Tag Archives: census

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 →

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

Our Ancestral Places

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Lifelines Research

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that I’ve embarked on a virtual journey this year, tracking down the places connected with my ancestors’ lives (I’ve ‘borrowed’ my wife’s as well) and I’ve been tweeting about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Welcome to the family

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Lifelines Research

Margaret Howland was born on 9 August 1906 at 46 Brunswick Street, Edinburgh, just off Leith Walk but south of the border with the ancient Burgh of Leith. Margaret was my grandma and one of the nicest and kindest people … Continue reading →

Posted in Local History, research, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Transcripts and indexes

Posted on May 22, 2022 by Lifelines Research

The release of the 1921 census returns for England and Wales earlier this year led to some (fairly heated) discussion on social media regarding the quality of the transcription provided by Findmypast, the National Archives’ commercial partners in the online … Continue reading →

Posted in digitisation, Document Sources, research, Soapbox | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , , , | 4 Comments

Blank spaces and circumstantial evidence

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Lifelines Research

This is the fourth part of the three-part story of the life of my great, great, great grandmother, Mary Ann Port, which aims to explain why, despite the absence of evidence that she ever had any children, I believe her … Continue reading →

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Don’t Believe The Hints

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Lifelines Research

We’ve all been there. We’re following a line back, we’ve got our ancestor in the census, and we’ve found her marriage. We know the four key pieces of information that we ideally need to formulate a search for her birth; … Continue reading →

Posted in research | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments