In this fourth episode of Season Ten, Andrew once again has two guests… and they’re siblings! Joining him are brothers who as Parra Genealogía, focus on researching family history in Mexico - it’s Roberto and Ramón Parra! 

THE LIFE STORY - FLORENCIO PÉREZ COMOTO 

Ramón and Roberto have chosen to tell the life story of Florencio Pérez Comoto - the son-in-law of their 5x Great Grandfather.

Florencio was born around 1775 in Cádiz in Andalucía, Spain, and when he graduated from medical training, he headed over to Nueva España (part of which is now modern Mexico) and settled in Veracruz. He worked as a military medical doctor and after arriving he found himself deep in epidemiology. After Edward Jenner's discovery of using cowpox to vaccinate against smallpox, Florencio ended up leading the efforts of vaccination against the spread of a deadly smallpox epidemic in Mexico, and encouraging people to get vaccinated.

Florencio's work is a success, but when Mexico gains Independence in 1821, he and his family flee back to Spain.

THE BRICK WALL - FLORENCIO PÉREZ COMOTO

It's a research brick wall that also surrounds their Life Story choice Florencio Pérez Comoto, that has Roberto and Ramón asking for help.

Whilst Florencio and some of his sons were writers, translators, and poets, Roberto and Ramón have yet to find anything biographical about his life during the smallpox epidemic and his family's fleeing back to Spain after the Declaration of Mexico's Independence in 1821.

If you think that you can help with a research idea or a clue to help bring their brick wall down, then you can contact them via their Parra Genealogía website, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it along.

In the meantime, Roberto and Ramón are keen to accept Andrew's offer of help, but it's all a matter of timing...

- - -

Episode Credits:

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Roberto Parra - Guest
• Ramón Parra - Guest

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In today's 3rd episode of Season Ten, host Andrew Martin is joined by tech nerd, un-retiree, and YouTube and Facebook live-streaming genealogist, who is perhaps better known by her award-winning blogging nom-de-plume - it's the wonderful DearMYRTLE!

THE LIFE STORY - MYRTLE ELIZA WEISER
Myrt has chosen to tell the life story of her much beloved, and namesake, grandmother who was born Myrtle Eliza Weiser in May 1895, in Salt Lake City in Utah, USA.

Grandmother Myrtle heads to a strict nursing school. She then gets a job for US $1 a week as a postpartum nurse - involving caring for infants and doing laundry.

After marrying in 1917, Myrtle gives birth to her first child amidst the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 (often called 'Spanish Flu'). DearMyrtle reflects on the experiences that her grandmother must have had as young mother and trained nurse during that flu epidemic, and relates it to her own experience during the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020.

Moving to Seattle, her kindly ways emerge again - serving as a nurse during World War Two, giving inoculations to servicemen on the waterfront and would bring an occasional young recruit home to have dinner with the family. She also campaigned for children to have shoes.

Myrt's fond memories of her beloved grandmother beam from this episode, and has clearly shaped her own life.

THE BRICK WALL - HANNAH HUDSON
It's a brick wall in Bisham, Berkshire, UK that has Myrt asking for help. Hannah Hudson and her husband Benjamin Sanders take their daughter Zillah for baptism in 1788, but prior to that, remains a mystery.

Myrt has searched for Hannah's origins - checking the parish registers for marriages and baptisms, but she can't find Hannah Hudson's parents, nor her marriage to Benjamin Sanders.

A record on FamilySearch gives a baptism of a Hannah Hudson of John and Anne Hudson elsewhere in Berkshire, but there's not enough evidence yet to connect her Hudsons to them.

• Who are Hannah Hudson's parents?
• When/where was she born?

If you think that you can help Myrt with a research idea or clue, then you can message her via her Substack page. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her.

In the meantime, Myrt is enthusiastic about Andrew's offer of help, but maybe she knows more than he does... 

