Just taken a look at FMPs new additions. Apart from new titles in the newspaper collection (British Newspapers), they've added Dorset early census returns (1724-1821). Great stuff. search.findmypast.com/search-world... #genealogy #England #Dorset

I had a close encounter of the AI kind this week that made me really annoyed. After spending ages thinking up a prompt that would prevent hallucination, it still just made up a source. When I asked for the link, it admitted that it didn't exist. Read on... #AncestryHour

Hey, anyone here for #AncestryHour? I've been working on my Gloucestershire Research Study on the name Bwye. There sure are a lot of them! What have you been up to? #OneNameTuesday

Anyone else seeing this when they try to call up the FreeBMD site? #genealogy

1988 was a violent year, often forgotten because of what came next. With hindsight we are all cleverer, but the signs of the revolution to come were there, only noone saw them. Read part 14 in ‘Back in the Day in Berlin’ and share with a friend. #coldwar #berlin #1980s

I am getting geared up for my visit to the UK in August and a family history tour of Kent with my cousin. I've been sorting through my tree, using Family Tree Maker's places list, to find all my Kent ancestors. Turns out there's tons of them, mostly Rueggs, Skudders and Chambers. #genealogy #kent

September 2026: Global Health Conference "The Right to Health in Times of War" Register here: ippnw.de/bit/ghc Space is limited, so we encourage you to secure your spot early.

The Bwye One Name Study is coming along nicely. All the research enabled me to write a story in two parts on my 2x great grandfather Henry Bwye, who was a landscape gardener first at Cyntathfa Castle in Wales, then Ram Bagh in Amritsar, India, and finally at Annandale, Simla, india. #OneNameTuesday

Where did Henry Bwye go? In 1871 he arrived in the hill station of Simla (Shimla). But was he the head gardener at Annandale or did the drink get the best (or the worst) of him? Read Part Two of his story here. #genealogy #BritishIndia #Bwye

My grandaunt Flora passed me on the story of her great-grandfather Henry Bwye. But was it true? Here is part one of my version of his story that only very sketchily checks out with hers, but with a little fantasy... 🤔 #genealogy #BritishIndia #familyhistory

Also, have to thank @danielloftus.projectinfant.ie once again for his great genealogy starter pack. I've got a whole bunch of new followers and found quite a few new people to follow. Networking is soon important. #AncestryHour #genealogy

Submitted a piece for the magazine "Genealogy Matters" about my grand-uncle Harold Blenkiron who ended up destitute after WW1. #AncestryHour

Phew! That was a lot of work. Just finished the research page on the #Bwye family in India. You can read it here 👇. There were 34 people born with the surname Bwye that lived in #BritishIndia and they are all related to me. #OneNameTuesday #genealogy

Hey, are there any German genealogists here on Bluesky? I'd love to be connected. #genealogy #AncestryHour

So sad. We have lost a wonderful woman.

Things are on the move in #Berlin in 1988. In the West, political activism against the lifting of rent controls ends with a bizarre escape over the Wall. While the GDR tries to placate its disenchanted youth with Western bands. Read the latest post in the series “Back in the Day in Berlin” 👇

Our #OnePlaceStudies website was highlighted as a free #LocalHistory resource, but we have a lot more goodies packed into the Members' Area in addition to the info (including this OPS guide) that everyone can view. Join us to access those and other benefits 👇🏻 for just £10 a year! #OnePlaceWednesday

Finished collating (hopefully) all of the Bwye family in India for my One-Name-Study. I found 30 of them in the British India Office records. Next up: Gloucestershire! www.wikitree.com/wiki/Categor... #OneNameStudy #Bwye #genealogy

This is the Bwye family in Simla, India. I have now added so many Bwye profiles to #Wikitree that I've decided to start a #OneNameStudy on the surname #Bwye Do you have any Bwyes in your tree? #genealogy

I've at last been to Tablat in Canton Zürich, Switzerland to see if I can find out more about the Rüegg family. My 5x great-grandfather supposedly was born there, although I have not yet verified it. Talk about endogeny! Hundreds of Rüeggs, all called Rudolf, Jakob or Ulrich 🙄 #genealogy

Ich habe mitgemacht. Er muss frei kommen. #israel #palestine #humanrights

Keine Mittelstreckenwaffen – nirgends! Gerade jetzt braucht es öffentlichen Druck für Abrüstung und Rüstungskontrolle statt weiterer Aufrüstung. Deshalb gehen wir am Samstag, 30.05. gemeinsam in Wiesbaden auf die Straße! Weitere Infos hier: friedensfaehig.de/demos-in-gra...

I am thrilled to bits that four of my family history stories about Ancestral Women have been published in this ebook, edited by Robin Stewart of #Genealogy Matters. Read it here: archive.org/details/ance...

