Essential reading for genealogists, whether you have Scottish ancestry or not… scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...

A curse upon the clerk of Church Langton, Leicestershire who decided in 1675 that it would be a good idea not to record any details of the parentage of the children who were being baptised in his parish... 😡

I received a letter from a prospective client today. Yes, a letter. Handwritten... With a stamped addressed envelope!

A good example of why we should always view all available copies of a record. Here we have two versions of the same marriage record; on the left is the Bishops' Transcript, on the right the original from the parish register of All Saints, Wigan. Check out the witnesses...

My usual reaction to a bad piece of transcription is to groan inwardly (and occassionally outwardly) but this one just made me smile. I can see how they got there but it's clearly wrong. A point for the first person to reply with what it really says...

My eye is always drawn to those little marginal notes. This one, next to the baptism of John Nield in the parish register of Bowdon, Cheshire, had nothing to do with the family I'm researching: now PC 1828 1832 I was pretty sure I knew what it meant so I checked the later marriage register and...

#MappyMonday to you all! I've been enjoying this 1794 map of The Country Round Manchester, the work of John Aikin (or Aiken). The thicker black lines are, of course, canals rather than railway lines and this map captures the area as it approaches the height of "canal mania". #MapMonday

A thread 🧵 On 24 July (i.e. 8 weeks ago yesterday) I ordered a marriage certificate from the General Register Office (GRO). I was told it would be dispatched on 30 July. I wanted it to arrive ASAP as it was for a client who was visiting from her native Chile to seek out her English ancestors. 1/

I'm currently in the middle of writing my FT Academy piece for the February 2026 issue of Family Tree Magazine and I can promise you a story that will make your head spin. The working title is Poverty, Illegitimacy and Lies... #AmWriting @familytreeplus.bsky.social

When you're writing about 19th century urban squalor, it's always a toss up whether to go for a quote from Charles Dickens or Elizabeth Gaskell. Today, I've gone for Gaskell: Mary Barton, Chapter VI ‘the damp ... wet, brick floor, through which the stagnant, filthy moisture of the street oozed up.

A detail from the 25" Ordnance Survey Map of Cerne Abbas, published in 1888. Is it just me or have they missed out an important detail...?

Good news! I think I've found the burial record you've been looking for...

Boundaries aren't always neat, straight lines. This is the border between the ecclesiastical parishes of Tynemouth & Earsdon, Northumberland showing the countless detached portions of hamlets and townships. It must have been difficult for the inhabitants to know where they actually lived! #MapMonday

Got Radiohead tickets - just saying...

I'm back from Dorset and back in the 21st century! I spent the day working on the traditional End of Year Family Tree Academy Quiz for @familytreeplus.bsky.social Look out for a range of challenges with rounds called 'Let Battle Commence', 'For What It's Worth' and 'What Does That Mean?'

The problem with visiting places is that everywhere becomes a potential #OnePlaceStudy Yesterday, we went down to Weymouth and then stopped off at Upwey on the way back. And now I want to know everything about everyone who ever lived there. Especially, Tregunel Roper!

This is the fireplace in the room that we’re staying in, in the Dorset gatehouse. It’s a bit like a 17th century probate inventory come to life! I particularly like the fire dogs…

Home for the next few days… No, really! #LandmarkTrust

Your last chance to book for this fantastic event organised by @sogorg.bsky.social starting today and featuring five days of talks and walks about and around London. I'll be doing my Lost in London talk on Friday afternoon. Hope to see you there... portal.sog.org.uk/Event/view/1...

I'm currently researching a family who lived in Worsley, in the parish of Eccles, Lancashire in the 18th century and I've just found this beautiful map on the @natlibscot.bsky.social maps website. Do I have permission to spend the rest of the day just staring at it?

I came across what I thought was an amusing (and uncommon) name today: Cuthbert Snowball! It turns out that there have been many (proud?) owners of the name stretching back to the 17th Century. The last one seems to have died in 1975... Do you have a Cuthbert Snowball in your tree?

Yesterday, I set sail onboard the Ship of Knowledge. Today, I have clambered into the Coracle of Convenience…

It’s important to always leave an offering to the archive Gods…

Preparing to board the Ship of Knowledge - destination, St Helena… @britishlibrary.bsky.social

📸 A snapshot of the people and activities shaping our programme at the Society of Genealogists! Talks, visits, book club & more — always something to inspire family historians. 🍂 👉 Explore what’s coming up: portal.sog.org.uk/ev...

Extract from a nuncupative (i.e. word of mouth) will from 1740. "My Wife shall have all that ever I have in the World..." "Is this your Will & Desire? If it is, give me yr hand on the same. On which He gave R. Bygrave his hand & repeated that that was his Desire & shook R. Bygrave by the hand..."

