I am a Connector! What’s a connector? Isn’t that a bit of pipe that connects one bit of pipe to another bit of pipe? Yes, it could be. But what I do is to connect the present to the past. . . . I’m a Genealogist. Last week I was talking to an old colleague
The theme for International Women’s Day 2023 is #EmbraceEquity This year, I thought I would indulge myself and write about some of the women who helped to shape my life and who, in their own ways, may have contributed to the equity woman enjoy today. The first photo is of my Great Grandmother, Lilian Fisher.
Having listened to me go on about the importance of newspapers as a source for family history my friend issued me with a challenge. “Find out as much as you can, about a family, from a newspaper article”. Challenge accepted! I decided to look for something in Surrey and, using the British Newspaper Archives, typed the
Family history research can sometimes be a little like unraveling a ball of wool; you never know what you will find among the twists and turns. I like it like that. I like to go beyond names and dates and find out what was happening in the world so that I can try to put
Always read every bit of information in a Parish Register. You never know what you will find. Here I take you through a brief history of Parish Registers before showing you how a little side-note demolished my brick wall. Parish Registers Before civil registration started in 1837, life events of our ancestors were recorded in
Where your most recent ancestors lived isn’t necessarily where they started. This is the story of a family whose ancestry was firmly in Portsmouth back to the early 1800s but whose roots were in Surrey. Our family is the Blandford family; a family with a long military history. From James Moorsom Ernest Blandford who served
It was sad to read in ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ that Archives wouldn’t reopen until ‘September at the earliest’ – I miss my trips to the archives and the people I meet, and cannot wait for them to open again – safely of course. I have loved libraries, bookshops, and museums for more
Sir Joseph Mawbey, Bart. (1730 – 1798) Joseph Mawbey was born on 2 December 1730, the fourth son and youngest child of John Mawbey and his first wife Martha Pratt. He came to Surrey with his uncle, Joseph Pratt, the owner of a distillery at Vauxhall. Joseph joined the business aged 17. Joseph Pratt died
Victory in Europe Day — Hythefield Avenue My parents were both born during the Second World War. In fact, my Dad is just a toddler in this photo, taken on 8th May 1945 in Hythefield Avenue, Egham, Surrey. My mother was only 3 months old. Their memories stretch back as far as rationing,
I was born on 4th May, usually a spring like day, sometimes wintery and associated with lambs and other baby animals. But since George Lucas launched the Star Wars movies in the 1970s it is now more affectionately known as ‘Star Wars day’; with ‘May the Fourth be with you’ being a common birthday greeting.
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