General posts about research, records, or tips
Two Welsh-speaking children born illegitimate in rural Denbighshire, only twelve miles apart. Did they meet in the countryside or later in Wrexham? The story of Francis Owens Hughes and Mary Elizabeth Roberts spans farms, collieries, Canada, tragedy at Gresford, and a pocket watch that survived when its owner did not.
A thirteen-year-old boy in the 1881 census appears in the Oswestry workhouse at Morda, while his siblings were placed elsewhere. His story, and a visit to Llanfyllin, reveal how close this history really is.
Census records offer one of the richest windows into the lives of our ancestors. Taken every ten years, they reveal households, occupations, and changing family lives across generations. This article explores what the UK censuses from 1841 to 1921 can tell us, and how a single return can help bring family history to life.
When I first started my family tree, I thought I was being careful—until I trusted a well-researched tree that quietly sent an entire branch in the wrong direction. Two first cousins, the same name, the same birth year, and the same village.
Read the blog to see how I untangled it—and what I learned along the way.
A practical introduction to family history research, focused on taking the first step, where to begin, and how to start building your family story step by step.
A reflective post about the role AI tools can play in family history research. Used thoughtfully, they can help us plan next steps, explore historical context, organise notes, and shape family stories. They don’t replace original records or careful research — but they can offer guidance, inspiration, and a fresh way of thinking along the research journey.
Born exactly one hundred years apart, my great-grandfather John Hinton and I entered two very different worlds. By setting his life alongside mine — from Victorian farm service to nurse training, from the Suez Canal to the Moon landing — this story explores how much changed between 1865 and 1965, and how much quietly stayed the same.
Some parish registers offer little more than names and dates. Others, very occasionally, tell stories so vivid they feel almost intrusive. The burial register for Prees, Shropshire (1782–1799) records causes of death, burial locations within the churchyard, and — unusually — family relationships, even for adults. Together, they reveal lives, losses, and clerical honesty rarely preserved for this period.
A long-standing family mystery about my mum’s great-aunt, Martha Parry, and the twin daughters she gave up during the First World War seemed impossible to solve. It was only when I turned to a Facebook genealogy group that the pieces finally came together, proving that collective knowledge can break down even the strongest brick walls.
A troubled figure from Hanmer, Haughton Hinton was sentenced to transportation for horse theft in 1822. His journey from the English borderlands to Van Diemen’s Land reveals the harsh realities of convict life in 19th-century Australia.
