A Victorian Christmas

Hi,

My Christmas posting is finally here, sorry it's taken so long but I've barely had chance to eat a mince pie over the last couple of weeks!

Your ancestors would have had different experiences of Christmas according to their social class, and the time period that they lived in. Poor Victorian families aren't likely to have had all the trimmings of a stereotypical Dickensian Christmas - the children may have had one, very simple, toy (often made by a family member) or a new dress for an existing doll, for example. Much of Christmas day would have been taken up by going to church or chapel services, particularly for the very religious such as many chapel-going coal-mining families in the South Wales valleys. Many would have heated their dinner (particularly the goose etc.) in the local baker's ovens, being unable to afford large enough ovens to cook them at home.

Richer families would have bought their children more elaborate toys - dolls houses, rocking horses, and toy soldiers, for example. They would also have had more extravagant dinners, and more parties and social gatherings.

Of course, some of the older traditions would have been as familiar to your ancestors as they are to us: carol singing, mince pies and a Christmas tree (though this would have been a fairly recent tradition to the Victorians) would have played a part in many families' Christmases. The name Santa Claus would have been unheard of in the UK however - the figure with the white beard being given the more genteel name of Father Christmas.

And of course, to many, particularly the more literate, Christmas will have meant a Dickens story.

Happy Christmas to all of you!

Time Flies...

Hi,
Sorry I haven't posted much lately, time seems to be getting away from me (quite ironic!) but at least it's because I've been working hard!
I promise to make more of an effort to keep posting - I'm hoping to do some Christmas posts pretty soon (love Christmas!)
Bye for now!

11/11

A hundred years ago, on November 11th 1913, who could have known what was to follow? Who would have predicted that the following year would see the outbreak of, not just a war, but a war of such huge impact?

Before the end of the war, just a few years later, everyone would know of someone who had been killed or injured in 'the great war.' Millions of lives had been changed forever; not just the dead, but the injured left behind, bore witness to what had happened between 1914 and 1918.

The poppy flowers continued to grow on fields that had seen death, a reminder of continuing life. And on November 11th, the guns fell silent.

Next year sees the hundredth anniversary of the start of the war - where were your ancestors in 1914?

Xmas Orders

Hey,
Just a quick reminder - if you want to place a Christmas order, I need to know as soon as possible,
See www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk for more info on packages, costs, etc.
Bye for now!

Xmas Orders

Hi,
If anyone would like to order research a special Christmas present then please do so asap to allow me time to research and present the package/request. See www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk for details.
Thanks!
Cerys

Link to a great photo

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY: Mary Pickford in Dorothea Vernon 1924: via

I love old-fashioned photos, so I thought I'd show you this great one on the vintage photography blog

Living History

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Senghenydd mining disaster, which cost over 400 lives. Over 400 men who were working to feed their families were killed by an industry which took as much as it gave, and sometimes took more.

It was not the first accident, it was not the last, but it was the biggest. It might be nice though to remember the lives as well as the deaths; these men were brothers, cousins, sons, fathers. Many would have been English immigrants, as well as men born and raised in Wales, and men whose families were Welsh long before anyone could remember.

The industry shaped Wales, for bad, good, or simply neutral. The men mattered, even if it didn't always seem like it at the time.

The Gift of History

Hi everyone,

If you're looking for a special gift, then have you thought of giving someone you love their own family history? It's perfect for special occasions; particularly my branch or double-branch packages.

It might be just the thing for the parent, sister, friend, etc. who has everything this Christmas... but if you're looking for a Christmas present then I suggest ordering soon, the research takes time to complete so enquire early to avoid disappointment!

Details of my research service and how to order can be found at www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk - hope I can help you give a truly wonderful present to someone special!

Bye for now!

Written Down and Passed Along

I was reading this earlier and trying to remember the last time I hand-wrote a letter. It was probably a couple of months ago - to someone who puts up with my letters on the understanding that I don't demand they write a reply. It gives me an excuse to use my cartridge pen and fancy stationary every now and then! Our ancestors (those who were literate) would have commonly written letters to family and friends in order to keep in touch. I just wish I had more excuses to get the fancy writing paper out!