Is it just me or do all family historians find themselves pronouncing place names in their heads, in what they imagine to be convincing local accent? I've had 'Chester le Street' going round in my head all morning and I'm quite good at accents but I suspect my take on it would make a local wince...

There are some lovely 'new' old maps on the @natlibscot.bsky.social maps website including Thomas Jefferys & Andrew Armstrong's 1768 map of The County Palatine of Durham. Jefferys' maps are always stunning, particularly the coloured versions. This one clearly shows the boundaries of Durham's Wards.

I've updated #EarlyModern Resources earlymodernweb.org/resources/ Quite a few new links but also a big overhaul of the site to be more usable + a visual refresh. (If you can't see a change, you may need to clear your browser cache and refresh hard. 😬)

With Family Tree Plus you choose what to learn, when to learn it – and skip the boring bits. Find out more: http://bit.ly/4mX8rKp Expert tips, step-by-step guidance, and 100+ hours of videos are ready when you are. 👉 Enrol today with our Back to School offer – only £5! http://bit.ly/4mX8rKp

I came across this family in the 1851 census, a 56-year old widow and her six unmarried daughters, running a booksellers & stationers shop in Luton, and if that's not a great pitch for a Netflix period drama, I don't know what is. I'm thinking of casting Keira Knightley as the oldest daughter...

I'm not great with Latin but I can handle the basics and I can usually work out the meaning of most of what I come across in my day-to-day research. Greek, however, is a whole different matter! This is from an eighteenth century Hertfordshire parish register... 🤷‍♂️ #ItsAllGreekToMe

What a life! The stories he must have been able to tell...

This is the kind of thing you want to read about your ancestor... From an early 19th century British Army 'Statement of Service': THAT his General Conduct as a Soldier has been "uncommonly Good"

It’s been that kind of morning… Wills, wills and more wills!

Remembering my mum today. She died more than 20 years ago but today would have been her 98th birthday. Happy Birthday, mum 💕

It's a little-known fact that when you zoom out enough on most family trees they basically look the Starship Enterprise...

I'm fascinated by the marks made by our less-literate ancestors on documents. Alonsgide the simple x we also find more elaborate marks (initials and other symbols) suggesting at least a degree of literacy. These marks were made by John Field on his marriage record & as a witness to another wedding.

I recently reconnected a woman in Chile with her English family and I've just had an email with some lovely feedback: I am so amazed by your report!. The family history is fascinating, and your work is so incredibly good!!! I can´t believe all the details! I promise we will be forever grateful.

I wonder how many times I've typed the words 'parish register' in my life...

I ordered some new business cards and decided to treat myself to a posh metal dispenser thingy for them…

I was sorting out some document images over the weekend from a research trip to Derbyshire Record Office way back in September 2023 and I came across this wonderful map which links to my #OnePlaceStudy of Longnor, Staffordshire #MapMonday #MappyMonday #Longnor #Maps

My calendar’s having an existential argument with itself…

To mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day here's a blog I wrote about my great uncle Samuel Christie Annal who took part in the 2nd Chindit Expedition in 1944. Sadly, Sam didn't survive to celebrate the end of the war, having died in August 1944. He was just 20. lifelinesresearch.co.uk/2022/11/10/r...

A trip to Hertfordshire Archives can be a dangerous affair with their ex-library book trolley always packed to the gunwales with irresistible Hertfordshire goodies. Reader, I bought them…

I've been having a writing day, putting together another edition of the Family Tree Academy for @familytreeplus.bsky.social With some of the pieces I do for the Academy, I can just get on with the writing because I know the subject inside out. Today's has not been one of those... 😁 #AmWriting

My typing is getting worse. It used to just be names like Jospeh, Jhon and Goereg that I could never get right first time. Then a few years ago I came up with 'addiotnally' and just now I typed the word 'occifically' and it took me a while to work out what was wrong with it...

🚶‍♀️🕵️‍♂️ Walk in your ancestors’ footsteps this Victorian London Week (8–12 Sept)! Talks, research, walks & archives—join us in-person or online. Discover the real stories of 19thC London life. 🍽️👒 🔗 Book now: portal.sog.org.uk/Ev... #FamilyHistory #VictorianLondon

I always love it when couples getting married exaggerate their father's occupations but this is one of the best I've found in a while. 1881 census - 'Head Gardener' 1884 daughter's marriage - 'Land Agent' Well, I suppose, in a sense... 👨‍🌾

It’s not every day I add a book to my list of ‘The Best Books Ever Written’ but this one thoroughly deserves its place on that list. If you have ancestors who lived in the UK between 1793 & 1815 (and if you’re reading this, you probably do!) then this book is about them and for you.