Day thirteen of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

A novel about a coastal community is bound to include characters who were in the merchant service and Barefoot is no exception. I was fortunate to have access to the seaman’s log, that had been handed down in the family, for one of the characters. This gave personal details, a description, a photograph and details of the various ships on which he served. In this way, I knew exactly which ship he was on at the end of the war, where he had been, where and when he docked and the name of the captain. I also used the seaman’s records on FindmyPast. These include transcriptions of the crew lists for 1861-1913 and the images of the records held in class BT350 at the National Archives, for the period 1918-1941.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.