Sheriff court paternity records

QMargaret Woodhall (née Smithson), born c1827 Liverpool (according to the 1851 census), was the sister of my great grandfather, James Murray Smithson, born c1835 in Edinburgh. Their father was William

Before the introduction of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales in 1837, it is the parochial registers recording the baptisms, marriages and burials of our ancestors

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

ANTHONY ADOLPH is a professional genealogist and the author of 11 books KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset NICOLA MORRIS is a genealogist based in Dublin (timeline.ie) JAYNE SHRIMPTO

One of the major reasons people take a DNA test is to find a ‘missing’ ancestor. It may be that they have no knowledge of their family due to adoption or were brought up by a single parent with no inf

A chance remark on an outing with his parents kickstarted Jim Robson’s family history journey. Little did the IT consultant, who lives in Paisley, Renfrewshire, know what an epic route it would take,