Chaired by the news presenter, George Alagiah, the first two ten-minute sessions provided the background to the relationship now being enjoyed between the study of human history and the movement of populations and the recent developments in genetic testing. The archaeologist David Miles, author of The Tribes of Britain,  gave us his thoughts on what new insights genetic studies could add to the conventional understanding of the settlement of the British Isles by immigrants from continental Europe. Dr Turi King, geneticist of Leicester University and co-author of the recently published book Surnames, DNA & Family History explained the theory behind the use of genetic testing. Concentrating particularly on the Y-chromosome, what light did such studies shed on where those populations may have come from en route to Britain? What do they tell us about the surnames which we inherit principally from our fathers?

John Revis, George Alagiah and Turi King

Two further sessions centred on the experiences of Patrick Vernon and John Revis, whose test results had provided them with a surprising insight into particular parts of their own family trees. John had been tested by Leicester University during Turi’s study of surnames and was found to have inherited a Y-chromosome belonging to haplogroup A1a. This is its oldest form, never before found in Britain in someone who was not of immediate African origin. On recruiting other men named Revis, a Yorkshire surname, many were found to share this same very rare part of their genome and must be close relatives. This was proved to be the case through genealogical research conducted by myself and members of the Revis family.

Patrick’s experience was revealed through testing the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which was inherited through the female line of his ancestry. This added significantly to his own genealogy which had been traced back to a slave on a Jamaican plantation about 1800. His mtDNA pinpointed that his maternal line of ancestry came from a village in Senegal which he was pleased to return to in 2004. This gave him a profound sense of homecoming.

After a short break, Turi King revealed the results of tests conducted in advance on men in the audience. We had with us men from all parts of Europe representing haplogroups: R1b, the typical western European male; I, who are of “Viking” stock; E, who hail from the Mediterranean shores; and J, particularly the part of that haplogroup closely associated with the Jewish Cohen lineage. Those tested gave us their reaction to how this made them feel about their paternal forefathers. Several had checked in advance with their mother to ensure that they had not been adopted!

Opening the proceedings to participation and questions from the audience, a wide range of points of view were expressed. These ranged from why the focus was so much on male ancestry to what such tests may tell us about the concept of “race” and prejudice. How did John Revis feel when the media wanted to know what it was like to have black ancestors? Would that influence his diet or habits? Of course, we all have ancestors who ultimately came “out of Africa”. Some just left rather more recently than others. In any event, we are only looking at two very specific parts of the genetic material, the Y-chromosome and mtDNA, which pass down through history along the extreme right and left hand sides of our family trees. In other words, the Y-chromosome is inherited by sons from their father and mtDNA passes from a mother to her children. At present, we have no way of learning where all our other ancestral lines, who contributed equally to our family trees, lived in the past.

The clear message from this very rewarding seminar was that as genetic testing techniques develop, they may become much more powerful tools to give us all, genealogists, archaeologists and historians, a clearer understanding of how that melting pot, which is now the British, was created.

We were recently asked if we could help discover more about a photo of a lady in a wedding dress. Barbara Willis looks after the photo collection at the Priest’s House Museum in Wimborne, Dorset. She explained that some years ago they had been given three photos and a dress by a local lady. The dress is a long gown with a print of pink and gold flowers. Luckily, the photos had been labelled on the back. Wouldn’t it be good if all our ancestors had taken the time to do that? The dress had been featured in an exhibition of wedding dresses at the Museum and Barbara wanted to know if it would be possible to find out a little more about the people in the photos, especially the lady in the dress.

Barbara Budden wedding dress 8.10.38

Father Mother Dorothy Blake & Barbara. Just before 2nd war at Acton. Parents Golden Wedding anniversary

August 1920 Constantinople. Capt E J B Budden Middlesex Regt

Luckily, we had a date in 1938 and what we thought was a fairly uncommon surname. The people at the Museum thought the donor of the items was a Mrs Blake-Budden, but there is no birth, marriage or death to be found in the indexes of general registration for anyone with the surname Blake-Budden. As the group photo referred to Blake and Barbara, perhaps there were the forenames of the couple. Disappointingly, there were also no entries in the indexes for a man called Blake Budden.

A search for the marriage of anyone called Barbara to a man with the surname Budden met with more success. There were only two during the 1930s and one of these was for a groom with the same initials as the soldier photographed in Constantinople. Eustace J B Budden and Barbara S Budden married in Chelsea registration district in the December quarter of 1938. The surname Budden is apparently much more common that we had first thought, especially in the Dorset area. Perhaps the couple were cousins. We could conduct further searches in the future to check that out.

Eustace James B Budden was born in the Brentford district in 1891. We also found his baptism online at ancestry.co.uk, which confirms that his full name was indeed Eustace James Blake Budden, christened on 15th September 1891 at St Mary’s, Acton. He was the son of Robert Blake and Edith Westaway Blake, of 5 Rosemont Road. Perhaps he preferred being called Blake rather than Eustace!