Who Do You Think You Are? - John Simpson

John Simpson's episode was the last of series 10 (big gap in my TV viewing lurking on the horizon) and centred on a story worthy of a film adaptation.

A flying cowboy and his wife - well, sort of his wife - pioneering aeroplanes after performing for years in a wild west show. I have to admit, I would never be tempted to stand within an outline of targets and let someone shoot at me - it's not something that particularly appeals.

A fantastic episode which shows that truth is often just as good as fiction and that families have incredible stories to tell. I just hope that series 11 will be on our screens sometime soon!

Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Marianne Faithful

Marianne Faithfull's episode of Series 10, like others in this series, focussed on recent history and generations.

This episode showed the effects that the events of the twentieth century - particularly the 1930s and 1940s, had on ordinary people. It also showed the horrendous nature of what people went through for being Jewish or half-Jewish, or showing resistance to something that was wrong.

Marianne's family history helped her to understand more about the people her mother and grandmother were, and how events that happened before she was born could have such a long-lasting effect, even on her own life.

Naming names

Sometimes, families name children perfectly ordinary things, and then sometimes, they don't. I always find it more than a little strange when a family's previously been no more adventurous than a Mary, Ann, or William, and then names a child something seemingly plucked out of the air like Penninah or Mehetable.

Then, there's the double names and the surnames as first names; while there's nothing wrong with it as such, its still worth noting when a child was named John John, William Williams, James James or even Hopkin Hopkins. The records always show more people with double-names than I'm expecting.

Again, there's nothing particularly wrong with any of these names, it all comes down to choice after all, and we live in a world where celebrities name their children after fruit - it all just adds to the wider story of a family.

Living History

Hi!

I have to admit, sometimes I come across people who are - frankly - a little rude about family history. The argument of why it's relevant or (and I hate this) why someone should have more research completed when their family history has 'already been done,' crops up from time to time.

As far as why you should research your family history, well, I can't guarantee you'll ever understand that. But from personal experience, the sense of connection with the past, and the fascinating stories that suddenly spring to life, are worth it every time. It can also allow you to feel part of history, and give you a wider sense of family and how you've got where you are.

The words 'it's all been done' really, really irritate me in terms of family history. I have been researching my own family history for many, many years. I can't honestly say I'm done; I'm pretty sure I will never be 'done.' There's always something more to discover, even about relatives you thought were fully researched - there's always a new perspective, or something you can discover more about.

I'm dedicated to providing history to my customers; names and dates will never be the end of the story, even if you choose to order basic research in order to use this kind of basic information as a starting point.

For more information about my services see www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk

Bye for now,
Cerys.

Who Do You Think You Are? Sarah Millican

I think Sarah Millican is wonderful; the comment about a wrap-around duvet said it all as her episode of series 10 played last night.

Sarah's episode followed parts of her family that, to be honest, did some pretty obscure things for a living. One ancestor was one of the first deep-divers - as in, in the sea. And of course, as had to be done, Sarah got dressed up in the gear - old style diving helmet and everything (I personally find diving helmets a little creepy - probably a combination of too much Scooby-doo and Lemony Snicket when I was younger.) It was important to Sarah however that her ancestor not be in salvage purely for the money - and his decision, recorded in a newspaper, to give up his percentage value of a wreck to children who had been left orphaned by it clearly touched a nerve.

The other main focus of her episode dealt with a labourer in the fur trade who travelled from Orkney to Canada, and ended up with an incredible survival story for his trouble.

The main star of this episode was still Sarah herself, who's comments made the whole thing totally enjoyable.

Bye for now!

Social, Local, Family

I seem to be looking more and more lately into the circumstances surrounding family events and getting background information - the social circumstances can reflect what was actually going on. I think sometimes you can't get the full picture without looking at it from different angles. If there are several members of the family working in the same industry was it the main industry for the area? Is this what everyone worked at? Or was the family the exception?

Local history is very linked with family history - how could it not be when the families of the area created the local history? And social history can show the general mood of the country, and also how your family members would have been thought of if they did certain things!

Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Nitin Ganatra

Nitin Ganatra's episode of Who Do You Think You Are series 10 focussed on India and the Asian community in Kenya.

It's a subject that I myself don't much about, and so admittedly found the episode last night quite fascinating. It also struck me, when it was being explained that the Indians in Kenya built the country's railways, that immigrant labour was used in a variety of countries for this job - the Chinese in the USA came to mind.

Like last week with Nick Hewer, I have to admit a little jealousy when it comes to the ease with which Nitin Ganatra was able to go back through the generations via one document. I don't know what Indian genealogy research is usually like but in Britain, unless your very, very lucky, it just doesn't work like that!

Notes upon notes

Believe it or not, I still use paper to make notes. Yes, it may be true that as a genealogist I may be a little bit stuck in the past but I'm no technophobe; I can find my way around websites and word processors no problem, it's just that sometimes you need paper. Like now for example, when I have about six documents open and about seven web browser tabs - the pieces of paper make my life so much easier because they are right there on the desk in front of me, and not liable to crash unexpectedly.

And of course, it's handy for when I want to add things in here or there - a couple of lines with a pencil, a well-placed sticky note, a note in the margin, and everything's in it's rightful place. Paper, I'm telling you, here to stay.

Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Nick Hewer

Hi, it's that time of week yet again - Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 continued with Nick Hewer's episode last night, and I hope I've put his name down right because I keep calling him Nigel Hewer or Nick Haver.

Anyway, last night's episode was part Irish, part English. Both sides were mixed up more than a little with the politics of their respective times and countries.

The Irish side focussed on Nick's grandfather, a businessman (no real surprise) who held public office in Belfast; the interesting part about this side of the family was the mixed marriages - something that some in Ireland/Northern Ireland have particular viewpoints on even to this day.

The English side focussed on his father's side of the family - who had long links to Wiltshire. The rant about one of his ancestor's in an old will did make me smile, I must admit. Mainly though, this side focussed on the Civil War and Commonwealth periods (a point in time which most people can only dream of tracing their families back to) and the inevitable rises and falls this brought to people on both sides of the conflict.

I have to say, most people will not be able to go along to a local museum and find their family history already written out for them - and if they do, it's best they check through the details. It would've been nice if the show made the point that it's not normally that easy, oh well. More soon!

Salute Your Piers

Sorry, for the bad pun in the title, but I just saw this on the BBC news website and wondered what other people thought. I think it's a good thing that people are thinking about these historic structures - always make me think of signs with old Victorian lettering and quaint attractions, but maybe other people don't feel the same way.

Food for thought anyway. Talk soon!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Gary Lineker

The new episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? seem to be creeping up on me faster and faster - probably just because I've been busy, busy, busy!

Gary Lineker's episode of Season 10 last night followed two very different ancestors. The most interesting was the poacher, who, while slightly comical in actions, does show the poverty that many rural workers faced in this time, and that poaching often came from desperation rather than malice.

I have to admit that my enjoyment of the episode was slightly hindered by just how much Match of the Day preparation was included. While it's a part of the show to show celebrities at the 'day job' I felt that it took more time out of the episode than was needed - it felt uncomfortably like padding in a show that I'm sure could have been stretched out more with fact and family story had it been necessary.

Overall though, still interesting as usual - and the forensic artist's impression of James Pratt alone makes the episode worth watching.

Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Lesley Sharp

Lesley Sharp's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 was similar to Minnie Driver's in that it showed that sometimes you have to deal with the more recent past before you can move on and look further back.

Lesley's feelings were understandably a little mixed, particularly regarding the father who never told her brother and sister that she even existed.

Looking further back amongst her father's ancestors however, she found a man who took in Barnardo's children, and the first son of his wife, with little qualm. The two men clearly jarred a little in her opinion, and her admiration for a man who would take in the children of others shone through - perhaps a little more like her adoptive father than her biological father within her own mind.

