Borders Ancestry

27/08/2022

As the seasoned researcher knows, there are many sources besides BMDs that may hold information about our forebears. This month Richard Holt delves deep into the records created by charitable institutions as he traces the 'river of little Brooks' from Bledow Ridge, Buckinghamshire that flow into his .

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/charity-dispute-local-politics-and-the-cost-of-living-crisis

From scrub woodland designated 'poors land' came firewood, transmuted to purchased coal when the timber became exhausted and a drawn-out wrangle over the ownership of five run-down habitations called Colony Cottages, the charity account books not only proved rich pickings for Richard's family but provide a window onto living conditions in the early nineteenth century and the challenges faced by ordinary folk. His interest piqued he follows the ownership dispute forward in time using a variety of local sources until the ultimate demolition of the cottages in 1935...

​ The current cost of living crisis will have many households evaluating their finances. While today’s crisis refers to the cost of everyday essentials rising faster than average incomes, for...

30/07/2022

Hidden behind a large, padlocked oak door in Ancroft Church in Northumberland is a burial vault containing six lead-lined coffins. The original wood of the outer coffins is largely gone, rotted away with time and with it any visible means of identifying the occupants. So, who are the six individuals sleeping in this cramped space and how long have they lain in what is essentially an above-ground crypt?

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/six-lead-lined-coffins-who-lies-within-the-sibbits-of-ancroft

​Hidden behind a large, padlocked oak door in Ancroft Church is a burial vault containing six lead-lined coffins. It is small with a low vaulted brick ceiling and stone walls. Even with the door...

25/06/2022

What started as an investigation into a death at St. George and the East Workhouse in 1909 was the catalyst to Richard Holt's of , love and appreciation of the Admiralty records. Locating the death of his elusive ancestor ‘Thomas Matthew Dunmore Buyrns’ set him on an intriguing path of discovery.

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/navigating-the-sea-of-records-royal-marine-and-royal-navy-ancestors

A change of name, conflicting evidence and two marriages later, Richard finally ran Thomas' father to ground in the Royal Marines. In this guest article Richard guides us through the rich variety of Admiralty records available to family historians at The National Archives as, step by step, the story of his ancestor unfolds ...

​ The author of this month's blog is Richard Holt, professional genealogist at Holt's Family History Research . Richard is latest addition to the team of experts providing help...

28/05/2022

Records of Sudden, Suspicious Deaths or Accidents – Coroner v Procurator Fiscal
is full of unusual departures. But the process relating to sudden, suspicious or unnatural deaths and accidents is different in England and Scotland, as are the records. This month I take a look at the cross-border peculiarities, the records they created and where to find them.
http://www.bordersancestry.com/1/post/2022/05/records-of-sudden-suspicious-deaths-or-accidents-coroner-v-procurator-fiscal.html

​Six years have passed since I last penned a piece about death and its associated records. Although ‘ Dispatches ’, is as relevant now as it was back in August 2016, there are a few sources...

30/04/2022

Is your ready?

Time spent bringing a family tree forward to the present is as beneficial to the understanding of our ancestral as pushing back further into the past. Establishing living descendants & distant cousins in collateral family lines helps to identify DNA matches AND provides potential testers to help solve mysteries!

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/heslop-descendant-finally-found-in-methodical-search-from-barnard-castle-to-bolton

A shortage of matches 'may' indicate lines have become extinct, or like my connections, descendants are few and far between!

​Sheltered to the north by Titlington Pike, to the Northeast by Jenny’s Lantern and to the East by Brislee Wood and Alnwick Moor, Bolton Chapel looks south over rolling farmland and west towards...

26/03/2022

I seem to be stuck in a phase of case studies at present. My article, ‘Ten steps to Finding John Armstrong’ is due to appear in the May edition of Family Tree Magazine, on sale from the 11th April.

The latest study relates to the early and for the Hogg family of Hazon in . The principles and research process is laid out in 10 steps together with 8 top tips that can be widely applied to any project.

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/ancestry-of-the-hogg-family-of-hazon-in-10-easy-steps-8-top-tips

With no recourse to DNA this case uses traditional research methods alone. An added bonus is that almost all the sources used are freely available online. It’s just a case of knowing where to look!

I seem to be stuck in a phase of case studies at present. My article, ‘Ten steps to Finding John Armstrong’ is due to appear in the May edition of Family Tree Magazine , on sale from the 11th...