The family was found in the census of 1891 living at Rosemont Road, in 1901 at Florence Road, Ealing, and in 1911 at 43 Corfton Road, Ealing. They were all Londoners and Eustace was their only child. The parents, Robert Blake Budden and Edith Westaway Force, married in 1890 at Brentford.

Budden household 1911, 43 Corfton Road, Ealing

The 1911 census described Blake as “Student, University College”.  From an online list of all graduates from 1836 to 1926, we found that Blake obtained his BSc at University College London and appears to have graduated as late as 1919, with the Great War interrupting his studies. There is a World War I medal card for him, also available through Ancestry which confirms that he was a captain in the Middlesex Regiment.

The National Archives holds an officer’s record file for him  (WO 374/10605). It tells us that Blake was commissioned as a 2^nd lieutenant in 1910, after serving in the Officer Training Corps whilst he was at Repton School. At the outbreak of war, he was on an extended stay in Frankfurt and was taken prisoner there in August 1914. He saw no active service, remaining a prisoner for the duration of the War and was repatriated shortly after the Armistice in November 1918. Soon after his capture, his father, Robert, wrote to the War Office to enquire whether there was any possibility of Blake being included in an exchange of British nationals, suggesting that his knowledge of languages would make him a useful officer if only he could be released. After the war, Blake served as a Railway Traffic Officer with the Allied Forces of Occupation in Constantinople. He relinquished his commission in 1922 and travelled back to Britain on the Orient Express.

Barbara Sloggett Budden’s birth was registered in the March quarter of 1900 in the Christchurch district of Dorset. Her death in Bournemouth in June 1990 gives the exact date as 30 January 1900. She donated the dress and photos to the Museum just two years before she died.

Barbara’s family were living at Boscastle, Iddesleigh Road, Bournemouth in 1901 and 1911. Her father, Horace, was a merchant tailor and her older sister, Dorothy, was still at home in 1901. By 1911 she was living with relatives in Hammersmith. Horace Budden had married Laura Evangeline Anderson in Brighton in 1889.

As Robert Blake Budden died in 1932, at the age of 77, in Brentford district, the group photo must be of Barbara’s parents’ golden wedding anniversary, rather than Blake’s.

Apart from Blake’s service record, which we copied at The National Archives,  the rest was all discovered during an evening’s browsing on the internet.

One of the most useful sources for family historians is probate documents. If an ancestor left a will, it will often contain information about members of the extended family, such as this one written by Henrietta Jones of New Southgate in 1945. Henrietta  left monetary bequests to a whole list of relatives and friends.

We might also gain an insight into what kind of life the testator lived, what their occupation was, any property they owned, as well as details of  their personal estate such as jewellery and household effects.

Even if an ancestor died without leaving a will, the next of kin or their representative would have had to apply for a grant of administration in order to dispose of the assets of the deceased.

Since 12 January 1858, all wills in England and Wales have been proved and letters of administration granted by a civil probate court, replacing the rather complicated hierarchy of ecclesiastical courts which had been operating since medieval times. Copies were sent from district registries to the Principal Probate Registry (PPR) and they compiled annual calendars.

These calendars can be searched at First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, WC1V 6NP, with most of the more recent entries now available on computer, back to about 1920. Calendars for 1861 – 1941 (with a few years missing) have also been digitised by Ancestry and can therefore be searched online.

Copies can then be ordered, either by visiting PPR or by post. Full instructions are available on their website. Until September 2011, it was possible to get a same-day copy of any will or administration at PPR. This service was extensively used by intestacy professionals and ‘heir hunting’ firms. Unfortunately, the so-called one-hour service has now been withdrawn and the quickest option is to collect documents a week later.

It would be a mistake to assume that only our more wealthy ancestors left wills. This example shows that in 1948, George Ernest Tertius Swinfield left to his daughter, Frances Olive Payne, “one pair of steps, one deck chair, the hearth rug from my front room, one lamb wool bed cover, pots and saucepans and my ring…”. His other daughter, Sylvia, inherited her father’s bird cage.

We were recently commissioned to do some research by Geoffrey Munn, managing director of  Wartski of Grafton Street, London W1 and jewellery expert on the Antiques Roadshow. He had an interest in the work of Gilbert Leigh Marks (1861-1905) and wanted to find relatives alive today who might have information or perhaps photos of him.

Marks was a talented silversmith and metalworker who, despite his career being cut short by ill health and an early death, produced perhaps 700-800 pieces. His work is recognisable by its use of patterns taken from nature and he was considered one of the finest art silversmiths working in the Arts and Crafts tradition. Marks lived in Croydon and married Florence Elizabeth Ford (1864-1917) in 1888. The couple had no children and the aim of our research was to find living relatives of Florence’s large familyof brothers and sisters, some of whom had been left pieces of Marks’s work in his wife’s will.

We then went on to trace descendants of Marks’s assistant, Louis Movio, an accomplished metal worker and silversmith in his own right. Movio was born in Milan in about 1857/8 and also died young, aged only 43, in Birmingham.

