Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Family Tree UK

‘With the publication of Ramsbury Parish in December 2024, Wiltshire Family History Society has completed the transcription and publication of all Wiltshire parish register and Bishop’s Transcript baptisms and burials!’ writes Jenny Pope. The 37-year transcription project started in 1987 and saw volunteers working on the records for 302 parishes. ‘We have transcribed, checked and published them. The results are available in print, on CD or pdf download. We have also linked with Nimrod Research to include Wiltshire marriages and published these in groups of parishes on CD or pdf download,’ continues Jenny Pope. www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk If your society has project news to share, please email helen.t@family-tree.co.uk with details.…

Of particular interest to family historians and researchers, the development of the RAF Museum will include a new purpose-built 4,000m² Collections Hub. This will enable the Museum’s stored collection to be brought on site and opened to the public for the first time, providing opportunities for research, conservation, activities, talks and tours. Currently the RAF Museum’s reserve collections comprise about 55,000 items, to which there is no easy public access. The Hub will be built adjacent to the existing Michael Beetham Conservation Centre, where a team of Museum technicians, apprentices and over 50 volunteers use historic engineering and technical skills to look after the objects, vital for aircraft conservation. The news of the £650K Wolfson Foundation grant is part of a £28 million development in progress for the RAF Museum…

Just about everyone can say that they have a military person somewhere in their tree, and, if they say they haven’t, it’s because they are yet to find them! A military person can be anything from ‘Pressed Men’ in the Royal Navy, or via the local county Militia and Yeomanry, right through to the Home Guard of the Second World War, the National Servicemen of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, and the women who served in the ATS, WRNS and WAAF for instance. My series of articles will help you on your way with some insights into researching - and correctly identifying - your military ancestors, in old photographs and records to learn more about their time in the Armed forces and support services. How to get started But…

Some years ago the surname ECHALAZ appeared on the radar; it is unusual and sounds distinctly “not English” – sufficiently so to send me off down a rabbit hole! The surname belonged to two parish clergy – Theodore Augustus at Austrey, Warwickshire and John Manuel at Appleby, Leicestershire where some of my forebears touched down for a time. The two parishes are geographically adjacent but ecclesiastically distant as they are in different dioceses. But it was the surname that caught my attention. Who were these two and what were their origins? The early censuses showed they were born in the London area. Curiosity led to a convoluted family reconstitution not helped by regular misunderstanding of ECHALAZ making it appear with a myriad of variations and plain oddities on transcripts and…

Preserving family history The Halsted Trust is a registered charity dedicated to promoting and advancing the study of genealogy and family history. Funded by a generous gift from the family of Mr Raymond Lewis-Jones who carried out extensive research into the surnames Halsted and Halstead during his lifetime, the Trust, established in 2001, continues this One-Name Study and DNA projects relating to the surname. Latterly, the Trust supports educational initiatives, research projects, and events that encourage family historians to explore their past. It is also a grant-giving body supporting these fields. This immersive, residential event promises a weekend of discovery, discussion, and camaraderie for genealogists of all levels By organising conferences such as the forthcoming “Secrets & Lies” event, the Halsted Trust brings together experts and enthusiasts to share knowledge,…

On the evening of 3 May 1878, at 8pm precisely, Isabella Carrie was born. She arrived 30 minutes after her twin sister, Ann Smith Carrie. The twins were born at Wardmill Road in St. Vigeans, Arbroath, into a family deeply rooted in the local textile industry. Their father, Richard Carrie, worked as a bleachfield worker, a key role in the textile production process. Bleachfield workers were responsible for bleaching textiles, primarily linen, by spreading cloth on open fields, known as bleachfields, to be whitened by sunlight and treated with various chemicals. This challenging work was essential before the advent of modern bleaching techniques. Richard and Ann, Isabella’s parents, endured a life filled with profound sadness. They had ten children, but heartbreakingly, only Isabella and her elder brother Richard survived beyond…

School-days memories I was interested to read Diane’s page in the May 2025 edition of Family Tree as I also started primary school at the age of four. I was born in May 1942 and started school in September 1946. Unlike Diane, I couldn’t read or write before starting school, but I can clearly remember the thrill of learning – the English language is not basically phonetic, but there are plenty of short words that are, and we had cards with words such as c-a-t, d-o-g, etc., progressing to short sentences, and then to the Beacon Readers, a series of books for young children with pictures of a boy and girl, their dog Rover, their house, etc., and short pieces of text, e.g. (in the first book): “Rover is a good…