May 1987 all hell is loose in West Berlin. A month later, music lovers in the East also rise up. Read the latest episode on Back in the Day in Berlin 👇 #Berlin #storytelling #coldwar

Unfortunately while I'm in Greece, #Genhour is just too late for me. But I have a question:anyone know if it's possible to search by place in my own tree? #ancestry

Blooming Bottlebrush (Callistemon), Greece 🌱

Latest quickie done at the end of a session at the studio yesterday, just using up leftover paint. What does it remind you of? I see a colourful waterfall. Acrylic on canvas board, 20 X 20 cm. #art #artwork #painting

I love it when I find a new cousin who's just starting out on her family history journey and I can give her my research. Knowing that a younger person now has all the info I painstakingly gathered over 20 years makes me feel like this story is to be continued... #genealogy #FamilyHistory

Enjoying the British India Challenge today on #Wikitree. I managed to work on 18 profiles today. Admittedly, most of them only needed a tweak here and there. See you tomorrow for more! #genealogy

After a break for Greek Easter, I got my head down and wrote part 9 of Back in the Day in Berlin. It's now Autumn 1986 and I take a peek behind the Iron Curtain. Take a look 👇

Trying out a new method if "feeding" my Mediterranean garden: instead of composting kitchen veg leftovers, chipping them up finely and using them as mulch. This way I protect the earth from the sun and get more organic material into the clay soil. Anyone else tried this? 🌱

Καλό Πάσχα! #GoodFriday procession in Koroni in front of the Elysia church. #OrthodoxEaster #GreekEaster

Trumps Rhetorik ist oft überzogen – doch war seine jüngste Äußerung eine ernst gemeinte nukleare Drohung? Verhandlungstaktik oder versteckte Warnung? Mehr dazu im Blogartikel von Xanthe Hall: www.atomwaffena-z.info/heute/blog/w... #Atomkrieg #IranWar

Negotiating tactic or a nuclear threat? Was Trump serious when he threatened to kill "a whole civilisation in one night"? Just the ravings of a madman, or the basis of the concept of nuclear deterrence? Read my post on @ippnw.bsky.social Peace and Health Blog: peaceandhealthblog.com/2026/04/10/w...

Planning on taking part in the British India Challenge on #Wikitree starting April 13th. Anyone else doing it? #AncestryHour

Finished this painting today in the studio. Not sure what to call it yet. Experimenting with painting with my hands, scraping with a palette knife, then using a glue gun to add texture, and then adding highlights with fingers. Acrylic and glue on canvas, 30 X 40 cm. #art #artwork #painting

My first year on Substack is over.Here's how it went and a little peek into future plans:https://open.substack.com/pub/xanthh/p/review-my-first-year-on-substack #genealogy #familyhistory

Divine intervention at the World Cup, an Irish wedding and the Wall turns 25. Read my latest story about the summer of 1986 in West Berlin, the next in the series on 40 years of living in this exciting city. #Berlin #storytelling #herstory

Started work on the letter A for the A-Z challenge. But at this rate of research, I'll never ever get to Z. I'm thinking of giving it a miss after all. So much else to do... Sorry to miss #AncestryHour #genealogy

Inspired by Greece, these are my first paintings since getting back into the Koroni studio in March. "Summer to Winter" is already reserved; Spring is still on offer. Enjoying myself immensely, trying out new media. #art #artwork #painting

My voice for today's book by a woman: There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak 📚💙 #TheWriteWomen

My DNA sent me down an Anglo-Indian rabbit hole and I came up understanding how Mother India was part of my family. This is the last post for Women’s History Month and the Storytellers’ Challenge on Ancestral Women. open.substack.com/pub/xanthh/p... #genealogy #familyhistory #BritishIndia

April 1986: Not Brezhnev, but Gorbachev visits East Berlin just prior to the worst nuclear disaster in history. Berlin—like most of Europe—is contaminated, but East Berlin is suddenly inundated with the fruit and veg they always dreamed of. #ColdWar #Berlin #storytelling

Today's great March read: Just finished "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Wouden. Highly recommend it. #booksky 📚💙 #womenwriters

It’s 1986 and it’s freezing cold! We’re dancing in West Berlin while the International Year of Peace gets bombed. I discover the Döner and give up being a vegetarian. Read the latest episode of Back in the Day in Berlin 👇 #Berlin #storytelling #herstory

24.3., online: Der völkerrechtswidrige Krieg der USA & Israels gegen den #Iran verschärft die humanitäre Katastrophe in #Gaza, der #Westbank & im #Libanon. Gleichzeitig werden Kriegstaktiken der israelischen Armee aus Gaza direkt im Iran angewendet. Mehr Infos & Anmeldung: ippnw.de/bit/naher-osten

This post seems to have touched a nerve. It's getting more than the usual number of likes. But the likes on Blue sky don't translate into actual view on Substack. #AncestryHour

My great-grandmother Ada was trapped in an unhappy marriage with a man who beat her. She was able to free herself, and to find a good home for her children and a new husband. But was it too late? Read my latest post in the series on my Ancestral Women. #genealogy #familyhistory

OK, so it's still early, but I'm going to jump the gun on #genhour and just hope I'm still awake in 30 minutes: I posted a piece for the Storytellers' Challenge this week that opened my eyes to the reality of what being married to a soldier in the East India Company army in 19th C India was like

Damn! I missed #genhour because in Greece the time is GMT+2, so my alarm - set for Berlin - went off an hour late.