Technorati Tags: living relatives, london family history research, london genealogy research

Wed 11 May 7.30pm

Woolwich Family History Society DNA Tests for Family Historians

Wed 18 May 2pm

Society of Genealogists Parish Registers and Parish Chest Records Online

Sat 28 May 10.30am

Society of Genealogists

I’m Stuck

Sat 4 Jun 10.30am

Society of Genealogists My Ancestor Came From London

Tue 21 Jun 7.15pm

Shropshire Family History Society Finding Living and Missing People

Wed 19 Oct 2pm

Society of Genealogists

Tracing Living Relatives and Missing People

Technorati Tags: DNA tests, living relatives, london family history research, london genealogy research, missing people

Yes, it’s almost that time of year again. Who Do You Think You Are? Live  will be at London’s Olympia once more, on 25, 26, 27 February 2011. This is the biggest event in the UK calendar for family history and much more.

All the big names will be there, including Ancestry,  FindMyPast  and FamilySearch.  There will be a military pavilion and DNA workshops. The Society of Genealogists will be running its 18^th Family History Show, with stalls hosted by many family history societies. The Society’s team of experts will be offering advice at bookable one-to-one sessions throughout all three days.

Celebrities from the TV series will be sharing their behind-the-scenes stories and there will be over 100 workshops on a huge range of subjects and aimed at all levels of experience.

I shall be there on all three days, dispensing advice in the Ask the Experts area and also running workshops on how to break down your brick walls.

The full price of  tickets is £20 per day, but there are lots of deals available, including a two for £25 offer from the Society of Genealogists, so there’s no need to pay the full admission price.

Technorati Tags: london family history research, london genealogy research

…. will run from 26 December 2010 to 1 Jan 2011.

All the talk of family stories around the Christmas dinner table makes the festive period the perfect time to focus on building your family tree.  This seasonal initiative is a collaboration between several of the UK’s major genealogical sites.  The Society of Genealogists, Find My Past, Genes Reunited, Scotland’s People and Eneclann are all participating. They will have hints, tips and offers to help you start researching your ancestry.

Once you’ve made a start, if you could do with a helping hand, let us know. We look forward to hearing from you in 2011.  Happy New Year!

Technorati Tags: london family history research, london genealogy research

But we are always told that we should treat these secondary sources of information with caution. A secondary source may be described as anything which does not show you the original document, as it was recorded at the time the information was provided. This might be an entry in a parish register, a page in a census or maybe a will or marriage licence allegation.

What is so exciting about recent developments on the internet is the huge number of original documents we can now examine, often at a modest cost of course, from the comfort of our own homes.

The most significant of these collections for anyone with London ancestors  has to be the collection of parish registers held by the London Metropolitan Archives  which has recently been digitised in partnership with Ancestry.  London has always been a difficult area for research, with its high density of population, huge number of parishes and the surprising mobility of its inhabitants. Being able to search a significant number of these parishes online, for your ancestor’s baptism, marriage or burial has made it possible to find much more about these Londoners than ever before.

Of course, nothing is ever perfect and there are still some problems to overcome. Not all London parish registers in the LMA’s collection have yet been included. Some images are online but have not yet been indexed. Sometimes the indexing will include errors and omissions – hardly surprising when you think of the enormous volume of work involved and see the damaged state of some of the registers and the difficult handwriting they contain. Many registers have fallen victim to the Blitz or the Great Fire and do not even survive at all. Burials in the Capital are often particularly difficult to locate, with many graveyards becoming full and increasingly unsanitary much sooner than those in the provinces.

If your London ancestors  are still proving to be elusive, perhaps we at GSGS can help you. There may be other sources we can use or alternative methods of searching. We are always happy to talk over your particular problem and suggest a possible solution. Contact us  either by phone or e-mail to see how we can help.

Technorati Tags: london family history research, london genealogy research

Hi

Welcome to my research pages. My name is Geoff Swinfield and I am a professional genealogist covering all of the British Isles. This is achieved using all the major online databases and the resources found in these London repositories:

Society of Genealogists, LDS London Family History Centre, London Metropolitan Archives, Westminster Archives, British Library, Guildhall Library, Principal Probate Registry and The National Archives.

If you would like to discuss your research and/or need any assistance, please use the Contact Us Tab at the top of this page or telephone: 0208 325 3670

Address: 14 Beaconsfield Road, Mottingham, London SE9 4DP

Career

Research Director of Achievements Ltd (1983-1993) and Ancestors Ltd (1993-1999).

Proprietor of Geoff Swinfield Genealogical Services (1999 to date).

Teacher of genealogical sources and techniques at Society of Genealogists and to family history societies.

Collaborated with a number of medical establishments to apply genealogical techniques to the study of families with inherited diseases.

Probate and intestacy research for solicitors and other professionals.

Qualifications

Licentiate in Heraldry and Genealogy (LHG), PhD in Genetics.

Specialisation

General genealogy throughout Britain, probate research, tracing living relatives and finding missing people.

DNA tests and their application to genealogy.

Technorati Tags: london family history research, london genealogy research