By Ruth A Symes Link to buy my books Amazon.co.uk: Ruth A Symes: books, biography, latest update Fragment of a larger portrait. But is this Emily or Anne? National Portrait Gallery via Wikimedia Commons [A version of this article was first published in the family history press in 2018] With the recent release of the latest... Continue Reading →
‘Robust, Unattractive Women’: A Frenchman’s View of the English (Snippet: 1)
Florence Georgiana Spooner Carr (later Gray) formal portrait in Egret-feathered Hat ca 1878. Photographers C&R Lavis, Eastbourne, Via Wikimedia Commons. In a series of visits to Britain between 1862 and 1870, outspoken Frenchman Hippolyte Taine wrote lengthily about his impressions, and his comments-at-a-distance give us a clear and fascinating view of our ancestors in a... Continue Reading →
Weddings That Went Wrong
Delighted to announce the publication of my article on Marriage Mishaps in November 2025’s Discover Your Ancestors online periodical (by subscription). http://www.discoveryourancestors.com No-shows at the altar, mixups with the marriage vows and umpteen weddings that were stalled at the eleventh hour !