Everything Else Private Stafford Hope Venton, Crofton Pumping Station Stafford Hope Venton worked on the Kennet and Avon Canal. He was killed in action in WW1 on 23rd November 1917.
Everything Else Alma Webb - can you help? Alma Webb served as a nurse during WW2, and my mother, Margaret Whitehead, served with her as a VAD in Abbottabad, India between 1945 and 1946.
Everything Else Where's Ted Today? In 2014 I was keen to involve my 9 year old son in the commemorations for the 100th anniversary of WW1, and I decided that a travelling bear could help.
Everything Else 1851 Census for St Abbs (Coldingham Shore) The 1851 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 30th March 1851. Here I list the households in St Abbs, “the fishing village of Coldingham Shore”
Everything Else What shall we do with the drunken sailor? This story begins in 1826, when a sloop called Archduke disappeared from Dundee harbour, and it was supposed that she had been stolen....
Everything Else The Seaflower The Seaflower was one of five Coldingham fishing boats caught in a storm on the 18th November 1835. Only four returned.
Everything Else William Moore and Wilfred Dyke, Glascote The stories of William Moore and Wilfred Dyke are linked by the moment when William nearly drowned in the Coventry Canal.
Everything Else Nowhere to go I wrote the poem 'Nowhere to go' when I was a young mother. It was published by Poetry Now in the Voice of Surrey Anthology, 1995.
Everything Else The Coal Man and the Goat A few years ago, I posted a picture of a house up for auction. It turned out that Kev (formerly of Bickerstaffe Boats) knew the property well...
Everything Else My mother's German penpals - can you help? Before the war, my mother Margaret Whitehead corresponded with a German girl, Christa Leidhold, and two young men from Germany.
Family #12 James Whitehead, 1856-1941 My great grandfather James Whitehead was born on 7th April 1856 in North Aston, Oxfordshire.
Family #16 John Joseph Green, 1846-1899 John Joseph Green, a boiler maker and iron rivetter, was my 2 x Great Grandfather. He was born on 9th October 1846 in New Street, Deptford, London.
Everything Else Update, October 2023 An autumn update to explain why I've been quiet, what's happening this week and what I'm planning next!
Everything Else Private Walter Thomas Ewart Harris, in from the cold I uncovered Walter's story as part of my research into Wootton Bassett's WW1 history, and I am immensely proud that he now has the recognition he deserves.
Everything Else The History of Lock 57 Cottage and Belvedere House, Hassall Green Belvedere House made a particularly interesting research project, which I hope the new owner will enjoy. Spoiler alert, it isn't a warehouse!
Everything Else How old is that narrowboat? If you spot an old boat on the waterways and you want to find out its age, and something about it, here's how.
Everything Else Edward Leighfield of Wootton Bassett A collaborative research mini-project for the Family and Community Historical Research Society, 2019, themed around gardeners.
Family #14 Joseph Sear, 1863-1941 My great grandfather Joseph Sear was born on 13th October 1863, at 36 Clarendon Square, St Pancras.
Everything Else Twiggli Family Tree Generator In 2017 one of my genealogy customers was looking through the report I’d prepared for him. Although he was pleased, there was clearly something wrong....
Everything Else A Twist in the Tale on the Grand Union Canal Was it suicide or was it murder? Early on the morning in July 1880, a pair of horse boats loaded with chalk left Stoke Hammond lock...
Everything Else The History of The Elms, Benwick I wrote this history of The Elms, in Benwick, when I was selling it as a canalside homes estate agent in 2022. The property sold and is now in new hands.
Everything Else Edwin Brown, Foxhangers Lock Cottage and Semington Lock House Edwin Brown was the lock keeper at the bottom of the Caen Hill flight and at Semington Lock House.
Everything Else George Brain, Carpenter's Crew (1889-1914) The story of Carpenter's Crew George Brain, from Glascote, who was drowned on Hospital Ship Rohilla on 30th October 1914.
Everything Else Sarah Gerrish, cake seller, (c.1805-1862) Mysteries are both the joy and the challenge of genealogy. Sarah Gerrish's story is one of these.
