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Nicholas BROME & the Three Murders: Part Five

ST JAMES now ST MICHAEL at BADDESLEY CLINTON The above window at St Michael Baddesley Clinton [previously St James] gives some important details of Nicholas BROOME’s life: ” Nicholas BROME Esq. Lord & owner of Baddesley Clinton. Married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Rawfre ARUNDELL of Eggleshole in the County of Cornwall, Knight Anno Domini 1473 […]

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NICHOLAS BROME & the Three Murders: Part One

Back in 2019, I was doing some genealogical research, before a trip to Warwickshire and it led to the discovery of Nicholas BROME, my 13th great-grandpa. I was researching all the possible connections I had in the area which led from my grandmother Helen Mildred SHELDON to her 3rd great grandmother Sylvia SHERMAN and her […]

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The Intersection of Gardening and Genealogy

The idea for this post came after my recent migration from the “bird site not to be named’” taken over by a megalomaniac, to the much pleasanter and helpful, not for profit, social media site Mastodon. While this blog post is not about Mastodon I do want to put in a plug to fellow genealogists […]

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Genealogy: What’s It All About?

“What’s It All About Alfie?” Song title Burt Bacharach & Hal David In genealogy we use lots of metaphors for what we are trying to do when faced with a dearth of evidence, and often what we have is circumstantial at best. After nearly half a century I am quite familiar with all of them […]

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The Mystery of Robert Wheaton’s First Mention in America Solved!

Document Found After years and years of attempts to locate the original record of the first mention of Robert WHEATON in America, it was finally resolved thanks to J. Webb who responded to a request I placed on Mastodon. Thank you to the kindness of strangers!!! My attempts included a trip to Salt Lake City […]

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Family History or Family Fiction?: Exposing Secrets

Paul Chiddicks is my muse. Paul publishes popular articles in the UK version of Family Tree Magazine and also authors the Blog The Chiddicks Family Tree. He often writes something that is the impetus for my own blog posts. Such was the case this morning when I read his post Ethical Dilemmas and How To […]

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Serendipity: Time Travel with the Romans with a Twist of DNA

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot I recently wrote about the unexpected connection between where I stayed in the French Alps (Saint Gervais near les Contamines and the Roman Road and […]

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Justus Warren SHELDON in Eaton Rapids, Michigan & the power of Colorized Photos

I have written posts about my great grandfather Justus Warren SHELDON before but this one is going to focus on his time in Eaton Rapids, Eaton County, Michigan. It seems that Matthew LaRue “Rue” PERRINE owned a large 472 acre farm on the banks of the Grand River but he died of Typhoid fever in […]

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Property Map Treasure Hunts: Finding the Places Your Ancestors Lived

One of the many wonders of Google Maps is the ability to travel down many streets and roads via “Street View.” And then of course there is aerial view that allows you to locate your ancestors properties of a bygone area by comparing old Platt and Ownership Maps with current ones. I am always amazed […]

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When Genealogical Evidence is Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

The great thing about having half a century of genealogical research under my belt is that it’s easy to recognize when an official has got it very wrong. But what about when you are starting out and you tend to take these pieces of evidence: birth, marriage, death, census records as pronouncements of truth? Well […]

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