Category Archives: Family History

Christmas Cooking, a Little about Family History and a Bathroom Blitz

by thehistoryinterpreter

Traditionally in my house stir-up whatever day of the week it is is in October half-term. This year was no exception and I was joined on Zoom by some descendants for synchronised cake making. Said descendants don’t make pudding, so I was on my own for that one. Last year, the first attempt at cakes was a total disaster but puddings were a great success. Newly lacking a Rayburn, I decided to try cooking them in a slow cooker, which worked really well. I should explain that I always make three Christmas puddings. This year there will be five of Christmas lunch, some of whom don’t like Christmas pudding but often there’s only two; yet I’ve ‘always’ made three Christmas puddings, so three it is. The recipe makes three and although I am perfectly capable of scaling the quantities down (my cooking may be dodgy but my maths is ok), I don’t. I’d arranged to borrow another slow cooker, so that I could cook more than one at a time. Imagine my surprise, when looking in the cupboard that is really only opened once a year for my annual foray into cooking, to find not one but two slow cookers already there. Thinking I must have borrowed one from the fisherman of my acquaintance last year and not returned it and not being in the slightest surprised that he had just deposited another one for me to use this year (nothing that ‘might come in useful’ is ever thrown away), my reaction was merely – oh good I can cook all three at once. All three puddings duly spent the day in their slow cookers, although I did notice the water in one evaporated quite quickly and had to be topped up. They turned out looking good and I went to wash up the ‘slow cookers’, only to find that one had been cooked in a rarely used and clearly unrecognised, rice cooker instead! For more random Christmas memories see here.

Bathroom next. I have more bathroom space in this tiny bungalow that I had in my five bedroomed house. I use my lovely en-suite and the, similar sized, bathroom is really only used for guests. It was a not-so-delightful salmon pink, with dark mahogany and gold embellishments. For some reason the previous owner had stuck mirror tiles round the bath, which meant you really didn’t want to look in the wrong direction when sat on the loo. A year ago I decided it had to go. It has been a long wait but last week it was my turn to reach the top of the plumber’s list, either that or he was heartily sick of being phoned up to ask exactly which spring he was going to do this by. Still a way to go but he’s really cracking on now and the salmon pink is no more. Firstly, please can someone explain why, when I am having the bathroom done and said bathroom contains only one piece of furniture, why five other rooms (pretty much the whole house) have been impacted and now contain ‘stuff’? To be fair, I have moved the precious china cupboard in the hall to allow for free passage of the ex-bathroom to the van, so that accounts for some of it. Secondly, why is it that, as soon as the water is turned off (despite being warned), you need to use it. I’ve been feeding the Christmas cakes and in the absence of a working tap, I was forced to lick excess brandy off my fingers afterwards. The plumber may have wondered why the house and I, smelt of brandy at 9.30am.

I did promise you some family history and yes there’s been some. Prompted by the upcoming Forgotten Women Friday collaborative research, I remembered that I had a post office worker in my own family. I’ve therefore been writing about my grandmother’s cousin Kathleen. As she was someone with no descendants, if I don’t tell her story no one will. It seems that she was among the first women to qualify for the civil service and subsequently worked in the savings bank department. I’ve also been preparing my Timelines talk, which will be recorded for Rootstech. I’ve got a live one to do as well but that’s for another day. In order to create illustrations for the talk, I used the free version of Canva to produce a timeline for a small section of my grandmother’s life. Very fiddly and not scope for a huge amount of detail but decorative. In other news, a chapter of the next book is finally done. This is definitely a don’t hold your breath thing, as progress is a lot slower than I’d like. This part involved case studies of asylum patients and there were some fascinating but very sad stories. I am also in full-on Pharos course mode, with the one-place studies course drawing to a close – and what a lot of fascination studies are in the offing from the students. Starting on Monday is ‘Elusive Ancestor’, where we look at ancestors who can’t be found where they should be, almost certainly because they’ve changed location. I’ll be readying my sledge hammer to hopefully make some dents in a few brick walls. Feel feel to join us, there still some spaces.

Cousin Kathleen

The Fourth Weekend of Family History

by thehistoryinterpreter

The last of our four consecutive weekends of family history took us to the Isle of Wight, to celebrate forty years of Isle of Wight Family History Society. As two very early members (membership numbers 19 and 50), we had to be there. Apart from anything else, I was due to give a talk, so that would have been awkward if I decided not to go. The Saturday was a conference with a pubs and brewing theme, as well as a chance to promote the ongoing pubs and publicans project. I know from experience what is involved in organising these events and thanks go to those who worked hard to put the weekend together.

