Today, if something is ‘clandestine’, it’s usually something dodgy. Think clandestine drugs lab, clandestine affair, clandestine espionage… so when we saw that sixth great grandfather John Smith’s marriage to Ann Smallbone in 1726 was clandestine, we didn’t know what to think.
The Tin and Copper Miners
Our Trathen forebears may have ended up in the lead mines of Cumberland but before that, the family had worked in the tin and copper […]
The Ingenious Miner
Fifth great grandfather Richard Trathen had worked in the copper mines of Cornwall in Gwennap, the richest copper mining district in Cornwall and once called […]
The Cordwainer
Great-great-great grandfather Pierre Joseph Lemaire was a Cordwainer. It’s a term that’s drifted out of common use but it’s an honourable profession.
The Cotton Mill owner
Annette’s fourth-great grand-aunt and uncle built up a thriving cotton business in the Lancashire mill town of Preston – but he had a tragic end. […]
The Handloom Weaver
Fifth-Great Grandfather Richard Burton was a handloom weaver in Lancashire
Abducted by Native Americans
Mary Jemison – our first cousin eight times removed – was captured by Shawnee Indians as a child, adopted into the Seneca tribe, and chose to live her life as a Seneca woman.
Here Comes the Cavalry
Fifth great grandfather Thomas Bails served in the army for nearly 20 years Thomas Bails was born in Garrigil in Cumberland in 1759, at a […]
The Methodist Connection
Was the Rev John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the man who baptised our 3rd great grandfather?
The Lead Miners of Alston
The Irwins, Tatters and Trathans Three branches of our family tree lived in the area around Nenthead and Alston in what was then Cumberland (now […]