Hedley Cole Vickers Churchward (1862–1929), later known as Mahmoud Mobarek, stands within my own family tree. Through our shared ancestor, John Churchward (1761–1840) of Devon, Hedley and I are second cousins. For me, however, the importance of the Churchwards extends far beyond one relative who made history. This family name, […]
Roots Special Articles
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Jabez Churchward (1838–1885): A Working Man’s Record in Victorian Devon Jabez Churchward, born in June 1838 in Newton Abbot, Devon, lived an unremarkable yet closely documented life as a working man in mid-Victorian England. Employed variously as a carter and drover, Churchward’s name appears in multiple official and press records […]
Whilst doing more family research I sadly discovered that my great, great grandmother (Emily Cave (nee Windebank)) committed suicide in 1892 after drinking the contents of a bottle of Carbolic Acid. I found out about this after conducting routine research through the London newspapers. London Evening Standard – Wednesday 14 […]
Richard Bettison was my great great grandfather. He was born and brought up just outside Liskeard in Cornwall where, apart from a brief spell in the 1870s when he was in the Durham area, he spent the best part of his long life. My great grandmother Lily was his daughter […]
I have been researching and building my family tree for about 25 years. In that time I have have discovered that most of my blood (and first generation married) relatives were generally regular working and lower class folk. Some of them aspired to really get on in life, many remained […]
My three times great grandmother really did not have much of an existence although she survived into her sixties. She spent all her life, like so many Victorian women at the bottom of the social and economic scale, cleaning other people’s houses and clothes. In death her body was used […]
In the course of doing historic research I generally find I can usually detach myself even from the most appalling events and situations frequently reported over the centuries. It’s only when a direct blood relative suddenly appears in the Victorian news that I get a feeling of genuine sadness. This […]
My Waugh family were based on the Somerset/Gloucestershire borders during the 1700 – 1900′s. John Waugh Snr my 5x great grand father, (born about 1750. Had a son also called John Waugh, my 4x great grandfather, (1771-1802) (his family tree and data here). John Jnr had a son, Robert Waugh […]