Discover Your Ancestors

Issue 097

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

It’s good that many archives and libraries have started to reopen – hopefully by the time our June issue comes out, their cafés might be open again too! Certainly we can continue to enjoy online records regardless, and it’s clear that many events will remain online for some time. Our own Family History Show will be back next month, online again, and the format – which has proven to be a great success – will have some new features too. More details next month, but do keep 19th June in your diary, and see www.thefamilyhistoryshow.com for the latest info.

Meanwhile we have our usual interesting mix of articles in this issue – I hope you enjoy it.

Andrew Chapman, Editor.

Articles

Food to die for

Imagine going out to buy things like bread, tea, coffee and sugar, and never being sure you were sold the genuine article. That’s the situation our forebears faced in the 19th century before trading standards were introduced. Adulteration was rife and almost accepted as the norm. As a result, every time they shopped for food, people risked digestive problems, malnutrition and even death.

Celebrating Coventry

Coventry has come a long way since its large-scale destruction by enemy action in November 1940. One of the worst hit cities during the Second World War, Coventry had been a thriving industrial hotspot for 700 years before the Luftwaffe famously reduced much of the city to rubble, destroying lives, buildings and livelihoods. But the city bounced back remarkably quickly during the post-war years, and now, 81 years on from that fateful day, is poised for a year of celebratory events as it becomes the UK’s City of Culture, following in the footsteps of Londonderry (2013) and Hull (2017).

A matter of life and death (and marriage)

There has only ever been one actor to have won an Oscar at an Academy Awards ceremony where they were also the host – and that was David Niven in 1958. At that time he won the Best Actor award for playing Major Pollock in Separate Tables. Wikipedia also tells us that his 23-minute on-screen performance in the film has gone down as the briefest appearance to have ever won the Best Actor award. These are not the only interesting facts about this very British Hollywood actor, as a little research into him in some of the online records easily accessed on TheGenealogist will show.

Tracing a difficult dentist

Historical newspapers are a great source for finding out details about our ancestors’ lives – not only the basic facts of their lives, but also details of their personal lives. One story might give you one impression of their lives, but if you’re lucky enough to find a variety of different stories, they can build up quite a picture of their lives. When I was researching a Victorian dentist, I originally thought of him as man who had transcended his humble origins in Wales to become a successful man, operating in Liverpool and London. He appeared to be someone who had been let down by his wife, who had, he believed had an affair, and who never married again after he petitioned for divorce from her.

Twas a rare affair

On Friday 3 October 1913, members of the Easton clan threw a party in the Good Templars’ Hall, Carluke, Scotland. A now anonymous poet in the family captured the celebrations on papers which had ‘formed divisions in a Rountree’s chocolate box’. Among those present at this ‘rare affair’ was a former compositor who was probably responsible for collecting the papers at the end of the evening and getting the verses printed professionally. Over a century, the poem changed from treasured memories into an enigma. When I eventually discovered it in a box of old photographs, everyone who could have explained the allusions was dead. As I had already done some research into this branch of the extended family, and recognised a few of the names, I decided to see how much of that evening I could bring back to life.

Major release of London and Irish records

TheGenealogist has released the records of 143,956 individuals to increase its Lloyd George Domesday Survey record set coverage. This unique online resource of nearly one million individuals records, can help researchers discover where an ancestor lived in the period 1910- 1915. The new records this month are for properties situated in Balham, Battersea, Fulham, Hammersmith, Putney & Roehampton, Streatham, Tooting Graveney and Wandsworth.

History in the details: Materials - Wool (part 4)

The production of wool from British sheep had risen and achieved unparalleled success by the early modern era. In the early 1700s Daniel Defoe wrote that English woollen goods were the ‘richest and most valuable manufacture in the world’ and indeed no other industry gained such status, or was carried out so widely or for so long. For centuries, scarcely a town, village or hamlet was not involved at some stage in producing woollen cloth: spinning wheels and hand looms were found in most homes; and fulling operations were as common as grinding corn.

Place in Focus: Derbyshire

Derbyshire is punctuated in the north by the Peak District, extending into the Pennines, and by its largest settlement, Derby, in the south. The county also contains the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.

Books for May 2021

This guide offers a simple, yet comprehensive, guide to researching the men and women from Britain - and its dominions and colonies - who took part in the First World War either at the front or at home

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.