Regardless, again like Minnie Driver's episode, this episode showed that it's possible to untangle the web of recent history.

Lies, Darn Lies, and Official Documents

To be perfectly honest with you, sometimes it's what isn't in the records that makes all the difference. No father on the birth certificate usually means a child born out of wedlock, no marriage certificate might mean that they were never married (although sometimes it just means you have to work harder to find it,) and a wife with a husband who consistently lives elsewhere may mean marital difficulties.

Occasionally, the blatant and sometimes fraudulent lies on documents are so great that it takes a court to sort them out. I recently came across an Edwardian case of identity fraud in which a man impersonated a surgeon for many, many years - it was only through myself and a contact working through newspaper reports of court cases that the real story came to light.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 was shown last night.


Courtesy of vlado/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Minnie, understandably, was interested in the history of her father's family and the grandparents she knew nothing about. Armed with a (very nice) black handbag stuffed with the documents she was accumulating as the show went on, she set out to find more.

Certainly, you can understand why the information about her father's war history meant so much to her, and likewise why her quest - much like Una Stubbs in the first episode - was to find a picture of her grandparents.

This episode largely though was a testament to the possibility of finding more about recent relatives and tracing living people - something which is not always the impossible hurdle it may seem. Minnie certainly seemed please to talk to the cousin she never knew that she had, and the actress summed up the whole story very well with talk of film-script-quality events and the tangled web that can sometimes be left behind for future generations to sift through.

Can't wait for another episode! Talk to you soon!

Scandal and Circumstance

As weird as it sounds, in the UK a man could not marry his late wife's sister until 1907, and couldn't marry his brother's widow until 1921. This was because church law saw these sisters-in-law as too close a relation to marry.

So what happened to a brother and sister-in-law who wished to marry before that? Well, in some cases they simply found another fiancée, in others they did marry but moved to an area where they wouldn't be recognised; some pretended that they were married, and some lived together in an informal arrangement - with the woman perhaps posing as a housekeeper or other servant.

The Victorians did not make it easy to tell an innocent situation from one more scandalous - but then, that was the point I suppose. Suicides, for example, were often recorded as accidents - and you have to be very careful if you find a 'seamstress' in the family, she could be someone who actually makes dresses, and not hiding her real occupation at all.

Yes, it can be confusing - but it also makes it all very interesting! Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Nigel Havers

Hi, sorry I haven't posted since last week - life and all that!

Nigel Havers' very interesting episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 aired last night. Havers was extremely determined to not be totally posh, with mixed results - very few paupers and labourers in his family for as far as the eye can see.

That said, the scandal that comes with ancestors who have slightly fallen from grace can make a more interesting story anyway; there's something undoubtedly Dickensian about bankruptcy and debtor's prison in this period.

I have to say that my favourite moment was the newspaper report describing an 'affiliation' between one of Havers' ancestors and the servant girl - a common phrase in my experience. Having had to delve through the quaint Victorian language sometimes used in old newspapers to make things more respectable, I have huge sympathy for the momentary confusion caused - although, to be fair, the order for money to pay the midwife in this particular instance was a big glaring clue that there was a baby involved somewhere. I've had to deal with far less clear reporting - although I'm always glad to find the 'papers which simply come right out and call a spade a spade where scandal and illegitimate children are concerned.

I was also fascinated with the story of the Hamblion taxi cab firm, which held parallels with members of my own family who were in the same business - although, I'm happy to say, which ended in retirement rather than bankruptcy.

More soon!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Una Stubbs

Series 10 of Who Do You Think You Are? started last night with the story of Una Stubbs' family.

The main peculiarity with Una's story was her complete lack of knowledge of grandparents who, it turned out, were proud of her - with apparently no definitive 'ooh, that's what did it' reason that granddaughter and grandparents were forever kept apart.

Of course, the other thing of note in this episode was how much the Rowntree's company seemed to pop up. Una had been in their advertising campaign and visited the factory in which her grandfather had worked, without having the faintest of ideas that he had once lived a couple of streets away and worked where she was standing. Coincidences do seem to crop in almost every family's story, but that was an odd one - and the footage of the kitsch old ads was amazing.

