Q & a

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

I was very interested to read Nicola Johnson’s article exploring the world of stokers in your January 2026 issue. My great grandfather, John Thomas Gray, was a stoker on the HMS Indomitable during the

What began as a simple attempt to trace my paternal grandfather online has unfolded into a web of lost marriages, mysterious deaths and unexpected headlines,” says Mike Medland. Born in 1949 in India

When Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, the Army numbered just over one million men, comprising both the regular forces and the part-time Territorial Army. The National Service (Armed

Q My maternal great great grandfather was called John Budd. The family story is that he was abandoned in an orphanage as a baby and was given his name there. Aged 11, he was said to have been turned o

Q Here is a photo (Figure 1) of my great-grandfather George Brighty Pumfrett, taken whilst he was serving as an Officer with the 17th Lancers. The image is taken from a glass plate which my father had