Journeys into Genealogy podcast

Jonny Perl talks about how he setup DNA Painter and how it can help anyone researching their DNA including people with pedigree collapse and complicated family trees. We discuss chromosomes, tree completeness, what are the odds, the DNA testing companies and much more. 

Jules shares the story of her ancestor Jean BonDurant in her book "The Muse of Freedom" and his imagined life as a Huguenot in the Languedoc with the trials and tribulations of 17th century France.  While investigating him, Jules researched late 17th century Languedoc customs, politics, and spiritual traditions specific to the little known Cévennes mountains of south-central France, culminating in...

The "A Few Forgotten Women" project comemorates women who might otherwise never be known. In this panel interview with Janet Few, Mandy Geary, Margaret Roberts and Ann Simcock we discuss some of the women they have researched and the issues they faced such as alcoholism, poverty, criminality, illegitimacy, mental health problems and more. There is also a blog post with lots of the resources sugges...

The "Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes" is a 200 year old album filled with wonderful fabric pieces. It was created by a Victorian mill owner's daughter who became a merchant's wife and tracks her life over the next 20+ years. Kate Strasdin has researched Anne and the other people mentioned within the album, tracing her life and the places she lived and visited enhanced by snippets of the culture, eve...

The Last Lancer is the story of Catherine Czerkawska's grandfather Wladyslaw Czerkawski and his early life in Poland, World War II, and as a soldier and later on as a refugee and finally his family in Yorkshire, England. Going from what is now Ukraine and crossing Europe at a time of trouble. Catherine has traced his footsteps and connected with living relatives and she shares some of the tips and...

Female ancestors can be harder to find but records do exist. Emma Jolly talks about some of the resources she recommends and we discuss military pensions, DNA and matrilineal lines, naming traditions in England and Scotland, names and nicknames, Florence Nightingale, female wills, spinster aunts, the benefits of researching a place as well as a person, fertility, records for women in varied armed...

Sophie Kay specialises in researching historical occupations. We discuss potential sources for finding old occupations including trade directories, censuses, occupational reversion, dictionaries of old occupations, Grace's Guide, HISCO, Histpop and the Internet Archive. Plus the effects of occupation on health, death, population migration and family.

Gill helps guide us through researching ancestors in Wales with topics including Welsh names, patronymic names, Welsh places, chapel and church records, non-conformity, the effects of the industrial revolution, boatbuilding, steel, coal and copper mining, Welsh geography, parishes old and new, crime and punishment, the National Library of Wales, local archives, GENUKI, family history societies, ne...

Julie Goucher's Italian ancestors come from Sicily. In this episode we discuss migration, where to find records, her Orlando one name study, suggested resources and much more.   There is an accompanying blog post with a downloadable guide full of tips and resources on https://emmacox.co.uk/blog

Journeys into Genealogy is now two years old and 50 episodes have been broadcast.  This short episode contains a roundup of 2022, some of my favourite moments, feedback from interviewees, lessons learned, statistics and what's in store for 2023.  

Do you have ancestors who worked in the theatre, as a musician or similar? Mish Holman shares her stories of researching her ancestors, actors Abraham and Sarah Adcock. Talking about national and regional theatre, playbill archives, special collections and much more. I have created a blog post with lots of tips for research and useful resources on my genealogy website here: https://emmacox.co.uk/r...

Do you believe you have aristocratic or royal ancestors? Expert genealogist, author and presenter, Anthony Adolph gives his do's and quite a few don'ts when researching and creating a family tree leading back to the gentry or royalty. Discussing gateway ancestors, wills, heralds visitations, pedigrees, historical books, FamilySearch, DNA and much more. 

"If only you knew" said her father to Lezlee. This mystery lasted for decades until Lezlee had her DNA tested and discovered that things she had believed were not true. Lezlee Liljenberg from Texas, USA is on a journey to discover more about her true parentage and she shares some of the ups and downs along the way and how important her DNA results were. 

Karen Sawyer is a descendant of early 19th century Scottish photographer William Hunter. Here she talks about collecting and restoring his postcards,  arranging exhibitions of his work in Newton Stewart, meeting distant cousins and what she has inherited from him. 

Chelsey Brown is becoming known as "The Heirloom Hunter". Based in New York, USA, she finds and returns objects to the descendants of their original owners. From a letter or family bible to jewellry and artworks and more. 

When researching your family history you are likely to want to find out more about where your ancestors lived. Expert house historian Melanie Backe-Hansen shares her experiences and gives tips for getting started, where to look including local sources (which vary from county to county), church and manorial lands, rentals and house ownership and where to find other clues such as house names. 

Graveyard, cemeteries, churches, the history and evolution of the churchyard, headstones, burial locations inside and outside the church, burial records inc non-conformist, consecration, the Magnificent 7 and more with author and speaker Celia Heritage. Plus tips on where to find genealogical records. 

Neville Gallagher talks about the Beresford family of Bedgebury Park in Kent including philanthropist Alexander Beresford Hope who funded local schools and many churches in England and Ireland and was interested in the American Civil War. Plus the history of the house and estate and sources for local history and hints for getting started with researching an estate. 

Paul Chiddicks is the face behind "Dear Paul" in Family Tree Magazine and a moderator on Twitter's #AncestryHour. He shares family history stories with research tips, discusses heirlooms and The Old Palace School Bombing in WWII. 

Chris Fleet of the National Library of Scotland gives us an introduction to wide variety of maps held with details of some of the collections helpful to people interested in family history / genealogy or researching specific places. We also discuss digitisation, transcription projects such as the Roy Military Survey of the 1740s, estate and county maps and some of the multitude of Ordnance Survey...

Karen Cummings, owner of Pharos Tutors, a leading online genealogy training company explains about the short courses available (there are lots and I highly recommend them having done several myself). Topics include wills, DNA, military ancestors, Scottish research, Irish research, local history, one name studies, employment, 17th century sources and many more. If you want to learn a single subject...

Mick Henry from the Sussex Family History Group explains about Nicholas Oxley and the transcription of his farming diaries from Sussex in the early 1800s. Including the influence of weather across the globe, religion, farm workers, family, crops and much more.

Scrapbooking can help you record and bring your ancestors to life. Jeanne Pope talks about how she's used scrapbooking both digitally and physically to tell her own family history stories and those of people she has never met. Find out more about Philadephia, Henry Austen's cook who is buried near him in Woodbury Park Cemetery in Tunbridge Wells.  Plus tips on how to get started with making your o...

James Rigby was an unknown hero of WWII and the SOE (Special Operations Executive). From tin mining in Malaysia to Operation Creek in Goa, India. David Rigby, a distant cousin, shares his discoveries and the connection with the film "The Sea Wolves" and the sources he used and help he received to find out more about James. 

Natasha Houseman shares stories of her ancestors who grew up in 3 valleys in Yorkshire  - Nidderdale, Wharfdale and Washburn. Talking about farming, names, female ancestors, inheritances, local history and more with tips for making ancestors feel alive and looking for 'ordinary' people.