The Family Histories Podcast

In this first episode of Series Seven, host Andrew Martin meets Jackie Kohnstamm - a lecturer, author, playwright, and family historian. Jackie tells Andrew how she got hooked on researching family histories after hearing stories with missing bits, and then finding letters. She tells him what motivated her to write her book 'The Memory Keeper: A Journey Into The Holocaust To Find My Family', and... THE LIFE STORY - CHARLOTTE RYCHWALSKI Jackie has chosen to tell the life story of her maternal aunt, Charlotte Rychwalski (known as 'Lotte'). It's clear from Jackie's description of Charlotte, that she has some very fond memories of her aunt being the daring, and fascinating relative who would bring excitement into the family home after the Second World War, but through the memories Charlotte shared, and a cache of letters, Jackie has been able to discover more about her life. THE BRICK WALL - JUTTA TOWNSEND Jackie is looking for one of her maternal cousins - Jutta - the surviving descendant of a family that was sadly murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Jutta Rychwalski escaped from Germany on one of the Kindertransport trains. Jackie knows that Jutta was married at least once, perhaps twice, but her last husband was named Frederick Townsend, and they lived in the Wakefield area of Yorkshire. Jutta is known to have died in the Wakefield area in 2012 aged 87 years, having been predeceased by Frederick in 1982. The couple had a son named Steven in 1955, but he died in 1973. Jackie would like your help to discover more about her cousin's life. If you think you can help Jackie with a clue or research idea, then you can send us a message via our contact form, and we'll pass the message straight on to her. In the meantime, Jackie is fascinated by Andrew's offer of help, but can he get her to the church on time? - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

The Family Histories Podcast is back for Series Seven! Once again, host Andrew Martin, and his 19th century assistant Sándor Petőfi, welcome seven more guests, each with a fascinating life story, and of course a pesky genealogy research 'brick wall' for listeners to try to solve. However, before they welcome their first guest, there's something in the garage that needs some maintenance.... from an expert. - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Previously, on The Family Histories Podcast...... As last week's guest James Danter is zapped back in time via the (shhh: secret time) machine without any glitches, all seems well for the series' final episode. However, Andrew is knocked unconscious after tripping over a cable and causing something heavy to fall on his head.... Who are the ghostly voices he can hear, and what do they want? Find out now in this bonus episode inspired by Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'... - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this final full episode of Series Six, host Andrew meets James Danter - a family historian who is also a professional archaeologist. Andrew learns about how he got into both of these areas, and how they overlap and help him with his research in both fields. He also asks James on his thoughts of how these two areas could work closer. THE LIFE STORY - DARCY FOWLER James has chosen to tell the story of his wife's ancestor, Darcy Fowler (later known as D'arcy Fowler) who trained and worked as a solicitor. However, as James' research progressed he soon uncovered a story that led Darcy to move from the UK to America, and fighting as a loyalist in the American Revolution. THE BRICK WALL - GEORGE RICHARD CORDWELL It's a First World War mystery that has James digging around for clues. His 2x Great Grandfather George Richard Cordwell, born in 1894, earned medals for his work in The Great War, and James has a photograph of him in his military uniform, but beyond this, he's been unable to find any conscription, army service records, medal cards, or discharge records. Somehow, he's missing. If you think that you can help James with a research idea or a clue to turn that brick wall to dust, then you can contact him on his Twitter/X profile at @jdanter or alternatively, you can contact us and we'll send your message on to him. In the meantime, James is hoping to dig into some new clues in Andrew’s garage, but will he strike gold, and will Andrew take a trip of his own? - - - Episode Credits: Andrew Martin - Host and Producer James Danter - Guest Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this Sixth episode of Series Six, host Andrew Martin meets family historian Teresa Vega and finds out how she got hooked on researching family history, how her background in anthropology has helped her research, her