley’s hunt for a London serial killer”. The image (below) itself see