My Quirky Ancestor who Joined up Accidentally: 2023 Update

Visiting my Grandmother was a lovely experience for me.. I am so glad I spent so much time with her and had listened to her stories. She had been an attractive and cheeky redhead, whose fiery temperament at the time had led her into a few misadventures(including the time she had left her brother and …

Keeping up with the Joneses: Who Were the Joneses and What Happened to Them

Keeping up with the Joneses: Who Were the Joneses and What Happened to Them? The Tenth Commandment ‘Thou shall not envy thy neighbour’s goods.” I sometimes envy youngsters that they still have their youth but that just makes me encourage them to enjoy it. It never makes me want to tear them down, hut then …

My Quirky Ancestor who Joined up Accidentally

Visiting my Grandmother was a lovely experience for me.. I am so glad I spent so much time with her and had listened to her stories. She had been an attractive and cheeky redhead, whose fiery temperament at the time had led her into a few misadventures(including the time she had left her brother and …

My Quirky Cowkeeper Ancestor

Perhaps one of the quirky details about my ancestor was that he was able to keep dairy cows in the middle of London! Hard to believe the area which was once rural is now part of the busy metropolis.Unfortunately it would appear that the quirks of this particular ancestor were actually illegal, much as he …

What Makes a Life?

I love newspaper archives. I have waded enthusiastically in when one of my youngsters had had a project on the Industrial Revolution. When I had studied this turmultuous period at school, I had found it dull, dry and uninteresting. Wading into The British Newspaper Archives had taught me just how wrong I was. Perhaps having …

My Grandmother’s Favourite Sayings

My grandmother had a wide variety of sayings which she used regularly. As they come to mind, I will write them here with commentary. You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die. I can personally attest to the truth of this one, given the things my son has put in his mouth …