adventures with DNA testing to trace her Ramapough Lenape Nation ancestors, and her work on the Family Tree DNA Malagasy Roots project with TV's DNA Detective CeCe Moore. THE LIFE STORY - ANTONIA 'TUN' SNYDER Teresa has chosen to tell the life story of her 4x Great Grandmother, Antonia Snyder known as 'Tun', who was born circa 1790. Her mother's family had roots in Madagascar. Teresa found an 1815 advert in a New York newspaper for a runaway slave - Tun. Crucially, this gave Teresa the key to solving her father's identity. Having found him, she was able to find her mother and siblings too. Despite having been on the run from her enslaver, she does return to households of some of the big enslaver families in the area, where she is traded whilst having 13 children. She died in 1881. THE BRICK WALL - ROBERT HENRY FISHER It's a close-to-home brick wall for Teresa - her Gt Grandfather Robert Henry Fisher. He was born circa 1898 but was legally declared dead in the 1930s after going missing. Whilst the death is not the point of interest, it's his origins that have spawned conflicting stories and theories - one tells of him being a descendant of Jewish traders in White Plains, New York, whilst others point to a Cuban connection. Despite her efforts to analyse the DNA for clues about Robert's family, fascinating gaps seem to hide the answer. If you think that you have a clue or a research idea that could bring Teresa's brick wall crashing down, then you can contact her at the email address she gives in the episode, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to her. In the meantime, Teresa is keen for Andrew's help, but will he be able to get her to the right place? - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this fifth episode of Series Six, host Andrew is joined by family history tutor Jackie Depelle. He finds out how she got interested in family history, how she became a full-time family history lecturer, her thoughts on how genealogists and academic researchers are working together, and how the genealogy industry could evolve in future. THE LIFE STORY - JOHN HAYHURST DAWSON Jackie has chosen to tell the life story of John Hayhurst Dawson who was born in 1841 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Thankfully, his middle name (which was his mother's maiden surname) allows him to be identified easily, as his father and grandfather were also John Dawson. John Hayhurst Dawson went on to work in multiple roles within his community, including a Justice Of The Peace (a 'JP'), a businessman, held many layperson roles at his church, and was also the churchwarden. This has enabled Jackie to amass an impressive collection of documents to his name. THE B̶R̶I̶C̶K̶ ̶W̶A̶L̶L̶ STUMBLING BLOCK - THE DAWSON FAMILY Refuting the existence of 'brick walls', Jackie has a Dawson family 'stumbling block' that keeps her perplexed - where did the Dawson family come from? Jackie has been able to identify a brother to the oldest John Dawson (the grandfather of John Hayhurst Dawson), named William Dawson, but beyond this, she's stuck. The earliest deed on the family home is signed on 12th December 1820, but prior to this - she's stuck in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. If you think you can help Jackie with a clue or a research idea, you can contact her via her website www.yourfairladies.co.uk or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on. In the meantime, Andrew's offer of help results in some unexpected practical advice from Jackie.... will he take it all on board? Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this fourth episode of Series Six, host Andrew meets family historian Sven Grewel, who has been tracing his German ancestry for many years and has since become a professional genealogist. He explains how he got hooked on researching his family history, and the challenges of researching in Germany - a country that has frequently changed its borders through history. THE LIFE STORY - JOHANN CARL MAX SABEL Sven has chosen to tell the life story of his 2x Great Grandfather Johan Carl Max Sabel who worked as a policeman in between the First and Second World Wars. This was a dangerous time, and unfortunately whilst delivering justice as a policeman, he is accused of a crime. He spends years fighting for his innocence against a backdrop of rising Nazism, which includes time in prison and a psychiatric clinic, as his crime gets bigger and evidence seems lacking. Something doesn't seem right! THE BRICK WALL - KARLSTADT RECORDS A puzzle in Karlstadt, Bavaria, Germany is causing Sven a headache, so it's time for us to try to help. Sven's research has been troubled by the destruction and burning of records that took place during The 30 Years' War that spread across what is mostly now Germany between 1618 and 1648. For many of his family branches, this is war causes his research to hit a dead end. One place in particular he would like to find records is the town of Karlstadt in Bavaria, but the records are either lost, mislaid, or destroyed. Sven is feeling lucky though, and hopes that a listener might just be able to help find some. If you think that you can offer Sven some help, then you can reach out to him directly at his website svengrewel.com. