Parish registers in Wilkie Collins’ “The Woman in White”
*contains spoilers* If you’ve ever read The Woman in White, then you’ll know that all the mystery and obfuscation, the swapping of people drugged on...
Author: Helen Barrell
Things you’ll see in “Ripper Street” series 3. Honest.
Filming has finished on the third series of late-Victorian, plaid-encrusted crime-drama Ripper Street. Huzzah! Herewith, illustrated in 19th century engravings,...
Jack the Ripper DNA test proves… not very much, really
My friend Anna asked me what I think about the DNA testing which apparently “proves” that Aaron Kosminski was the infamous Jack the Ripper. I posted...
Unfortunate ways to die in Beaumont-cum-Moze, 1576-1865
Dying is rather unfortunate anyway, but in Beaumont-cum-Moze, the causes of death are given far more often than they are in other burial registers that I’...
An airy thought….
There I was, opening another marriage register, ready to transcribe, when I spotted something, which took my mind far from the nuptials of the people of Essex, ...
The Sunderland men who came to Essex
Photo by Cindy Lilley. I’ve nearly finished transcribing the baptisms and burials register for Wivenhoe St. Mary the Virgin, 1695-1751. It’s not unu...
Further afield…
Today, I went for a wander around the churchyard at St. Peter’s in Harborne, a suburb to the west of Birmingham. No, not in Essex or Suffolk, but a wonder...
Minors, cold feet and bigamists – the secrets of East Bergholt’s banns register
Banns registers aren’t usually considered that important for family history research – after all, we only need to look at marriage registers, becaus...
Lawshall: of private baptisms and misgotten infants
Hogarth’s depiction of Tristram Shandy’s home baptism. The other week, I started to transcribe the parish registers for Lawshall in Suffolk, startin...