Tracing our immigrant ancestors is often more challenging than we might have expected. Ancestry ProGenealogist, Janette Silverman, discusses how your ancestors’ names may have changed alongside their environment. Once I asked a client what her grandparents’ names were. The clients’ parents and grandparents were long deceased, she didn’t have any siblings, and didn’t know her Read More
Parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials are one of the main staples of the family historian. Anyone tracing their family tree back further than civil registration and the census in England will almost certainly look at these sources. Indeed, many of you will have spent hours scrolling through microfilms of registers in the pursuit Read More
Naomie Harris confronts the complexity of her Grenadian and Jamaican roots in her emotional episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Ancestry ProGenealogist, Joanna Cicely Fennell, revisits Naomie’s story and offers her tips for exploring Caribbean ancestry. This latest episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured British actress Naomie Harris, best known Read More
With all the resources at our fingertips, there’s never been a better time to get your kids loving history, says Cassie Mercer, Australian family history editor and author*. These hands-on activities will inspire them to learn more about their family – past and present. Half-term holidays are here, and during this time, there are lots Read More
Ashley Barnwell, Ashworth Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Melbourne, explores the ethics of keeping family secrets hidden. At the International Family History Workshop in Manchester 2017, I presented my research on Australian family secrets. As a sociologist, I am interested in the connections between the small events of everyday life and the large events of Read More
While researching your British ancestry, you might discover that some of your family may have decided to try for a ‘new life’ in other parts of the world. In this blog post, Penny Allen, a Canadian who works as a Librarian in Greenwich and specialises in Canadian genealogy, discusses Canadian immigration and what tools are Read More
Have you ever clicked ‘publish’ on what you believe to be a brilliantly crafted genealogy blog post, sat back and waited for the tidal wave of comments, likes and shares, only to witness nothing more than a ripple of interest? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. But there are steps you can take to increase your Read More
Transport for London (TfL) may have only been in existence since 2000, but it is actually the latest incarnation of an organisation that dates back to the establishment of the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) in 1856. The types of public transport offered by the company have continued to evolve, encompassing walking and cycling through Read More
The below is a guest post from Kath Shawcross, Borough Archivist & Local Studies Manager at the London Borough of Sutton about the Royal Female Orphanage List of Children, 1890-1913. To explore this collection, head to Ancestry.co.uk The Royal Female Orphanage in Beddington, originally known as the ‘Asylum or House of Refuge for Orphans and other Deserted Girls of Read More
Ancestry’s new database, Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936, is a fantastic resource that can help you to discover whether your Caledonian ancestors left estate behind after they passed away. If so, it will allow you to identify which court granted ‘confirmation’ (the Scottish equivalent of ‘probate’), the names of any Read More