Week 34 (Aug. 20-26): Long-lasting - #52Ancestors

Amongst my family history treasures are copies of some very old photographs.  Photos of my ancestors dating from the early days of photography are rare, and the images are surprisingly long lasting. Below are two of the older photos I have in my collection.  I only have digital copies that I have printed out, but a good digital copy is still very worth having.  

Isobelle Mary Green (nee Argent)

Isabelle Mary Green was born 1 June 1858 and dies 7 March 1936.

Sarah Jane Pike (nee Hart)

Sarah Jane Pike was born 17 August 1856 and died 3 January 1933.

I'm not sure exactly when these photos were taken - unfortunately there is no detail included on the originals or on the digital copies, but they have lasted for at least a century.

Family Tree UK Magazine September 2026

The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Thousands of Indian First World War soldiers remembered
• Rare copy of the Declaration of Independence found at The National Archives
• Do you have a DNA connection to Ötzi the Iceman?
• Knitted wartime exhibition extended due to popularity
• English Heritage encourage us to send posctards this summer
• Marriages - Looking beyond the official record
• What did your ancestors do in War Weapons Week? 
• A practical guide to DNA Painter
• Part 4 From Home to Horizon 
• Poor Law Settlement disputes
• Recording your research effectively 
• Building confidence in DNA testing

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine September 2026

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Irish website adds 190,000 new records to its collection
• New house stories website launches
• Crowd Cymru wins archive volunteering award
• Ancestry adds Wiltshire electoral registers
• TheGenealogist releases early American records
• Clean living -  Alan Crosby explores soap's journey from taxed necessity to fragrant luxury
• Tales of the Unexpected • Family secrets come in all shapes and sizes
• What are the odds? How to use WATO
• How to set up a private tree on Ancestry 
• 6 resources to help you with unexpected results
• Tips and tricks for identifying matches with no trees 
• Researching Irish Canadians 
• My relatives were on board the RMS Lusitania 
• Secret Service Ancestors
• Caribbean Ancestry
• More great websites - Online resources you can't afford to miss

Week 33 (Aug. 13-19): Multiples - #52Ancestors

The prompt 'Multiple' bring to mind the marital history of Thomas May, my 3xGreat Grandfather.  Thomas married a total of 5 times, losing several wives in childbirth.

Thomas May was born 20 September 1762 in West Mersea, Essex and was baptised 16 October 1762 at the church of St Peter and St Paul.  He died on 27 February 1843 in West Mersea and was buried on 7 March 1843.  He outlived all 5 wives.

Wife 1 – Elizabeth Godwin
Born 1763 Thorrington, Essex
Married 27 March 1787 Thorrington, Essex
Died 25 August 1790 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Thomas, Edward

Wife 2 – Sarah Sadler
Born 1775 West Mersea, Essex
Married 1792 West Mersea, Essex
Died 7 January 1799 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Betsey (Elizabeth), Sarah, Hannah, John Tickell

Wife 3 – Henrietta Stevens
Born Unknown
Married 12 May 1801 St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey
Died 2 May 1812 West Mersea
Children – Henry John, Mary

Wife 4 – Susannah Balls Green
Born 7 June 1770 West Bergholt, Essex
Married 10 November 1818 Fordham, Essex
Died 11 February 1828 West Mersea, Essex
Children - Nil

Wife 5 – Mary Ann Pullen
Born 13 October 1791 West Mersea, Essex
Married 9 August 1829 West Mersea, Essex
Died 1838 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Edward, Sophia Mary Ann

It is his 4th wife, Susannah Green (nee Balls), where the relationships become truly convoluted.  Susannah's son Isaac (from her first husband John Green) was married to Thomas's eldest daughter Betsy (Elizabeth).  So Thomas became not only father-in-law but also step-father to Isaac, and his new wife Susannah became mother-in-law and step-mother to Betsy.

Week 32 (Aug. 6-12): Neighbors and Community - #52Ancestors

Wherever they lived, our ancestors were a part of their local community, although finding records of how they interacted with their neighbours can be sparse.  Census records are one resource for finding out about our ancestors' neighbours.

For example, below is the 1851 census for Isaac Green.

Isaac Green is a farmer, age 58, living in Fordham, Essex.  This census record tells me that his household consistes of his wife Betsy 57, son William 17, and servants Maryann Blakeley 45, Harriet Clark 30 and Betsy Woodward 17. 

