Discover Your Ancestors

Issue 070

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A warm welcome to the February issue of Discover Your Ancestors Periodical, your monthly digital family and social history magazine.

Our big news this month is that Issue 8 of our print edition has gone to the printers! This time the bumper ‘bookazine’, packed with 196 pages of brand-new features, has an Edwardian focus, although as always it still offers a broad mix of research advice and historical context, and the subjects covered go right back as far as Tudor times. Do keep an eye on our website discoveryourancestors.co.uk for when it is released – you can also still pick up previous issues there. Issue 8 also boasts some fantastic offers, worth more than £170! Meanwhile, enjoy this month’s digital issue!

Andrew Chapman, Editor.

Articles

It's behind you!

For the last couple of months, cries of ‘It’s behind you!’ and ‘Oh, no he isn’t!’ have been ringing out in theatres up and down the country.

The pilot, MP and communist pioneer

Cecil John L’Estrange Malone (7 September 1890 – 8 June 1965) was not only blessed with a tremendous name, but he also led a very interesting life. Malone came from a well-connected background and went into politics as a Liberal MP after serving in the military. A pioneering naval aviator, during his time in the Royal Navy and then the RAF, he was known to be an anti-communist in his earlier career. The author of a number of articles strongly criticising left-wing activists, he then changed his political views and went on to serve as the United Kingdom’s first ever communist Member of Parliament. Dissociating himself from the Communist Party of Great Britain he later turned to the Labour Party and was part of Ramsay Macdonald’s 1929 government.

A good word for Dr Johnson

Immortalised in Blackadder The Third as the corpulent, irascible man who has failed to record the words ‘pericombobulation’ and ‘contrafibularity’ in his new dictionary, who exactly was Dr Johnson, and why did his book

Saving lives at sea

Since ancient times, Britain’s commerce and defence have depended on the sea. But our treacherous waters exacted a terrific toll of ships, cargoes, mariners and passengers annually. Victims often lost their lives within sight of shore, either because they could not be reached in time, or because no vessel was strong enough to reach them safely.

The village lock-up

The village lock-up was once a famous, and indeed, infamous building in many rural settlements. Although architecturally it could vary enormously in style, either being refurbished from a prior building or created specifically for this one purpose, it always served a primary use: that of holding arrested people or those suspected of deviance, for a short duration.

News for February 2019

TheGenealogist has added almost 700,000 entries for prisoners to its Court and Criminal Records collection. Sourced from the HO 8 registers held by The National Archives, these documents contain records from the years 1821 to 1876. This expands the site’s criminal collection to over 1.3 million individuals between 1801 and 1876.

History in the details: Men's Jewellery

Although jewellery is mainly associated with women, for millennia our male ancestors have adorned themselves with diverse ornaments. Decorative items fashioned initially from natural materials, later from metals, have been worn on the head, at the neck, on the breast, around the waist, wrists, hands and fingers, for religious and ritualistic reasons, as fashion statements, or as visible symbols of wealth, status and power.

Place in focus: Coventry

It is likely that the first settlement at Coventry grew around a Saxon nunnery. Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and his wife Lady Godiva built a Benedictine monastery on the site in 1043, and in the mid-13th century this had been completed as a cathedral.

Books for February 2019

This book is an exploration of a life at sea in the time of Captain Cook and Admiral Nelson, covering topics as wide-ranging as science, exploration, mutiny, and discipline, focusing on the period from 1714 to 1820. This ‘Sailor’s Guide’ explores the lives of the Navy’s officers and sailors, using extracts from contemporary documents and writings.

Additional Information

Other Formats

You can buy a printed version of the annual Discover Your Ancestors bookazine directly from the publishers, please see www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk and click on ‘Order print copies’ at the bottom.

Editorial Office

Discover Your Ancestors Publishing,

PO BOX 163,

Shaftesbury,

SP7 7BA

E: editor@discoveryourancestors.co.uk

W: www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk

Discover Your Ancestors – The Family History Show

The Family History Show, York!

Saturday 22nd June 2024
10:00 –16:00 (GMT)

Put your research questions to an expert, watch a talk, speak to a local society, archive or genealogical supplier.

Free talks all day, held in a large lecture hall.
Free Experts on hand to help with your queries.
Many family history societies, archives and companies will be attending from all over the country.

Special Offer! Buy tickets for £8.00 (£12.00 on the day)

Buy your tickets early and get two for the price of one!

Find Out More Purchase Tickets

Future Events

Unable to make the next show? We also have shows planned for the following locations:

Discover Your Ancestors Periodical is published by Discover Your Ancestors Publishing, UK. All rights in the material belong to Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and may not be reproduced, whether in whole or in part, without their prior written consent. The publisher makes every effort to ensure the magazine's contents are correct. All articles are copyright© of Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and unauthorised reproduction is forbidden. Please refer to full Terms and Conditions at www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk. The editors and publishers of this publication give no warranties, guarantees or assurances and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised.