Every Family has a story to tell……….Welcome to mine
Another iconic image and another tragic story that tells of a mother's love for her son and her blind obsession with "Bringing Him Home". But who was Anna Durie and what was the story behind her picture...... Anna Bella Peel was born on 13 November 1856 in Thornhill in Upper Canada, the second daughter of … Continue reading Bringing Him Home
Sometimes we discover a story that's so remarkable that even though it's not a member of your own family, we feel compelled to make sure that the story is told. The photograph of the young boy standing outside the White Star Line offices in London, holding an Evening News poster announcing ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss … Continue reading The Boy Behind the Titanic Photo: The Story of Edward (Ned) Parfett
A few years ago I was fortunate enough to visit the National Arboretum in Staffordshire, which holds over 300 memorials to those lives that have sadly been lost in conflict and civilian life. The Arboretum stands as a place which honours the fallen and recognises their service and their sacrifice for their country. It was first … Continue reading My Visit to The National Memorial Arboretum
I recently posted a blog about what makes us feel connected and this prompted a lot of debate amongst my friends, you can read the original blog here: What Makes You Feel Connected In the blog I talked about how I felt a sixth sense and a connection to places that I had visited that … Continue reading Ancestral Memory Is It Fact or Fiction?
Listed below are the names of 32 Firemen and 2 Firewomen who lost their lives at The Old Palace School Bombing on 20th April 1941, in the heart of the East End of London. This is still today, the largest ever loss of life for the Fire Brigade Service, at a single incident. The link … Continue reading The Old Palace School Bombing Update
It's a simple enough question, you have found your family in all the census returns and you have captured every birth, death and marriage for your ancestors, but have you discovered everything there is to find out about them? The census returns only give you a quick snapshot of what the family were doing; in … Continue reading What Did Our Ancestors Do Between The Census Years?
It's probably something that we don't really want to think about, our own death, but sadly as we get older there is an inevitability about it, it's that moment when you realise, "hang on a minute, I have lived more years than I have actually got left", that's when you begin to think about the … Continue reading What Will Happen When I Become a Death Certificate?
It feels somewhat strange setting these goals for 2022, whilst we are living with so much uncertainty in our day to day lives, but all I/we can do, is try and maintain a sense of normality, whatever normality is and try to maintain some kind of perspective with life. With that in mind I have … Continue reading New Year, New Goals
For those of you that might have missed these posts, or not seen them all, in the run up towards Christmas, I have been posting online, pictures from my childhood, things that I fondly remember growing up as a kid. It's a mixture of memories and nostalgia based on when I lived at my Nan's … Continue reading Do You Remember……..?
If you follow me online, you will have probably seen some recent posts regarding my recent house move. Over the years we haven't been prolific house movers, in fact as a family, this will only be our second move, so we are hardly experts in the whole moving process. This got me thinking about what … Continue reading Are you a City Dweller or a Townie?
The Chiddicks Family Tree 