William Phillip 10th July 1845 ~ 8th Sep 1874Tragic Death at Gagies Quarry, Murroes, Angus, Scotland.
This was written for my husband and his family. William Phillip was Alexander Brown Herd’s grandfather. Alexander’s parents were called...
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Sheila Herd
Oct 101 min read
Higher Certificate Correspondence Course in Genealogy Completed ~ Certificate Received.
I received my certificate today from the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, I have completed all 24 lectures and 70+...
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Sheila Herd
Sep 283 min read
First World War Hero and Fraudster ~ the Double Life of Malcolm Parker.
This week I was approached by a man who had been struggling for many years to find out information about his grandfather, James McLeod....
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Sheila Herd
May 1624 min read
Washbrook, Suffolk ~ Historic House History
A History of Stebbings, Back Lane, Washbrook Also including Chelmesis and Cherry Orchard Written by Sheila Herd in April 2024 as an...
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Sheila Herd
Sep 24, 20235 min read
Sensational Murder Trial in Hazeleigh, Essex ~ James Ramsey 1853 ~ 1940
I came across the extraordinary story of James Ramsey whilst researching a family history, the brief had been to find out how the family...
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Sheila Herd
Jul 29, 20235 min read
Birmingham Gun Quarter ~ Extensive Robbery of Government Stores in Birmingham
During the course of a recent customer’s family history research, I was transported from sleepy Suffolk to industrial Birmingham’s Gun...
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Sheila Herd
Jul 22, 20235 min read
Infanticide
For an assignment as part of my studies with Institute of Heraldic and Genalogical Studies I decided to look closely at the case of...
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Sheila Herd
Oct 15, 20222 min read
Meigh Pottery and a Tyranical Ogre in the Family
Recently my Mum got me to finish researching my grandmother’s side of the family, which I had started and never quite finished. It was a...
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Sheila Herd
Jul 29, 20221 min read
Testimonial
I received this lovely testimonial: I have been amazed at the astonishing information and revelations about both my paternal and maternal...
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Sheila Herd
Jun 1, 20221 min read
Second Certificate in Genealogy
I sat my Intermediate exam with IHGS (Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies) a week ago, rather than travel to Canterbury I was...
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Sheila Herd
May 30, 20223 min read
Walter Parker 1845 ~ 1880 from Tattingstone Workhouse to the Merchant Navy
Walter Parker was born in the poor house in Tattingstone, Suffolk on 21st June 1845 and baptised there on 29th June. His mother was Eliza...
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Sheila Herd
May 30, 20223 min read
Beautiful Emily Jane Southgate 1871 ~ 1898
Emily Jane was the eldest child of Laban and Charlotte Southgate, born 3rd August 1871 in Barking, Suffolk where Laban was farming 57...
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Sheila Herd
Mar 16, 202210 min read
Framework Knitters in Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire
John Johnson 1779 ~ 1831 John Johnson (my Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather) was born around 1779 in Leicestershire, unfortunately for...
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Sheila Herd
Jan 13, 20222 min read
Coggeshall, Essex and Tambour Lace
Whilst researching the last family tree, I came across the Johnson family of Coggeshall, Essex, and Tambour Lace making. Thomas and Ann...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 14, 20214 min read
The Mysterious poisoning of Hannah Bullock at Harkstead-The Ipswich Journal 10th May 1889
The adjourned inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of Harriet E Bullock, daughter of Samuel Bullock, farm bailiff, was held...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 4, 20216 min read
Chadacre – An Experience of Agricultural Training in Suffolk
I recently had to write an essay about the apprenticeship, career and associations of an ancestor. Not an “ancestor” as such but I...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 1, 20214 min read
Hiram Ashford Southgate, DCM
For Remembrance Day this year I am sharing a piece written by a friend Maggie Anderson, all about Hiram Ashford Southgate, DCM who I...
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Sheila Herd
Oct 21, 20214 min read
A Persistently Cruel Husband
Henry and Eliza married in 1874 in Suffolk, Henry was 25 and his bride was 20, both were from large farm labouring families in rural...
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Sheila Herd
Aug 26, 20218 min read
Shocking Tragedy in Quiet Suffolk Village
This is the shocking true story of Joshua Bowers and his two wives and third partner in a quiet village in Suffolk in the Victorian era....
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Sheila Herd
Jul 6, 20212 min read
My First Certificate in Genealogy
After doing family history research for my own pleasure for 30 odd years, after being made redundant from a job I'd loved in 2018 and...
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Sheila Herd
May 23, 20212 min read
John Pyman - the Married Man
Back in December I wrote about great great grandmother Jane Burch who lived in Stowupland, Suffolk and had nine illegitimate children,...
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Sheila Herd
Mar 27, 20212 min read
Elizabeth Budd - drunken frolics and a child abduction
Sometimes you happen upon someone who you get glimpses of, but you can’t get the whole picture, like a shadow or someone you spy out of...
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Sheila Herd
Feb 3, 20213 min read
Abraham Bacon's daughter Ann
Following on from the last story about Abraham Bacon who was convicted of theft and sent to Australia, I have turned my attention to one...
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Sheila Herd
Jan 13, 20212 min read
Abraham Bacon - a death sentence commuted
I found Abraham Bacon in a friends family tree, and his life, shocked me, although it shouldn’t have done as I did know that punishment...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 28, 20203 min read
Thomas Chiverton - an extraordinary gift
Every so ofton when you research family trees you stumble on something or someone quite extraordinary, I’ve been researching a family...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 4, 20202 min read
Jane Burch - defying Victorian convention in Stowupland
This photo is of Jane Burch, my great-great-grandmother, she was born in Mendlesham in 1832, was single all her life, but had 9...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 4, 20203 min read
Henniker Hipperson and Selena Burch
This post is about two of Jane Burch’s nine illegitimate children. Henniker Hipperson Burch was her 5th child and Selina Burch was her...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 3, 20204 min read
John Burch - a fowl story
John Burch was Jane’s 1st and oldest of her nine illegitimate children and is my great great grandfather. He was born in Mendlesham,...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 2, 20203 min read
Harry Burch - a curious menage-a-trois
Harry Burch was Jane Burch’s second child, and I just have a feeling he might have been a bit of a bad boy. He was born in Mendlesham in...
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Sheila Herd
Dec 1, 20202 min read
Mary Ann left us a clue
Much of family history research is about looking for the clues, and Mary Ann left us a clue about her paternity, and maybe of all Jane's...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 28, 20203 min read
Eliza Turner
Eliza Turner was my husband Peter’s great great grandmother, and she was born in Ipswich in the summer of 1837, the oldest of four...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 11, 20201 min read
..and here's one I made earlier
These are some pictures from a couple of research projects undertaken, and some from my own family history album, using archival standard...
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Sheila Herd
Nov 7, 20203 min read
Alexander Herd 1899 - 1937 - Remembering a Forgotten Hero
With it being Remembrance weekend, I decided to write about an unsung hero of WW1, my husband’s grandfather, Alexander Herd. Alexander...
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