Author: HarrietP
Journalist and amateur genealogist
John Ellwood Boadle Lonsdale Battalion
John Ellwood Boadle – a reminder that not all who ‘gave their lives for their country’ in the First World War died on the battlefield. Poor conditions in makeshift training camps at home were a ... Read More
Elizabethan handwriting
Elizabethan handwriting – the ‘decoding’ thereof’ – isn’t something I’m exactly expert at. But that does mean my ‘beginner’s guide’ is written from experience as a beginner, so hop... Read More
DNA tests – was it worth it?
DNA tests revisited… In my post looking at whether DNA tests are worth it, for family history, I concluded: Because: In short, I don’t think DNA testing could tell me anything I haven’t or c... Read More
Westmorland girls – be warned!
Westmorland girls were given some sound advice, from bitter experience, in May 1874, by a young woman who had learned the hard way. While looking for something else, I chanced upon a notice in the Pen... Read More
Countess Ossalinsky
Ambling around Beacon Edge cemetery a few weeks ago (visiting family graves, and taking photos of others to upload to FindaGrave), I chanced upon a Celtic cross with a faded inscription: Countess Bori... Read More
Grahams of Cumberland DNA
Grahams of Cumberland part 3: The DNA thing In part one, I started out with ‘my’ John Graham, born c1750. While assuming we are descended from the border reiver Grahams, a couple of lovely relativ... Read More
Grahams of Cumberland (2).
Lang Will: Grahams of Cumberland – part two Cumbrian Grahams are likely descended from the notorious reiver clan, who were infamous in the 16th century. The big question is: who were the reiver Grah... Read More
Grahams of Cumberland (1)
Grahams of Cumberland – part one Many years ago, it was said there were more Grahams in the Carlisle phone book than Smiths. Phone books have gone the way of the dodo, but the point remains: the sur... Read More