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to him. In the meantime, Sven jumps at Andrew's offer of help but will he get the information he's hoping for? - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Our third episode of Series Six sees host Andrew Martin meet professional genealogist Clare Kirk, and he'll be finding out how she got hooked on researching her family history, why she does it for other people, what she does for Friends of Friendless Churches, and her hopes for an unusual 18th Century record in Buckinghamshire that reveals who the local cake man, rat man, and pig poker were! THE LIFE STORY - HARRIET READ Clare has chosen her husband's relative Harriet Read - a 'cousin' of his grandfather. Family stories involving Harriet involved a nurse, the King, a silent movie star, a dancer, a private detective, a Baron, Joseph Merrick (known as 'the elephant man'), and a Royal pay-off to America. However, when these stories began to collide and conflict, it was time for Clare to delve into them to determine fact from rumour and to help her husband's family to learn exactly who Harriet was. THE BRICK WALL - THOMAS BOWEN MAULTBY It's a brick wall in West Ealing, London that has Clare stuck - her Great Grandmother's brother was Thomas Bowen Maultby, and whilst she knows that he was born in Newport Pagnell in 1867. Clare has been able to follow him through the census returns until 1881 when he appears as a ten year old. He then appears twice more - once, in 1915 named as a beneficiary in the Will of an aunt, and secondly as the person who seems to have lived in West Ealing, London when he purchased a plot at Hanwell Cemetery in London, where his mother was buried. If you think you have a clue or a research idea, then you can contact Clare at her website digupyourancestors.com or via her Twitter/X account @digupancestors, alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her. In the meantime, Clare has concerns about Andrew's help, but is she wise to be worried....? - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this second episode of Series Six, host Andrew Martin meets Rick Glanvill - a family historian, author, and tour guide, who is also the official historian of Chelsea Football Club. Andrew will be finding out how Rick got hooked on researching his family tree, how his work as a tour guide is affected by this, and how he ended up being the expert of a football club's history. THE LIFE STORY - WILLIAM URMSTON SEARLE GLANVILLE RICHARDS Rick has chosen to tell the life story of his third cousin, three times removed - William Urmston Searle Glanville Richards. William, like Rick, spent countless hours researching family history, but unlike Rick, William began taking on the rich and well-to-do Victorian clients for whom he would be paid to research and write up their family history, having already written up his own Glanville family. This all sounds impressive, but then Rick started to spot cracks in his research. Upon further analysis, he found a case of William taking a creative route to his family history work involving the defacing of records in the British Library and the Bodleian Library. This landed him in big trouble. THE BRICK WALL - ELLEN TAYLOR Rick needs your help to solve a mystery that's been causing him problems for years - he's trying to find his 3x Gt Grandmother, Ellen Taylor, who appears to have married Henry David Linsell... However, Rick can't find their marriage, and she can't find a correct registered birth for Ellen either. He has a few theories of why he can't locate her; maybe Taylor was a surname from a previous marriage, maybe Ellen was a middle name, maybe Ellen or Eleanor wasn't her first name. Fascinatingly, there is a cousin noted at the time of Ellen's death in 1890, called Harriet Copping - but where does she fit in the tree? Was she a first cousin? A second cousin? Or not even Ellen's cousin but her husband's cousin instead? All this remains a mystery. If you think that you can help Rick solve his brick wall with a research idea or clue, then you can send him a message via his Twitter account @RickGlanvill or via the email address he gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send a message and we'll pass it straight