Recent Posts
William Pinder: punishment in the 1800s
William Pinder was a man no one would want to add to their family tree. But his life story tells us a surprising amount about crime and punishment in the mid-19th century. In Westmorland, a crime of a... Read More
Kingstown Carlisle, a hotbed of crime
‘Affray at Kingstown Carlisle’ probably isn’t going to be top of anyone’s search terms online. But if you’ve chanced on this post, you’ll discover it had a turbulen... Read More
Curious deaths – death certificates and family history
Cause of death is a key feature of death certificates, not only for family (and the state) at the time, but also for social and family historians. Knowing an ancestor died of TB helps us to ‘know’... Read More
Cumbrian surnames
Cumbrian surnames may not, for the most part, be exclusive to old Cumberland or Westmorland. But, there many surnames that are strongly associated with the twin counties. Are there Birds on your famil... Read More
What is/was a thirlepolle?
Thirlepolle, thirlepoole, thirle-polle, however you spell it, it even has Google baffled. What kind of creature were they? And how did our ancestors eat them? In short, a thirlepolle could have been e... Read More
Wicked Jimmy and the Westmorland Militia
If the militia in the late 1700s were akin to Dad’s Army, the commander of the Westmorland Militia was… well, he was Wicked Jimmy. Most families have a black sheep somewhere down the centuries, bu... Read More
The American Invasion of Britain (and Dad’s Army!)
Invasion (or the threat of it) is no laughing matter at the time, but when the threat is long passed, it can have its humorous side. Generations of people in Britain have laughed out loud at the antic... Read More
Online family trees can be works of fiction
Online family trees can provide you instantly with information others may have taken years to research. They can also provide you with a load of rubbish! History at the click of a mouse These days, if... Read More