26/02/2022

It was the single boot that did it. Such was the urgency, confusion and apparent desperation to end her life that young governess Eva Jones only removed the one. The tragic tale of her death in 1910 incited a compulsion to know more about her life.

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/victim-or-vixen-the-curious-case-of-mary-anne-kitcher-v-thomas-rowe

In the main, the Governess came from ‘well to do’ middle-class family backgrounds who, for a multitude of reasons had fallen on tough times. The evidence uncovered of Eva's , however, tells a very different story.

It was the single boot that did it. Such was the urgency, confusion and apparent desperation to end her life that young governess Eva Jones only removed the one. Her tragic and premature death in...

29/01/2022

Business records really can be the forgotten heroes of . Sandwiched between the salaries, rent, and vehicle HP are the stories of people – business owners, their associates, employees, suppliers, customers, and even on occasion, the people who went before!

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/the-forgotten-heroes-of-family-history-discover-why-business-records-make-brilliant-sources

Old business records and account ledgers may not always be welcome reminders of times past for everyone, but for the historian, what's not to love?

​Old business records and account ledgers may not always be welcome reminders of times past for everyone, but for the historian, what's not to love? Sandwiched between the salaries, rent, and...

31/12/2021

Christmas or Hogmanay? What is your preference?

Following the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, the 17th century was dominated by Stewart Monarchs. Sandwiched in the middle, however, were bloody Civil Wars and an English Republic.

This was the era of the Puritans, who, in seeking to distance themselves from the 'trappings' of Roman Catholicism abolished Christmas. But was England leading the way in terms of religious reform or merely catching up with its neighbours north of the Border?

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/was-christmas-crackers-religious-reforms-and-repeals-on-both-sides-of-the-border

​As Christmas and New Year festivities for some have been curtailed for the second year in a row my thoughts drifted to the time of the seventeenth century when celebrating Christmas was...

27/11/2021

As the use of DNA to prove familial relationships continues to grow, the wrong people in public online increasingly become a problem. 'Why does it matter?', I hear you ask.

This month, I address the plethora of online pedigrees that incorrectly align members of the Trotter family of Sprouston. The family were tenants of Kerchesters, a farm on the Roxburgh Estate in the . I also look at why it is important family trees in the public domain are as error-free as possible, particularly when used alongside . The answer might surprise you!



https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/the-trotter-family-of-sprouston-errors-found-online-busting-tricky-inter-family-relationships

​Last week I received the news that 'George' is being prepared for his journey north so to make ready for a homecoming. 'George' is the affectionate term used for a portrait of George Smith of...

30/10/2021

This month I go in search of the voices of who worked in agriculture.

In the past farming employed a huge percentage of the population.
Aside from Farmers, there were the Hinds, Shepherds and Labourers. Large numbers of workers lived a transient life as they moved from farm to farm, often on an annual basis. This makes them trickier to trace and leads to the common misconception that little can be discovered about their stories.

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/ancestors-in-agriculture-sources-to-find-their-amazing-lost-voices

But voices from the past are everywhere, often hidden in plain sight. It's a case of knowing where to look, thinking 'outside the box' and tuning in to their frequency!

January 1 [1833] 'Here my friends, we are just entered again upon another New Year!!! Struggling against debts, taxes, tithes and feudal impositions, these are trying things.'

25/09/2021

There is a real buzz of interest around As 'A House Through Time' makes its return to BBC 2 for Series 4. In October's edition of Family Tree Magazine Kathryn Feavers, a member of the show's research team from Series 1, shares her top ten useful sources to get you started. But there are always more!

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/eight-easy-accessible-sources-for-ancestral-and-historical-property-research

This month I share another eight sources that are available for researching property & places on either side of the Anglo-Scottish Border. They are easy to access and many are FREE. Some have a local flavour too! Plus, weaving the historical context gleaned about homes and communities into an ancestral narrative brings another dimension, depth and dynamic to family history research.

​There is no better way to add context to family history than to research the homes, places and communities where ancestors lived. With the return of 'A House Through Time' for Series 4, there is...

28/08/2021

Just how do you interview an ancestor who has been dead since 1895, and what questions do you ask?