on. In the meantime, Rick accepts Andrew and Sándor's offer of help, but will there be penalties? - - - Episode Credits: Andrew Martin - Host and Producer Rick Glanvill - Guest John Spike - Sándor Petőfi Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Series Six of The Family Histories Podcast begins with host Andrew Martin meeting family historian, storyteller, and author of 'Quilt Of Souls: A Memoir' - Phyllis Biffle Elmore. She explains what got her hooked on researching family history, the value of listening to our elders, and collecting oral histories. THE LIFE STORY - LULA HORN Phyllis has chosen to tell the life story of her grandmother Lula Horn, born in 1883 in Sandersville, Mississippi, USA, whom she met for the first time aged 4 when she was taken to live with her. Phyllis recalls how her grandmother made her feel welcome, which kickstarted an unbreakable bond over the telling of family history stories whilst making quilts from the clothes of ancestors. THE BRICK WALL - LULA HORN Returning to her beloved Grandmother, Lula Horn, Phyllis is keen to discover the descendants from Lula's aunts and uncles. Phyllis has explored DNA matches, but despite filtering out the DNA matches from other parts of her ancestors in GEDmatch, she's been left with a few matches that she's been unable to tie in to her research. Can you help? If you think that you can help Phyllis smash through her brick wall, or you can offer a clue or research idea, then you can contact her via the email she gives in the episode or at her website www.thequiltofsouls.com. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to her. In the meantime, Phyllis is concerned about Andrew's offer of help... but will she find it useful? - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Series Six is ready! However, before we join our first guest, Andrew thinks there's just enough time to go out for some celebratory drinks... or perhaps shots - assuming no-one gets bard... Our first episode arrives on 7th November 2023 - see the full list of our forthcoming Series Six guests and episode schedule by checking out our Series Six page. - - - Episode Credits: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Previously on The Family Histories Podcast.... Whilst trying to send the previous episode's guest Kelly Cornwell back in time, Andrew makes a mistake and suddenly finds himself in an alternate dimension where things are the same but also a little bit different. In this reality, the host of The Family Histories Podcast is author and historian Dr. Wanda Wyporska who has been waiting for her guest - Andrew! In this Series Five bonus episode, Wanda hears how family historian Andrew Martin got hooked on researching his family tree, his love of family documents, his thoughts on what's next for the genealogy industry, and his work to catalogue and digitise the collection of the town archive of The Littleport Society. The Life Story - John Goltrip Andrew has chosen to tell the life story of his maternal 5x Great Grandfather John Goltrip who was born in 1771/1772 in Littleport, Cambridgeshire. By the time John and his wife Elizabeth are married and having children, the Napoleonic Wars are in full swing, then The Corn Law begins which raises inflation and causes the poorest to get even poorer with food prices rocketing, and then an Indonesian volcano erupts. Andrew explains how this combination of events culminates in his ancestor taking action as part of the Littleport Riots of 1816, and how John risked changing things forever. The Brick Wall - Mary Clarke It's a sense of revenge that makes Andrew so keen to solve this long-running brick wall. In 1841, his paternal 4x Great Grandmother Mary Clarke, by then Mary Bailey, was serving a 6 month prison sentence with hard labour in a gaol in Ipswich, Suffolk, England for the neglect and abuse of her step-children. Moving ahead a few years, and the family briefly reunites in Botesdale, Suffolk, before William dies and widowed Mary returns to the workhouse in Eye, Suffolk in 1881. This is the last trace of Mary, who by this time is about 70yrs old. Having checked many burial, marriage, and death certificates, Andrew has not been able to finally kill off his nasty-piece-of-work. If you think that you can help Andrew with a clue or a research idea, then you can contact him on Twitter at @FamilyTreeUK, or via his website. Alternatively you can head over to our website and we'll send your message on to him. In the meantime, Andrew is very enthusiastic towards Wanda's offer of help, which makes her suspicious of him... - - - Episode Credits Series Five, Episode Eight (Bonus) Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this final episode of Series Five, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist