Found in 1823, this Roman mosaic from Bramdean Hampshire was recorded by John Lickman in 1828 The centre featured Medusa surrounded by deities Sadly an attempt to lift it in 1873 completely failed and the tesserae were finally shovelled up and used to repair holes in a road 😱 #MosaicMonday

Three years ago I was invited to the preview of "The Unravelling Fantasia of Miss H" a contemporary opera that brought to life a remarkable Yorkshire story of injustice, defiance and survival. It told the story of Doncaster-born Mary Frances Heaton, who in 1837 was committed to the West Riding

Cathy was one of my first clients and has such fascinating ancestors. I’m very grateful to her for helping me learn on the job!

If you heard me cackling in the Map Room earlier this week, it's because I was adding this 1630 Court of Requests dispute about a wet beaver (hat) to the online catalogue 🫢 TNA REQ 2/402/73. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2...

I’ve published a blog about the history of my house from the late 18th century to 1901. For 100 years the property was owned by one family of blacksmiths, the Hyde’s, and many of them worked here in the village smithy. digupyourancestors.com/2026/04/25/a...

Happy 80th birthday to the luminous and hilarious Dame Joanna Lumley! I was lucky enough to meet her when I worked in the entertainment industry many moons ago. #JoannaLumley

Tomorrow is Saturday, so you know what that means! That's right: today is Friday, and two days from now it will be Sunday. This is how time works. You can learn this and so much more in the archive tomorrow where we're open from 9am to 4pm as it's the first Saturday of the month.

Season Eleven is ready to go, and we're excited for you to hear these episodes! familyhistoriespodcast.com/2026/05/01/s... #genealogy #ancestry #FamilyHistory #podcast

A sample from Captain Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue which was first published in 1785. Lots more in my post at alondoninheritance.com/london-histo...

For my archival research today I had musical entertainment! I’ve been at the Pusey House Library, Oxford — a nationally important collection of books on Anglo-Catholicism. The chapel is just downstairs and I have been browsing Victorian diaries to the sounds of organ and choral music all afternoon.

“If we didn’t step in, what would happen here?… in this case, it would just sit there, the holes in the roof would get bigger, the ivy would take over, it would still be a problem in 10 years’ time – just a bigger problem.” 1/7

I'm preaching to the choir here but if you have a newbie interested in searching the #1926census, I've done a quick video explainer. Please share. #Speirgorm #Skystorians #Genealogy #IrishGenealogy youtu.be/6viUgy7vUsk...

I’m honoured to be amongst these legends 🥰 This is going to be a great event. There’s a huge discount if you book the week, and with recordings available for a month afterwards, it would be silly not to! 😁

Do you know your St Botolphs? There are 3 London churches with this dedication: St Botolph without Aldersgate, St Botolph without Aldgate & St Botolph without Bishopsgate — all once outside (without) the city gates. A 4th, St Botolph Billingsgate, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

Today I’m looking at Oxford overseers’ accounts and council minutes at the brilliant @oxhistcentre.bsky.social. It’s a lot to take in, so thank goodness I can take a break with a lovely pot of tea and the latest Family Tree magazine.

Here are 9 more colourful entries from Condover's parish registers (all mid 18th century). And I think I've saved the best for last ... 1. 'Elizabeth a Bastard Daughter of Mary Bromley a most foresworn abominable whore was baptised the 6th [March 1748]

On Christmas Day 1747, William, illegitimate son of Elizabeth Bevin, a 'vagrant woman', was baptised at Condover. She'd been traveling to her home parish of Clun — having been ordered there by a JP — and gave birth at the Constable of Bayston's home. William was buried the next day. #WomensHistory

I discovered the reason that the >200 yr old statue of Lord Hill is in such great condition — it was made from Coade stone, an artificial stone invented by Eleanor Coade. Her invention was used in numerous sculptures, stately homes & significant buildings. What a brilliant woman! #WomensHistoryMonth

At St Andrew’s, Condover, this beautiful and poignant monument depicts Alice Cholmondeley, who died in childbirth in 1868 just a year after marriage. She holds her infant daughter, who died a few weeks later. Alice’s husband Reginald sculpted the effigy himself, adding an empty cradle at her feet.

#WomensHistoryMonth 🎉 The marks of women applying for settlement in Bridgend ✍️ From 1697, when paupers moved, they needed to carry a settlement certificate with them to show that their parish of legal settlement would take them back if necessary. #Wales #History

My 4x grt grandparents had a grocer’s shop in Abbey Foregate in Shrewsbury 1813-1816, before moving to Bedfordshire. I visited Abbey Foregate today and realised that Lord Hill’s Column, the tallest Doric column in the UK (40.6m) was erected there during that short period. Must have been exciting!