That same experience shows that it is the things that you can’t control that cause the issues on occasions such as this, not that any of this spoiled the day. It was a little cool in the hall but we had been forewarned to dress warmly. We had also been advised to bring cushions, another wise move. Despite careful preparations, the faulty HDMI cable, causing one or two slight technical delays could not have been foreseen, nor could the flooded toilet, necessitating very loud hoovering up of flood water during one presentation. By the time it got to my turn to speak, it was only what seemed to be a shouty protestor outside in the square to contend with; or maybe, in line with our theme, he’d been overindulging at a local licenced premises. My session was a departure from the theme. Instead, my remit was to talk about changes in the family history world over the last forty years and suggest thoughts about where we might go in the future, with some Isle of Wight anecdotes throw in. I was able to spend a self-indulgent hour reminiscing and trying not to reveal too many well kept secrets from the past.

There was a second enjoyable day on the Sunday with an anniversary lunch. It was lovely to see so many friends of longstanding once again and catch up as if we’d seen each other only yesterday.

So am I home to indulge in rest and relaxation? It seems not. I’ve already given one talk and there are five more in the diary next week. I’ve been preparing an online course for those who are new or newish to family history, which will be delivered next month. There are still a few spaces if you know anyone who’d like to embark on a family history journey. You can book here. Just a warning though, that it will take over your life and I am taking no responsibility for that.

A just because photo to cheer you up.

A Family History Weekend and a Missed Opportunity

by thehistoryinterpreter

The Malvern trip continued with Gloucester Family History Society’s open day at the Heritage Hub. It was lovely to be able to see people in real life and chat about family history. I listened to Simon from WeAre.xyz, talking about his software (quick resolution to do more with my site), then gave my A to Z talk. After that, it was out for a meal and a catch up with family history friends. This is the first of four in person family history weekends in four different counties this month. A bit like buses, you wait for ever, then they all come at once,

Sunday was rainy. I mean seriously rainy, so rather than  head off early, as we prefer to do, we sat it out, while I looked at the Withenbury family goodies I’d found at the Worcestershire archives. Note, I did not look back at earlier notes, a big mistake. The rain cleared up eventually, giving us just time to visit Hanbury Hall, a nearish by National Trust property and former home of the Vernon family. The most outstanding features are the wall and ceiling paintings by James Thornhill, which, unusually, were painted on dry, not wet, plaster. There are also traditional, knot-garden style gardens, with plenty of topiary, which I photographed for use in my seventeenth century gardens talk. I was also quite taken with a 1715 election ‘poster’, when Thomas Vernon was standing for the Whig cause. This, I thought was about all Hanbury Hall had to offer, how wrong I was.

We returned home. This involved me driving through storm and tempest, with torrential rain meaning that I could barely see the road. Fortunately that was just the last couple of miles, as I am chauffeured most of the way. I then continued to look at the Withenburys. Something I had noted before, when I was trying to prove that they are actually my ancestors, rather than probably my ancestors, was that a James Withenbury was an architect and sculptor. This chap is likely to be my 6x great grandfather’s brother, or maybe a half-brother. ‘That close’, I hear you cry. He is at least on the family tree of the ‘almost my ancestors’. He also, said my notes, which I was viewing from 150 miles away from Hanbury Hall, designed the frontage of the hall in 1718. It is likely that I walked past his architectural sketch while we were at the Hall! Another trip is on the cards.

An Excursion to the Malvern Hills

by thehistoryinterpreter

Today I am due to speak at an event in Gloucester. ‘Let’s go up a few days early’, we said, well I said, thinking that I could sneak a day at not too distant Worcester Archives and pick up some wills. First, I gave a talk to legacy webinars about marginalised ancestors, which you can listen to here if you are so inclined, no charge until 10 September. It was lovely to catch up with the lovely Fiona Brooker from New Zealand, who was my host, as I was part of the early, down-under shift. Then, in theory, we were off.

