Category Archives: Local History

Six Days, Six Stones – Part 3: Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Lifelines Research

The third of my six blogs posted in consecutive days, focussing on particular family gravestones, is a bit of a cheat. The other five are stones that my wife and I saw for the first time on our recent 40th … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories, Surnames | Tagged family history, genealogy, gravestones, Key Hill Cemetery, Port family, research, Thomas Port | 7 Comments

Six Days, Six Stones – Part 2: Lacock, Wiltshire

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Lifelines Research

This is the second of six blogs, written and published in six consecutive days, each one focussing on a particular family gravestone which my wife and I visited on our recent 40th Wedding Anniversary road trip. You can read Part … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Benjamin Truman, chest tomb, documents, family history, genealogy, gravestones, lacock, research | 4 Comments

Six Days, Six Stones – Part 1: Dorchester, Oxfordshire

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Lifelines Research

To mark our 40th Wedding Anniversary, my wife and I arranged a six-day road trip, stopping off at various places connected with our families. Liz, my wife, is an enthusiastic family historian herself so she was very much a partner … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Dorchester, family history, genealogy, gravestones, Jonathan Granger, Oxfordshire, parish registers, Port, research | 6 Comments

Sunday Morning, Farringdon Road

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Lifelines Research

I’ve always been passionate about art, and a few years ago I stumbled upon a little-known group of early-20th century artists known collectively as the East London Group. I was instantly captivated and wanted to find out more about them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Cecil Osborne, documents, East London Group, Farringdon Road, genealogy, Local History, Model Dwellings, research | Leave a comment

Please Release Me…

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Lifelines Research

…being a very brief history of the releases of the English & Welsh census returns. We need to understand right from the start that the primary purpose of the census has never been to produce a resource for the benefit … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Soapbox | Tagged 1921 Census, census, documents, family history, genealogy, latter day saints, research, society of genealogists, the national archives, tna | 6 Comments

The Last of the Moultings

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Lifelines Research

On 2 February 1974, a 72-year old woman called Gladys Elizabeth Moulting died in Canvey Island, Essex. I know very little about Gladys, except that she was the youngest of two children of George Henry and Harriet Amelia Moulting, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories, Surnames | Tagged Bethlem Hospital, census, documents, Evesham, family history, genealogy, parish registers, research, Surnames, the national archives, tna | 3 Comments

A Draper’s Tale

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Lifelines Research

Thomas Port, my great great grandfather, was born on 22 August 1822 in St Pancras, London. There is, however, no official record of his birth or baptism – at least none that I have ever been able to find. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories | Tagged Birmingham, buckingham, Draper, family history, genealogy, Key Hill Cemetery, research, Smethwick, Soda Manufacturer, Thomas Port | Leave a comment

The Darkest Day

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Lifelines Research

The date is Tuesday, 29 January 1895 and Edinburgh is in the grip of a snowstorm. In fact, the whole country is suffering; snow fell uninterruptedly for 12 hours in Birmingham yesterday and London is experiencing temperatures of 15° Fahrenheit … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged census, Edinburgh, family history, genealogy, measles, registration, research | 3 Comments

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 | 2 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