This episode definitely proved that it is possible to trace your UK ancestry with sometimes a very sketchy starting point - Una didn't know her grandparents' names at the start of the episode. And there were some lovely little moments too - Una's innocent naivety at the lack of a father's name on her grandmother's birth certificate and complete technophobia definitely had the power to raise a smile.

All in all, a great return for a great series. More to come!

Lies, Darn Lies, and Official Documents

OK, so sometimes, people lie. It's a fact of life. And, in the past, a lot of people had absolutely no qualms about lying to officials to cover up uncomfortable truths.

Illegitimate children are often 'passed off' on censuses etc. as sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins etc. And when they came to be married themselves, would sometimes point blank make up a father.

There was also the question of social status - if you were better off than your parents were before you, then it was not uncommon to exaggerate a little regarding your father's rank or profession (or your own if you were marrying above your station.)

And, of course, lies, or simple mistakes, abound in terms of age and birthplace on pretty much every type of document from older parish records through to Victorian documents, and even into the twentieth century.

Need help sorting through the mess of conflicting information? See my website www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk to see my range of British family history services.

Keeping Up With the Jones'

Common surnames - such as Williams, Thomas, Smith, Jones etc. - are more difficult to trace because you have to make sure you've identified the 'right' individuals. At the end of the day though, tracing ancestors with a common surname is very difficult but not impossible.

I'm always up for a challenge, so if you've been put off in the past by a common surname, check out my research services at www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk

I can't promise miracles but I can promise I will commit myself to doing the best that I can. Having tracked a man by the name of William Williams I know that it can be possible!

On TV - WDYTYA? New Series

I can't wait for the new series of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' starting soon on BBC One. Series 10 will include Gary Lineker and the delightful Sarah Millican.

I'm planning on posting reviews after each episode (hoping I don't stray too far from the definition of 'review') so keep your eyes out!

Bye for now!

Looks Like A Job For A Woman

Image courtesy of
Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Can you name the first woman MP to sit in the UK parliament? I couldn't. Which is why I decided to find out.

In 1918, women over 30 who had sufficient property to qualify were given the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Women were also allowed to stand for parliament for the first time.

The first woman to be elected as an MP was Constance Markievicz who never took up her seat (she was a member of Sinn Fein.)

The first woman to actually sit as an MP in the commons was Nancy Astor, an American lady who became the Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton. As well as supporting women's right to vote, she also brought in a private member's bill which made it illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18.

People like Nancy Astor paved the way for people who came after her, as did those women way back before 1834 who used to peer through a ventilation shaft to see House of Commons debates, and those crammed in the Ladies' Gallery afterwards - I'm very glad that women are no longer so completely excluded from politics in the UK.

Bye for now!

Family Stories

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, family trees are full of stories.

If there's one particular story in yours that you would like to know more about, then 'leaves' my hourly rate, would be great for you. If you want to find a more general view of the story of your family then you could try one of my other packages.

See my website www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk for more details of my professional genealogist service - your family's story is waiting.

Scandal and Circumstance

A misdemeanour committed by a Victorian child could result in a lot more than a 'telling-off' from their parents.

Industrial schools were places where 'out-of-control' children would be sent to achieve redemption through work. These reform schools come up through newspaper reports and censuses as places to which judges and magistrates sent children who were stealing or 'running wild.'

Sometimes, these schools could be a positive influence - taking children away from poverty-stricken areas and 'bad' influences and giving them the skills needed to get work. Other times you fail completely to understand what the judge was thinking.

For example, three brothers were convicted of stealing a few months after their father had died. The oldest of the boys was eleven. None of them appeared to have ever been in trouble before. The judge sent each of them to an industrial school until they were fourteen. The youngest was seven, meaning that his 'sentence' was also seven years - by the time he left the school, he would've spent half of his life there, away from his family. Like I said before, I have no idea why the judge thought that this was fair.