If you look at the household directly beneath Isaac's in the census, you find Edmund Woodward 59, wife Rebecca Woodward 55 and mother (actually mother-in-law) Rebecca Fairclough 77.  Edmund is a labourer - and yes, he works for Isaac Green.  Isaac's servant Betsy Woodward is Edmund's eldest daughter - shown in the 1841 census - who has gone into service up in the big house.  Following through the census, Betsy Woodward stays on working for Isaac Green for decades, through the 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses until Isaac's death in 1882.

It would be all too easy to overlook this information and simply concentrate on the main family, noting family members and occupations and overlooking all that lovely extra information about Isaac's ties to his neighborhood.

Week 31 (July 30-Aug. 5): A Day in the Life - #52Ancestors

Newspapers can be an excellent source of finding out more about or ancestors daily lives.  They can provide information about not only the major events, but also about how they spent their leisure hours and the clubs and societies they belonged to. 

Included in my newspaper records, I found several articles relating to musical events and concerts in which various ancestors performed, especially my Argent branch of my family tree.

The article above is from the Essex Standard published Friday 7 January 1876 and has several members of my Argent family preforming.  My Great Great Grandfather John Thompson Argent was Chair or the event and his sister Ada Emily Argent was the pianist.

When my great grandfather James Nicholas Clark passed away in 1924 there were two death notices inserted in the newspaper - one from his family and one from the Masonic Lodge of which he was a member. 

Had it not been for this Masonic notice, I would never have known that James was a Mason.  It is also worth noting the spelling error - the heading of the Masonic notice has CLARG, not CLARK.  The family notice also gives me his occupation - Overseer at Brighton City Council.

Week 30 (July 23-29) Free Space - #52Ancestors

Free space in my family history records generally means I have work to do, a gap to fill, a mystery I have not yet solved.  Often when I am looking through my family history notes I will look for the free spaces and pick one in particular to work on and try to fill.

Perhaps it is a missing baptism or burial record, a gap in census records, an unusually long time between the births of children.  Any free space in an ancestor's timeline deserves investigation.

I find it is a useful exercise to go back through my notes, charts and timelines and look for free space, to see what I have missed or not followed up on as well as I should.  It is all too easy to follow the information I do have on to another generation or another individual, to go down the rabbit hole of a new discovery and not return to an individual whose information is incomplete.

Noting the free space in my family history helps to prompt me to go back, research more thoroughly and fill in the gaps, until hopefully on day all those free spaces are filled. 

Week 29 (July 16-22) A Source I Want to Understand Better - #52Ancestors

One particular type of record I have always had difficulty with are shipping records.  Over the years of my research I have slowly learned about these records, but locating my ancestors in shipping and immigration records has always been problematic.

For a couple of my ancestors, making the assumption that they moved directly from A to B let me astray, in one case for several years.  The family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, came from Bristol in England.  They left England at about the time James was born and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia.  It took me several years of fruitless searching for their immigration details before I widened my search to find the family first arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, which is where James was born shortly after they arrived.  The family spent at least 5 years in nearby Port Sorrell before travelling across Bass Strait to settle in Melbourne.

So why is it so difficult to find some of our ancestor's immigration records?

• Consider alternate spelling of their name.  The clerk who recorded their embarkation or arrival was unlikely to ask about spelling and just recorded the name as he heard it.
  
• If the person travelled in steerage/was an unassisted immigrant/was a crew member who jumped ship, the details recorded about them may be scant or non-existent.
• Females, children, servants and steerage passengers were frequently left off the passenger lists altogether.
• Did they migrate in stages?  Not everyone went straight from A to B – some visited other points along the way, sometimes taking years to arrive at their final destination.
• Prior to 1852, ship's masters were not required to record the names of unassisted passengers travelling from Britain to the Australian colonies.
• Port Phillip District of New South Wales was established on 10 April 1837.  Victoria was not proclaimed a separate colony until 1 July 1851.  Check NSW records if your ancestor arrived earlier.
• After 1923 records of people arriving by sea and air are held at the National Archives of Australia.
• Not all records have survived the passage of time and remained legible.

Family Tree UK Magazine August 2026

The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Professor Turi King Awarded Julian Bickersteth Memorial
• Crowd Cymru wins national award
• One-name website resource recognised
• Preparations underway for Family Tree Live
• Family historians invited to create time capsule
• Findmypast partners with Heritage Open Days to celebrate ‘Everyday Histories’
• ‘Pedigrees of paupers’ - Analyzing class and social mobility in the records
• Advanced approaches - Taking your research to the next level
• Putting your ancestors in their place - Agriculture
• A Legacy of the heart - Your Voice Matters part 2 
• Part 3 rural role models - like mother, like daughter
• Extra, extra! Read all about it!
• Building effective family trees from your DNA matches 
• Digging Deeper into sources - Learn how to get every last clue

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine August 2026

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Putting AI to the test
• London Library membership records go online
• British documents added to Memory of the World Register
• First World War soldiers buried after DNA identification
• Historic coal mining plans go online
• TheGenealogist adds British Railways magazines
• Toilet tales - Dealing with bodily functions
• AI: The answers at your fingertips? 
• Full text search at FamilySearch
• 6 free websites
• Lost in Ireland
• My journey began with a pedigree
• The Royal Naval Reserve
• British in India
• More great websites - fantastic sites you can't afford to miss
• Prerogative & Exchequer Courts of York, Probate Records 

Week 28 (July 9-15) Leisure Time - #52Ancestors

A fascinating and often difficult to research aspect of our ancestors' lives is what they did in their leisure time.  How did they relax and unwind?  Did they have hobbies?  Play sports?  Read? Take trips or go on holidays?  For many leisure time would have been rare and therefore precious - so how did they spent that time?

Newspapers have been a great source of information for me about my ancestors' 'play time' and leisure activities.  My Argent ancestors from West Bergholt took part in an amateur concert, reported below in the Essex Standard of Friday 7 January 1876.
 

A similar article reported on a pigeon shooting match in which my great-grandfather Walter Green took part - sadly he lost the match. 

Another newspaper report concerned another great-grandfather, Henry Arthur Pike, who was the umpire for his local quoits club in Bradfield St George.

All fascinating insights into the lives of my ancestors 'Play Time'. 

Family Tree US July-August

The latest issue of Family Tree US magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines. 

Inside this month's issue : 

• Trio of AI Tools from MyHeritage
• Irish Census released
• Roundup: New and Improved Websites
• Red, White and Blues
• Stories MoreThan Skin-Deep
• The 101 Best Genealogy Websites of 2026
• Learn all about the often-misunderstood ethnicity estimates
• 1930 US Census
• Whole-Genome Sequencing
• Publication-Hunting with Newspaper Finder
• Preserving Old Maps
• Finding Ancestors ‘Hiding’ in the Census
• 5 Steps to Find Your Ancestor’s Deed
• Citing Land Records

 

Week 27 (July 2-8) A Record I Read Differently Now - #52Ancestors

A record I read differently now - almost anything dating before about 1752!  Why?  The change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. 

Today, 1 January was regarded as New Year's Day and celebrated as such, but from the 12th century until 1751 the legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record lists the execution of Charles I on 30 January as occurring in 1648 (as the year did not end until 24 March), although later histories adjust the start of the year to 1 January and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

Most Western European countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to 1 January in 1600 (making 1599 a rather short year). England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days). Later in 1752 in September the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

It is important to keep these dates in mind if you have been fortunate enough to trace you family back past 1752, as the calendar used at the time will skew the year in which events, particularly baptisms, marriages and burials, were recorded if they took place between 1 January and 25 March.

 
Consider the example of the baptism records above.  It records the baptism of Susannah, daughter of John Dixon and Susannah his wife on July 8, 1722.  It also records the baptism of Anna, daughter of John Dixon and Susannah his wife on March 17, 1722.   This is going to look very odd on a modern timeline, if you don't take into account that in the modern calendar, Anna is baptised on March 17, 1723 - approximately 8.5 months after sister Susannah and not 3.5 months before her.

Several of my older records make much more sense now that I read them differently.

Cork Graveyards Database at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre

Earlier this year, Skibbereen Heritage Centre added substantially to its Cork Graveyards Database, bringing the total to 109,385 burial records from over 170 graveyards throughout the county. All are free to search online.

The most recent additions to the long-running digitization project relate to North Cork and include burial records from the following graveyards:

Ballinakill, Ballyhooly, Ballynoe, Boherbue, Bridgetown, Brigown, Britway, Carrigdownane, Castlelyons New Cemetery, Derryvillane, Dromtarriffe New Cemetery, Dunmahon, Gortroe, Kilbrin, Kilcrumper Old Graveyard, Kilcummer, Kildorrery, Kilgrogan, Killabraher, Killathy, Killavullen New Cemetery, Kilphelan, Kilroe, Knawhill, Mourneabbey (The Abbey Cemetery) and St Gobnait’s (Gouldshill, Mallow). Scroll down to see the full list of graveyards included in the database. 

