Journeys into Genealogy podcast

Did you know heraldry began knowing friends from foes on the battlefields? Paul Jagger of The Heraldry Society explains the history, what it means to be armigerous, some of the differences in England and Scotland, who is entitled to bear arms and much more. 

Liz Burling takes us on a tour of London, mentioning the 8 family history societies which cover London, including London Westminster and Middlesex of which she is chair.  What records are available, where they are located, cemeteries and archives. Transcript and map showing area cover by each society available in Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Hugh's father died when he was young and the stories he was told didn't make since. We discuss his journey to find out the truth about his mysterious father crossing from England to Canada, France and Ireland including breakthrough moments, DNA and meetings with living relatives. 

Denyse Allen of Chronicle Makers talks about some of the uses for AI for researching and organizing your family history. We discuss Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini and more and some of the things to be aware of. Denyse has created 5 prompts for getting started and the link is available in the transcript on Substack . 

Hear all about FACHRS and the historical research projects done by members on topics including station masters, lunatic asylums, almshouses, allotments and more. Brita Wood explains how it all works. 

Richard Hartley is researching the history of the village of Pirbright in Surrey, England. We discuss the one place study and his fellow researchers, how far they have got, some of the discoveries plus tips and do's and don'ts for anyone else considering doing their own one place study. Transcript with all links is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack

Life for women in 19th century USA was not easy. Gail Zona has transcribed family letters and turned them into a book "Dearest Clara". We talk about the letters themselves, the writers (her 2 x great grandmother Nell Nichols and sisters Clara and Alice, the life they lived (a hard and quite restrictive one) and the world they lived in with society's expectations of them including the effects of co...

Lene Kottal and I talk about unique Danish records, naming conventions, spelling, censuses, military records, wills, estate administration, Danish history, the Danish National Archives, emigration and much more. 

Else takes us on a journey through her own family history and then the Society of Genealogists. We talk about the wealth of records available including some quite unusual ones like civil service applications, school records, trade directories, teachers, customs and excise and apprenticeships for the London Guilds and Livery Companies. The SoG has just launched their new website so it will be easy...

Duff Wilson from Family Tree Maker (FTM) shared details of FTM history, what's in the latest version, new features, examples of charts and reports, opportunities for beta testing and the most underused parts of FTM. Plus a special offer for listeners to Journeys into Genealogy starting on 11 February. Full details in the transcript/post on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack . 

Lucy Reynoldson shares tips about making the most of Rootstech 2026 (coming 5-7 March) including the preparation to do beforehand (hint: start as soon as possible), Relatives at Rootstech, searching for content and creating schedules and customised playlists. The transcript is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack . 

Find out more about Canadian research and what's available at Library and Archives Canada and elsewhere and how Canadian records work in this interview with François Simon Wathier and Marie-Eve Robert. Transcript with links available at https://journeysintogenealogy.substack.com

It's been 5 years since I setup the Journeys into Genealogy podcast. In the final episode of 2025 I include some clips from the most popular interviews of the year, details of the most downloaded overall plus details of what's to come in 2026. The transcript is available on Substack.

What does it mean to be Cuban American? Barbara Caver shares family stories, her visit to Cuba, connecting with ancestors, visiting ancestral places and her book "A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey to Become Cubana-Americana"

Graham Holton of Strathclyde University talks about genetic genealogy, autosomal and Y-DNA testing, his book "DNA: a Guide for Family Historians", the 2026 online conference, potential future developments in DNA and much more. The transcript with links is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack . 

Emma Maxwell tells us about the wealth of records available on Scottish Indexes including criminal databases, paternity indexes, mental health, deeds, sasines, tips for searching and much more. We also talk about the Scottish Indexes Conference (next one is on Sat 22 November 2025). Transcript available on  Substack . 

There were lots of secrets in Nicola Hanefeld's family. One item led to a treasure trove of sometimes upsetting documents relating to their past in Czechoslovakia, the Holocaust and the fate of some of her family. Following the stories Nicola wrote a book "The Unspeakable, Breaking My Family Silence Surrounding the Holocaust". The interview transcript is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Sub...

Dennis Cronin discovered lots of stories about his great grandfather Michael Sweeney and his 6 children. The tales go from Ireland in the early 20th century to World War I, emigration to the USA and a long forgotten "murder". He discusses his research, visiting the old family farm, life and society in Ireland and the book he has written about it "Michael Sweeney". The transcript is available on th...

Lucy Reynoldson shares some of the amazing range of resources and records available on Family Search including full text search, affiliate libraries, labs and experiments, Rootstech registration and what's coming up in the future. A transcript of the interview with links is available on Substack . 

A DNA test, an NPE and One Big Happy Family - actress Lisa Brenner's story of her life changing DNA results and the film she has made about it. 

I recently interviewed Steph Ford about her family history and how she is helping people record their family stories. We discuss migration from England and across the US, talking to living relatives, time travel, photographs, videos and more. The interview transcript is available on  Substack . 

Chancery is all about money and disputes, often within the family and the details can be a goldmine for genealogists and family historians. Susan Moore takes us on a journey through Chancery records, visiting the National Archives at Kew and some of the delights to be found in the records. She explains what different records exist (there are many types including master's reports, affadavits and mo...

Peter Calver explains about Lost Cousins and how it can connect you with distant cousins (you have to add your relatives and see who pops up as a living cousin) and save you time with family history research. Transcript (with links) available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Editor Sarah Williams talks about how she setup the magazine, the type of content within it and how people can submit stories, Q&As and letters for inclusion in future issues. Plus a special subscription offer for listeners.

Dr Jessamy Carlson talks about the history of the National Archives at Kew, the National Farm Survey, military nurses, maps, shipping records, the MI5 exhibition, Sir Henry Cole and even mentions rats! Find out what records they hold and how to locate them, what is available online and how to visit in person.