Meanwhile, their recently widowed mother has her three eldest sons taken away from her, left on her own to take care of four children of five and under. To my modern mind, the way they were treated is the scandal, but at the time it could very well be seen as her fault that the boys had acted out.

More soon!

Family History on TV

OK, I admit it, I love family history related TV shows - not that much of a surprise really, except I do admit to yelling variations of 'You haven't checked for that through this!' at the TV occasionally.

Last night saw the second episode of ITV's 'Secrets of the Workhouse.' The content of the show was actually quite good, but the format was a little bit jumpy to be honest. Still, it was a good attempt at bringing one of the less talked about aspects of British history to TV. Workhouses were a huge part of the history of many families - and though there were many tragedies, there were also people who managed to get back on their feet and move on.

The other ITV show I've been watching lately is 'Long Lost Family' (granted, I'm an episode behind due to the universal law that if there are two things worth watching then they'll be on at the same time,) which deals with more modern family stories. These cases of family separation and reunion can show that the stories of our families are still being written.

Bye for now!

Looking Into The Past

Another day, another travel around the BBC's your paintings website.

I came across this fabulous image - A Barber's Shop, 1784 by Henry William Bunbury. Bunbury was a caricaturist - and certainly seems to display a sense of humour, at least as far as the dogs fighting over the wig are concerned.

About 40 years before this image, in 1745, the roles of barber and surgeon were split - before this a visit to a barber's was a bit of a one-stop shop as far as your physical well-being was concerned. I think I'm using the phrase 'well-being' a bit loosely, but you get the picture.

Barbers still continued to offer such off-putting sounding services as 'teeth-scraping' however, and seeing this picture has reminded me of an Old Bailey case I came across a little while ago from 1895 concerning two men - Paul Baron and Henry William Browett, who apparently were using a combination of fraud and intimidation to make customers pay for a teeth scraping/scaling service that they didn't want.

The witnesses to the case included such diverse customers as the vicar of Ebbw Vale and a man who the person recording the case felt the need to tell us was 'a Hindoo.' Both Baron and Browett were found guilty and sentenced to several months worth of hard labour.

Sudden Death

Sometimes, particularly if the death of an ancestor was sudden, there may be records that give you more information about the circumstances.

In the past, I've come across the death certificate of a woman who died suddenly in her home village. The coroner found the cause of her death to be 'found dead in road.' For some reason this seemed to be good enough - although I don't really think it counts as a cause of death. A newspaper reports how she had collapsed in the street while returning from a neighbour's house, not far from home.


Image courtesy of dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Her son's death was no less sudden. At a much younger age when he died suddenly in the middle of the night, his apparent stroke was reported to have been caused by over-working in the garden the day before. Newspapers claim he sighed, turned over in his sleep, and died - although, they also managed to get his first name wrong, speed being more important than accuracy to many Victorian journalists.

Family trees are full of stories - but some seem to stand out more than others!

Scandal and Circumstance

Illegitimacy (or being born outside marriage) could be a big social stigma in the past, and often kids would assume the surname of stepfathers, or be 'passed off' to the community as siblings, nephews, nieces, or cousins.

Sometimes the parents would marry later or sometimes the mother of the child would marry a relative of the father as a kind of compromise, often the mother and father would simply go their separate ways.

Scandal was sometimes impossible to avoid - you can only imagine the gossip in a rural town when the married wife of a soldier, who was away, gave birth to the son of another man, particularly when she was considerably older than the father of her baby.

Illegitimate children can often be harder to trace (given that they often changed their last names and also sometimes were not living with either parent,) but it is possible, and their stories add yet another strand to your family's history.

For more on how I could help you trace your illegitimate ancestors - or any other ancestors - through my hourly rate or packages see my website - www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk

Bye for now!

New Pinterest account

Just got a new Pinterest account - http://pinterest.com/fhbycerys  - put a few things on my boards already so take a look!

Talk again soon!

Looks Like a Job For a Woman

While it's true that, in the past at least, the vast majority of people in employment were men, there were some jobs that it was seen as acceptable for a woman to do - particularly if she wasn't yet married.



