All Those Before
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A genealogy and family history blog, covering biographies of ancestors, research tips (and pitfalls!) along with the joys of discovering more about one's past. Strictly a hobby, not a business.
All Those Before
5d ago
George William Scoble is the 7th of my great grandparents to feature on this blog. His wife, my great-grandmother, kept many papers which have provided an unusually detailed picture of his working life; far greater insight than looking at his occupation recorded in the Census every ten years. George was born in 1873 in Dorset to ..read more
All Those Before
4M ago
We all have brick walls in our family trees; it’s an occupational hazard of being a family historian. This is the story of the longest-standing brick wall in my tree, which I believe I’ve now smashed. I did a DNA test with Ancestry in the summer of 2017. My interest had already been already piqued ..read more
All Those Before
10M ago
Like millions of other people I’ve taken a DNA test with Ancestry. Each year they update their ethnicity estimates. While our DNA doesn’t change, the science behind it is constantly evolving. This means that testing companies such as Ancestry are able to provide more precise ethnicity estimates than they could do even just a few ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Introduction This blog post picks up the story of my husband’s Great Uncle Eddie (Edward Moseley Cope) at the end of the Great War. If you’ve not yet read the first part of his story, or want to recap, then the link is here. Spring 1919 Having been released as a prisoner of war and ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Introduction Some years ago, my (now late) mother-in-law told me the story of her Uncle Eddie. He was a hero from the Great War and had something approaching celebrity status on her side of the family. I’ve been fortunate that the wealth of records relating to his military career means I can write about him ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Like so many family historians with English heritage the release of the 1921 Census was a day of great excitement. All four of my grandparents were alive in 1921, as were all eight of my great-grandparents. Only my paternal grandfather had left home at this point, which rather helpfully means that the other three grandparents ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Introduction The American genealogist David Allen Lambert recently tweeted: “What #genealogical gift would you like granted this holiday season?” Unsurprisingly he received lots of replies, many of which focused on breaking down longstanding brick walls or unravelling the identity of certain ancestors. My response fell into the latter category; the story that unfolds is that ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Lilian Maude Evans: a postscript In September 2021 I wrote about my great-grandmother, Lilian Maude Evans.1 She suffered from mental illness for much of her life, and spent some thirty years in various institutions. In 1938 she was moved from Gloucester to the Devon County Mental Hospital, a few miles from Exeter. The original hospital ..read more
All Those Before
1y ago
Foreword and disclaimer This is a true story; it is also a very sad story. Some readers may find it upsetting because it deals with mental illness and the family separation that resulted. It contains extracts from the medical records which describe my great-grandmother’s condition. It also quotes from official correspondence about her stay in ..read more
All Those Before
2y ago
Last week my son received his school report, which made me realise I should perhaps take stock of my own achievements since setting some research goals back in January.1 Self-reflection in public makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but the discipline will – I hope – be worthwhile. Research methods My first set of targets ..read more