Kelly Cornwell and hears about her love of researching family history, and how that led on to her going professional, as well as her work on an extremely niche One-Place Study. The Life Story - Rebecca Monksfield Kelly has chosen to tell the life story of her 5x Great Aunt Rebecca Monksfield of Shoreditch, London, who, like her mother, worked for a shoe factory. However, a chance search in newspapers followed by a search on the Old Bailey Online site, revealed that Rebecca was seemingly not been the model employee. She was charged with the theft and sale of many stolen pairs of shoes. She was found guilty and her punishment was given as transportation for 7 years. So, as a teenager, she was taken from London and sent to Tasmania, Australia. Despite still serving her sentence, Rebecca continued to to test, bend, and break rules in her new country - some of which Kelly seems to admire her for! The Brick Wall - Rebecca Monksfield Kelly is annoyed that she can't find Rebecca Monksfield in Hobart, Tasmania after 1836, and so it's her later life that she has chosen to ask for your help with. Despite help from the Tasmanian archives, and numerous other sites including Trove, she can't find a death or a marriage. If you think you can help Kelly with a clue or a research idea, then you can email her on the address she gives in the episode, or you can contact her via her website, her Twitter, of Facebook page. Alternatively, you can send us a message via our contact form, and we'll pass that on. In the meantime, Kelly jumps at the chance of some help from Andrew, but something very strange is about to happen... - - - Episode Credits: Andrew Martin - Host and Producer Kelly Cornwell - Guest Daniel Loftus - Guest Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

NOTE: This episode contains discussion on the topics of eugenics, suicide, and abuse. Please consider others when listening aloud. In this sixth episode of Series Five - The Cousin, host Andrew meets Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and now family history author John Erickson. Andrew will be finding out about how John's 30 years in journalism has helped him with researching his family, how his mother surprised him with news of her younger brother, and how the life of his Grandmother has affected him. The Life Story - Carolyn Phillips John has chosen to tell the story of his cousin Carolyn Phillips who, despite a lot of painful memories of her traumatic loss of her father, brother, and sister, was able to help him establish facts and write his book When Mortals Play God. The Brick Wall - Patricia and Robert Anderson Anderson is a rather common surname in the USA, and so this brick wall has been hanging around for quite some time. John wasn't able to discover much about his cousins, but he does know that they were the children of Raymond Anderson (b. 1925) who served active military service as a young man in World War Two. John thinks that both Patricia and Robert would have been born in the 1940s, and in at least the 1980s, they were living in Minnesota, USA... but that's it! This is a real needle in a haystack, but if you think that you have a research idea or clue that can help John's brick wall to come tumbling down, then you can send him a message via our Contact Form and we'll pass it on to him. Meanwhile, John is unsure about the safety of Andrew's offer of help... and what IS that noise? - - - Episode Credits: Support is available to those who are affected by abuse, and suicide, or if you are feeling suicidal. You can find your local support lines and resources here: https://findahelpline.com/ Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

Andrew is joined by professional genealogist Fiona Brooker for this fifth episode of Series Five. Andrew finds out how she researches family history in Scotland and England from New Zealand, as well as the challenges of researching within New Zealand and its privacy laws. She reveals how she got hooked on family history, and also shares her thoughts on how our modern lives will be researched in future. THE LIFE STORY - THOMAS URQUHART Fiona has decided to tell the life story of her Great Grandfather, Thomas Urquhart, who was born in Aberdeen in 1882. Thomas starts off as a mason but joins the Police Force in 1907, and through detailed staff records she's able to trace his career until he resigns in 1924. With his wife Ann, and their seven children, he embarks on a journey to a fresh new start in New Zealand... but his journey take a tragic turn before they even arrived. THE BRICK WALL - JANE RICHARDSON It's a woman in New Zealand that's causing Fiona a headache - her ancestor Jane Richardson, but whilst Jane's later life is known, it's her