The Cork Graveyards Database is hosted on the Skibbereen Heritage Centre website and includes both searchable burial register records and results from several graveyard surveys. An interactive map shows each graveyard included in the project, most of which are cemeteries owned and managed by Cork County Council. Each cemetery is marked with a cross on the map. By clicking on a cross, users can read a short description of the graveyard and check the date range covered by its burial registers – a helpful step before beginning a search.

Individual burial register records typically include the name of the deceased, address, date of death and date of burial. Some entries also contain additional information such as age at death, occupation, the informant’s name (often a close relative), the registrar’s name and grave location. Where available, original register pages can be viewed and downloaded as PDFs by selecting “View Register”.

Week 26 (June 25-July 1) A Hard Choice - #52Ancestors

A hard choice faced by several of my ancestors was to emigrate from their homelands to the colonies of Australia.  What prompted these families, mostly with young children in tow, to pack up and move halfway around the world?  Two of my immigrant families would settle in one state of Australia, then pack up and move again several years later.  What prompted them to take that leap of faith and travel so far from their homelands, families and friends?  It would have been a huge decision to make.

My immigrant ancestors came from England, Ireland and Germany.  Land in their homelands would have been difficult and costly to acquire, so the prospect of cheap land for farming may have been a big motivator for them.  Many Germans also emigrated for freedom from religious persecution.  Then there are my Irish ancestors, who left Ireland a few years before the potato famine.  Again, I suspect Australia represented the chance for a better life, a chance to own land and improve the family's living conditions.

My great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, was born in Bristol, England or possibly Launceston, Tasmania around 1856, just as the family emigrated to Australia.  James’s younger sister Annie Amelia Clark was born 31 March 1857 in Port Sorrell, Tasmania, where the family lived for at least 12 years before they traveled across Bass Strait and settled in Victoria.

Carl Friedrich Beseler, known in Australia as Frederick, was born around 1810 in Hanover, Germany.  He was a shoemaker in Germany and a farmer in Australia, arriving in Adelaide on 1 April 1848 on the ship Pauline from Bremen, Germany.  Passengers listed were Frederick Beseler, Shoemaker, Mrs Beseler and 5 children.  The family lived in South Australia for 7 years before travelling overland to Victoria, where they settled near Ercildown.  Several members of the family are buried in Learmonth Cemetery. 

Travel by ship in the mid 1800s from Europe to Australia would have been a long and arduous journey for these families.  Their determination to forge new lives prompted them to travel such distances.  A hard choice indeed.

Family Tree UK July 2026

The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Family Tree Live returns with two-day event
• Visit People’s History Museum’s 1926 General Strike exhibition 
• Delve into medical records
• Scribe AI now available on MyHeritage app
• Bring your Irish family history alive
• DNA Club news 
• Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
• Following the money : a guide to taxation record sets
• Researching Your Ancestors Using Newspapers Online
• Why telling our story is the best gift we’ll ever give
• Staffordshire parish registers
• The Pitcairn Register : our book of origins
• Introducing the brand new Family Tree website 

Week 25 (June 18-24) The Ancestor Who Stays With Me - #52Ancestors

As we learn more about them, the stories of many of our ancestors stay with us.  For some, the story is positive - the achievements they made, the success they celebrated.  For others the story is more challenging - the obstacles they faced, the tragedies they overcame.  I find it is more the tragedies that stay with me.

My great grandmother Eliza Pummeroy (nee Beseler).  After struggling for a month after her husband's sudden death, Eliza took the step of applying to the local court for help, risking having her children removed from her custody and placed in an orphanage, something she was adamant she did not want.  The judges hearing the case awarded her 10 shillings from the poor box and committed the children to the department, with the recommendation they be handed back to their mother. 

My great great grandparents David and Eliza Mulholland, who had three children die as infants within a few weeks of each other - Henry who died 29 January 1872 aged 4 years 8 months, Margaret Jane who died 2 February 1872 aged 6 years 4 months and Thomas who died 14 February 1872 aged 1 year 2 months.  A stark reminder of the perils of childhood and how disease could carry off several family members in rapid succession - all three died of diphtheria. 

Then there is the Hines branch of my family tree, who I followed through the census records.  In the 1841 census parents James and Susan are alive and children John, Samuel, Albert and Hannah are listed with them.  Eldest daughter Susannah is not home on census night and so was not listed. 

