Distant Kin

18/06/2025

After visiting Somerset & Devon, I stopped off on the way home in Ashbrittle, a small Somerset village where my 3x-great-grandmother was born.

Although it was a beautiful churchyard, it was very overgrown and a lot of the graves and areas around had not been managed for a while, so I was unable too find the grave of my 5x-great-grandparents Thomas Vickery and Jane Hill, despite knowing from burial records that they are buried there.

I was however able to find some Vickery graves, and can confirm that these are cousins of my 3x-grandmother, Maria Vickery (1842-1896), who moved with her parents briefly to Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, before settling in Swindon in Wiltshire. Although her parents lived the rest of their lives there, Maria eventually moved to Twickenham, where she married my 3x-great-grandfather George Bradford and settled in East Molesey in Surrey. Her Vickery surname was passed down to my great-grandfather Frank (her grandson) and then onto his son; my grandmother's brother.

04/03/2025

I recently stumbled upon a rare record - an extract from the 1821 census of Ireland which recorded my 4x-great-grandparents James Garrahy and Honora Clancy living with their children in Mooghna, a small townland in County Clare, close to Miltown Malbay and Ennistymon.

I am not sure why it has been crossed out, but the record (starting with "7") lists James, 60, a farmer of 12 acres, living with his wife Honora, 45, and their children Daniel, 26, Michael, 12, Johanna, 21, Hannah, 16, Anne, 13, Ellen, 8 (my great-great-great-grandmother), Agnes, 5, as well as a servant Michael Kinucane, 20.

This is one of the earliest records I have that records a family with such detail. Ellen would go on to marry Edward Neylon, and died in her 90s in 1904. Their daughter Catherine (who predeceased Ellen) married James Marrinan and their daughter Susan was my great-grandmother.

04/03/2025

Hundreds of love letters between two gay WWll soldiers were discovered and sold to a museum.

One of them said, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our letters could be published in the future in a more enlightened time. Then all the world could see how in love we are."

They are now being made into a book.

22/01/2025

It's been a while since I posted anything and since then I've had an influx of new followers (hello!)

in 1806, my 4x-great-grandfather Henry Rochat Smith was baptised at St James Church in Clerkenwell, London. Henry's descendants were born and raised in the small Cumbrian village of Ainstable, so upon seeing Henry's birthplace as "London" in a census record - combined with the Smith surname - I gave up hope of being able to trace his lineage. Finding this baptism record was the key to tracing this line back further.

Henry's father Joseph was actually from Ainstable originally, but was living in London, working for the Bank of England (according to family legend), at the time of Henry's birth. Henry's unusual middle name comes from his mother Elizabeth Ann's maiden name of Rochat - she came from a family of French Huguenots who emigrated to England in the mid-1700s (although the Rochat surname comes from a Swiss ancestor).

29/05/2024

in 1765, my 5x-great-grandmother Elizabeth Forster was bapitsted St James' Church in Shilbottle, a small village in Northumberland. She was born at Woodhouse Farm in the village, the daughter of George Forster, a farmer of minor landed gentry ancestry, and Elizabeth Rutherford.

Elizabeth would go to marry Dr Thomas Collingwood (a distant cousin through their shared Lisle ancestors) in 1781, aged just 16. Together, they would have 8 children including my 4x-great-grandfather William Dixon Collingwood.

20/05/2024

in 1804, my great-great-great-grandfather Joseph Mitton was baptised at St Oswald's Church in Horton in Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales. He was the eldest son of Joseph Mitton and Ann Morphet, born on the 20th April 1804 at Newhouses, a hamlet within the village. He was born on the farm that his grandfather purchased in the 1790s, which was farmed by the family until the last 1880s.

Joseph would go on to marry Betty Armitstead in 1835, and together they had 7 children including my great-great-grandfather Welbury Mitton. As well as farming at Newhouses, Joseph was the church warden in Horton in Ribblesdale, and was also elected the guardian of the Settle Union. He died in 1872 aged 68 due to "creeping paralysis" (now know as Guillain-Barré syndrome) and is buried at St Oswald's Church

17/05/2024

in 1826, my 4x-great-grandfather William Hedley was born in the small Northumbrian village of Elsdon, the son of William Hedley senior and Ann Jameson. In 1850, William married Martha Stewart, and together they had 7 children including my 3x-great-grandmother Ann Hedley. He worked in various official mining positions within the Cramlington pits over around 50 years. He died in Cramlington in 1900, aged 74, and his obituary published in the local newspaper was very complimentary about his character.

14/05/2024

In the first of a planned ongoing series of lengthier “biography” posts to highlight specific ancestors of mine, this post will feature my 6x-great-grandfather John Coward. I descend from John through his daughter Barbara, then through her daughter Agnes Atkinson, her daughter Eliza Smith, her daughter Agnes Eliza Phoebe Collingwood, her son Harry Collingwood Mitton, and finally through his son John Lawrence Mitton, who was my grandfather.

Biography: John Cowardby Niall McMahonin Biographyon Posted on May 13, 2024May 13, 2024 In the first of a planned ongoing series of lengthier “biography” posts to highlight specific ancestors of mine, this post will feature my 6x-great-grandfather John Coward. I descend from John through his dau...

13/05/2024

A very interesting article on Irish naming traditions. I have found this pattern used in my paternal family tree. My great-grandparents Daniel McMahon and Susan Marrinan named their eldest child Thomas (my grandfather) after Daniel's father, their second child James after Susan's father, their third child Ellen after Daniel's mother, their fourth child Daniel after Daniel himself, their fifth child Patrick after Daniel's eldest brother, and so on.

Whilst my family hasn't always strictly followed this pattern, it can really help fill in some possible missing ancestors in Irish family trees.

With the loss of Ireland's early census records, we have come to rely heavily on church records as 19th-century census substitutes. However, gaps and omissions can often frustrate our efforts. Understanding the precise pattern of Irish naming traditions allows us to make some educated guesses ... wh...

10/05/2024

in 1795, my 5x-great-grandparents Robert Bradford and Ann Comfort married at St Mary's Church in East Molesey, Surrey. Together they had 6 sons, the youngest, Robert, being my 4x-great-grandfather. His line traces through the male line down to my grandmother Joan Bradford, born in 1925.

Trying to identify Ann's maiden name from this record took me some time as it was mis-transcribed as "Consul", which I believed to be her name for a number of years. The record also indicates that both Robert and Ann were illiterate as they marked their name with an X instead of signing.

02/05/2024

in 1830, my 4x-great-grandparents William Mansell and Sarah Gardner married at St George's Church in Esher, Surrey. William's sister Frances was on the witnesses to the marriage. Together, they had 8 children, including Jane Frances Mansell, my 3x-great-grandmother.

01/05/2024

Adelaide Cardean (1835-1917), an ancestor of a friend I have researched on behalf of, stated in the 1911 England & Wales census that she had given birth to a whopping 20 children! She married William Moses Rennolds in 1854 and gave birth to all the children between then and 1877. Sadly only 9 of those 20 children were still living by 1911.

What's the most amount of children born to one person have you discovered in your tree?