P J Ahern was a bard, poet, journalist and storyteller in Limerick, Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th century. His great niece Patricia talks about him, his life and poetry and the parallels with her own life.

Ruth Graham talks about migration to Australia from the first non-indigenous settlers in 1788 up until the £10 POMs in the 20th century. We covers convists, ships, their crews, assisted immigration, non assisted immigration, mining, free settlers, trade and much more.

The transcript for this episode will be added for paid subscribers on Substack. There is a resources sheet available for free on Substack.

The Gentleman's Magazine was the world's first modern magazine. Julian Pooley of the Surrey History Centre is an expert on the magazine and tells us about its history, contents, readership and how it is helpful to family historians. He also shares some of the stories contained within it including how Samuel Johnson was involved. A full interview transcript is available on Substack at https://journeysintogenealogy.substack.com.

In New York in the early 20th century young women who broke the rules or didn't obey their parents were called 'wayward' and sent to reformatories to change their ways. Stephanie O'Connell discusses her case study titled "Wayward Girls," exploring the 1923 Wayward Minor Act in New York, which criminalised female disobedience and sexual delinquency. We learn about the New York State Reformatory in Bedford Hills, where young women were sent for being 'wayward' or 'incorrigible.' Stephanie explains the social context of the time, the daily life of the girls in the reformatory, and the impact of these institutions on their lives and on her own grandmother who was sent to this reformatory.

Wendy Aris has spent years searching for her Jamaican ancestors. In this episode we discuss what records are available and how far back they go. Visiting the National Archives and National Library in Jamaica, slavery, manumissions and emancipation and some of the surprising places records can be found.

Ruth Graham, chair of the Society of Australian Genealogists, talks about the history of Australia, how the states are organized (it's changed quite a bit over the years!) where to find records, what records are available, including burial registers, newspapers, national and local archives, Trove, electoral rolls, Australian cemeteries, the services provided by the Society and much, much more. Ruth has provided a resource guide which is available on Substack alongside an interview transcript. This is the first of two interviews with Ruth about Australia, the second one will be focussed on migration.

Melissa Kitchen shares family stories and gives us tips on how to find and record them. We discuss living in the USA, ancestors who came across on the Mayflower, New England and lots more.

There is a guest blog post to accompany this episode with some of the suggestions and resources on https://emmacox.co.uk/guest-blog-the-secret-spell-using-our-5-senses-to-bring-our-stories-to-life. Also please visit Journeys into Genealogy on Substack for additional content including an extra interview with Melissa.

Writer and researcher Vanessa Wood talks about her own family history including migration from Sweden to Tennessee and Virginia USA and her book "Pryor Wives" about the women who married into several Pryor families who shared a common surname, but probably did not share blood or share a family tree. These included pioneer women and their journeys across the US, a former slave and others.

Sarah Hewitt is chair of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. We discuss what records are available in New Zealand, where they are located, what is available for free including birth, marriage and death records, wills and probate, school records, immigration, newspaper and other archives plus the benefits of joining the New Zealand Society of Genealogists including access to the Kiwi Collection. Sarah has put together a resource sheet which is available via this blog post: https://emmacox.co.uk/researching-your-ancestors-in-new-zealand.

Dean Kirby has researched his ancestors amongst industrial Manchester in the 19th century and his book "Angel Meadow" is about the slum neighbourhood that they lived in and some of the interesting characters who were their neighbours. We discuss pauper ancestors, Manchester industries, cotton and textiles, manufacturing, Irish migration and ancestry, using fire maps, rate books, the "Friends of Angel Meadow" and more.