Sheriff court paternity records

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

Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) has scored a partial victory in a long-running legal battle to publish family history records that are preserved by National Records of Scotland (NRS; nrscotland.gov.uk). On

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

A collection of educational records that are of great use to family historians is exclusively available on Findmypast (findmypast. co.uk). ‘National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870–1914’ (

I’ve lived in fear of Dad’s mystery killer for decades. Now it’s their turn to be scared

This is one in a series of articles; the intention is to provide an overview of useful family and local history records in existence, covering the period 1066-1485. Each article can be enjoyed as a st