origins that remain a mystery. Her marriage records suggest that she was born circa 1833, and other records suggest she was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but sadly, her parents are documented only as 'Richardson' and 'Richardson'. Not very helpful! Can you help Fiona discover; If you think you can help Fiona with a research clue or idea, then you can contact her at her MemoriesInTime.co.nz website or alternatively, you can send her a message via our website and we'll pass it on to her. In the meantime, Andrew is surprised at just how keen Fiona is to accept his help... - - - Episode Credits Series Five, Episode Five: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this fourth episode of Series Five, host Andrew meets family historian, blogger, and Family Tree Magazine columnist Paul Chiddicks. He tells Andrew how he got into family history, about his Old Palace School Bombing project, and shares his ideas for some genealogy-themed Lego sets. The Life Story - William Wootton Paul has chosen to tell the life story of his maternal Great Grandfather William Tom Wootton, who was born in 1863 in Kentish Town, London. Paul describes him as an 'entrepreneur' although others might describe him as a 'chancer' given some of his actions. William had 7 children with his first wife Elizabeth Compton, but the final child saw Elizabeth die in childbirth. William re-married to an Emily Dodd, and they added a further 9 children to their family - and as you might expect - this came at a price! William worked as a lead glazier on some of England's most impressive architecture, but his determination to keep a roof over his family's head led him to take on a number of other jobs to make ends meet, including Punch and Judy shows, busking and there's even a family rumour about a sale of some well known East End songs. The Brick Wall - Samuel Chiddicks It's a brick wall that's been standing for 30 years that is asking for help with, and it's one that he has tried to crack time and time again. Paul knows that Samuel Chiddicks was buried in South Fambridge in Essex, England, in 1816, with a given age of 55 years old, which in turn gives an approximate birth year of 1761. He is believed to have married a Mary Turner in 1787 in South Fambridge, but he is known to have married Ann Beard in 1794. Paul has undertaken an autosomal test with Ancestry, and a Y-DNA test with Family Tree DNA, and this has given him some Chiddicks matches in the USA and Northern Ireland, that all lead back to County Tyrone and County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland... but how? If you think that you can help Paul with his brick wall, you can contact him via his website chiddicksfamilytree.com or you can find him on Twitter @chiddickstree. Alternatively, you can send us a message via our website and we'll pass it on to him. Meanwhile, Paul is cautious of Andrew's offer of help, but maybe he has a good reason to be... - - - Episode Credits Series Five, Episode Four: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this third episode of Series Five - The Missionary - host Andrew meets family historian Kim Brengle and hears how she got hooked on tracing her family history, and how she manages to trace her nomadic relatives. The Life Story - Daniel and Emily Oliver Kim has chosen to share the life story of her Great Grandparents Daniel and Emily Oliver, and this is one that sees Daniel leave his agricultural labouring life in Caithness, Scotland, and Emily leaving her Quaker family in Yorkshire, to both independently end up living and working in the mountains near Beirut in Lebanon. Here, they married, raised a family, and set up a school and an orphanage, the legacy of which still lives on today in the memories their community. The Brick Wall - Juliaetta Harrington Kim's 2x Great Grandmother Juliaetta Harrington/Herrington (later Stephenson) is causing her a headache. Born in 1841 in Michigan, USA, Kim knows about Juliaetta's life - which lasted just 38yrs until her death in 1879. The puzzle here is the identity of Juliaetta's parents. Despite lots of close-ish DNA matches, Kim has not been able to piece together the evidence to identify how these matches and her known ancestry are connected. Can you help Kim identify Juliaetta's parents? If you think you can help Kim with a clue or research idea, then you can make contact with her via her website at generationsofnomads.com or alternatively, you can head over to our website to read this episode's show notes and send her a message - we'll pass it straight on. In the meantime, Kim is curious of Andrew and Sándor's offer of help, but what could possibly go wrong? --- Episode Credits Series Five, Episode Three Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this