The Family Histories Podcast The Family Histories Podcast

In this first episode of Series Four- 'The Undead', host Andrew Martin meets Swedish genealogist Linda Kvist to find out about her love of family history, how she became a DNA coach, how she uses archives and Arkiv Digital to trace her Swedish ancestors, and how she DNA tested a non-human family member! 

Life Story - Nils Peter Bengtsson 
Linda tells the life story of her partner's ancestor Nils Peter Bengtsson, a man who was born in 1858 and emigrated to the USA. In about 1900, and now widowed, he decided to return home to his native Sweden, sending his daughter home first.... but as he stands on the dock before boarding his ship he collapses and dies..... or at least that's how the story goes. 

Left with an old photograph of Nils, a curious passenger list entry, and a death certificate that didn’t quite look right, Linda embarked on her own journey to uncover an unusual story… with a strange twist, and an important lesson. 

The Brick Wall - Nikolai Edvard Seck and Julia Verno 
We're on the trail of Linda's maternal Great Grandparents Nikolai Edvard Seck and Julia Verno who were both born in the 1880s. Whilst it's known that they were married in Pskov, Estonia (now in Russia) on 9th May 1915, and that they fled to Sweden during 1944, little else is known of them. 

It is known that Nikolai was a wrestler (Linda has some photos), and that Julia's parents were named August Verno and Anna Lindenberg, but no other details have been found. Can you help Linda find out about their earlier life? 

If you think you have a clue or a research idea, you can contact Linda at her Facebook Page, or via the email address she gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send us a message at familyhistoriespodcast.com and we'll pass it on to her. 

In the meantime, whilst Linda is happy to accept Andrew's offer of help, Sándor has made other plans... 

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Episode Credits: 
Series Four, Episode One: 
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerLinda Kvist - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiEpisode show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com 


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In this second episode of Series Four, host Andrew Martin meets with Else Churchill, who has spent 40 years working in the genealogy community, and is the Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists in London. She also regularly teaches, lectures, and has played a pivotal role in organising conferences, and representing the family history community at national and governmental level.   

Life Story - Else's Mother and Father   
After decades of research into the Churchill family of Herefordshire in England, Else finally gave in and took an autosomal Ancestry DNA test in 2019.   

What happened next has led her to look at her childhood in a somewhat different light, thanks to an unexpected cousin match, an old photograph, and an office Christmas party. 

The Brick Wall - Mary Davies   
It's a brick wall in 1820's Herefordshire, England that has been causing Else a research headache in the Churchill tree. 

Else knows that Mary Davies married William Churchill in 1851, but she's struggling to find the right parents for Mary in the Herefordshire villages close to the Welsh border. Can you help her?   

If you think you can help Else solve her brick wall, then you can contact her via email at else.churchill@sog.org.uk. Alternatively, you can head over to our contact form and we'll pass the message onwards.  

Meanwhile, Andrew bends the rules with his offer of help, but which choice will Else make? 
 
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Episode Credits   
Series Four, Episode Two:  
Andrew Martin - Host and Producer Else Churchill - Guest John Spike - Sándor Petőfi Show notes and more at: familyhistoriespodcast.com 
Thank you for listening!
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this third episode of Series Four, host Andrew Martin meets with historian, author, TEDx speaker, and family historian, Shaquan McDowell to find out how he got hooked on researching his family, his adventures with DNA, and how he got involved in the New York Times' 1619 Project.

Life Story - Elizabeth Scott
Shaquan has chosen to tell the story of his 5x Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Scott - a Free Person of Colour born in 1810 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Whilst her country was going through significant changes, Elizabeth managed to navigate them whilst holding together her household, as the head, and as the mother.

Life was hard, but her connections to the community around her enabled her to cross the colour line repeatedly. She managed to break through and provide for her children and grandchildren.

Despite dying in 1883, Elizabeth's influence continues down today, even inspiring Shaquan to become an author of his E. L. Moran series.

The Brick Wall - Wiley Fuller
It's Shaquan's 4x Great Grandfather, Wiley Fuller that is giving him a headache in the archives.

It is known what happens to Wiley from the 1870 US Census onwards, but it's a mystery what happens before this date. DNA analysis by Shaquan has hinted that his father was an Enoch Fuller, but documentary evidence remains elusive. Can you help?

If you think that you can help Shaquan with a research idea or a clue, then you can contact him via his email address (given in the episode), or via his twitter account (@S_C_McD). Alternatively, you can send him a message via our contact form.

