Workhouse death brings on 1921 census blues
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Workhouse death brings on 1921 census blues

MUCH joy tempered by bouts of shock and sadness. Such is the lot of family historians everywhere. Something I can well attest to after recent foraging in the foliage of my family tree. Anyone joining this global corps of addicts soon learns that tracking down their ancestors is a long plodding journey. One beset by…

Family history
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Shock to find you’re not who you think you are

SHOCKS galore can await those delving into their family history; a fact frequently demonstrated by the fascinating TV series Who Do You Think You Are? The constant theme is that of surprise. The program has a well established record in shattering strongly held beliefs in one’s lineage. Much that was firmly thought to have happened…

Baffled by Hadrian’s Wall and a mystery postcard
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Baffled by Hadrian’s Wall and a mystery postcard

SURELY mine is not the only brain that has gradually turned to mush thanks to this endless lock-down. I sense previously lively little grey cells have coagulated into something resembling sago pudding.  Thus my head is host to an amorphous  splodge of lifeless nothingness. A once active organ languishes listless and lifeless. Bogged and befuddled,…

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Family history writes its own mysteries

TRACING one’s ancestors is akin to joining Poirot as he unravels the threads of an Agatha Christie mystery. Except that the little Belgian detective eventually provides acceptable answers. Not so with family history. So many detours and distractions. So many loose ends. So much that is left unexplained. Such was the case when on the…

Lighthouse death a legacy of family’s maritime links
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Lighthouse death a legacy of family’s maritime links

AS far back as I can discover, the patriarchal side of my Celtic family has always had close links to the sea. It has brought them employment, skills and opportunities. But also uncertainty, hardship and sudden death, in peace as well as in war. They include shipwrights, blacksmiths, mariners, tidewaiters, missionaries, lighthouse keepers, fishermen, Customs…

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Down to the pub for Gramp’s jug of beer

A CLICHE it maybe, but the saying that “everything old is new again” is one that has stood the test of time. As reliable as ever as each generation “discovers” something that was commonplace to their parents or grandparents. It rushed to mind as today’s papers splashed on the “innovative” ways public houses were coping…

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Facebook fotos: follow-ups fail for feelings

Sorting through my recently discovered pack of old postcards has provoked not only memories but also an unexpected feeling of sadness for the Facebook generation. This intrusive all-seeing all-knowing app (what a ghastly truncated word) has enabled them to bombard their army of “friends” about every aspect of their lives.  The postcards of the 21st…

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Idyllic times when fishing villages were all the go the Costa Brava

MEMORIES continue to be stirred as I return to flicking through those old postcards about which I wrote some time back. And this time there were none of  the earlier struggles of recollection when I gazed at the next two postcards in my time-worn pile. So much to remember here. So many highs. Such a…