Category: family history
Merchant Navy apprentices in the 1850s
Merchant Navy apprentices in the 1850s Like an eagle cag’d I pine On this dull unchanging shore Oh give me the flashing brine.. (The full lyrics are here). A life on the ocean wave may have been... Read More
Patents and family history
Patents and intellectual property don’t sound the liveliest of topics for family historians to research! But if you ever had an inventor in your family, they have their value. An edition of The Time... Read More
Census 2021: and those of old
Census 2021: and those of old Census 2021 is upon us! By now, every household in the UK is likely to have received a letter addressed to The Householder, asking them to complete the details. These day... Read More
Wrong certificate: a lesson for family historians
The wrong certificate A death certificate that turned out not to be the person I was looking for isn’t all ‘bad news’. It eliminates that possibility. And this being Cumbrian Characters, won’t... Read More
Lancelot Pattinson the Patterdale cave man
The ‘case’ of Lancelot Pattinson of Patterdale is a useful one for any family historian tempted to excitement over what seems an unusual name – or indeed a good yarn! The Matterdale puzzle A Lan... Read More
William Jarman – and Customs job titles
It’s not hard to imagine what brought William Jarman to Bowness-on-Solway circa 1824. But what became of him of later is patchy. I am publishing this post in the hope that someone ‘out there’ wi... Read More
Restitution of conjugal rights: the deserted spouse
‘Restitution of conjugal rights’ sounds a strange thing for a deserted wife or husband to seek to obtain from the courts. But in 1913, when the wife of a Cumbrian war hero petitioned for restituti... Read More
Old occupations: the bellman
If you see ‘bellman’ on a census entry or certificate as a person’s occupation, what did it mean? Being Cumbrian Characters, this post includes an example with a story to tell. Bellm... Read More