So leaving early entailed not leaving quite as early as we had intended, as the caravan-towing car randomly failed to start. By the time the recovery people had got it to go, it had been ‘diagnosed’ by the local garage and had been pronounced fit to travel, it was too late for us to reach our final destination in the Malvern Hills before curfew. The very helpful caravan site staff organised an overnight stop in Cheddar for us instead. Next day, when I was supposed to be at ‘The Hive’ in Worcester, we travelled on to Malvern. There was time for a visit to Witley Court in the afternoon. It turns out we had been before, so I won’t repeat the history but you can read about it here. Yesterday, we headed for The Hive. Unlike other archives that have morphed into community spaces, this one does still allow plenty of opportunities for researchers. It is an interesting building that reflects its name and the staff were super helpful. I’d done my best to do my homework before arriving and this mostly paid off.

I had a long list of wills and was directed to a microfilm machine where I could copy images directly to a memory stick. Someone or other’s law dictated that every image I sought was at the end of the film. Unfortunately, the rewind feature on the machine was faulty and many minutes were spent rewinding films by hand. As the archive is part of the library, research was accompanied by enthusiastic renditions of Grand Old Duke of York and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes by a toddler group. I acquired several interesting inventories for ‘probably my ancestors’ but no earth-shattering revelations to convert them into actually my ancestors, not that I was expecting any. It turns out that I no longer have the stamina for all day visits to archives and much remains on the to do list.

Where I am at, Where I’ve Been and Where I Will be

by thehistoryinterpreter

Where I am at is 10,000 words, 40 pages and 100+ footnotes deep in my seamen and shoemakers, thinking it is almost done, only to find that I can take one twiglet back a further two, or three, or maybe more, generations. Great news in one way but instead of having two more couples to do, that gives me a whole load more folk to write about. This isn’t even on the (daunting) to do list, from which I have removed all the low hanging fruit, in the interests of deluding myself that there isn’t much left. Sadly, it is all the ‘this will take several days’ jobs not the ‘this will take ten minutes’ ones that are left.

Where I’ve been, includes a trip to Buckland Brewer to look at the VJ Day display and listen to a fascinating talk about the women of Appledore, including those who spent decades hauling limestone for the limekilns. Unusually, this required me to drive. It is August, the nights are drawing in (sorry but they are). I don’t do driving at night. Not so much fear of vampires but the inability to cope with other people’s headlights. Could I chair the meeting, skip the refreshments and get home before dark? It seems that after doing a Cinderella act and dashing out as the words of the last question were still dying on the audience’s lips, that I could. Why was I driving? Because himself has been involved in a week of street drama set in one of my one-places. For him, this mostly seems to involve helping to launch a boat off a tricky beach in the pitch dark and then get it safely back in after someone else has rowed it out and back. I am hoping to watch the whole presentation tonight.

In the past eight days, I’ve eaten cake at my favourite café. I’ve swum, yes actually swum, albeit only for about thirty seconds, in the sea. I’ve recreated a photograph from 1969 on the exact anniversary of the day it was taken. I’ve spent seven hours in A & E to be told, as usual, that I am not about to collapse and yes, I did the right thing coming in but no, they don’t know what is wrong with me, so as you were. I’ve had a chat with the lovely Helen Tovey of Family Tree Magazine about my presentations for the Secrets and Lies conference, along with two of the other presenters; I am so looking forward to this. I’ve led a brick wall busting session for Devon Family History Society and listened to an excellent Zoom talk about the occupants of a north Devon house.

Despite how the above sounds, August had been comparatively quiet but whoa September, I am looking at you. Before I even get there, there’s my workshop to give as part of a whole day of presentations on researching agricultural labourers and rural life bookings are open here. Then September hits like a train. Only six talks to give but unusually, four are in person. In addition, there is the second presentation of my ‘Putting your Female Ancestors into Context’ online course for Pharos. We had great fun the first time round and it is such an important topic. There are still spaces if you are interested.

As for where I will be, that revolves round the talks. First up will be the monthly Biography Club session for the Society of Genealogists, which I do from the comfort of my own home. I am clinging on by my fingernails attempting to keep pace with the group, in the hope of finally finishing mine by next year’s ‘big’ birthday. Then I am presenting a webinar for Legacy webinars on 3 September, also from home. It will be a version of my Ancestors on the Margins talk and you can book to listen here. Then I am off to Gloucester to give a talk there and staying a few days to allow me to pick up some wills relating to a family that I hope I can one day confirm is mine, as well as have a look round.