- - -

Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• DearMYRTLE - Guest
• John Spike - Sándor Petofi

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In this 2nd episode of Season Ten, host Andrew is joined by Norfolk-based family historian, churchyard lurker, heirloom re-uniter, and TikTok video maker - Simon Howard.

THE LIFE STORY - ELEANOR THORNBERRY SMITH

Simon has chosen to tell the life story of his 3x Gt Grandmother Eleanor Thornberry Smith, who was born circa 1822 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

Simon discovered Eleanor was baptised by her mother Elizabeth Smith, who was unmarried. There was no mention of a father, but that middle name of Thornberry seemed unusual, and would be the clue to help him unlock the identity of his 4x Gt Grandfather.

What he found was a man called David Thornberry living a very different life than Eleanor's mother Elizabeth. He was a young engineer working on the sluices and riverways of the area.... and he was also married.

As Simon discovers, Elizabeth manages to get David to contribute to his daughter in her early years, but when he discovers that she's not mentioned in his Will, did she ever know who he was?

THE BRICK WALL - BERNARD LOWN 

Simon is looking for help to track down Bernard Lown and his family, who go missing in the Norfolk area of Clunchwarton, Terrington St. John, and Terrington St. Clements. 

He's been able to find the Lown family - Bernard, his wife Mary, their sons Richard, George, and Bernard, in the 1841 and 1851 censuses, and he's found Mary with a burial in 1867 at Clunchwarton... but that 1861 census remains a mystery. 

• What becomes of Bernard Lown? 
• Where were the Lown family in 1861?

If you think you can help, you can send him a message via his social media channels - Facebook, Instagram, or via the email he gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight along to him.

In the meantime, Simon is curious of Andrew's offer of help, but does he have time?

- - -

Episode Credits:

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Simon Howard - Guest
• John Spike - Sándor Petőfi

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In this first opening episode of Season Ten (TEN?!), host Andrew welcomes family historian, author, RootsTech and TEDx speaker, former CEO of the Society of Genealogists and now the CEO of the Black Cultural Archives - Dr. Wanda Wyporska.

THE LIFE STORY - THEODORE JOSEPH PAUL 

Wanda has chosen to tell the Life Story of her Great Grandfather, Theodore Joseph Paul, who was born in East Stonehouse, Devon in 1888. While she never met him, her grandmother would regularly speak of her father, and this therefore gives Wanda a fondness and curiosity of his life.

Theodore was sent off, without his family, at the age of 12, where Wanda has found him at the Royal Greenwich Hospital School in Greenwich, London.

Wanda is soon able to trace him through Naval records - of which there are plenty - and she can see that he travelled the world with them, but was drawn back to the UK, where he also became a member of the Freemasons.

In 1912, he marries Nellie Mabel Turpin... sparking off a family rumour that the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin was also a relative. Theodore and Nellie start their family which includes Wanda's grandmother.

Despite travelling the world with the Navy, there's something that keeps drawing him back to the city of Chester in Cheshire, UK.

THE BRICK WALL - RICHARD HOLMES and SARAH NANNY ROGERS 

We're looking for clues in Barbados to help Wanda solve her Brick Wall, as she looks for the origins of her 3x Gt Grandparents Richard Holmes and Sarah Nanny Rogers.

Richard appears to have been born in 1797 and died in 1849, It is believed that Sarah was a freed woman who owned slaves, but in this period, Wanda explains a few scenarios that may have meant that Sarah had enslaved people and Wanda hopes to unravel this story one day.

Sarah marries Richard Holmes on 28th September 1844 in Christ Church, Barbados, but Wanda would love to know the origins of Sarah Nanny Rogers.

If you think that you can help Wanda with a research clue or idea, then you can contact her via her Twitter account, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it along to her.

In the meantime.... while Wanda accepts Andrew's offer of help, she's struck by a sense of déjà vu....

- - -

Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Dr. Wanda Wyporska - Guest

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It's time for our tenth season!

Join host Andrew Martin and assistant Sándor Petőfi as they introduce 8 guests across a brand new batch of 7 episodes! 

