@davelifelines.bsky.social
Family historian, lecturer, author. Former Principal Family History Specialist at The National Archives. Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. 42 years in the business. Loves a good map. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory
https://lifelinesresearch.co.uk/
@davelifelines.bsky.socialYou’ve got ten pages of me to look forward to… 😏
@davelifelines.bsky.socialI am definitely, unquestionably 25% Orcadian. My most recent DNA map has 0% Orkney/North Scottish. It’s a joke…
@davelifelines.bsky.socialIf you’ll excuse a bit of shameless self publicity I can highly recommend the latest issue of Family Tree Magazine @familytreeplus.bsky.social My FT Academy piece features one of the most fascinating cases I’ve ever worked on.
I like the term ‘Super Sleuth’. I might put that on my business cards! 🕵🏼♂️
@davelifelines.bsky.socialWelcome to #BigScreenThursday*
Today I’m taking advantage of my weekly access to the big screen to do some research on a family I’ve been working on for many years (pro bono for the past three).
We’re back to someone who was born ca.1390. Eighteen generations and counting…
* it’s a thing
@davelifelines.bsky.socialEvery day's a school day! The testator in an early 17th century will was described as, 'being visited in bodie but of p[er]fect memorie and understanding'. The Oxford English Dictionary gives this (obsolete) definition of 'visited': Afflicted with illness; attacked by plague or other epidemic.
@davelifelines.bsky.socialThere are some issues relating to restricted access to a computer which your IT helpdesk probably can’t help you with…
@davelifelines.bsky.socialMost of our ancestors have peaceful deaths but my 2xGt Grandfather, John Flynn's life came to an end in Granton Harbour. The records don't tell us whether he jumped, fell or was pushed, simply that his body was found in Granton Harbour on 13 August 1881, the cause of death, drowning. #MyFamily52Maps
@davelifelines.bsky.socialAlways happy to speak in God's Own Country, even it's just a virtual visit...!
@davelifelines.bsky.socialThey would have had to drag me in, kicking and screaming on my first day... 😬
@davelifelines.bsky.socialYou know that's literally what my website's called... 😁
@davelifelines.bsky.socialAh, that's brilliant. Thank you!
@davelifelines.bsky.socialThanks for sharing this. I do love a rabbit hole...
@davelifelines.bsky.socialAn obituary from the Edinburgh Evening News, 10 July 1935
@davelifelines.bsky.socialShe's definitely one of mine, in as much as her family were from South Ronaldsay, Orkney. Unfortunately, the South Ronaldsay parish registers don't survive before the mid-18th century so it's all family speculative before then but there's no doubt that we're related!
@davelifelines.bsky.socialShe never married and died in Corstorphine on 9 July 1935, aged 59. Her death certificate records her as a 'Headmistress (School)'. The informant was a man called Rodrick Murchion, described as her 'intimate friend'!
@davelifelines.bsky.socialMargaret 'Maggie' Helen Annal, born 25 July 1874, 15 East Arthur Place, Edinburgh. Listed as a Pupil Teacher (Board School) living at 5 Caledonian Crescent in the 1891 census and as a School Teacher in 1901 (living at 18 Ardmillan Terrace).
@davelifelines.bsky.socialHere's a link to a list of all the talks that I do, together with a list of all my current bookings.
My fee will be going up next year but all existing bookings and any new bookings agreed by the end of 2026 will be at the current rate.
@davelifelines.bsky.socialAbsolutely. And one of the good things about Ancestry’s model is that you can still do things the old way…
@davelifelines.bsky.socialI had a bit of a eureka research moment earlier. I cracked a case thanks to the discovery of a settlement examination in one of those unindexed collections on Ancestry. They don’t make it easy but if you know what you’re doing there’s some good stuff there…
@davelifelines.bsky.socialMy grandma (on the right in the photo) and her friends were quite artistic and a bit bohemian. We have some very quirky photos…
