Category: family history
Life in Georgian Cumbria
Cumbrian Characters doesn’t touch much on Georgian Cumbria. Mainly because it’s easier to find information on the 19th century. Births, marriages and deaths were standardised as a civil matter... Read More
Lost gravestones
The lost gravestones of Holy Trinity Church, Carlisle, inspired this post about the importance of such memorials to anyone who cares about history and their ‘roots’. Tell people you like to wander... Read More
Benjamin Franklin’s experiment in Cumberland
Pouring oil on troubled waters Pouring oil on troubled waters – as a metaphor – is familiar to all of us. It means trying to calm a dispute with soothing words. Benjamin Franklin’s experimen... Read More
Tracing your family history: Wills
Among William Shakespeare’s almost countless famous lines is one from his will: ‘Item, I give unto my wife my second best bed with the furniture.” If you’re tracing your family history or... Read More
Thomas Ollivant of Hesket-in-the-Forest
Thomas Ollivant, ‘clerk’ (vicar) of Hesket-in-the-Forest, Cumberland, died in 1686. His will included an inventory with a lot of names – local people who owed him various sums of money. These de... Read More
Kirkoswald parish registers
Kirkoswald parish registers have a lot to tell family and social historians, even if your family have zero connection with this Cumbrian parish. Trawling through parish registers is a lot harder than ... Read More
Church presentations a family history resource
You won’t find church presentations on genealogy sites, but if you can read original records, they are worth looking out for. Unless you live near the relevant archives, searching parish records... Read More
DNA testing plain and simple
DNA testing plain and simple guide All I wanted to know, plain and simple, was: is DNA testing worth it, in relation to family history/ancestry? ‘Centri-Morgans,’ ‘FIRs’… but listening to a ... Read More