Garrould Oldren (1799-1883) baptism in Wissett, Suffolk on 23 December 1799.jpg Via Wikimedia Commons In the years before Civil Registration of births (England and Wales, 1837; Scotland, 1855; Ireland, 1864), and sometimes afterwards, some unwed mothers were willing to confess the name of their baby’s father to the vicar of the parish at the time... Continue Reading →
Who Was The Daddy ? Snippet 1: No Father Recorded on your British Birth Certificate
The Fallen Woman, c 1880, anon. Via Wikimedia Commons. We have probably all experienced that sense of frustration when the birth certificate of an ancestor arrives from the GRO and no father’s name is recorded upon it. The only thing that we can be reasonably sure about in these cases is that the parents of... Continue Reading →
‘Stronger Than a Man: Simpler Than a Child’: What did Emily Bronte (and your own ancestors) look like?
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 →