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The collections are sure to be a delight for those with Dunbartonshire research connections. From county trade directories, military muster rolls 1890-1917, and school records 1834-1922, to pre-First World War ship building company employee records (eg those of William Denny & Bros Ltd 1901-1915), there is a wealth of digitised material to explore. The newly available online resources include baptisms, marriages, burials, monumental inscriptions, valuation rolls and electoral registers, too. To explore in greater detail what’s available visit https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62662 and search on ‘Dunbartonshire’, ensuring the list is ordered by ‘Date added’. Doing so will enable you to view the size of the collections, details of the archive that holds the originals, and clear explanations of what information the records comprise.…

Any seasoned genealogist will tell you that Birth, Marriage & Death records are one of the most important record collections for anybody researching their family tree. They provide the foundations that enable us to take our research back further. However, occasionally when we discover a new record, we are faced with some information that either appears to be wrong, or there are some conflicting details. Finding something unusual on a marriage record, although not common, is not unheard of, and over the years we have looked at a number of such entries here in the ‘Dear Paul’ pages. This month we have two more marriage records that raise a number of questions, and it has taken some considerable effort to try to reach reasoned conclusions on them both. Lee Passmore…

This month, Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal demonstrates how we can use evidence-based research and elimination to identify an ancestor in the records with confidence Problem solving in family history research is essentially a question of elimination. When we hit a brick wall we need to turn to evidence-based research in an attempt to work out which of a number of ‘candidates’ could potentially be our person. And the best way to do that is to eliminate any that can’t be our person. It’s always easier to come up with negative proof – evidence that someone isn’t the person we’re looking for – than it is to find positive proof. It’s a bit like the children’s board game, ‘Guess Who?’ The aim of the game is to identify your…

Studying naval uniforms Sadly, most Naval uniforms from around the world look almost identical, with only a few changes in detail. This includes the Merchant Navies of the world too! However, let’s examine some of the key clues that we can look out for, to help get our eye in when considering old photographs and pictures. Ratings’ uniforms As with all things military, the devil is in the detail, and that includes such things as the number and width of the stripes on the large floppy collar that the lower ratings (other ranks) wear. In the 19th century, a largebrimmed straw hat was issued to the ratings called a ‘Sennet Hat’. These straw hats had a brim, which was turned up, to protect the eyes from the sun and directly…

Many of us when we first test (myself included) tend to think DNA will be some kind of magic bullet that which will easily fit with our known information. Using a DNA test to help research your family tree can be of great value, validating our research or solving an illegitimacy brick wall, for instance. However, DNA can sometimes feel like a big scary pit, set to trap the unwary and this is where confusion or misinformation can lurk. This month I’m going to cover the most common misconceptions and hopefully get you ‘DNA-confident’! THE SCIENCE BIT ‘DNA must be wrong’ DNA can polarise people’s thoughts on finding genetic relatives. They either believe it is impossible because: ‘Great-granny died long before DNA tests, so how can you know these matches…

Your family photos Gillian Thorley asks: Please can you help with these two photographs, which according to information I have should be mother and daughter. The first, sent to me by a family member living in Canada, is said to be Martha Dodd (née Evans), 1840–1912. The second, sent by a different relative, is said to be Martha’s daughter, Charlotte Sarah Jackson (née Dodd), 1866–1941. A possible date for the images would be a great help in identifying them. For instance, was Martha’s taken as three of her children joined the army: Charles (b. 1880), Richard (b. 1885) and John (b. 1897)? Was Charlotte’s possibly taken when her two sons went to fight in WWI, or were they taken when Martha’s husband (Charlotte’s father) died in 1914? Jayne Shrimpton answers:…

