Q&a

Unusually, my story begins at the end with the perplexing death certificate of my great grandfather William Taylor. William died aged 71 in May 1938, in Gosport, Hampshire, and the death was registere

Exploring the tangled roots of a family tree is rarely straightforward. What begins as a search for dates and names often unravels into something far more. A bit like rummaging through an old attic –

Founded in 1123 alongside a medieval priory, St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London has provided continuous patient care on the same site for longer than any other hospital in England. Barts Health NHS T

The term ‘Merseyside’ was coined around the end of the 19th century. In the county reorganisation of 1974 it became the official name for the area that encompassed the boroughs of Birkenhead, Bootle,

Austenland – is there such a place? If so, it’s to be found in drawing rooms and parlours, not in sweeping vistas. So it’s appropriate that the Hampshire village of Chawton, Jane Austen’s home for the

Two baby boys born out of wedlock four months apart. One grew up to be Thomas Tonge, my 2x great-grandfather. The other, William Smith, sadly didn’t fare so well. Last month, when I came across the ba