Author Archives: Lifelines Research

Just trying to get by…

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Lifelines Research

The pressures of society weighed heavily on our ancestors; in particular, the expectation that they should live good, God-fearing lives and that they should conform to the beliefs and values of the Anglican church, particularly when it came to matters … Continue reading →

Posted in research, Soapbox, Stories | Tagged deceased wife's sister, family history, genealogy, illegitimacy, Kent, Legislation, Marriage Act 1835, prohibited degrees of kindred, Tithe, tithe maps, tithes, Transportation | Leave a comment

The Annals of the Annals

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Lifelines Research

An investigation into the early history of the Annal/Annand family in South Ronaldsay, Orkney The Annal surname appears to have originated separately in two parts of Scotland; in Orkney (specifically the island parish of South Ronaldsay) and in Fife (St … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Surnames | Tagged Annal, One-Name Study, orkney, South Ronaldsay | Leave a comment

Where have all the women gone?

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Lifelines Research

To mark International Women’s Day I wanted to have a look at the key records that we use to research our English & Welsh family history, and to consider how those records routinely under-represent the roles played by our female … Continue reading →

Posted in research, Soapbox | Tagged family history, Florence Nightingale, genealogy, International Women’s Day, research, Women's History | 3 Comments

Conjectures, traditions and the search for the truth…

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Lifelines Research

Sir Denner Strutt, Knt., was of Little Warley, of which place he was created a baronet in 1641; he suffered severely from the arbitrary exactions of the parliament in the time of King Charles the First, being compelled to pay … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Soapbox, Stories | Tagged antiquarians, antiquaries, family history, genealogy, Henry William King, John Wodehouse, Little Warley, Sir Denner Strutt, Thomas Wodehouse | Leave a comment

52 Ancestors – 52 Documents

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Throughout 2020 I’ve been tweeting my own take on Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 52 different types of document relating to 52 different ancestors over 52 weeks. Now I’ve put all 52 tweets together in one … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research | Tagged Ancestors, ANcestry, documents, family history, genealogy | 1 Comment

Back From The Dead?

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Lifelines Research

This is the second part of the story of Stephen Willis, the Ramsgate hawker, and his parents, Stephen Willis senior and Ellen (née Foley). In the first part, we followed Stephen senior from his birth in Bishopsbourne near Canterbury in … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories, Surnames | Tagged census, Hawkers, newspapers, Ramsgate, the national archives, Willis family | 4 Comments

A Waste of Time and Money

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Lifelines Research

I remember thinking, when I was just setting out on my family history research as a naïve fifteen year old, that this genealogy business was quite a simple affair. Once you’d found a record of someone’s birth, you looked for … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Barham, Canterbury, Ellen Foley, Hawkers, Henry Mayhew, Maidstone, Stephen Willis, Willis family | 2 Comments

Unhappy Differences

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Lifelines Research

It’s every family historian’s dream to have the opportunity to research and write about an ancestor who left a mark. It doesn’t even need to have been a big mark. Perhaps they were involved in a major political event or, … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Houghton, Houghton-le-Spring, Isabel Nelson, James Lawson, Robert Hutton | Leave a comment

So, what next?

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Two weeks ago today, I sat down and composed a blog post entitled, Where Have All The Registers Gone? I referred to it as a ‘soapbox’ piece and my aim was to highlight what I saw as a serious problem … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research, Soapbox | Tagged digitisation, family history, genealogy, parish registers, research | 3 Comments

Where have all the registers gone?

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Let’s make something clear right from the start. I am a huge fan of digitisation and online access in genealogy. Both as an enthusiastic hobbyist and as a professional genealogist with 37 years’ experience, I have reason, on a daily … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research | Tagged digitisation, documents, genealogy, online access, research, transcription | 74 Comments