Still a couple of places left on this course starting the end of April. If you’d like to learn how to get the most out of TNA’s website, book your place now 👇🏻 #Archives #Genealogy #History #Research #FamilyHistory

#MementoMoriMonday 💀 Wounded not Vanquished" ❤️ A rare example of a heart memorial brass ❤️ Brass heart monuments are extremely unusual, although more survive carved in stone. 📍St Mary's Church • Wedmore ⛪️ www.mbs-brasses.co.uk/index-of-bra... #History

Seems appropriate, and sad, on #StPatricksDay to find evidence that my 3xGrandfather William MAHER (and children) may have been sent back to #Ireland and into the #Dublin #Workhouse from England in 1848, like many trying to escape the #Famine

My husband’s ancestors (Benwell) were some of the few townspeople permitted to use Merton chapel. Only about 2 christenings and 2 burials were recorded in the chapel per year from 1750-1800, and 25 of them were Benwells. They entered from the street and at different times from the college residents.

More Bagpuss in my Bluesky this morning. He never goes out of style.

Mothering and parenting takes many forms. One of the first blogs I ever wrote was about the mystery of an aunt and uncle who raised my husband’s great grandmother. Her locket containing their photographs was passed down, but their names had been forgotten.

I love this round (including the mouse version) and didn’t realise it was written in Reading. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

25 years ago today I got married in a little wedding chapel at South Lake Tahoe, California.

I really enjoyed the new #Pets&TheirPeople exhibition at the Bodleian Weston Library. Here are a few old newspaper notices that made me chuckle. I would absolutely pay to see the performing, talking fish. If you go, don’t miss the animatronic therapy cat! visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/pets-a...

Has anyone come across a 'certified burial certificate' from the 18th century, and know what details might be included? I have found one for someone I'm researching, who died in Somerset in 1738. It's within the papers of another family (relationship unknown), at Somerset Archives.

Yesterday I was looking at an old blog of mine and came across some family names that made me laugh all over again. The subject of my blog was the son of schoolmistress FANNY EVILL. And Fanny was the daughter of Baptist Minister REVEREND EVILL. Staying on theme, his mother was a DAGGER. 😆

Today is #WorldBookDay and my niece has dressed as the Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland). The character is often mixed up with the Red Queen (Through the Looking Glass) - a ‘thorny’ character inspired by the Liddell children’s governess, Mary Prickett (“Pricks”). Mary was my husband’s ancestor.

I use Google Docs for almost all my work and for filing digitised genealogical records. I noticed today that the search function now works with hand-written documents in my folders. A search for 'Sneyd' (a name I knew I had come across but couldn't place) found the name in these 2 records. V. handy!

In 1891 MPs in Parliament debated whether the 3 women who’d been elected to London’s City Council had a right to remain in their posts. Mr Henry Labouchere (MP, Northampton) aired his views on the matter … (Alt text would be v long so here’s the link to Hansard: api.parliament.uk/historic-han...)

The Beeches, East Hendred

Antiquarianism, by Joe Saunders. Antiquarians have served an important part in the study of history over the last few hundred years, and their work has helped the development of the modern historical sciences. how-to-history.com/2026/01/28/a...

Lots of interesting topics here. Something for everyone!

Opinions please: If a 29-year-old man's cause of death in 1889 was 'Heart-disease years Certified' do you think that he would have known he had heart problems? Or could it have been a sudden and unexpected death, but the certifying doctor deducted that it had been a long-term issue?

Timeless humour! A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to: “I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂 Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA. 📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA #Archaeology

@richard-holt.bsky.social in case you’re not aware …

Sometimes you just have to share a cute old photograph. This is Percy, my husband’s uncle, in about 1939. I haven’t colourised it - I think that must have been done by hand soon after it was taken.

This summer marks 90 years since the start of the #SpanishCivilWar. My husband's great uncle, Dick Mortimer, was a fish-curer from Hull, and a communist. At 18 he joined the #InternationalBrigade to fight fascism in Spain. I've shared his story, and some tips on researching brigaders, in a new blog.

My granny, Delia, would have been 99 today. When she was a toddler she became the youngest person ever to cross the Atlantic and arrive in Britain unescorted by family or friends. In honour of her birthday I've updated my blog about her record-breaking journey. digupyourancestors.com/2020/03/22/r...

Happy Febreware from Connecticut gravestone carver James Stanclift. gravestone for Hannah Stanly (c.1644-1689), Hartford, Connecticut farber.davidrumsey.com