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 →
Armistice: How Our Ancestors Threw Off the Restrictions of World War One
By Ruth A Symes [A version of this article was first published in Family Tree Magazine in 2018] Link to buy my books Amazon.co.uk: Ruth A Symes: books, biography, latest update Civilians celebrating the end of World War One by climbing on a captured German 10cm Kanone 17 field artillery gun exhibited in Waterloo Place, London,... Continue Reading →
The Queen’s Halloween
by Ruth A. Symes [This article was first published in Scots Heritage Magazine in 2016] Balmoral in earlier days, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Balmoral in 1848 after spending a happy holiday in the Highlands. In 1853, the original house (believed to date from the 13th century) was knocked down and a new, larger... Continue Reading →