Family History

As part of my family history research (as described in my previous post), I chanced upon a name which leapt ...

I've recently returned to researching my family tree - something I've been doing on and off since 2007, and have been ...

Yesterday I received an email regarding some research I'd done on my 6x Great-Grandfather Samuel Borton (1706-1769) owner of the ...

From reading William Holdship's Will (1757), we can glean that he had 4 children: John Thomas Mary (married to Thomas ...

In Samuel Borton's will we read: and Mr Holdship his heirs or assigns to pay their share according to my ...

Transcript of Samuel Borton's will 1769. In the name of God Amen I Samuel Borton of the Parish of Saint ...

Transcript of Richard Borton's will 1714. In the name of God Amen I Richd Borton of the Parish of Holywell ...

Having discovered that my 6 x great-grandfather Samuel Borton owned The Dolphin Inn (which stood on St. Giles, Oxford), I ...

I remember as a small boy how my Nana would on occasion take me and my older brother to where ...

The fact that we exist, as the individuals we are, is mind-boggling. Go back 8 generations and you'll discover that ...

Graveyards and cemeteries have always fascinated me. The feeling I have when entering them, is much the same as when ...

I've just been to visit the grave of my great-great-great-great-uncle, Thomas Noon (1795-1863) in St. Sepulchre's cemetery, Jericho. Buried with ...

Having scanned the pages of Jackson's Oxford Journal for more information on my great-great-great-great-uncle Thomas Noon, I decided to Google ...

I remember how delighted I was when I discovered my 6 x great-grandfather Samuel Borton who ran the Dolphin Inn, ...

The Dolphin Inn (now demolished), which was run by my 6 x great-grandfather Samuel Stevens between (at least) 1734-1772. The ...

After my last post about my 6 x great-grandfather, Samuel Borton's residence, I wanted to see if I could find ...

Following on from my last post on Samuel Borton's residence, I've found evidence confirming where he lived. The following image ...

I have recently written about John Gwynn's survey of Oxford (1772) in relation to my family tree research (see Lydia ...

During a quick research session in the library this lunchtime, I tried to discover the birth date of my 6 ...

The name of a first born son or daughter is a good way of confirming whether or not your research, ...

I’ve turned my attention to my 4 x great-grandfather Samuel Stevens who I know was born in Oxford in 1776 ...

Having done a bit more research in the library this afternoon, I believe I have discovered the dates of birth ...

Almost five years ago, I published a blog entry about my 3 x great-grandfather John Stevens (1811-1876): Researching John Stevens ...

I've always found it amazing, when, on a programme like Time Team, an apparently empty field is shown to have ...

Whilst updating the Family Tree section of my website, I listened again to part of an interview I recorded with ...

As I stood in the church hall following the service of thanksgiving for my Nan who died on September 16th ...

Following on from my last blog entry, I ordered a copy of Emma Stevens' death certificate to ascertain how she ...

I've recently returned to my family tree and have been following up the story of my four-times-great-uncle John Stevens (1837-1888) ...

When I interviewed my Nana, a year before she died, she told me a story about her father who she ...

The Past is Time without a ticking clock. A place whose paths and roads are measured in years. The Present ...

Today I discovered, much to my delight, that The British Library has on its website a database of 19th century ...

I have recently been reading Richard Dawkins' fantastic book 'The Blind Watchmaker' and was struck by the following passage as ...

Researching John Stevens in the library today, I found what I'm sure must be his parents. Having looked at the ...

On Friday last week I paid a visit to my old school (Northway Midddle) which is due to be demolished ...

As a child I spent many hours drawing maps of imaginary lands to which in my mind I would often ...

I have written at length on the tragic story of my great-great-great-grandmother's murder in 1852 and am in the process ...

Thanks to the efforts of Martyn Gibson and David Nicholas and their work on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions ...

Back in the spring when I visited Hafodyrynys with my Dad and my girlfriend Monika, we found ourselves - whilst ...

In my previous post 'Real People' I wrote a little on the life of John Stevens, my great-great-great-uncle (my great-great-grandfather, ...

For about seven months now I have been researching my family tree through Ancestry.com and in that time I have ...

I have been looking to find the first wife of Henry Jones for a while now having got it wrong ...

Following on from my previous post on this subject (see Rogers Conundrum) I obtained today a copy of my great-grandmother's ...

Having discovered that my great great-uncle, Jonah Rogers, was a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment (he ...

Having made the recent trip to Wales, I decided to try and get a bit further with a line on ...

A few months ago when I interviewed my Grandmother about her childhood, she talked about the mountain around which she'd ...

Yesterday I visited my paternal Grandmother and over a period of about three hours, talked with her about her childhood ...

With both my Grandmothers still with us (both were born in 1912), I'm very fortunate to have living connections with ...