According to family lore a mysterious relation called Harriet had a royal lovechild, Violet, who became a silent movie star. In 2021, I received a startling message from someone who could finally reveal the true identity of Violet’s father …
Author Archives: digancestors
A Sense of Duty: 1907 triple drowning in San Francisco Bay
This is a true California story of heroism, murder, and tragedy — with a Hollywood ending.
EXTRAORDINARY ACTION FOR SEDUCTION
When 19-year-old Hannah Maultby became an unmarried mother in 1866, her fiancé promised to marry her. But two years later, he had failed to keep his word, and Hannah’s mother Martha took him to court for Seduction.
The brother who never came home
Brothers Harold and Neville Underwood fought in WW1. One received a gallantry medal; the other was a POW. Only one of them came home.
Five reasons why ancestors used surnames as middle names
Why did our ancestors sometimes give their children surnames as middle names? Here are five reasons I’ve found in my family tree.
My strangest (and spookiest) heirloom
I don’t have any valuable heirlooms but I have a very unusual one: a set of psychic portraits that belonged to my great grand aunt Marjorie.
Polly Smith & ‘the Gosling’ (Servants & Employers Part 1)
My great grandmother Polly Smith worked as a domestic servant for Nicholas Gosselin aka ‘The Gosling’ — head of the Irish Special Branch.
Millicent Gifford & D’Arcy de Ferrars (Servants & Employers Part 2)
Millicent Gifford left a mining family in the Forest of Dean to work as a cook for a singer, composer and organiser of grand Elizabethan style pageants.
Deodatus Eaton: A Life of Scandal
Deodatus Eaton IV of Oxford (1819-1879) was an army surgeon, notorious bankrupt, scandalous divorcé, and Australian emigrant.
‘Peculiar’ & ‘Unnatural’ Crimes (Part 1)
‘Wilfully murdered by his mother’: In 1851 Fanny Talmer was accused of murdering her nine week old son Henry in Amersham workhouse.
Dig Up Your Ancestors 