second episode of Series Five - The Righteous - host Andrew meets Slovak professional genealogist, and host of the Slovak Ancestry Podcast, Michal Razus. Andrew finds out how Michal got into researching family history, the challenges of researching in Slovakia, and finds out about his work to assist people with citizenship. The Life Story - Michal Razus Michal has chosen his 2x Great Grandfather also named Michal Razus as his relative to tell the life story of. This Michal was born in 1908, and lived in Czechoslovakia (as it was back then). Amidst World War Two, Michal, who worked as a cabinet maker, took in, fed, and employed a young Jewish man in carpentry - thus helping to save him from the on-coming Nazi forces and the Holocaust. Years later, and after Michal's death in 1985, Michal the younger's family had been unaware of their ancestor's act until contact was made from a man in the USA. That man had been the young Jewish man who'd been taken in, and he came with news that he was being posthumously honoured with the Righteous Among the Nations award by the State of Israel. The Brick Wall - Juraj Franko It's a 2x Gt Grandfather, born in Chmelovec, Slovakia in 1890, that is causing Michal a headache. However, it's not the Slovak part that's the problem - Michal has traced his ancestor Juraj Franko to 150W, 104 Street, Manhattan, New York, USA on 25th April 1942, and that's where his trail ends. If you think that you can help Michal with a clue or a research idea that might help him solve his brick wall, then you can make contact him via the email address he gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can head to our website where you'll find this episode's show notes, and be able to send a message which we'll pass straight on to him. In the meantime, Michal is intrigued by Andrew's offer of help - but will he stick to the rules? --- Episode Credits Series Five, Episode Two Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this first episode of Series Five of The Family Histories Podcast, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Jenni Phillips, and finds out how she got hooked on family history, why she can't get enough of studying genealogy, her love of family and local history societies, and the lengths she goes to to research house history. The Life Story - John Spring Jenni has chosen to tell the life story of her 7x Gt Grandfather John Spring of West Cholderton in Wiltshire, England. John was a carpenter, baptised in West Cholderton in 1730 to a carpenter and parish clerk Thomas Spring and his wife Mary. John would go on to inherit his father's carpentry business, and he also inherited a number of thatched cottages... with an unexpected tenant - a British Army veteran of the American War of Independence - Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe! How did this Viscount end up in a Wiltshire carpenter's cottage? Jenni had to find out. The Brick Wall - David Davies It's a birth and parental puzzle that's been bugging Jenni for a while now, so she's asking for your help to demolish her brick wall. David Davies is Jenni's 4x Great Grandfather, and she has traced him to New Street, Swansea, Wales during the mid 19th century's censuses. However, his place of birth is not consistent - sometimes Swansea, sometimes Carmarthenshire. Records point to him having been born between 1797 and 1801, but Jenni has found a lot of David Davies candidates in both Swansea and Carmarthenshire as it's quite a common name. Can you help her find out; If you think you can help Jenni with a research idea or a clue, then you can contact her via Twitter at @JenniPh, or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on. In the meantime, Jenni can't believe her luck when Andrew offers his help, but was it a wise choice? --- Episode Credits Series Five, Episode One: Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

The Family Histories Podcast returns for its fifth series on 2nd May 2023, but before episode one arrives, there's just enough time for a spot of tea... in 1811... with Jane Austen! Host Andrew Martin returns for Series Five, along with seven more genealogy addicted guests, seven more fascinating life stories, and seven more annoying family history research brick walls that will need your help to demolish them. Of course, there's also a secret time machine in the garage, but we know you won't tell anyone else about that, right? Series Five begins on 2nd May 2023, and is available from wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now to make sure you don't miss an episode! Meet the Series Five guests! - - - Episode Credits Series Five, Trailer Send us a Text Message. Thank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.