For this post I decided to go back in my family tree and along the branches and choose someone at random to see what interesting facts I could find about them. The person I chose was John Burns who was born in Newmains, Lanarkshire in 1890. John is a fairly recent addition to my tree. … Continue reading My Cousin and Uncle James Gerard Burns
Local History
Searching For His Father – Matthew Brawley 1915-2005
A while back I posted the story of Edith Cran and her connection to my family tree. Edith had two children, Matthew and Edith who were adopted by my great grand uncle Matthew Brawley. You can read the post by clicking here. I am sure that both of her children are biologically related to the … Continue reading Searching For His Father – Matthew Brawley 1915-2005
A Surprise For My Mother
Finding new family photos is always exciting. The picture below was sent to me by Maureen who discovered my blog via Facebook. She and I are connected through her great grandfather, Edward Cooper who was the second husband of my great granny, Sarah Helferty and stepfather to my maternal granny. We keep in contact and … Continue reading A Surprise For My Mother
Police Raid 1890
Some of the best family history finds come from newspapers. Yes the official records will tell you where an ancestor was born and died, who they married etc but those records won’t tell you much about the type of person they were. Newspaper articles can tell a lot and it’s not always good news. I … Continue reading Police Raid 1890
Happy Birthday Granny Rae – Margaret Dalziel Dickson 1907-1966
Margaret Dalziel Dickson Today would have been my paternal granny’s birthday. I never met her as she died before I was born. I really didn’t know much about her. I do know that she and my mother didn’t get along and, as a result, I haven’t really heard any positive stories about her. Margaret was … Continue reading Happy Birthday Granny Rae – Margaret Dalziel Dickson 1907-1966
Robert Wilson Armstrong 1857-1910 Part 2
When I left my great, great grandfather last time he’d just been chucked out West Riding Police Force for being a two timing rat. We’ll that’s not the official reason obviously but that was what happened. He abandoned my great, great grandmother, Grace Halliday Rae while she was pregnant with his son. That was in … Continue reading Robert Wilson Armstrong 1857-1910 Part 2
Shaking The Branches 