Richard Tetstall was one of my paternal 4 x great grandfathers. A great deal of mystery still surrounds him, which is frustrating as he was a builder of narrowboats, and I currently work part time in a boatyard! This is what I know about him so far. Richard was probably

John Joseph Green was my paternal grandfather. He was always known as Jack. He was born on 22nd January 1898 in Deptford, Kent.

My paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Harvey Ellary, was born on 24th April 1896 at St Nicholas, Deptford.

My grandfather Henry Whitehead was born in North Aston, a small hamlet in Oxfordshire, on 30th July 1890.

My grandmother Annie Whitehead, nee Sear (1891-1950)

My father, John George Green, was born on 9th August 1923 in Deptford. He had two brothers, Dennis and Leslie, and a sister, Betty.

My mother lived in Greenwich throughout WW2, and celebrated VE day on the streets of London. She then served as a VAD nurse in India.

My great grandfather James Whitehead was born on 7th April 1856 in North Aston, Oxfordshire.

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.

My great grandfather Joseph Sear was born on 13th October 1863, at 36 Clarendon Square, St Pancras.

I searched for all my ancestors' probate records, (grants of representation) and found only three. My family was not a wealthy one!

I love a family history challenge. I used the Graveyard Challenge to create this burial log for my 62 direct ancestors.

Mary Ann Jane Dutton was my 2nd great-grandmother. She was born in 1848 in Deptford, Kent, the second of eleven children.

This is the story of my Great Uncle, Arthur James Sear, who was killed in the First World War.

For years, the oldest original photograph in my family collection was a mystery. Now I have passed it on to a direct descendant of the family.

I found a notebook filled with my mother’s old recipes, and tried to recreate her gingerbread.