Family Research – English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy

…great for Christmas quizzes or pass them on to your friends!

Mid-winter festivals were observed in Britain long before Christianity reached our shores. In ancient Britain, the Winter Solstice (near December 22) was seen as a turning point in the cold dark months. Rituals were held to encourage the return of the sun and banish evil spirits believed to lurk in the bleakest days. On the last day of winter, also called Yule, a huge log was added to a bonfire and people gathered round to summon the sun by singing and dancing. Houses were decorated with green plants, particularly mistletoe and holly, as a symbol of fertility and rebirth the new season would bring.
(more…)

Failing eyesight led to one of Christmas’s favourite characters

JIM MCBETH

HIS name became an aphorism for meanness, but the base nature of Ebenezer Scrooge was inadvertently fashioned by failing light and an author whose eyesight was equally dim.

The real “Scrooge”, an Edinburgh merchant, could not have been more different from his literary counterpart. (more…)

Thank you for the information. I have seen much of it before, it was written by Marshall Neathery a Baptist minister who lives not far from me. A far as I can tell, the theory about the Graham/Netherby connection is wholly without foundation based on nothing other than it sounds similar. There is no mention of Graham or Netherby in our family record. (more…)

Castle Huntly, like many other noble buildings has its share of tales to tell, some of which are founded in fact, some of which have become so distorted through time as to be barely recognisable, all are enjoyable to hear and to recount.

for more go to the link onthe rhs

George G. Morgan
We’ve all heard family stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. Many of them may be true, but some of them are be pure fabrications or exaggerations of the facts. As responsible genealogists, our goal is to get the real facts and document the truth. (more…)

by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, CG
Watching Out for Red Flags Many families have cherished myths and stories about their immigration to America or other pivotal events and people. Sharon DeBartolo Carmack shos you how to determine which family legends are true, and what to do if you prove one false. (more…)

Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS
For many centuries, Irish storytellers—seanchai (pronounced: shanachie)— have captivated listeners with tales of local history and ancestral lineages. (more…)

Electoral Registers Electoral Registers for the whole of the United Kingdom can be consulted at: British Library 96 Euston Road LONDON NW1 2DB Telephone: 020 7412 7536 Website: www.bl.uk
(more…)

Burial Records Records of burials in England and Wales can be extremely difficult to trace. Registers are held in various record offices, churches and town halls around the country and there is no comprehensive index to them. (more…)

This list should be used in conjunction with the Family Records Centre Factsheet ‘Tracing Missing Persons’ which gives further information. Contact information can soon become out of date,
(more…)