The 1851census told a very different story.  Both parents had died, and the five siblings have been split up.  The two eldest children, Susannah and John, now aged 18 and 16, are living with their maternal grandparents and are listed as house servant and farm servant respectively.  Middle child Samuel, age 14, was found a home with relatives, and is listed as a lodger in the house of James Prentice.  His maternal grandmother Susannah's maiden name was Prentice (she is the Susannah Woollard listed above, who took in the two eldest children), and James Prentice is her nephew.  The two youngest children, Albert, now age 12 and Hannah, age 10, were  less fortunate.  Apparently there were no relatives willing and able to take these youngest children, and they are listed in the census as paupers in the Cosford Union Workhouse.  So not only have these children lost their parents, they have also been split up, the ones old enough taken by relatives and put to work.  The two youngest, not yet old enough to perform sufficient useful labour, are sent to the workhouse.

Tragic stories that stay with me.

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine July 2026

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• The National Archives maps Weavers’ Rising
• DNA testing identifies sailors from the Franklin expedition
• New slavery records database launches
• Alan Crosby on the art of baby naming
• Get the most from death records
• Write a memoir in Six Easy Steps
• Assize Records 
• Was your ancestor in Nelson’s Navy?
• More great websites 
• The Napier Commission
• Forgotten women of Cambridge

Week 24 (June 11-17) Possibilities - #52Ancestors

When researching your family history, the possibilities are endless.  Each time I start researching - sitting at my computer, visiting an archive or repository or cemetery or library, each time I write or talk to a relative, the possibilities of what I might discover are what keeps me going.

Especially exciting is when new records become available, either online or newly released physical records.  What might I find?

This is the reason I regularly check what is new on all the databases I subscribe to, including Ancestry, which is available free to search at my local library via Ancestry Library Edition.

Finding out what is new on Ancestry is as simple as checking the card catalogue.

To get to the card catalogue, log into Ancestry (or Ancestry Library Edition at your local public library or research centre if you don't have a subscription) and click on the Search tab at the top of the page, then select the "Card Catalogue".

 

The Card Catalogue is a searchable list of all the record collections available.  Because of the way their databases are titled you can use the title search box to narrow all the resources for a specific place, such as "Victoria, Australia".  You can then browse through the various data sets, click on one which interests you, and conduct a specific search of those records for anything relevant to your family.

 

Using this method, I discovered that Ancestry holds the Victorian Divorce Records 1860-1940.

I immediately did a search of this specific record set for James Clark and came up with a listing for his divorce, complete with a link to the original documents.

Viewing the record was the bonanza - some 55 pages of statements and court proceedings and other documents.  Full details of the circumstances of the marriage and its breakdown, dates and addresses, and the final Decree Nisi that dissolved the marriage.  

These documents fill in the detail of the marriage breakdown and subsequent divorce and are a wonderful find!

While you are looking at particular datasets on Ancestry, it's a good idea to read the "about" section for more detail. To do this scroll past the search box and you'll see information about where the data came from and more details about what is in that particular resource. 

  

For example, the Rate Books 1855-1963 for Victoria, Australia are by no means complete, and the detail makes this clear.  While the list below is not the complete list of Rate Books available, it gives you the general idea that different areas covered different year ranges.  For the complete list, please check the card catalogue yourself.

There is nothing more frustrating than spending your valuable researching time looking for information that is not covered by the database, even though the broad description implied that it was there.  So try checking the description of some of the datasets available on Ancestry to see exactly what they cover - it may explain why you cannot find a records you were expecting to be available.

And remember - the possibilities are endless!

Week 23 (June 4-10) A Place That Matters - #52Ancestors

Society today is much more mobile than in previous centuries.  Many of my ancestors spent generations living in the one place, setting down deep roots in a place and a community.

The Argent family can be followed through the census records with both father and son listed as living at Newbridge Mill, West Bergholt in the 1841 census.  By the 1851 census John Jr has taken over the mill from his father and is listed as a miller and farmer of 100 acres living with his wife Emma, son John and daughters Emma and Ada, as well as 2 servants.  The same census lists John Senior as Miller and Farmer living in Crouch Street, St Mary at the Walls, Colchester.

Newbridge Mill, West Bergholt

John Thompson Argent continues to be listed as Miller and Farmer at Newbridge Mill in the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 censuses, running this business until his death on 22 January 1894.  To this family, Newbridge Mill was a place that mattered.

My Green ancestors had even stronger ties to Fordham Hall (also called Manor Farm) in Essex, being tennants at the Hall for several generations.  Although they were not the owners, they were major local landholders and were the gentry of their small community.

Fordham Hall, Essex

The Green family of Fordham Hall farmed the land, kept a pack of foxhounds,and took part in many community events.  The article below, from the 'Essex Standard' on Friday 13 October 1837, mentions Isaac Green of Fordham as one of the judges at the annual meeting of the local Agricultural Society.