Kathrina Perry - Local Historian

I'm currently at a bit of a lull in my research.  This can happen. You find that nothing grabs your attention long enough to pursue it.  So what do I do when this happens?  I always find this is a good time to review my research.  There's many ways of approaching this but this is about how I approach it.  This is a working progress.  Every time I begin one of these reviews I also assess how I review things.  This blog post is about how I am currently working.   I prefer to have physical files.  I love paperwork.  I do have a tree in a digital format on Ancestry.Co.Uk (This is private but that is another story) but that is more for ease of access when researching rather than actually storing information.  I also have an old copy of the recently defunct Family Tree Maker but again this is for functionality of splitting gedcoms rather than an actual research tool.  This is not to say that this is the most effective way.  For ...

Apologies for not updating my blog for a while.  I've been working full time (ish) since May so haven't had as much time to focus on my research.  That doesn't mean I haven't done any, just that I haven't been as active with it as I once was.  Hopefully I'll start to have a bit more time again soon and will be able to continue with my profiles for my various ancestors. Anyway, here is what I have been doing since I last posted. On my previous post I said that I was awaiting a birth certificate for George H Major.  I received the birth certificate and found out that George was in fact George Henry Major.  He was born on 22nd March 1913 in Crowfield, Syresham.  His mother was Charlotte Elizabeth Major as I was already aware.  There was no father listed so this was yet another illegitimate child of Charlotte's.  This takes the total up to 5. Further research on George has uncovered his death record.  He died in May 1987 and his death was registe...

It's been a while since I've blogged about my family tree.  Unfortunately modern life has been getting in the way of searching for unknown relatives from the past. I have been doing the odd search which has given me a few things to look into.  I found someone on Ancestry who had  a marriage certificate for one ancestor, Mabel Annie Major, who had the elusive Timothy Major (see the previous blogs about the Major/Ayres conundrum) as their father.  I messaged the person who said that they had married their father's brother.  They also said that they knew of her sisters Eveline and Connie (who are listed on the 1911 census) and a brother called George!!.  Not another illegitimate child in the family.   I have ordered the birth certificate of George and hopefully that will finally sort out which of the sisters these children belong to (assuming that they are all related).  It's always interesting to look at middle names in cases like these as sometimes...

I've had a few days away with the family so have been able to reflect on what I have been doing in terms of my family research (it's always good to take a step back for a while). I've been updating this blog with director ancestors.  However, is that the best approach to take when researching your family. Family history research is very personal.  As mentioned previously, some people just want to see how far back they can get, others might want to see whether they're related to royalty.  Whatever the motivation I believe (and I'm sure people will give their opinions) that family history research should branch out.  This is why we say we are researching our family tree.  Trees have more than one branch and so should family history research. That said, one name studies can be quite interesting, especially when looking at how a particular name travels around the country. The point I'm making is that after a few days reflection I'm not sure that just writing abo...

Maternal Great Great Grandmother Charlotte Elizabeth Key Ratledge 1873 - 1920 Charlotte Elizabeth Key Ratledge was born in February 1873 in Greens Norton, Northamptonshire.  Her parents were Joseph Ratledge and Angelina Wood.  She was baptised on 2 nd March 1873.  Charlottes father died on 5 th July 1872 from Small pox when Angelina was  pregnant with Charlotte. In 1881, Charlotte was living with her mother and stepfather, at 5 Hamlet of Littleworth, Greens Norton, Northamptonshire.  The occupants were: John Kendall                       Head                          45 Angelina Kendall                Wife           ...

Maternal Great Great Grandfather William Thomas Hammond 1872 - 1953 William Thomas Hammond was born in 1872 in Towcester, Northamptonshire.  His parents were Henry Hammond and Emma Inns.  He was baptised on 6 th September 1872 in Towcester, Northamptonshire. In 1881, William was living with his parents and family in Jubilee Row, Towcester, Northamptonshire.  The occupants were: Henry Hammond    Head  29 Emma Hammond    Wife    30 William Hammond Son     8 Harry Hammond     Son     7 In 1891, William was living with his parents and family in Kiln Row, Towcester, Northamptonshire.  William was working as a brewery labourer.  The occupants were Henry Hammond                Head  39 Emma Hammond                Wife...

Maternal Great Great Grandmother Anne Elizabeth Ayres 1857 - 1934 Anne Elizabeth Ayres was born on 15 th October 1857 in Helmdon, Northamptonshire. [1]   Her parents were John Ayres  and Esther Cadd.  Anne was baptised on 6 th December 1857 in Helmdon, Northamptonshire. In 1861, Anne was living with her parents and family in the Hamlet of Halse, Brackley, Northamptonshire.  The occupants were: John Ayres                           Head              33 Esther Ayres                        Wife               31 John Ayres                ...