Hi everybody!
Have you ever daydreamed about what daily life actually looked like for your ancestors? A little while ago, I started to think how odd it must have been for people in the past suddenly to be presented with hundreds of strange telephone ‘cabinets’ in the streets of their towns and cities, and even more bizarrely on country lanes in the middle of nowhere. But this is actually what happened in 1920s Britain, with what one journalist referred to as hundreds of ‘verminous receptacles’ springing up across the country on a weekly basis! This month, I’ve been working on a new article about public attitudes to the first phone boxes which will be published in Discover Your Ancestors online periodical in August.
Early telephone cubicle (K1 design), Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Via Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, whilst doing some family history research for a client in Cheshire’s famous salt mining town, Northwich, I was reminded of a issue that often faces people looking for ancestors in the 1939 Register. My client was puzzled as to why we could see his grandparents on the Register but not his mother who would have been eight years old at the time. I was able to tell him that, as his mother would be only 95 years old now, her entry had been redacted. We couldn’t see her, but she was there at the correct address under that familiar black line obscuring her name. Do then remember that the details of anyone who would be less than 100 years old now (and therefore is possibly still alive) have been redacted for data protection reasons. Find out more here: How to Read the 1939 Register for Family History Research – Family Tree Researchers
The 1939 Register showing redacted names.
My latest blog snippets are about how you can potentially find out about missing fathers in your family history. Keep a look out for these.
Hopefully, Spring has finally arrived where you are. Here in the North-West of England, the daffodils are out and the heating is finally off. If you’d like to know more about how some of our ancestors kept a record of the weather, take a look at this post:
Till the next time!
Ruth
Family History Research Services.
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