Your Family Historian

Home
Your Family Historian

Your Family Historian - helping you connect with your past.

Professional genealogists and Family Historians providing expert help with Family History Research, Family Tree Research Packages, Genetic Genealogy and Family Tree Tuition.

04/11/2025

Spelling Nightmare!! 😱
Researching Tarbet ancestors this week has reminded me just how fluid spelling used to be! I’ve come across multiple versions including Tarbet, Tarbett, Turbot, Terbet, Terbit, Terbutt, Tarbat and more.
Before widespread literacy and standardized spelling, names were often written phonetically by whoever was recording them — a registrar, cleric, or census taker. The result? A single family might appear under half a dozen spellings across different records.
And when you start adding in the variations of a mother’s maiden name, the whole picture becomes even more complex — but also far more fascinating.
If you’re tracing your own family tree, remember to try wildcards and flexible searches — you never know where your ancestors might be hiding! 🌿

18/10/2025

I’m always thrilled when my work has such a personal impact.
This client kindly shared their experience after I helped use DNA results to uncover the story of missing relatives — filling long-standing gaps in their family history and creating new connections with relatives they never knew they had. I am so grateful to Sue for these generous words — it’s a privilege to do what I do.

16/10/2025

My current project has me tracing a Welsh family where three of the four grandparents share the surname Jones. Not unusual in Wales where its the no. 1 surname — but it certainly makes things interesting for a genealogist! 🧐
The name Jones became widespread after the 16th century, when Welsh families began using fixed surnames. Many came from patronymics — “ap John” (meaning “son of John”) which eventually evolved into Jones.
Luckily, even the most common names can hide the most fascinating stories. 🌿

29/09/2025

Birthday Celebrations in Arisaig, North West Scotland!
We recently stayed in the most fabulous old parochial house with beautiful views across the harbour. Honestly, it felt just like Father Ted & Father Dougal’s house on Craggy Island — we half-expected Mrs Doyle to pop in with tea! 😂☕️
The whole gang came together to celebrate Deb’s birthday — four generations, from 6 months to 82 years. 💙 A real family gathering full of laughter (and plenty of cake). 🎂✨
And of course, Andy was in his element… because the house just happened to be right next door to an old graveyard. Perfect for some genealogical investigations!
Such a brilliant break in the most beautiful spot. 🌊✨

22/09/2025

We had the absolute pleasure of working with two wonderful sisters from the US, Karen and Kirsten Baggott, who asked us to trace their grandparents’ story here in the North East. 💙
We loved uncovering family places of importance and helping them walk in their ancestors’ footsteps during their UK visit. To top it all off, they treated us to the loveliest afternoon tea at the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth as a thank you. It was so special to meet them in person and share in their journey home to their roots. ✨

16/08/2025

5 YEARS, THOUSANDS OF ANCESTORS, ENDLESS STORIES! Incredibly our small business is now 5 years old! In 2020 amid the chaos of Covid, we combined our passion for history and genealogy with a desire to bring the past to life and set up our business. Since then we've traced family lines for clients around the world, knocked down a multitude of brick walls, and uncovered so many lost stories. Its been an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding journey. Thank you for being part of our story and here's to the next chapter!

05/08/2025

Happy ‘big’ birthday to Deb! We closed the office for a couple of days to walk part of St. Cuthbert’s Way. We hadn’t reckoned on Storm Floris but look at those views!

09/05/2025

Today, on the 80th anniversay of VE Day, we visited Kirknewton in Northumberland and were moved to see the beautifully tended Commonwealth War Graves in St Gregory's Churchyard.

These are the graves of airmen killed while flying from RAF Milfield, Northumberland, ten of them while at 59 Operational Training Unit (59 OTU). They came from the UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand.

It is heartbreaking to see so many young lives cut short, most of them before they even got into combat. And a poignant reminder of how grateful we all should be for their sacrifice.

Read more about these young men in our blog post

07/03/2025

TGIF!!! How was your week? This was how ours went! Thanks to YouTube we can now completely dismantle, clean, unblock print heads, and re-assemble our Brother Printer. Just as well since no-one seems to repair them anymore - or even bother phoning back!!! I'm pleased to say we finally, after many attempts, emerged victorious, but we've got even more grey hair now!!

02/03/2025

It's amazing what you find in the attic! These 5 parchment sheets, 18th century Accounts from Long Benton Colliery, were given to Walker resident Edward Bell in 1970 by a 'Geordie Exile' who he met in a London hospital. Later Edward swapped them for £5 worth of groceries at his corner shop in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. 50 years later the shop owner's son found them when clearing his Dad's house. The Hartley family now plan to donate them to Northumberland Archives. They contain some fascinating information. E.g. William Johnson, Matthew Butler and John Wakefield earn 7d a day for their work in the stable while 24 pounds of candles cost 12s 8d!

10/02/2025

Helping or hindering? What do you think? 's dog, Kali, can frequently be found curled up on Andy's lap while he works. I'm sure she thinks she's a cat!

11/10/2024

Still our Queen.

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+447434649839

Website

https://www.yourfamilyhistorian.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Your Family Historian posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Your Family Historian:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Practice
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic?

Country:

City: