In my musings, I very often neglect the tales of my father’s English family, especially those of his maternal grandfather. For this reason, I’ve been taking another look at the early Murray families to see what new information I can uncover.
(more…)
Author: Dominic
Pointless Research
Does all the research that we do have to have a specific point? Do we always have to be ‘on’ as researchers, beavering away at our own lines and families? Can we – should we – be allowed to undertake research that is just for fun?
Spoiler alert: Abso-effing-lutely we should. In the words of Blanche Devereaux: “It keeps you healthy, keeps you in shape. Keeps your buttocks firm.” Alright, so not exactly (after all, if genealogy did that, then Jazzercise would never have been invented…), but it allows us to firm up our researching muscles whilst providing our brains with some free-wheeling time to mull over strategies for solving other research blockers.
Case in point …
(more…)
52 Ancestors: Outcast
I had written half a blog for last week’s prompt (Social Media) but hadn’t got around to finishing it before this week’s prompt came around. Sorry about it. Now on to this week’s writing!
Outcasts. My immediate thought was to look at social outcasts: the undesirables. Hobos. Vagrants. Tramps. Vagabonds. The demonisation of the poor is nothing new, and something that is still prevalent in society today. In fact, in the UK, the first piece of legislation making it a crime to be unemployed (known as idleness) dates to 1349. A vagrant was a person who could work but chose not to and, having no fixed abode or lawful occupation, begged. Vagrancy was punishable by being branded or whipped.
I’m pretty sure that if this was suggested today that a surprising (or not so surprising??) subset of the population wouldn’t have a problem with it.
(more…)
52 Ancestors: Oops
This week’s prompt seemed a bit familiar, so I checked my Archive from 2020 and here is the first time I wrote on this theme. All of that still holds just as true today as it did back in 2020 – and no shade to Amy for recycling prompts!
I’d like to think that with experience comes wisdom and that I am less prone to research oopsies. Still, this past week I did order a birth certificate for a suspected illegitimate Holborow birth which I discovered 20 minutes after submitting the order had been double registered with the obvious birth father’s name as well. So I am definitely not saying I am infallible. (And, yes, it was incredibly irritating.)
But have there been any earth-shattering oopsies in my research, something that has meant unpicking an entire family line and/or hours of research? Or have I ever uncovered someone else’s oopsie?
(more…)
52 Ancestors: Out of Place
I wasn’t sure that I had a family history story that met this week’s theme … until I started to review my Holborow ONS entries for the 1851 census and realised I’d missed an entire spelling variant in my search! And – as usual – the Holborows (or Holbrows in this instance) managed to come up trumps – and drive me right round the buggering twist!
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin …
(more…)
52 Ancestors: I’d Like To Meet / Favourite Photo
I have decided to do 52 Ancestors again this year, after taking a break in 2022. I’m already a week behind hence why this post is a bit of a twofer.
In terms of “I’d Like To Meet”, assuming we mean a deceased family member and not – picking a name at random from the ether – Henry Cavill, then the answer is clear and blindingly obvious to anyone who I have ever bored to tears spoken with about my family history.
The Werewolf Prince
Ok, so I’ve missed Hallowe’en but I’m back with another tale of weirdness (check out the witches and vampires in my Spooky Stories archive) from the distant scratchy twigs of my family tree.
Werewolf. I’m sure you’re already imagining a great hairy, slathering beast, driven crazy by bloodlust as it rampages under a full moon until some brave hero pumps it full of silver … Or maybe you’re of the age where you picture an over-sized canid leaping about the forests of Washington State. Either way, you’re probably wondering what and why and how there are records of a werewolf in my family tree, right?
(more…)
Holborow in America 5: Of Blooms, Blarney and Bigamy …
I have had a million things to take care of in August (and September) – my MA, my counseling course, dealing with the builders for the kitchen renovations to name a few off the top of my head – so it should come as absolutely no surprise that I have, instead, been looking at a mysterious line of Holborows (i.e. neither the procrastination nor the subject should be a surprise).
They aren’t particularly close to my line (the progenitor being my 1st cousin 5 x removed), but they contain(ed) a number of questions. Some of which I have managed to answer – finally!
(more…)
The Delights of Detectoring!
One of my favourite things about researching family history is getting to the bottom of a mystery – even if the mystery comes from a find in a record that initially just makes you sit up and go “Mmm?”.
Such as it was when I came across a census entry for a family enumerated as Holbrow-Burgess. A double-barrelled Holborow?! What?! I had never come across this before. Of course, several female-line Holborow families have used it as a middle name, but was this what was happening here?
I assembled my detectoring kit in a bid to find out – and discovered more than I had bargained for …
(more…)
Grandfathers – An Update
With the release of the 1950 US Census recently, I have been taking another look at what records can be found that pertain to my American families. I last blogged about my grandfathers almost 10 years ago so I thought it a good opportunity to share what I’ve found since then!
(more…)
The Family Mess 