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Category Archives: Social History

A Tale of Five Camillas

Tracing the lives of the first five Camillas whose births were registered in Great Britain highlights class differences and women’s experiences in Victorian Britain.

Posted bydigancestorsMay 24, 2023May 26, 2023Posted inSocial History1 Comment on A Tale of Five Camillas

William Gunton Saword: Part 2 — Butler of Greenwich Hospital

William Saword was the Butler of Greenwich Hospital for naval pensioners from 1772 to 1812. He faced two government enquiries into corruption, a devastating fire and the loss of two wives, and he experienced royal visits and the lying-in-state of Lord Nelson.

Posted bydigancestorsMay 1, 2023May 3, 2023Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories1 Comment on William Gunton Saword: Part 2 — Butler of Greenwich Hospital

Field Punishment Number 1

At the outbreak of WW1, English seaman Richard Maultby was nearly 43 when he volunteered with the CEF. His service record reveals that he was disciplined twice with Field Punishment Number 1.

Posted bydigancestorsFebruary 3, 2023February 7, 2023Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories2 Comments on Field Punishment Number 1

The Artist and the Pacifist — Two brothers’ WW1 stories

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.

Posted bydigancestorsNovember 13, 2022December 30, 2022Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories, Uncategorized5 Comments on The Artist and the Pacifist — Two brothers’ WW1 stories

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.

Posted bydigancestorsSeptember 11, 2022May 13, 2023Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories3 Comments on William Gunton Saword: Part 1 — Clerk of the Royal Yacht Augusta

The brother who never came home

King's Royal Rifles Corp Memorial

Brothers Harold and Neville Underwood fought in WW1. One received a gallantry medal; the other was a POW. Only one of them came home.

Posted bydigancestorsNovember 15, 2021January 24, 2022Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories5 Comments on The brother who never 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.

Posted bydigancestorsOctober 29, 2021March 19, 2022Posted inGenealogy, Social History11 Comments on Five reasons why ancestors used surnames as middle names

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.

Posted bydigancestorsOctober 12, 2021Posted inSocial History, Uncategorized5 Comments on My strangest (and spookiest) heirloom

Polly Smith & ‘the Gosling’ (Servants & Employers Part 1)

Edwardian servant

My great grandmother Polly Smith worked as a domestic servant for Nicholas Gosselin aka ‘The Gosling’ — head of the Irish Special Branch.

Posted bydigancestorsSeptember 28, 2021February 26, 2022Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories6 Comments on Polly Smith & ‘the Gosling’ (Servants & Employers Part 1)

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.

Posted bydigancestorsSeptember 28, 2021October 9, 2021Posted inGenealogy, Social History, Stories6 Comments on Millicent Gifford & D’Arcy de Ferrars (Servants & Employers Part 2)

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