Brothers Sidney and Algy Saword were newly settled in Canada in 1914 when war was declared. One volunteered to fight, while the other refused to be a combatant. Both served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Category Archives: Genealogy
William Gunton Saword: Part 1 — Clerk of the Royal Yacht Augusta
From 1764-1772, William Saword was the Clerk of the Royal Yacht Augusta, which conveyed the royal family of George III around Britain and to and from Europe.
Who Was Harriet Horlock? Part 3: Harriet’s Secret Is Revealed!
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 …
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.
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.
‘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.
‘Peculiar’ & ‘Unnatural’ Crimes (Part 2)
In 1867 Richard Talmer was charged with an ‘unnatural crime’ along with fellow workhouse inmate William Jennings.
Blazing Dresses (Part 1)
A look at the dangers that fire presented to 19th century women, such as my ancestor Anne Benwell, whose dress caught fire in 1818.
Dig Up Your Ancestors 