Helen Tovey & Karen Evans report on news from the world of genealogy. Do you have a story to share? Please email helen.t@family-tree.co.uk Since the discovery of the Galloway Hoard over a decade ago, various theories have been put forward, suggesting that it may have been buried by four owners. This possibility was based on four arm-rings inscribed with Anglo-Saxon runes. While three of them featured Old English name elements, the fourth remained undeciphered. However, a new theory, proposed by the team at National Museums Scotland who have been working to transcribe the hoard runes, suggests that the inscription on the fourth arm-ring reads: “this is the community’s wealth/property”. Martin Goldberg, National Museums Scotland: ‘The idea that the wealth this hoard represents would be communally held is fascinating…. Some material…

On 1 April 1950, Blenheim Palace first opened its doors to the public to fund rooftop repairs. Such is the nature of maintaining a historic building, in this – it’s 75th anniversary of becoming a visitor attraction – Blenheim is currently undergoing further rooftop restoration work, due for completion in 2026. Pictured: the queue from the 1950s, when Blenheim first opened its doors, and the recreation of that first queue, created this year. Also Kevin McCloud (image by Squib Media Limited), one of the first on the new 360 degree Rooftop View experience at Blenheim Palace, which will allow visitors to enjoy unbeatable panoramic views of the iconic Capability Brown landscape. Note that the Roottop View experience opens in May 2025 and will only be available for a limited period…

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Back to the turn of the 20th century, I search the 1901 Census and, easypeasy, a dozen or so John Tonges in the Lancashire mill town leap straight out at me. Let’s see. A collier, no. A coal hewer, no. But third time lucky, an ‘assist super assistant’ sounds very much like my great-grandfather’s life insurance job! Open the image and here’s the Tonge family at 273 Halliwell Road, Bolton. John, 36, is from Farnworth, and his wife Mary is 41. Eldest daughter ‘Lilly’ (here with a double ‘l’) is 14 and works as a confectionary packer, 13-year-old twins Thomas and Lawrence are cotton operatives, and then come the four younger children we saw on the 1911 Census – John, Florence, Alice and Ada. That makes seven. Mary Ann (when…

‘Every man has two deaths,” wrote Ernest Hemingway. “The first when he is buried, the second when his name is spoken for the last time.” We genealogists know there are more. There is a third death — when no one can recognize us in old photographs. And a fourth — when our story is no longer remembered, or has lost its meaning. So let us make sure that each of us dies only once. I believe legacy is a choice — one that we make every single day. While we do not get to choose how or when we will leave this world, we do get to choose what we leave behind. As someone who lives and breathes genealogy, I have seen how people light up when they discover the…

'One thing that has long frustrated me,’ writes genealogist Michael Fagan, ‘is that although there are good tools for creating a family tree – managing data, basically – there are not a lot of good ways for seeing and using it.’ It was because of this that, after becoming a parent, Michael decided to create a poster that could be displayed in his home, showing his family – all his relatives. ‘I always prefer to make things that will work for everyone,’ he states, ‘not just for me.’ And so, Family Circles, was born. Family Tree: What was the inspiration to develop Family Circles? Michael: I have long felt that the information we put in to create family trees could be used for better visualisations and storytelling than that which is…

I’ve found a time on a birth certificate. Is this usual? And how did our ancestors know the time? Q My great-grandfather’s birth certificate (1839) quotes the actual time of birth as ‘12 at night’. His sisters’ birth certificates of 1841 and 1843 also record the actual times: ‘10pm’ and ‘8am’ respectively. How common was it for this detailed information to be recorded? All these certificates were issued, of course, after the introduction of The General Registration Act 1837, which did not require actual times to be stated. Could it be the work of an over zealous registrar? My second question is, in those days, by what means was it possible for ‘ordinary working people’ to know the actual time of day or night? Margaret Thomas AThe question of times…

It’s a year since our son kindly had a lift installed in our tall house. Originally an 18th century farmer/merchant’s house, we have two sets of backstairs, steep, dog-legged and increasingly dodgy for a couple of old crocks like us. At least that’s what our Silverado Marathon-fit son muttered, as he negotiated my collection of stone foot warmers and tripped over one of my woolly sheep, whimsically arranged to look as if they’re going upstairs to bed. The lift’s a godsend, not only for rising swiftly to bed, bath and other offices, but great for sending laundry down and ironing up, making life easier in so many ways. We are incredibly grateful. However, the upheaval in my study is incalculable. Floorboards lifted, girders inserted, bookcases dismantled, ancient filing cabinets surrendered,…