Benedict Cumberbatch was born to play Sherlock Holmes. Literally. The Sherlock connection runs in his blood. The star and Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are directly related. Ancestry researchers recently made an amazing discovery: Benedict Cumberbatch and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle share a common ancestor. They’re both descended from John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Read More
Former Girls Aloud star and talent show judge Cheryl Cole uncovered astonishing secrets about her family’s past in the most recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are? After admitting in an interview last year that she’d love to take part in the show, she was recruited for the show’s latest series, currently airing on the Read More
Whatever you may think of real-estate mogul-turned-presidential-candidate Donald Trump’s politics, you can’t deny his many ups and downs are entertaining. As he continues to make the subject of immigration one of his talking points, his own origins tell an interesting tale of ambitious young people crossing the ocean to make something of themselves in this Read More
Fortunes of famous names, including William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Sir Francis Drake, revealed Collection covers almost five centuries and comprises more than a million records Records predate civil registration, making them a valuable family history resource You can’t take it with you. But you can sure decide who gets it when you’re gone. Read More
After years entrancing audiences and thrilling moviegoers, a few talented actors reach such heights of fame that we consider them Hollywood royalty: George Clooney. Leonardo DiCaprio. Julia Roberts. Before them, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant. But some actors are lucky enough to rank as royalty the first time they ever stepped onto a set. Read More
I’ve located my maternal great-grandparents, John and Margaret Ellen (Cunningham) Haffey in Wayne County, Ohio in the 1880 census. I’m trying to locate their births in Ireland. I have their death records, but they didn’t list a specific Irish birthplace. I have found a record in the New York Emigrant Savings Bank for a John Read More
We are all familiar with the ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. On the night of the 14th of April 1912, 1,500 people lost their lives after the liner hit an iceberg and sank to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The captain on that tragic voyage was Edward Smith. Smith joined the White Star Read More
We all make mistakes! The key to success in family history research, as in life, is to learn from them. In an effort to guide you through your genealogical journey, we have created this list containing the top five mistakes to avoid when researching your family tree. 1. Assuming a family name is only spelled Read More
Analysis of historic census records reveals the majority of over-65s in Victorian England worked full-time – Ancestry Victorian census reveals farmers, miners, servants and cleaners in their eighties or nineties More than half (57 per cent) of people had to work beyond the age of 65 compared to just 10 per cent today Records also show how so-called Read More
DNA solved a 70-year-old question of whether Loraine Allison survived the Titanic crash. Many have wondered what happened to the two-year-old little girl who disappeared from the crash more than 100 years ago. The story begins with Hudson and Bess taking their two kids, Trevor, seven months, and Loraine, two years of age, across the Read More