Next is the Secrets and Lies Conference in Peterborough followed by the 40th anniversary of the Isle of Wight Family History Society and boy have I got some memories to share. I am currently accepting financial inducements to delete parts of my text. Then summer will be over and where has this year gone?

A Deep Breath and Another Brick Wall with Structural Damage

by thehistoryinterpreter

Time to take a deep breath as I launch in to the next few weeks. Not only is the job I must not mention about to hit with a vengeance but at some point long ago, I decided that it would be a good idea to cram the next few weeks full of presentations. So in the calendar for the next two weeks I have, Women’s Life  on Farms, the story behind my novel Barefoot on the Cobbles, Mistress Agnes talking about life in the seventeenth century and Researching in the Twentieth Century, swiftly followed by looking at cottage industries. If you want to know more about straw-plaiting, lace-making, glove-making or button-making, as well as home working in general, you can book for that one here. All those topics get chapters of their own in my new book A History of Women’s Work and straw-plaiting and gloving are two of the sections that are accompanied by case studies. It is currently at its introductory price of 20% off, which means you can get a hardback for a paperback price and not have to wait two years for the paperback to be issue. The ebook will follow at the end of next month. I am humbled by the lovely reviews that have been coming in.

Today is also the final Zoom for my Pharos ‘Writing and Telling your Family History’ course. What a lovely cohort of students and such fascinating stories to be told. If you are sorry you missed it, it runs again in April, or you can sign up to research and tell the story of a female ancestor in September.

As this post in in danger of sounding like an advert, on to other things. In the interests of writing and telling my own family history I have been getting my pick axe out and working at my own genealogical brick walls. I have two stories to share with you when I get the time to draw breath and write them up for public consumption. Having decided that Mary Newlands is indeed my 3x great grandmother (see previous post), I am now pushing back to try to confirm that her family are of Scottish origin, as seems almost certain. So one brick wall crumbles and another looms.

News too on the second of my three ‘big’ brick walls. I’ve been working on the family of a different ‘almost certainly my 3x great grandmother’; oh wow, what a story. At the moment the ‘proof’ is based on rigorous documentary research but a missing baptism means two of the jigsaw pieces are DNA matches that are so small even I am reluctant to entertain them and hereditary large ears – yes, best not to ask. In a quest for more evidence, I launched into researching the wider family. I am back to the sixteenth century in Gloucester and Upton on Severn and have had plenty of palaeography practice. I do realise my missing link won’t be found in Tudor times but the rabbit warren (too big to be called a rabbit hole) sucked me in and there I was, head first in the throes of a virtual one-name study. It is an unusual name but beset with spelling variations and the use of contractions to add spice to my journey. There may be a connection to a seventeenth century barber surgeon. An added excitement is that my children also have paternal ancestry in Upton on Severn. I just may have to revisit that branch in search of a link. I am in the area in September. Do I wait patiently, or do I spend a small fortune ordering copies of wills? So many ancestors, so little time.

Sadly now back to the day job and three meetings Monday.

A Week in the Life of an Everyday Historian

by thehistoryinterpreter

Lots of family history bits and pieces on the agenda lately. My article on Surviving the Seventeenth Century has appeared in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine – full of handy tips about how not to die from the various hazards that beset our seventeenth century ancestors. I’ve chatted to Radio Devon about family history. You can catch this here at about one hour ten minutes in. I’ve helped to set up a VE Day commemorations exhibition. I’ve written up and published the story of my father’s wartime experiences, which you could read here. It is a bit of a different account as he started the war by continuing in his civilian job as a cinema operator. He worked for the small south London Granada chain and as luck would have it, Guy Morgan wrote a history of that chain in 1948. This book now retails for silly money but I borrowed it from the library twenty five years ago and it was just what I needed to understand what my dad was up to. Then he joined the RAF Regiment, serving in southern Italy and Sicily. Towards the end of the war he was one of the RAF personnel who was transferred to the army and he peeled a lot of potatoes in Ireland. Then he agreed to sign on for a further term of service, this time attached to ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association). In this capacity, he returned to Italy as a cinema operator. If you are interested in writing family stories my Are you Sitting Comfortably?: writing and telling your family history course starts this month. It is online so you can join in from anywhere.

I’ve got ready for this weekend’s one-name family reunion, as the Braund clan make their annual pilgrimage to North Devon. I’ve done lots of behind the scenes preparation for next year’s residential family history conference in North Devon, with a few more speakers announced and more lined up to reveal. It is going to be a great weekend in such a beautiful part of the world. I’ve taken advantage of said beautiful part of the world with early morning walks. Now I really do need to unearth the hoover.

The Year so Far – a Family History Whirlwind

by thehistoryinterpreter

The year began with family visitors, which is always very special. As a bonus, this year they didn’t include any lurgies amongst their seasonal gifts. The new year also means paying the tax bill. This wasn’t a surprise and the money was put aside but it is always a bit of a shock to see the bank balance suddenly depleted by what seems to be an eye-watering amount. Added to this, it seemed I needed to pay a different HMRC bank account, which meant setting up a new payee. I have one of those little card reader things that gives you a secret code to verify that you are not a fraudster. I’ve had the thing for ages, which is probably why it chose this moment to decide that its batteries had had enough. Before these obscure-sized and expensive batteries died a final death, they gave me a partial glimpse of the vital number. Could I guess what figures they were striving to reveal? It turns out that I could. Hurrah.

It has been full on family history on many fronts since the visitors departed. I’ve finished a magazine article. My new book is signed off and is due out in May, pre-orders should be opening up soon. I love they cover that Pen and Sword have chosen. I’ve also, rashly, signed a contract for another one. Will I ever learn? Not totally unrelated, is the work I’ve been doing towards the next Forgotten Women Friday collaborative research day for the A Few Forgotten Women project. This one is to be about women associated with Dorchester Prison.

My Pharos Agricultural Labourers online course has started again this week with a full, enthusiastic cohort. Next up on the Pharos front will be the first presentation of ‘Putting your Female Ancestors into Context’ in March. This filled up so quickly, that I agreed to take more students than usual. This means that there are still just two spaces left, if you want to come along for the ride.

I’ve have been giving talks like, well, like someone who gives an awful lot of talks I suppose. I’ve been out and about in person chatting about herbs and plague and online with the history of prostitution, marginalised ancestors and writing your family history amongst other things. This has taken me to Northern Ireland, to Surrey to Lincoln and other points in between. I have also recorded talks for future broadcasts. Rootstech is on the horizon. The pre-recorded talks have not yet been announced but there will be a short session from me in there, when I will be talking about British administrative units, do you know your townland from your wapentake, or your riding from your peculiar? If not, seek out my ten minute chat when Rootstech opens next month. Even better, online attendance is free. Legacy Family Tree Webinars have announced this year’s programme and I will be popping up there too later in the year. It is a fascinating programme, well worth the subscription.

The volume of talks in a sort space of time has obviously been getting to me, as on the night before two talks Monday I had a bizarre dream in which I had double booked myself and my mother was going to deputise for me. A couple of issues with this. She isn’t actually alive and she’d decided she was going to talk about red wine, a subject about which she knew nothing in life.

A little late to the party, I’ve been playing with Family Search’s full text search facility, which is in experimental mode and can be accessed at https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/ once you are signed in to Family Search, which is free. This allows you to use AI generated transcriptions to search for names within the body of a document, such as the beneficiaries in a will for example. My take on this is that there is loads of good stuff on there and this has the potential to be brilliant but as yet there are still some drawbacks, which is understandable, as this is still being trialled. AI’s palaeography skills are pretty basic and mistakes are made that would not be made by a human, such as ‘Michael wears’ for Michaelmas,, rendering the sentence nonsensical. Searching is clumsy. It is very difficult to narrow down the results. You need to ignore the headings, which are often very misleading. Documents labelled Warwickshire, for example, turn out to also include many other counties. Having said that, it is definitely worth a play but make sure you have a few hours to spare first.

I’ve even found time for some of my own research and am deep down a rabbit hole following the story of a several greats uncle who was transported. It will be coming to a Granny’s Tales site near you shortly.

