Family Tree UK

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Family Tree UK2 min read
Snap Happy...
You know that feeling, when you can’t quite put your finger on why you’re in such a good mood, or what it is that you’re feeling excited about, but you know that there’s something that’s making you feel pretty happy. And then you remember that – of c
Family Tree UK2 min read
Unique Aerial Archive Sheds Light On Life In 1930s And 40s Britain
A specialist collection of those 1930s German reconnaissance images, curated by the expert who wrote a book on the subject, are coming to auction at Ewbank’s in Surrey on 24 June. Nigel Clarke, whose 2013 book Adolf ’s British Holiday Snaps reveals t
Family Tree UK1 min read
Less Than A Quar Ter Of Brits Display Photos At Home, New Research From Ancestr Y Reveals
With the family portrait once holding prime position in the home, only 13% of Brits currently hang their family photos on their walls and one in ten display them elsewhere, such as on shelves or mantlepieces. Others store their family images digitall
Family Tree UK1 min readInternet & Web
Census Helper From MyHeritage Now Includes England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales And More
Census Helper™ now includes nationwide censuses from the United States, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Denmark and Norway. Census Helper is a free tool that offers help with census research and enables you to focus your researc
Family Tree UK2 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
# Everynamecounts Project Uses Artificial Intelligence To Help Uncover Information On Nazi Persecution Victims
The Arolsen Archives preserve the world’s largest collection of documents on Nazi persecution – 110 million documents and digital objects, a portion of which are part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme. An essential part of the archives’ work
Family Tree UK1 min read
UK Garden Launches Appeal For Information Abouts Its French Founding Father
Staff at Levens Hall, which is located in the Southern Lake District near Kendal, are hoping to discover more about the man who unwittingly became the inspiration for World Topiary Day when he laid the foundations of the world’s oldest topiary garden
Family Tree UK1 min read
Society Of Genealogists Welcomes Members To Its Temporar Y Home
As the space is limited, the society are initially only able to accommodate up to eight people at a time, as they test their retrieval services and members are asked to book in advance at https://members.sog.org.uk/ events?category=Library%20Visits t
Family Tree UK1 min read
Heritage Open Days Celebrates Astounding Inventions
Each year, places across the country throw open their doors and give people the chance to see hidden places and try new experiences for free. Many events will adopt this year’s theme – Astounding Inventions – offering a celebration of the cutting-edg
Family Tree UK1 min read
150,000 Oldham Workhouse Records Published Online
The transcripts provide standard biographical information, as well as an admission or event date. Further details can be gleaned from the original record images, which can include details such as notes on the inmate’s state at arrival (including heal
Family Tree UK1 min read
Free To View Photos Of Early 20th-century England And Wales Released By FindMyPast
Historic Photos of England and Wales is a collection of pre- and post-World War I photographs, capturing the two countries at a time of great social change. Simply log in to FindMyPast, or create a free account and you can then search by year, locati
Family Tree UK1 min read
47,000 Non-conformist Church Records For Lancashire Added To FamilySearch
The non-conformist records contain baptisms/ christenings, marriages, and deaths in Lancashire from the following religions: Baptist, Wesleyan, Protestant, Bible Christian Church, Welsh Baptist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Catholic, Methodist, Independe
Family Tree UK6 min read
Naval Strength In Reserve
One of the commonest riddles I am asked to solve is that of the missing Royal Navy ancestor. People may even have photos of their forebear in naval uniform but still can’t find him. The solution to this problem is often that the man in question was a
Family Tree UK9 min read
A ‘Retailing Revolution’
he first forty years of the 20th century witnessed immense social and economic upheaval, many changes a response to conditions created by the Great War (1914-18). Afterwards the population rose, large-scale manufacturing of consumer goods soared and
Family Tree UK8 min read
Death Duty Registers: A Masterclass
T he taxes paid by our ancestors have left behind some remarkable records. From the late 14th century Poll Taxes, providing us with evidence of the emergence of fixed surnames, to the Restoration era Hearth Tax, which produced lists of virtually ever
Family Tree UK7 min read
Was Your Ancestor Schooled In The Bcatp?
