Latest Posts
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John Beale: letters from the grey sheep of the family
John Beale 1811-1873 Farmer of Biddenden and Beckley and my great great grandfather. Rich Richard Beale, 18th century dog doodler and Twitter sensation, had eleven children. The second youngest was my great great grandfather, John. I have been lucky… Continue reading
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Elizabeth Beale: Mystery SOLVED
My fourth cousin Geoff and I had reached different conclusions as to the identity of our 6th great grandmother, as discussed in this post. A quick summary is that in 1705, there lived three Richard Beales – our ancestor (Tombstone… Continue reading
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Rich Richard and the Trousered Chicken
It appears that my great great great grandfather has gone viral, nearly 200 years after his death. The Museum of English Rural Life, in Reading, has acquired various bits of Beale memorabilia – mainly farming diaries and account books. But… Continue reading
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Revisiting The Western Front
Last year, I visited Ypres and the surrounding area for the Passchendaele 100th anniversary commemorations. There was more to see and do than I could fit into that weekend, so a year later I returned to tick off the missing… Continue reading
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Henry Bishop: The Alternative Deacon
Henry Bishop is another example of a very distant non-blood relative who has grabbed my interest. He was my 5th great aunt husband’s brother, and lived alongside my Downing Ancestors in Southminster. I find building a picture of 19th century… Continue reading
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Difficult Ancestors
I had a very frustrating day at the Kent Archives yesterday! I had four Kentish Questions that I needed answering: I wanted to know the name of a father of an illegitimate baby who was born in Buckland in 1865. … Continue reading
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Am I a True Brent?
George Brent 1831-1898 Miner of St Dominick, Cornwall, and my 2nd great grandfather… or possibly not… The main reason I started tracing my family tree was because I knew next to nothing about my father’s family. He died when I… Continue reading
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Who Was Elizabeth Beale?
Elizabeth, wife of Richard Beale (1663-1757) Clothiers of Biddenden, Kent and my 6th great grandparents There’s been quite a few posts on this blog about unidentified fathers, but this is my first unidentified mother! I was very pleased to get… Continue reading
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Frederick Harold Whibley: The mysterious disappearing family
Frederick Harold Whibley 1878-1921 Gardener and Store Keeper of Lambeth, Mitcham, Epping, Woolwich and Guildford and my 2nd great uncle. I’ve been continuing my delve into all things Whibley, determined to find my connection with my mysterious DNA probable second… Continue reading
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Whibley Wobbles: who is the father of Ambrose Whibley Remington?
Ambrose Whibley Remington, 1762-1846 Gardener of Hunton, Kent, and my 4th grandfather I will confess my sins now. When I was very new to genealogy, I committed one of the cardinal sins. Excitedly coming across some other people’s family trees… Continue reading
Family Mystery 