Family History Round Up

by thehistoryinterpreter

Life has been busy busy as usual and not just because of the season. Here is a quick round up of various family and local history related activities. I’ve just finished leading my Pharos course on the illnesses of our ancestors. It was only a small group this time but they were very keen and have done plenty of research to share with the rest of the group. Next up will be Agricultural Labourers in January. I am also very excited about my Female Ancestors course, which is, thankfully, now written. It did take me down some rabbit holes, as I decided that I should provide some sample answers, which basically meant me doing the course myself. I spent a lovely couple of days looking at my great grandmother’s life as a housemaid and I am very grateful to Mrs Beeton for providing such a comprehensive guide. I’d have been worn out before breakfast. To top it off, “On leisure days, the housemaid should be able to do some needlework for her mistress,—such as turning and mending sheets and darning the house linen, or assist her in anything she may think fit to give her to do. For this reason it is almost essential that a housemaid, in a small family, should be an expert needlewoman; as, if she be a good manager and an active girl, she will have time on her hands to get through plenty of work.” You can read Clara’s story on my Granny’s Tales website, which also has a few more additions and tweaks.

We had a lovely time playing Victorian parlour games at my no longer quite so local history group. The power cuts in the aftermath of Storm Darragh added verisimilitude but we soldiered on by candlelight. The game of large scale Nine Men’s Morris was taken very seriously. Charades, using carol titles led to some hilarity. Ok, maybe including We Three Kings was a mistake.

There have been talks to give, both in person and online and Mistress Agnes has had a couple of outings. The good thing about in person talks at this time of year is that they come with seasonal refreshments. Best not the imbibe the mulled wine before the talk, I’ve learned. I’ve also chatted to the Society of Genealogist’s Book Club about Sins as Red as Scarlet. Not the lightest of holiday reading but I am glad that most realised what I was aiming at with this book.

On the subject of books, I have some proofs to read and have just signed a contract for what will be my third non-fiction book for Pen and Sword. I am really looking forward to the research for that one. A not totally unrelated activity is some preparation for the next collaborative research day with A Few Forgotten Women. This one is looking at inmates and staff from Dorchester Prison. There’s potential for some good stories there.

There’s plenty going on next year too, with nine talks in January alone. Why does this always seem like a good idea at the time? I am also looking forward to helping a new cohort to write their life stories with the Society of Genealogists in the spring.

I’ll finish with a non-historical incident, which may well be illustrative of me having too much on my mind. My breakfast of choice is granola, fruit and yoghurt. The fruit is usually frozen berries, which I take out each morning, ready to defrost for the next day. To be honest, I am surprised this is the first time this has happened but this week, I poured the granola in the wrong bowl, so that I had a mixture of frozen berries and granola. I know I could have just thrown it away but waste not want not, so I tried to separate a bowl full of granola and berries. Not just large lumpy berries oh no, some were blueberries and teeny tiny cranberries. It felt like some kind of reality TV challenge, not one at which I would excel.

This may be the last post before the holiday season, so I will leave you with Season’s Greetings from the family postcard collection.

What Janet did Next

by thehistoryinterpreter

Time for a bit of a round-up of recent events, both in the family history world and beyond. Let’s start with the beyond stuff. It was time for one of my infrequent trips to the hairdressers. I engender despair in all those who attempt to do things to my hair. “It is HOW long since you last had your hair cut?” I am asked in incredulous tones. Then having established that I just ‘wash and go’ she asked if I blow-dried my fringe to give it more volume. Lady, you are talking to someone who hasn’t owned a hairdryer for fifty years!

As a non-cook Christmas cake and pudding and occasionally chutney are pretty much my only forays into cooking (beyond shoving things in the oven and taking them out again) but it was time to undertake the annual challenge. Goodness, this actually involves weighing stuff and mixing stuff together. No longer having a Rayburn to assist, I decided, for the first time ever, to cook puddings in the slow cooker. My recipe makes three puddings. Realistically, even accounting for visitors, I really don’t want more than two but three it always has been, so three it is. The slow cooked ones did need finishing off on the hob but they were looking really good. The cakes, yes two of those too because well because there always are two, not so much, well, more of a disaster actually. In my defence, I have a new-to-me oven, although I really can’t blame the results on that. I cooked them for the prescribed time. I cooked them some more and then for several more hours but they remained in an oily uncooked state. I risked taking them out of the tins and they slumped gracefully into a heap. I fear mixed peel was to blame. I am quite a fan of mixed peel so for the last 45 or so years that I’ve been cooking these, I always add extra mixed peel. Ok, so I’ll concede that four times what was required by the recipe was an expensive mistake but we live and learn. The end product is edible but cake it is not, not by any stretch of the imagination. A fisherman of my acquaintance is manfully working his way through two cakes worth of fruity blob, heating portions in the microwave and adding ice cream.