In this season you'll hear stories from around the world about a kindly woman, a physician, an adventuress, a sea-faring young man, a hardworking glassworker, a disinherited daughter, and a pioneering vaccinator. Of course, there will also be a fresh set of pesky brick walls for you to solve too... so get your sleuthing skills ready!

Check out our guests, and find out more about what's coming up in these new episodes.

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It's time for the first of our special BRICKDUST episodes - where one of our previous guests return to the show to give host Andrew Martin an update on the progress of their pesky brick wall.

This time, we're welcoming back local historian Pam Smith, last heard in Season One back in 2021. If you've not heard Pam's episode, you can catch-up now by listening to 'The Activist' with Pam Smith. 

THE BRICK WALL - SIR RICHARD ETHERINGTON 

It's been four years since Pam asked for help in her episode - where she was trying to find a connection between the family of George Etherington from Driffield, who'd been Knighted after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, and the family of Sir Richard Etherington of Rillington, who'd been Knighted in 1603. 

Were these two ennobled men related - if so, how?

Has she been able to get her answer about Sir Richard Etherington? Will that brick wall turn to brick dust? Listen now to find out!

THE QUESTION

We asked our listeners; What's the weirdest or funniest name that you've found whilst researching your family history?

We've picked some of our favourite answers from our listeners which you can hear in this episode. If you'd like to submit your answer via email or voicemail, head to our Question page. 

FANCY A CHALLENGE?

Check out the full list of our guests research Brick Walls - can you help them make a breakthrough?

- - -

Episode Credits:

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Pam Smith - Guest

Read this episode's Shownotes

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In this short bonus episode, that follows on immediately from 'The Incorrigible' with Karen Cummings, host Andrew Martin is ready to take a long-awaited holiday in post-war 1940's England. However, instead of the 1940's, he finds himself in the 1640s.... and it's witch-hunt season! 

To make things worse, he's just been accused of witchcraft after making one of the villagers vanish into thin air!

- - -

Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• John Spike - Sándor Petőfi
• Stacey Hughes - Agnes Poppelwell and Ethel Skinner
• Ruth Bramley - Libbit Weaver
• Sarah McDowell - Nell Podley
• Meg Spencer-Thomas - Mary Chandler 
• Eliot Lees - John Hardwyke

Support the show

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In this final episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist, scientist, and owner of Pharos Tutors - Dr. Karen Cummings. He hears about how she got interested in family history, her adventures in DNA testing, her thoughts on the future of the genealogy industry, and why even hobbyist family historians should consider studying courses.

THE LIFE STORY - JONATHAN HORSLEY 

Karen has chosen to tell the life story of her husband's ancestor Jonathan Horsley born in Coggeshall, Essex in 1869, who she is amused to reveal was 'a baddun'.. or at least to start with.

Jonathan was born in the workhouse with an absent father - times were hard and in 1886 he's up before the courts and being handed 14 days of hard labour where he's noted as 'incorrigible'. As Karen's research continued, she finds a trail of reports of poor behaviour. By the turn of the century, Jonathan has become an apprentice within the booming fishing industry of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. However, he resumes his pattern of behaviour, including absconding. 

After joining the army, he does finally settle down at about the age of 30. Sadly though, after marrying and becoming a father, after a few years working at sea, he is killed when his ship is struck by a mine.

THE BRICK WALL - SELL COWLING

Karen's choice of brick wall is a DNA mystery waiting to be solved! 

Her ancestor, Sell Cowling appears on the 1841 census for Ickleton in Cambridgeshire, England, where it states that he was born in Cambridgeshire circa 1775. However, he dies in 1850, and therefore the parish of his birth is not revealed.

Karen has checked the parish registers in the area for his name and surname variants... but there's no match. She's researched so much, that she's ended up running a Cowling One-Name Study!

Being from the Science community, Karen has turned to DNA testing and is examining DNA matches.... but nothing pointing to hers in Cambridgeshire. Were they connected?

