The Classified Past

Image courtesy of Naypong/FreeDigitalImages.net

The Classified adverts in old newspapers are always so interesting - read this from the Cardiff Times, 5 October 1866:

'WANTED, a Young Lady to give lessons in Dancing for the winter quarter. Address W. H., Cardiff Times office.'

 

After all, every decent young lady needed to learn to dance.

Family History By Cerys is on Cyndi's List!

A big thank you to Cyndi's List for listing both this blog and www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk! It's much appreciated!

Friday Quick Tip

Every Friday I'm going to try to  give you a 'quick tip' for genealogy - just a little something that may help a beginner or you might not have thought of before.

So here's your first Friday Quick Tip: Always start with what you already know, about yourself, parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Write it out to get a good idea of your starting point.

At Home with the Georgians (BBC)

Image courtesy of sattva/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last night's episode of the At Home with the Georgians on BBC Four (originally on BBC Two) is perfect for all of you who love Georgian architecture, interiors, fabric, wallpaper, etc...

I recommend a cup of tea (or something stronger if you wish) and a box of chocolates to accompany you as you watch it on iPlayer and pretend that you live in the world that the wonderful Amanda Vickery describes. I particularly like the part where she describes the quilt as the family's history (but then, I would!)

And, if you haven't had your fill of pretty fabrics, I suggest looking at the V & A museum collection images - including this pretty piece of dress fabric.

Of course, all these pretty relics of the past once belonged to real people who had families, lives, aspirations, problems, and maybe descendants out there right now. What your family may have owned or enjoyed of these things varies according to circumstance, but as the section of the programme showing the foundling hospital demonstrates, beautiful fabric could be owned by the poorest and most desperate, as well as the richest. And, as I'm sure you're fed up of me saying by now, the only way to gain a true understanding of your ancestry, is to also learn about social and local history.

Stranger than Fiction

I recently read a (fictional) book about the Pendle witches (Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, for anyone with a reading habit to rival my own,) and it made me think, is historical fiction as interesting as historical fact? I have to confess to loving both - I am both a reader and a researcher after all.

For anyone interested in the true and very strange story of the Pendle witches - there's good background information here about the Pendle witch trials, which, after all, came before the famous trials at Salem.

Just a Note

Hi,

Just a quick note to say I hope you're enjoying the bank holiday. If you've been trying to research your family history this weekend and have got stuck or hit a brick wall, then why not check out my range of services - particularly my 'leaves' hourly rate, perfect for knocking those brick walls down! Take a look at my website www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk for details.

Bye for now!

And A Bit More Easter Joy

I love this video - vintage Astaire, and perfect for Easter. I'll be singing it mentally all day