All About Ancestors

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All About Ancestors

Professional Genealogist, Writer & Presenter. English Family History, DNA, Titanic & Maritime. Former BBC journo

26/03/2026

This photograph from 1912 stopped me in my tracks. 📷

This is Agnes Kelly, pictured with her five children, shortly after being widowed for the second time. Her story is one of the most affecting I have come across in my research.

Agnes had already lost her first husband, in 1904. He was a railway shunter and was killed in a track accident. Agnes was 26 and had two very young children. She rebuilt her life, remarrying five years later.

Unfortunately, history was to repeat itself. Agnes' second husband, Frederick William Barrett, was one of around 700 crew members who perished when the Titanic sank on her infamous maiden voyage. Agnes's twin babies were just three weeks old.

Behind so many of the Titanic's crew were families like Agnes's - ordinary Southampton families who bore an extraordinary weight of grief.

If Agnes's story moves you, you can read much more about them in my five-page article in the April edition of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, which is out now. I'd love you to read it.

Titanic

22/03/2026

The death of Thomas Courtney, merchant of Old Jewry, London, in 1836 - bringing to an end the life of the man I have been researching for a client. 📜

Thomas died at the remarkable age of 90. To put that into context, average male life expectancy at birth in England at the time was around 40 years - though it's worth noting that figure was heavily dragged down by high infant mortality. Even so, reaching 90 in 1836 was an extraordinary achievement by any measure.

In the course of his long life, Thomas outlived multiple children. One of the privileges of this work is following a life from beginning to end, piecing together the story of someone who walked the streets of Georgian and Regency London. Thomas Courtney certainly lived a long chapter. 🙌

19/03/2026

A gravestone that proved absolutely vital to my research recently - that of Catherine Henderson née Clark, whose memorial helped establish her husband, her children, and other key family connections that had been eluding my client. 🪶

Fellow family historians will know exactly the thrill of a find like this. There is something quite wonderful about a gravestone that simply hands you the information you've been working so hard to piece together from other records.

My non-genealogy friends, however, remain deeply concerned about my enthusiasm for wandering around graveyards. I've tried to explain. They remain unconvinced. 😄

18/03/2026

What a brilliant evening at Hampshire Archives on Monday! I had such a good time giving my talk on the 1899 sinking of the SS Stella, aka 'The Prequel to the Titanic'. 🚢

The audience were genuinely engaged throughout and had lots of great questions afterwards on the Stella, the Titanic and the Lusitania - really enjoyed being able to answer them with confidence. The archives team were kind enough to share some lovely feedback too, letting me know the talk had brought in new attendees who hadn't visited before. That really is music to my ears. 🎵😊

A real highlight was having a descendant of the Stella crew in the audience. What an honour to have part of history sitting right there in the room.

Thank you to everyone who came along and to Hampshire Archives for having me. 🙏

Stella

15/03/2026

'In the name of God Amen' - a phrase that opens countless British wills of the 19th century, and this one heralded another rewarding find. 📜

This particular will was drawn up just a year after the same man's previous will, and once deciphered it proved equally valuable. Rich with family detail, it provided verified married names for his sisters - exactly the confirmation I had been working to establish for this family line.

I say 'once deciphered' advisedly - this one demanded rather more patience than last week's beautifully preserved example! But that is the nature of the work, and the effort was well rewarded.

It's a further reminder of why wills deserve serious attention in any research strategy. Two wills, one man, one year apart - and between them, a much clearer picture of a family.

13/03/2026

Monday is coming round fast, so if this is on your radar, now's the time to grab a place to attend my talk on the Prequel to the Titanic disaster.....

If you've ever wondered whether Titanic could have been prevented, the answer might lie in a disaster that happened 13 years earlier, just off the Channel Islands. The SS Stella sank in 1899 with up to 100 lives lost. She left from Southampton. So did Titanic. The parallels are striking, and the warnings were there.
I'm talking about Stella's crew, the families caught up in the tragedy, and why this story has been so overlooked for so long. It's an in-person talk for Hampshire Archives, Wi******er, this Monday, 16 March, 6–7pm.