Therefore, Karen would like to do a Y-DNA test of a living male Cowling descendant - making this a super-specific brick wall.

• Where was Sell Cowling born?
• Are YOU a male Cowling descendant, from an unbroken male line - if so, Karen would like to hear from you?

If you think that you can help Karen with a research clue, or some precious Cowling saliva, then you can contact her via her website or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on.

In the meantime, Karen accepts Andrew's offer of help but witch way will it go?

- - -

Episode Credits:

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Dr. Karen Cummings - Guest
• John Spike - Sá

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In this sixth episode of Series Nine, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Asad Khabibullin. He hears how Asad got hooked on family history, the challenges he has faced in tracing his ancestors from the Republic of Tatarstan, and his thoughts on how the genealogy community could become a more helpful place for new-starters.

THE LIFE STORY - VALIT HALITOV 

Asad has chosen to tell the life story of his relative Valit Halitov who lived in the village of Olı Mäñgär in the Republic of Tatarstan. The village  was being oppressed by Russian authorities, and they had heard rumours that they were to be forced to convert to Christianity - something the local officials didn't deny. When a constable visited and was beaten, Valit was picked out as a perpetrator and beaten under the orders of the Russian Governor Nikolai Skariatin.

Whilst Valit was beaten, he and the villagers raised a complaint against the Russian authorities, and surprisingly the Senate at St. Petersburg found that the Governor's punishment was too extreme and it was now he that was punished for his actions.

THE BRICK WALL - HASAN-HUSAIN 

It's a brick wall also in Olı Mäñgär that has Asad stumped for clues. Asad is looking for information about his relative at the top of his tree Hasan-Husain who migrated from the Crimean Khanate.

Problem is, there's a tree already, that was kept by the villagers, and the difference between them is that sometimes Hasan-Husain is one person, and sometimes the name is split because they're two brothers instead.

• Are Hasan-Husain one or two men?

If you think that you can help Asad with a clue or research idea, then you can contact him via his Instagram page, or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it right along.

In the meantime, Asad is curious about Andrew's offer of help, can Andrew get it to work?

- - -
Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Asad Khabibullin - Guest

Find your genealogy course from Pharos Tutors today.

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In this fifth episode of Series Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional family historian, author, and former FamilySearch volunteer, Robin R. Foster and hears about how she got hooked on researching her family history, her drive to help people through online communities like Facebook and Substack, and how she found herself surrounded by sources when she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

THE LIFE STORY - BEVERLEY VANCE 

Robin has chosen to tell the life story of her 2x Great Grandfather, Beverley Vance who was born into slavery circa 1832 in South Carolina, USA.

While Robin and her mother were not initially searching for Beverley, they found him and his wife Matilda whilst researching her Great Grandfather (Beverley's son, Lafayette Vance) on the 1880 US Census for Cokesbury in Abbeville County, South Carolina.

It was here that they were presented with their ancestors' names - Beverley and Matilda for the first time. 

Robin soon found herself on the research trail, and this led her back into Beverley's life in enslavement, his slave owner's name, and ultimately to reveal the identity of her 4x Great Grandfather - his slave master Samuel Vance!

With the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery just a few years beforehand, Robin finds Beverley in 1868 where he testifies to a Senator about the way the Democrats treated him. 

THE BRICK WALL - MATILDA VANCE

Whilst her name was discovered on that 1880 census alongside her husband Beverley, Matilda's origins are less clear. Robin knows that she was born as Matilda Dunlap circa 1841, but there are some questions to answer;

• Who were Matilda's parents?
• When did Matilda die (did she survive Beverley in 1899)?

If you think you can help Robin with a clue or a research idea, then you can contact her via the email address she gives in the episode, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her.

In the meantime, Robin accepts Andrew's offer of help, but will it help her to get the answers she needs?

-  -  -

Episode Credits:

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Robin R. Foster - Guest

Find your genealogy course from Pharos Tutors today.

Support the show

Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.

You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
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