Category Archives: Surnames

A tale of the unexpected

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Lifelines Research

On 27 November 1826, the brothers, Robert, Walter, John and Alexander Robertson, presented an inventory of the personal estate of their father at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The brothers were described in the document as: Robert Robertson Herd at Bronsley, … Continue reading →

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Six Days, Six Stones – Part 6: Astbury

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Lifelines Research

This the last of six blogposts written and published on six successive days, in which I take a look at a particular ancestral gravestone that my wife and I visited on our recent road trip. You can read the other … Continue reading →

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Six Days, Six Stones – Part 5: Macclesfield Cemetery

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Lifelines Research

This is the fifth of six blog posts, written and published over six consecutive days, looking at some of the family graves that my wife and I visited as part of a recent road trip to celebrate our 40th wedding … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories, Surnames | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Six Days, Six Stones – Part 4: Longnor, Staffordshire

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Lifelines Research

This is the fourth of six blog posts written after a recent road trip during which my wife and I visited a number of ancestral burial places. You can read the earlier instalments here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Handle with care

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Lifelines Research

There’s been a lot of publicity this week around the decision by Oxford Reference to make their Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland freely available online for a limited period. Now, I’m not going to deny for a … Continue reading →

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