Next, the saga that was trying to renew my house insurance. There’s a ‘new system’, requiring answers to questions that haven’t been asked before. This means that, on the renewal notice, they have basically made up a load of ‘average’ answers to fill in the blanks. Having got over the issue of nothing on the system even vaguely resembling my occupation, I corrected a few things. These included “When did you move in?” – their answer 1900; must say, I feel pretty good for 124. “How many storeys do you have? 2 (yes it says it is a bungalow etc etc). New killer question, “Are you less than 400m from the sea, a river, or a water course?” I had the devil’s own job trying to work this out. Point 1, where do you count the sea from? High tide? Low tide? and then high tides vary. Point 2, even if you know where the sea starts how the ***** do you measure because they obviously want the answer as the crow flies and even the most detailed map really isn’t going to give me an accurate enough measurement. If the distance was 200m or 600m I’d know the answer but 400m is pretty much exactly how far I am from the sea, sometimes. In the end I had to say I was nearer, as I could just imagine them refusing to pay out on a burglary because I’d said I was further away and it turned out that I was 398m away. After a load of faffing and trying to find out on useless websites it turned out not to make a difference to the premium anyway. Half an hour of my life I won’t get back. At least I have no longer lived in a two story bungalow for 124 years with a mythical husband.

I’ve also spent a wonderful eighteen hours in an idyllic location, eating good food and trying to solve a murder mystery set on the French Riviera. It was exceptionally well done and although we didn’t identify ’im wot dun it, we came very close, largely because the people on our table spent ten years living in the location where the story was set.

On the family history front, The A Few Forgotten Women Team, of which I am a proud member, have held another very successful collaborative research day, this time looking at women who can be found in refuges for fallen women in a census return. I did the example biography for this, a lady called Lucy Adderley; she certainly had a story to tell. Then my allocated lady for the day, Fanny Sophia Austen, who was a staff member in the institution, turned out to be a niece of THE Jane Austen.

I’ve recorded and uploaded my presentation for Rootstech 2025. Just a short recorded session from me this year about UK places, distinguishing your lathes from your hundreds and your tithings from your townlands. I, deliberately, haven’t taken on any paid research for quite some time but this week, I was tasked with untangling two people of the same name and establishing how they were related. It turned out that there were actually several more people with the same, unusual, name, all related and the inevitable total nonsense on a plethora of online family trees, which I studiously avoided. It was great fun and I was able to confirm for the client that the two individuals were first cousins.

My online Pharos course about twentieth century research is drawing to a close and a new course about the ill health of our ancestors has just begun. You’ve barely missed anything if you want to join in with In Sickness and and Death. The course last five weeks and the lessons are sent to you as pdfs that you can follow when it is convenient to you. There’s an optional weekly online chat and a student forum.

Time I think for a comment about FindMyPast’s (FMP) new subscription structure. This has created a cheaper, tier of subscription, where you can’t search for anything but you are dependent on hints that their algorithm suggests may be the person that you want. In general, I am a fan of FMP and have used it continuously since before it was even called FMP. I much prefer it to their main competitor. I am also in favour of making genealogy more accessible, which some would argue cheaper subscription can do. Having said that, I can’t see that this is going to do anything but encourage shoddy research. Maybe it is meant to be a carrot to encourage full subscriptions but so many will just do what a prominent family historian (pretty sure it was Dave Annal) called ‘click and collect’. For me, the fun is in the research in any case. I’d rather have my properly researched tree of about 3700 (and that has taken nearly fifty years to amass and includes my grandchildren’s families too) than 70,000 people in five minutes that I know nothing about, many of whom will not actually be my relatives at all. I guess it is a hobby and each to their own but I have to say that, in my opinion, this is not FMP’s brightest idea. If it encourages more subscribers I suppose the silver lining is that there will be funds for the digitisation of more records for those of us who want to do it properly.

It occurs to me that I haven’t blogged about family history since the excellent All About That Place event. If you want to hear me chatting about my straw plaiting ancestors in Buckinghamshire, or the General View of Agriculture, just click on the links.

Finally, because I have gone on for far too long, I have joined the eXodus, as it is being called and am enjoying the unpolluted social media waters over on BlueSky, where a rapidly increasing number of my friends and colleagues can be found.