Family Tree Talk

This week on Family Tree Talk podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey discuss marriage records. Thinking about the go-to places in which to look for marriage records. Reminding themselves to make sure they’ve gleaned every last clue from these precious papers. Check that they’ve tracked down the family wedding photos. And perhaps even taken a peep at the historic Met Office report for the day...

In this episode of the Family Tree Talk podcast, cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey go back to the beginning, and reflect on the rich range of clues a birth certificate holds… quite aside from that little nugget of an ancestor’s birthday. Join us as we continue our tour of the key family history records where we are constantly reminded that there is always, always, something new and exciting to l...

This episode podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about the census: the clues, the stories, the value of taking a new look at these oh-so-familiar documents and more. Plus Helen puts Nathan on the spot with a quick Census 101 test, and Helen has to admit the doesn’t know the answers to more questions than you’ve had hot dinners. The link to our comprehensive census guide is: https://w...

Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey are joined this week by a very special guest - genealogy AI guru Carole McCulloch. They ask her the how, what, why of using AI to help us with our family histories. Tune in to find out - is AI for you? And how can it really help you accomplish more in your genealogical research?

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about the how, what & why of creating a rock solid family tree. Plus learn about: Nathan’s multi-millionaire ancestor, how to assess whether an old photo you’ve found online is credibly that of your ancestor, and thoughts on when to call in the heavy guns and get some specialist help with your family history.

From free online palaeography courses to thoughts on AI transcription tools, learn about the resources that can help you read old handwriting. Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about deciphering documents, setting realistic family history goals, working on new branches of the family tree and more.

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of the Family Tree Talk podcast! Our one-year anniversary! 52 episodes of stories, discoveries and plenty of genealogical detective work. And speaking of detective work… there’s someone who’s been on quite the journey over the past year: podcast co-host Nathan Ward. When this all began, he was our resident family history newbie. But look at him now! He’s...

Don’t you just love it when you come across a new record or two, and all the details match perfectly? Nathan Ward shares just such a pleasing piece of research, about his WW1 air mechanic family member. And podcast co-hosts Nathan and Helen Tovey chat family history: from the importance of recording memories, to what to do when you spot a mistake on someone else’s tree, and the dangers of drawing...

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up on their latest family history endeavours, reflect on the importance of remembering, and begin to think about which family history goals they want to actually complete between now and the end of the year. Wish them luck!

It’s a busy week in this episode of the podcast with co-hosts Nate Ward and Helen Tovey. If you only do a few things in the coming few days: 1. Order any wills you need from https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate (£1.50 - going up to £16 on 17/11/2025). 2. Make sure you make use of the free access to online military records (eg check the major family history data websites). 3. Go download the comb...

Nathan Ward is 99% sure that Private A Hearn, who died in 1918, is his relation. He has papers a-plenty, notes from a distant cousin, and even an annotated family tree from them. But he can't quite see how his Albert Hearn matches the poor young man MIA in that final year of the First World War. Tune in as Nate and podcast co-host Helen Tovey weigh up the information and try to piece together the...

From short walks down the lane to the neighbouring village, to brave voyages across the world, when doing family history we discover that our ancestors sometimes moved about more than we might think. What was it that made them move though? Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about push-pull factors - and other family history hacks, hints and chat.

This week podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about their recent family history research forays and reflect on those unexpected details that are there – waiting to be found in the records. From census records to the sisters of King Henry VIII - the chat is all about those tiny clues, that we, as family historians, tend to treasure.

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up about their recent research forays. Nate’s been making great progress filling in the details of his Victorian soldier in the 36th Foot... It turns out his Mum had some of the details already. But we think that one of the joys of family history is doing the detective work yourself – agree? Let’s what he’s discovered.

Well it turns out that Nathan's many times grandpa did marry his Irish sweetheart, and her life as a soldier's wife would see her travel the globe. Nate & podcast cohost Helen Tovey go back to the beginning and see what clues can be spotted on his discharge papers (found in the extensive military collections on Findmypast) and make a plan of where to look next.

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey compare notes on their family history endeavours over the past few days. Nate has been busy tracking down his direct ancestors’ siblings - to gain a timeframe for when the family was in India, and when they returned to British shores. Wrestling a little with several generations by the same name, he’s managed to do it! Helen has been mulling over the cha...

Podcast co-hosts Nate Ward and Helen Tovey chat family history. Nate’s been revisiting his first forays into family history research, and making sure that the research he did right at the beginning of his genealogy journey is as solid as he’d like. (And what a good idea that is too – after all, everything that comes after, is built on each of our earliest endeavours. So getting those foundations s...

Tune is as podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chunter family history, including: a small confession about some facts from last time, to make sure nobody’s led astray; a peek at their recent research endeavours; and chat about the importance of family stories. Both Nate and Helen, too, reflect anew on old family stories, and find things weren’t always – perhaps - quite as they seemed.

Farmer? Seedsman? Bridge-painter? Commercial traveller? What did your ancestor do all day? Tune in as podcast co-hosts Helen Tovey & Nathan Ward chat genealogy, and share thoughts about their ancestors’ occupations – and the clues these can reveal about lives, obstacles and opportunities in times gone by.

Tune in for the latest episode in which Helen Tovey & Nathan Ward discuss their most recent forays in to family history. Helen is at long last dusting off her project to find out more about her Mary Ann and find the answer to the question mark over Mary Ann’s father. While Nathan asks super-useful, reflective and insightful questions to help Helen focus up, and shares an update on his own gene...

Thank you to podcast listeners Sharyn, Jacqueline and Brian who each brilliantly stepped up to help Nathan find his Mary Ann, who was seemingly absent from the 1891 Census. Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey explain the super-simple solution for the missing Mary Ann (it’s always simple once you know, hey!), and share the tactics they’d tried too, to no avail. Listening & learning! Tu...

No genealogy nitty-gritty is too itty-bitty and small for Helen Tovey and Nathan Ward. This episode they chat about what it’s actually like doing family history. Helen shares how she’s tackling some genealogy records she’s been meaning to file for years (9 years in fact!), while Nathan wonders whether he needs to park his research on one branch and roll up his sleeves for a new family history adve...

This week co-hosts Helen Tovey and Nathan Ward share their latest discoveries and family history tasks. Nathan continues to make good progress on his tree, but he’s kind of feeling he’s reached a standstill with an ancestor that he just can’t find on the 1881 Census. Might you have a handy hint to help him out? Plus Helen rolls up her sleeves and starts to add a collection of documents to her tree...

In this week’s episode of Family Tree Talk, one-time rookie researcher Nathan Ward, spreads his wings and explains the tactics he’s been using to smash through research road blocks left, right and centre. Helen Tovey listens in… in awe of the family history progress made. Tune in for practical tips to help overcome the sense of family history ‘overwhelm’, and make strides in your family history in...

In this episode of Family Tree Talk , Nathan Ward reveals a truly tangled family tree featuring multiple marriages, overlapping timelines, and a seemingly endless number of children. · Who belongs to whom? · & How can he tell family unit from the next? As the puzzle unfolds, Helen Tovey offers practical tips and a calming voice of reason to help make sense of the confusion. Whether you're new...