There are many ways to approach writing ancestral stories and they don’t all have to begin with a birth! In this month’s blog, I look at other easy methods and practical styles that work well for family history. One is a given, another will be familiar, but what about the other six?

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/eight-easy-ways-to-create-compelling-ancestral-life-stories

Experimenting with different styles can be a lot of fun! A simple change of approach and format can have a dramatic effect on the result too. Plus, many methods outlined can also act as a research ‘aide memoir’ by highlighting gaps or areas of specialist knowledge.

​Documenting ancestor’s lives and bringing together family history as a narrative creates a position of both power and responsibility. Not least, over what form the account will take, what to...

31/07/2021

A great narrative does not have to be fiction and writing creatively does not make an account less factual! Creating a rich setting provides the theatre in which characters can be expressed and allowed to re-enact their stories.

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/immersive-historical-settings-how-to-create-them-have-fun-and-engage-the-reader

Like any other account, the historical narrative needs to contain specific elements. Setting is one of the most important as it conveys a sense of place and time as well as providing the backdrop and mood for characters to play out the plot. In this month's blog, I take a brief look at the type of sources and other tools required to create an engaging setting for a historical narrative.

For many family historians, the pleasure of research lies in sharing discoveries or entertaining others with ancestral tales. For some, it is the enjoyment of immersion in old documents and...

26/06/2021

Criminal ancestors certainly liven up and add colour to our family trees. I seem to be particularly blessed in this regard. Amongst their number is a third great grandparent who hanged for murder in 1816. As an experiment, I attempted to step back in time and write his recollections of the event and trial in his own words. Exercises like this emphasise the importance of historical context. They hone the old research skills too. What could he see, hear and smell? What were the crowd wearing? Did he spend his final night alone?

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/criminal-ancestors-in-your-family-tree-trace-their-fate-through-english-courts

In this month’s blog, I have used his story to outline the hierarchy of the historic English courts and how the criminal cases they heard changed over time. I have also included a short glossary of the types of records you may encounter and what they are likely to contain.

​At 9.00 am on Saturday 17th August 1816, John Greig, a Barber and Publican from Monkwearmouth Shore was hanged outside Durham Courthouse. He was the first person executed at Durham using the...

15/06/2021

** We Need Your Views - They Matter To Us **

Do you enjoy writing your ancestor’s stories? Have you thought about how your own views & emotions might influence your writing? Could they distort historical fact? Is omitting the information we find embarrassing or shameful distorting the truth?

We would be extremely grateful if you could spare 5 mins of your time to answer five quick questions relating to the ethics & principles of / for & . The answers will appear in a forthcoming edition of Family Tree Magazine.

https://forms.gle/mgsXJRrsg6roT1QV8

29/05/2021

is an incredibly powerful tool available to researchers. Used well, it can greatly enhance the knowledge of our ancestral past; but what do you do if, like me, you have a dismal number of matches to work with, and many of those have supplied little or no information?

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/three-top-tips-for-success-using-autosomal-dna

In this month’s blog I share three top tips for enhanced success by adopting a testing and matching policy that provides genetic signposts to help navigate the way through our DNA matches. It includes a practical example that has catapulted my own research straight back to an ancestor who died in 1742 via DNA connections to renowned convict Ralph Hush, previously hidden from view due to a smokescreen of ‘selective’ !

24/04/2021

In March this year the National Records of Scotland’s release of the Scottish Kirk Session records through the Virtual Volumes Section of the Scotland’s People Website, means we can all now access one of the most important sources of Scottish history online. At the heart of Scottish parish life from the sixteenth century onwards, these records are an encyclopaedia of existence and contain a cacophony of colourful characters:

https://www.bordersancestry.com/blog/a-session-with-scottish-kirk-sessions

Elders elected and deposed, the Minister, Schoolmaster, Beadle and other Parish officials living alongside squabbling neighbours, whose blood affrays, ‘dirty’ dancing, drunken behaviour, failure to observe the Sabbath, illicit affairs, controversial marriages and illegitimate children were all answerable to the Church court. Together with parish comings and ‘goings’, the benevolence and care of the poor and needy to the trial of the odd witch or two, the records of the Kirk Sessions can read like reality television from a bygone era. A veritable soap opera crammed full of historical detail and very possibly, our ancestors!

This month’s blog signposts just a few examples of the type of information that graces their pages and outlines how these records may enhance your research too.