Book your place here: https://www.hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/archives/events/overlooked-prequel-to-titanic-160326

12/03/2026

Biddleston Chapel, rural Northumberland — the baptismal home of several generations of my client's ancestors. ⛪

Built around 1820 for the Roman Catholic Selby family of Biddleston Hall, this tiny chapel served a small Catholic community in one of the more remote corners of England. It didn't hold a marriage licence during the period relevant to my research, but it was clearly a place of great importance to the families who worshipped there, as I found multiple children baptised from the same families.

The baptism records themselves held a lovely bonus - the mother's maiden name was recorded (Catherine Clark) even though she was already married to William Henderson at the time. It's a very welcome addition when you're researching in the 1820s - this is the period before the formalised births, marriages and deaths, which were introduced in 1837. Before this period, details such as mother's maiden name on a marriage record can produce that "bingo!" moment that us genealogists love to have. It neatly confirmed the family connections I had been working to piece together. 🙌

10/03/2026

🎄 On Christmas Day 1896, a young man named Walter Digby married his bride in a Norfolk church. His mother had died giving birth to him, he'd grown up in a struggling Essex village, and would go on to become the ancestor that changed his entire family's story forever.

But none of that appears in the census.

My latest blog post is all about what happens when you go beyond the census records - and why historical context is the difference between a list of names and dates, and a story that actually makes you feel a connection with your ancestors.

I've also put together a list of 18 free and low-cost resources to help you find the same kind of context for your own forebears,

🔗 Read it here: https://allaboutancestors.com/beyond-the-census-genealogy-research/

08/03/2026

Sometimes this work makes your heart sing! 💓

I've been researching a will this week - a London merchant, dated 1816 - and it was an absolute joy. Beautifully written, beautifully preserved, and packed with exactly the kind of detail that makes genealogy research so rewarding.

Not only did it provide a wealth of family connections, but it gave me the married names of his sisters - something I had been seeking verification of. One document, so many answers.

I'm currently doing a course on wills and testaments, and this one is a wonderful reminder of what these records can hold. So many wills come with challenging handwriting, battered pages and faded ink - which is all part of the work! - but every now and then one like this appears on the screen, crisp and clear and generous with its information, and you remember exactly why you love this job.

A real pleasure. 📜

05/03/2026

Recent client work took me somewhere rather lovely — a tiny Catholic chapel tucked away in rural Northumberland. ⛪

Biddleston Chapel was the baptismal home of several generations of my client's ancestors. Built around 1820 for the Roman Catholic Selby family of Biddleston Hall, it is now within Northumberland National Park and is a Grade II listed building.

I love the way this work leads you to quiet, out-of-the-way places like this, each one with its own history and its own community of real people. 🙌

01/03/2026

Firmly rooted in the 1700s this week! 📜

A lovely highlight was a marriage record dated 5 May 1790 from St Benet Fink, London - full name St Peter le Poer with St Benet Fink - recording Robert Piggott of St John's parish, Hackney, marrying Mary Courtney of St Benet Fink parish. The couple are direct ancestors of my client and added to the documentation found as part of my research into this family.

25/02/2026

What a lovely surprise in the post this morning! 📬 I opened the latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine to find not one but three reader letters responding to my January feature on steamship stokers — including the star letter. Two features in a row with this kind of response is just music to my ears.🎵

I love writing social history stories such as this one that bring our ancestors to life, and it means so much to know they are resonating with readers. There are so many extraordinary untold stories out there in our family histories — this is exactly why I do what I do.

Huge thanks to the brilliant team at Do You Think You Are? Magazine for the opportunity. Here's to many more stories to tell in 2026!

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https://AllAboutAncestors.com/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-johnson-584257198/

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