Image Courtesy of Thirdparty/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the past I've come across the records of two sisters who worked as photographer's assistants - it was sometimes assumed that women would do the tasks such as preparing the costumes/sets and leave dealing with the chemicals needed to develop the pictures for the male photographer. This was often not the case. A female photographer's assistant would be just as likely, if not more, to be mixing the chemicals required in this period (makes me glad I can just upload pictures when I want!)

Some women even set themselves up as photographers, though this was more unusual.

So, photography, a chance for middle-class women of the late Victorian/early Edwardian period to be on the front-line of technology, and a great story for anyone's family tree.

Family Questions and Answers

One of the great things about family history is the individual stories that you can come across, but sometimes you can be left with yet more questions - it's the nature of the thing.

Why was this lady buried with her first husband not her second? Why would you move from Oxfordshire to a tiny Welsh village where they don't even speak English at this period?

An ancestor of my own was trying to sell a 30ft Cornish boiler via a classified ad in the paper - I have no idea why he had it, or where on earth he was keeping it, but I'm not going to stop looking.

...and then there are the answers - sometimes more surprising than the questions. This Victorian middle-class lady fell in love with the farm labourer working on her father's land, accounting for his sudden rise in fortunes. Another gentleman disappears from the family home... because he ran off with the circus!

If you have a question about your family's ancestry or background - it could be as simple as wanting to know more about a grandparent's upbringing, then you may find my hourly rate 'Leaves' is just what you've been looking for. Alternatively, you may find one of my packages more suited to your needs. Full details can be found on my website - http://www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk/ - if you have any queries, please get in touch via the contact details provided on the site. Even if you think I can't help you, I may be able to.

Bye for now!

2013 Anniversaries

Image Courtesy of Simon Howden/

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Found this list of 2013 anniversaries from The Telegraph - and yes, there are a lot of them. I'm guessing the picture of Henry VIII on this page with a caption about Henry IV is a mistake.

It's a page full of interesting bits and pieces - like, did you know it's the 100th anniversary of the birth of American runner Jesse Owens in 2013? Me neither.

I also didn't know that David Lloyd George was born in the Manchester area - I think the name and the Welsh nationalism had me fooled. I'm pretty sure you can still be counted as a Welshman if your parents were Welsh and you grew up in Wales - don't you think?

There's more about Lloyd George here if you're interested.

It's always nice to think about finding someone notable in your British family tree, but the lives of ordinary people can be just as interesting - not least because they're related to you.

Looking Into the Past

I've just been browsing through the fantastic BBC 'Your Paintings' site - well worth a look, some amazing pictures held by local councils etc. around the country. Plus, technically these paintings belong to the public - always nice.

'Remember Scarborough' by Edith Kemp-Welch really caught my eye - well, it's quite striking after all, given the amount of red in the picture, but there were also a couple of other things that got me thinking...

Firstly, I couldn't quite tell if this was propaganda or not at first - since looking at it, I've found out that the image was used on an enlistment poster, so I guess it was. At first though, while it was obviously patriotic, I couldn't really tell if this was from 'the establishment,' or not. What do you think?

Secondly, why Scarborough? Turns out Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough were raided by the German navy in 1914. You learn something new every day.

Another thing that struck me was that it was painted by a woman - not unheard of in this period, though not common either, particularly as the stereotypical war artist is a man. There's a brief video from the IWM last year on the subject of women war artists here.

If your ancestors were from Scarborough, maybe they witnessed the raiding - could you imagine that? Or maybe there's a woman artist hiding in the branches of your family tree, you never know.

See you next time!

Here It Goes...

Here it is then - the first post for my new blog! I think I'll start by explaining a little bit more about Family History By Cerys:

I work as a UK genealogist providing a range of services for British family history research. I specialise in British genealogy with particular experience in researching English/Welsh family trees. I have packages available (including a starter/beginner package) and a competitive hourly rate.

All the details of my services can be found on my website http://www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk/

Finding out about your family background and heritage makes history feel more real - and definitely more personal - talk to you again soon!