Was someone in your family tree among the 185,000 fliers who wore an RAF blue uniform during the Second World War? Of these 70,000 were killed. Despite the danger, volunteers stepped forward for training to follow in their footsteps and “slipped the
Family Tree UK5 min read
Setting Up Business Stateside
TO EXPLORE A GALLERY of the documentation used by Gill Shaw in her research this month. Come on then, 3x greatuncle Dominick. I’m banking on you to be the Riboldi brother who’s the toast of New York City, a business whizz, and founder of an American
Family Tree UK7 min read
What Might A Ring Signify?
Once on a train, I saw a man gesticulating to his companion and couldn’t help but notice his huge yellow stone ring with gold writing or an insignia on it. Was it ecclesiastical, or a free mason’s or some other society? I have always been fascinated
Family Tree UK12 min read
Photogenealogy: An Introduction
If you do, you are your family’s memory keeper and you may be interested in photogenealogy. Photogenealogy is the art and science of caring for and enjoying family history photographs. Not just for the sake of the photographs themselves, but because
Family Tree UK4 min read
Books & co
by Bernard O’Connor Nearly 40 female agents were sent out by the French section of Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. The youngest was 19 and the oldest 53. Most were trained in paramilitary warfare, fieldcraft
Family Tree UK5 min read
A Novel Connection
It all began with a family tree put together by an aunt years ago following the Twort line. Twort was my grandmother’s maiden name. The aunt had been unable to go any further back than Thomas Twort (1675-1724) who had married Mary Tanner (1683-1742).
Family Tree UK9 min read
Your DNA Workshop
HOW TO WORK WITH A DNA MATCH WHO HAS NO TREE ‘MANDY’ WRITES: I tested on Ancestry a few years ago and have been able to find how some of my matches are related to me. However there are matches (some sharing over 100cMs) who I can’t work out because
Family Tree UK5 min read
Remembering The Pioneer Of The Package Holiday
The sudden collapse of travel company Thomas Cook in September 2019 brought an end to a great British institution with a history stretching back nearly 180 years. This was the company whose founder pioneered the package holiday, making cheap excursio
Family Tree UK13 min read
Your Questions Answered
Q Can you please identify the uniform this boy is wearing from this slightly out of focus photograph. The back of the photograph is inscribed ‘Leonard Warran’, who we believe to be my grandmother’s halfbrother, born in Plymouth on 23 April 1896. Beca
Family Tree UK3 min read
Photo Corner
Chris Sibbald asks: Photo No. 1 was among my husband’s aunt’s effects, the only clue the name “Lotte” written on the child. My husband’s grandmother was Carlotta MAXWELL so we assume this was her. Known as “Tot”, she was born December 1889 in Wallse
Family Tree UK4 min read
Diary Dates
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR WEEKLY NEWS & EVENTS: https://familytr.ee/reg Mary Queen of Scots or Catherine de Medici: who was Elizabeth I’s ultimate rival?, 14 June The deadly rivalry between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots is well known, but t
Family Tree UK6 min read
Your Letters
Genealogical challenges ... Although genealogy has a well-respected academic side, it generally considers the internet, and digital resources in general, as only good for derivative sources such as images and transcriptions, and not for publications.
Family Tree UK5 min read
GENEALOGY GADGETS & APPS FOR ALL OCCASIONS!
W ithinhours of people receiving their June issue, ideas had started being sent in to Family Tree. Thank you to everyone who submitted their thoughts. Please do continue to send in details of further gems you enjoy, and, equally, if there is somethin
Family Tree UK3 min read
How It Was
With all its faults, fibs, flaws, omissions and occasionally eye-watering insensitivity, censuses have arguably been the family historian’s greatest friend. I still remember the long-ago frisson of finding 3x great-grandparents in the 1851 Census, re

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