Musings and stories from an amateur genealogist trying to learn more about those who came before
In the first of a planned ongoing series of lengthier “biography” posts to highlight specific ancestors of mine, this post will feature my 6x-great-grandfather John Coward. I descend from John through his daughter Barbara, then through her daughter Agnes Atkinson, her daughter Eliza Smith, her daughter Agnes Eliza Phoebe Collingwood, her son Harry Collingwood Mitton, …
It has been quite a long time since I made any updates to the website – the last blog post was in 2016! – and the website had actually been offline for quite a while. So I decided to get it back up and running, as well as giving it a bit of facelift for …
My Collingwood line has always been one of my most interesting, and I’ve been trying hard for a number of years to trace it back as far as I can. I know quite a lot about my 5x-great-grandfather Dr Thomas Collingwood but his ancestors are still fairly myserious. I have known for many years that …
Research in to my Smith ancestors from the village of Ainstable in Cumbria has been particularly fruitful in the last few months; six months ago I knew nothing beyond my 4th great-grandfather Henry Smith. I knew he was an auctioneer, innkeeper and yeoman in the small Cumbrian village of Ainstable in the early-to-mid 19th century, …
Mary Collingwood was my great-great-great-aunt, the sister of my great-great-grandmother Agnes Eliza Phoebe Collingwood. Technically, she was only her half-sister, as Agnes and Mary’s mother Eliza was widowed in 1853 – 13 years before Mary was born. I do not know – and likely never will – who Mary’s father was. Eliza also had another …
Recently I made some discoveries about the French Huguenot ancestors of my 4x great-grandfather Henry Rochat Smith (although his middle name was previously unknown to me!) through his mother Elizabeth Ann Rochat. Although Henry was born in London, I know that his father’s family had roots in the village of Ainstable in Cumberland at least …
Read more “The search for earlier generations of Smiths in Ainstable”
I knew a fair bit about my 4x great-grandparents Henry Smith and Agnes Atkinson, but whilst I had traced Agnes’ ancestors, Henry’s line was a bit of a mystery. With the name of Smith and the fact that in the census records he lists his birthplace simply as “London”, I had hit a brick wall. …
Read more “The Smith family of Ainstable and Huguenot connections”
Remembrance Day is an event very close to my heart, and I am incredibly proud of my military ancestors, even those I did not meet. This is an updated version of an article I wrote a back in 2011 about the brave men in my family who fought in the world wars. Harry Collingwood Mitton …
I recently discovered – and in the process, knocked down a long-standing brick wall in my research – a newspaper article that contained a death notice for my 3x great-grandfather Thomas Collingwood. He was a bit of a mystery before, but I have confirmed that he died in the USA in 1853, aged just 31. …
For most people, myself included, genealogy is an exciting experience that is exciting, thrilling and at times heartbreaking. However, it is still very enjoyable, and finding out about our predecessors’ lives – whether they lived in prosperity or poverty – is something us genealogists will continue to do no matter what we uncover. A couple …