Category Archives: History

Londinium – The Accidental City

But two thousand years ago, if we came to the bank of the Thames, around about the place where London Bridge is now, we would find a wide, shallow river (wider than it is now), and a place of forests and marshes. Continue reading

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Short History of Immigration in the UK and how to search the records

In the light of recent political events, immigration is a subject that has been very much on my mind lately. While not wishing to get on any kind of political soap box here, as a professional genealogist I am very aware that many, if not most, of us are the descendants of immigrants, without, perhaps, even realising it. Continue reading

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Women of World War I – Dorothy Read – Woman of the Future

This is the last in my series of blog posts about my grandmother and her six sisters. This one is about the youngest, but perhaps most enterprising of the seven girls. Continue reading

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Women During WWI – My Grandmother – and a Mystery Sweetheart?

In my series looking at my female ancestors and their experiences of World War I, we have now come to my own maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Reid. Obviously I knew a bit more about her before I began my research. She … Continue reading

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Women During World War I – Lottie Read – A Hero’s Wife?

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Women during WWI – Florrie Read – Marriage and early death

My Great Aunt Florrie died young. My mother thought that she had probably never married. That’s about all I knew about her before carrying out my research. According to her baptism record (published on Ancestry.co.uk), she was born Florrie Read … Continue reading

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Women during WWI – Marriage and Motherhood – Agnes Reid

This is the third in my series of Women during WWI – focusing on the lives of my grandmother and her sisters.  Before researching Agnes I knew very little about her, except that my mother thought that she had been … Continue reading

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Women during WWI – Widowhood & Emigration – Alice Reid

This is the second in my series about my grandmother and her six sisters and their lives, focusing on how the First Word War affected them. This article is about the second eldest sister, Alice. Continue reading

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Women During WWI – Nurses – Maud Reid

Before writing this, these are the facts I knew about my great-aunt Maud Reid: She was born in Manchester in about 1882, and before, during and after the war she was a nurse. My mother remembers her husband as ‘Uncle Willie’. Mum also remembers her as a handsome, elegant woman. Continue reading

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Women During World War I – the Seven Reid Sisters

With the centenary of World War I starting this year, I thought it would be a good idea to create a series of blogs about women during the World War I. But I don’t want to do just a generalised history of women at this time. Instead, I am going to use my grandmother and her six sisters to give a more personal viewpoint of what life was like for women before, during and after the war. Continue reading

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