St Just in Roseland is often called one of the most beautiful churches in Cornwall. Nestled by the water and surrounded by subtropical plants, its churchyard tells a story of repeating family names and epitaphs that speak across centuries. This post marks the beginning of a new series exploring the history and atmosphere of local churches.
When researching family history, you sometimes come across surprises that make you stop and double-check the records. One such moment came when I realized that a couple in my family tree—John Lee (1805–1853) and Margaret Maddocks (1804–1883)—were not just husband and wife, but also first cousins. This discovery was one of those classic genealogy research […]
Born in Shropshire in 1699, Mary Wiggin married in Fleet Prison—a centre of clandestine marriages in 18th-century London. Her story links rural parish records, legal drama, and her brother’s life in Exchange Alley.
The fire that gutted St Chad’s Church in Hanmer in 1889 didn’t just destroy a historic building—it took with it generations of parish records. For family historians, it created a frustrating and permanent gap in the historical record.
