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

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

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

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

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

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