I have previously written about the complicated relationship history of Mike’s great-great-grandmother Hannah Farrow, but soon after starting to research her and her many gentleman callers I discovered that she was not the first one in the family to have an aversion to marriage.
Category: Mike’s Family
A Short History of Birthday Cakes in the 1980s
As I’ve turned 32 today, I have unearthed the earliest birthday cake photos of myself and Mike. Interestingly, we haven’t been able to find any birthday cake photos for previous generations in either of our families.
Vintage Postcards from Kimpton, Hertfordshire
I have recently begun to collect postcards from Kimpton, a village in Hertfordshire where Mike’s grandfather Alan Smith was born, and in particular postcards published by George Matthews, who was the postmaster in Kimpton from the 1890s until his death in 1933.
Marja-Kristina and Mike’s Excellent DNA Adventure
Mike and I recently had our autosomal DNA tested by Ancestry.com in the hope of either substantiating or laying to rest various family legends on both sides (royalty, mysterious grannies, etc.), and maybe eventually filling in some blanks in the family tree where conventional genealogy research had run into cads who rudely didn’t leave their names after leaving their lady… Continue reading Marja-Kristina and Mike’s Excellent DNA Adventure
A Derbyshire Breach of Promise
Several years ago I visited the Derbyshire Record Office in Matlock, and one of the items I found there was the will of James Waterall, Mike’s great-great-great-grandfather. Interestingly, even though he had ten children, only eight of them were mentioned in the will. I wondered why his remaining his two daughters, Ann Waterall and Harriet Waterall Wild, were left… Continue reading A Derbyshire Breach of Promise
Mr. Taylor, I Presume?
John Joseph Taylor, Mike’s great-grandfather, has a somewhat deceptive name and the story behind his parentage is another instance where a member of Mike’s family appears to come back from the dead.
The “Amarican” Postcard (Part 5)
Four years after the original research into the adventures of the Welbourn(e)s in America, I revisited the story to see if I could find any further information.
The “Amarican” Postcard (Part 4)
After identifying everyone on the postcard, I spent some time looking for more information on the American Welbourn(e)s.
The “Amarican” Postcard (Part 3)
Long after the discoveries in part 2, I was checking out the Family Search website and noticed that it had a new feature where one could see scans of original birth and death certificates. Curious, I entered Albina’s name and after some fiddling around with various settings found her death certificate.
The “Amarican” Postcard (Part 2)
[Part 1 of this story can be found here.] I spent some time trying to trace Albina the elder, and eventually located her and her youngest daughter Eliza on the passenger list of a ship that had arrived in Philadelphia from Liverpool in January 1892.