If I had a time machine I would go 1922 & stop the fire that destroyed all of the Irish census records for the 1800's as their loss makes a positive id of ancestors in Ireland that bit more difficult despite the good availability of original BMD records which is better than the UK. #smyth #Kinder
Essex FHS meeting
Many people have paid tribute to Peter Calver founder of Lost Cousins who passed away suddenly on 19 January 2026. As a fellow Essex Boy can I add my personal thanks for his life and works. What will we do without Peters Tips? #LostCousins
Essex FHS 21st Feb 2026
Suffolk FHS Meeting - Monday 19th Jan: Penny Walters will discuss Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy. Researching involves mostly online records & internet dealings with strangers.What information should/shouldn’t be included on your tree to handle ethical issues with empathy, sensitivity and diplomacy.
Essex FHS Zoom Meeting - Topic: Reframing Roots: Discovering the Emotional Legacy in Your Family History
Speaker: Celia Heritage
Tuesday 20 January 2026 at 7:00pm GMT More details from www.esfh.org.uk
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
🎄⛄❄️🥳🎅🏻
A happy Christmas to all and thank you for so many interesting posts and comments this year. Below is a nice Edwardian Raphael Tuck oilette Christmas postcard of a Thames Barge laden with straw probably from the Essex farms to London.
100 years ago Sgt Major Kingsley from Burnham on Crouch British Legion visited Burnham School & presented 5 shillings each to 14 children who had lost their father during the Great War.We remember the sacrifice of men who fell but we are not so good at remembering the families that they left behind
Seven Essex Regiment men listed here. Ptes Edward Maurice Clarke, Abraham Dale, Joseph William Hicks, Hugh Leonard Salmon, Arthur Tatum, William George Wright and L Cpl Herbert Peck are all remembered on the East Bergholt Memorial.
An interesting article in @thetimes.com today about coffee shops. England's first opened in Oxford in 1650 & was so popular that there were 3,000 coffee shops in the UK by 1675 for a population of 5 million-a ratio of 1 per 1,600 people which even with CostaCoffee is roughly double the ratio today.
Coastal fish weir at the northern end of The Nass https://citizan.org.uk/interactive-coastal-map/#zoom=9&lat=6759109.1505&lon=103180.41202&layers=B00TF
Saxon coastal fish weir at Sales Point Bradwell-on-Sea.
Saxon coastal fish weir at Sales Point Bradwell-on-Sea.
Pictures of the wood #fishweir at the Sales Point, Blackwater Estuary Essex. In continuous as early as the 7th century, right up until the 15th or 16th century. With mentions in the Doomsday Book associated with a local monastery in the 12th century. #coastsinmind
#coastalhistory
As a researcher it's not too bad when it's well in the past & shown on Birth Certificates, census etc but can be VERY difficult & a potential life wrecker when it becomes apparent via DNA especially where the birth is recent enough for the current generation to have actually known that person.
The #BigGive #ChristmasChallenge is in progress! This is your chance help Free UK #Genealogy deliver its FreePROBATE service – and to have the value of your donation doubled by those (including the Society for #OnePlaceStudies) who have pledged match funding. To find out more and to donate... 👇🏻
Essex FHS South Essex Branch meeting
Saturday 6 December 2025
Time: 2:30pm Talk: Southend Pier
by Richard Brown more details from www.esfh.org.uk/branches/sen...
@sfhs1975.bsky.social have some terrific BMD transcriptions which are nearly all done. They are thinking what to do next - Manorial Records, Militia Lists, Workhouse records, and school records are options & there are so many others. My preference would be workhouse as we all have relatives there!
@sfhs1975.bsky.social Zoom meeting of Suffolk FHS will be on Monday 1st December at 19:30 and we welcome, the appropriately named, Liz Yule to talk about an Ancestral Christmas. More info from suffolkfhs.co.uk/index.php/news
Centre Manager wanted for the Maeldune Centre, Maldon
This Saturday! We’re looking forward to welcoming members aboard for our 2025 #OnePlaceStudies conference and AGM, and transporting you to the past to find out how the people of our Places got around. No ticket necessary, just the Zoom link which was emailed to members on Sunday.
@findmypast.bsky.social have added East Essex Advertiser and Clacton News for 1918 to their newspaper pages. Only one year but what an interesting one to choose. www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newsp...
Now just one and half weeks away, so this is our penultimate #OnePlaceWednesday reminder of our terrific 2025 conference. Whether your interest is in #OnePlaceStudies, #FamilyHistory or #LocalHistory, this event is not to be missed. Not a member? Make tracks to our website to join us and join in!
It was great to be at the Houses of Parliament yesterday for the APPG Archives and History Lifetime Achievement Awards. This year's awards went to historian Lucy Worsley and archivist Geoff Pick - read more about it (and them) here www.archives.org.uk/news/histori...
11am 11th Day 11th Month.
We will remember them!
Suffolk Goal Records now on Ancestry www.ancestry.co.uk/s...
Records from houses of correction in Suffolk 1791-1878. Includes receiving books that document an inmate’s admission into a jail. Also lists of inmates confined at gaols Haven't started looking yet, can't wait
My grandparents owned a smallholding and a green grocers shop on the site. Their home, shop & smallholding were among the many that were compulsory purchased to make way for this estate destroying the old Becontree Heath Community.
Some really sad news re cost of wills rising . Wills have certainly been VERY helpful in unlocking family puzzles. The current Govt clearly see this as a money making exercise but instead of ordering wills as routine for my ancestors I will think carefully about my need for them.
So true! in my family history talks I always say that DNA tells the biological truth not the Birth Certificate truth and if you are not prepared to accept that truth and its potential consequences then don't do a DNA test.
Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser 1873-1896, 1898-1910, 1912-1918, 1958 has been added to the British Newspaper archive so hopefully it will be on findmypast.bsky.social soon.
Big news today - the Essex Regiment Wing & huge archives at Chelmsford Museum closes on 1 Jan and moves to the Royal Anglian Museum at Duxford. Not enough info yet to know whether to be happy or not but there is bound to be disruption to access over the next year www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Every cemetery visit this week counts as both research and seasonal enrichment. #genealogy
