Genealogists love the thrill of the chase. It’s part of what keeps us coming back. But there are times it feels our ancestors are playing an extended game of hide and seek. Emma Spong (born 1860) is my 1st cousin 3x removed and first cousin of my great grandfather, George Daniel Spong, who, coincidentally enough,… Continue reading Playing hide and seek with ancestors…
As I mentioned in my first post on this blog, I have a rather difficult relationship with WWII. I exist because of it yet both my parents’ families suffered during those six long, difficult years. My paternal uncle served with Polish Forces in the Middle East after his release from Siberia with the rest of… Continue reading Lest we forget…
In my last post, I spent much of it concentration on the life of someone who wasn’t technically related to me, the widow of my 3x great-uncle Samuel Ferdinando. She was born Emma Ginn and only married to Samuel for 7 years before his early death at the age of 41. Yet she caught my… Continue reading Family ties…
Today is my birthday. I’m 51. And I’m fine with that. Growing older has, in fact, helped me appreciate how precious life is. Especially given all the family history work I’ve done over the last couple of years, where I see death after death in the records. In this last week alone, I’ve recounted the… Continue reading Reflections…
You may remember the other day when I posted about my first cousin 3x removed, Elizabeth Wiley Wright, who died some time in 1854 or 1855. I said I couldn’t be certain because there were four records in the death index that could have been her, but I would know for sure unless I ordered… Continue reading A life cut short…
For over 20 years now, genealogy has been one of my enduring passions. I can’t really call it a hobby – that just seems to understated a word for my need to discover all I can about the people from whom I descend. And it’s more than that. I need to know about all members… Continue reading Why genealogy?…
After learning so much about Elizabeth, Joseph, and their younger children yesterday, I just had to go back into the records to find out what happened to Elizabeth, who was born January 27, 1833 in Bethnal Green and baptized in the Independent chapel there on March 24 of the same year. As we learned yesterday,… Continue reading A genealogist’s gut instinct…
In the world of genealogy bloggers, it’s Travel Tuesday. For me, one of the first family stories that came to me when I saw this bogging prompt was that of my 3rd great-aunt, Elizabeth Ann Ferdinando, who, in 1857 emigrated with her husband and children from England to Australia. Willingly. I was flabbergasted. Even today,… Continue reading From England’s shores…
writing my past 