The Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852.  

“Our keelmen brave, with laden keels, Go sailing down in line, And with them load the fleet at Shields, That sails from coaly Tyne” (W. &...

If your ancestors were sea-faring men then you may find they served on various types of sailing ship such as Brigs, Barques, Schooners...

Recently, my research brought me to South Africa and, in particular, to the defence of the Mission Station at Rorke’s Drift in Natal...

Wages were universally low and Agricultural Labourers and their families often flirted with poor relief, the workhouse and even theft....

"Farmers harvesting agricultural produce" by The British Library is marked CC0 1.0. In family history research most of us will find that...

October 2022 marks the 86th anniversary of the famous Jarrow Hunger March. Why did 200 'crusaders' volunteer to walk 291miles to present...

Cotton was a hugely important industry for Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries and Lancashire was at it’s centre. The trade had helped...

The first Fire Brigades were raised locally on an ad hoc basis. These were volunteer organisations, usually with a small professional...

Police Officers in the UK, as they belong to a civilian body, are eligible to receive those bravery and meritorious service medals which...

The Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Service The First World War had brought home the threat of aerial bombing to Britain's population,...

During some recent family history research I came across an individual who was an 'Odd-Fellow'. If you've not encountered this fraternal...

A year ago MyHeritage took the genealogy world by storm with their new feature to animate photographs - Deep Nostalgia. Now they've...

Family stories are one element of family history that really create a strong connection with the past. If you’re lucky, then tales will...

The centralised Land Registry was established in 1862 to record who-owned-what in England and Wales. However, from the outset all the...

Was Christmas so very different back in 1950? I hope you enjoy reading these memories of a Christmas many years ago, written by my...

From the Middle-Ages, responsibility for maintaining order and upholding the law in a County lay with the Justice of the Peace (JP)....

When researching family history it is, sadly, quite common to find out that some of your ancestors spent time in the workhouse. Read on...

I grew up knowing that my Great, Great Uncle, Tommy Watson, who died in 1918, had been a war hero. He enlisted in the Royal Navy just a...

Traditionally ‘Tailors’ – from the French ‘Tailler’, to Cut - were highly skilled workers who produced ‘made-to-measure’ clothing for the...