Q & a

All family historians hit brick walls, and this is the story of the techniques (and luck) that enabled me to overcome a tough challenge. My 3x great grandfather Thomas Hoskin lived on the beautiful Go

Like most family historians, I often encounter questions about migration, both within this country and overseas. My tree demonstrates that the claim we still hear often, that “Of course in those days

This part of Scotland has historically been famous for agriculture and its associated trades – in particular skinners, dyers, shoemakers and glovemakers. But over the years a number of major manufactu

Q I can’t find any information about my great grandfather, William Smith (1871–1907), before 1893. In the 1901 census, he declares himself to be William Thompson, a “Traveller CT”, born in Scotland. H

Mary Wade stood trial at the Old Bailey in 1789 for stealing a few items of clothing. She was only 10 years old, but London’s central criminal court condemned her to hang. Her sentence was commuted to

Thanks to the old Sherlock Holmes films that we used to watch on TV every week after the children’s programme Crackerjack had finished, I have known about my family’s “Hollywood relative” since my chi