In the meantime, Andrew offers Shaquan some help with his brick wall, but he's not entirely convinced that it's safe...

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Episode Credits:
Series Four, Episode Three:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerShaquan McDowell - GuestShow notes and more at familyhistoriespodcast.com
Thank you for listening!
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this fourth episode of Series Four, host Andrew Martin meets Canadian professional genealogist and author, Janice Nickerson, who specialises her research into the families and history of Upper Canada, the Hudson Bay Company, and crime and punishment. Andrew will be finding out how she got hooked on family history, the value of court records, the challenges of researching in Canada, and the how she gets non-genealogists and children interested in family history.

Life Story - Emma Bell Chant
Janice has chosen to tell the life story of her Great Grandmother, Emma Bell Chant, whom she never met. Janice had been told that Emma was quite a formidable and stern woman, but her true personality flows from the pages of a collection of letters loaned to her by an aunt.

Emma, who was born in 1873, married and had 11 children, somehow found the time to care for her family whilst doing neighbours laundry, reading classics, and helping to push political boundaries for Canadian women. 

The series of consecutive letters which span the period of 1918 to 1924 show the warmth, the humour, and the motherly advice given to one of her sons.

The Brick Wall - John George Carter
A family story has kept Janice stumped relating to her grandfather, John George Carter. John was born in 1900, and the story goes that he had a semi-professional hockey career. John, who was known as 'Jack', but also went by the name 'Nick' Carter in his hockey circles, is in Canada in 1921 and 1928, but is seen crossing the border from Canada into the USA in September 1924. Janice has heard that he may have gone to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to play hockey, but evidence is not forthcoming.

It is during the period of 1924 and 1928, that John (or 'Jack' or 'Nick') is believed to have received a head injury during a game and he vanished, but was found a while later, far from the game with amnesia. Janice has found no evidence for this incident, which surely would have attracted some newspaper, police, or medical attention.

So, did John George Carter (aka 'Jack' and 'Nick' Carter) have a professional hockey career, and did he really have a period of amnesia that caused him to go missing? Can you help?

If you think you can help, you can email Janice at the email address she gives in the episode, or make contact with her via her Upper Canada Genealogy Facebook page. Alternatively, you can also head over to our website and send her a message via our contact form.

In the meantime, Janice is keen to accept Andrew's offer of help, but she has a few questions first...

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Episode Credits:
Series Four, Episode Four:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerJanice Nickerson - GuestShow notes and more at familyhistoriespodcast.com
Thank you for listening!
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this episode from Series Four, host Andrew Martin meets author and former journalist Paul Roberts to find out how he got hooked on researching his family's history. He'll find out how Paul's early research skills helped his work as a journalist, and how he managed to write a book about 30 men who fought in the First World War.

Life Story - Sam Roberts 
Paul has chosen to share the life story of his 1st Cousin, 2x Removed, Sam Roberts.

Sam was born in 1895 in Teignmouth, Devon, England, and he joined the Devonshire Regiment when The Great War broke out. He soon found himself on the front lines, and along with most of the regiment, was shot by enemy forces as they went 'over the top' into No Man's Land. By a stroke of luck, Sam survived, despite being shot in the chest. This earned him the nickname 'Lucky Sam'.

After a long recovery period, Sam returned as a Corporal to the trenches of The Somme, and sadly it was here that his luck would run out.

The Brick Wall - James Arscott and Eliza Mitchell 
We're on the trail of a retired Battle of Trafalgar veteran James Arscott who dies in Teignmouth, Devon in 1816. Despite knowing his date of death, Paul has been unable to locate his burial location.

In addition, in James' Will, a ring is bequeathed to an Eliza Mitchell who 'hailed from Teignmouth'... but her identity remains a mystery.  Can you help?

If you think you can help Paul with a research idea or clue, then you can contact him at his website, or alternatively head over to our contact form, and we'll pass your message on to him.

In the meanwhile, Andrew offers Paul some help, but he's not quite sure it's genuine...

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Episode Credits -
Series Four, Episode Four: 
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerPaul Roberts - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiShow notes and more at familyhistoriespodcast.com


Thank you for listening!
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.

In this sixth episode of Series Four, Andrew meets Irish professional genealogist Claire Bradley. He'll be finding out how she got hooked on family history, the impact of the Irish Civil War on her family history research, how she's teaching genealogists, and her time as a genealogist in control of the national @Ireland twitter account.

The Life Story - Michael Joyce
Claire has chosen her 2x Great Grandfather, Michael Joyce who was born in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland, in 1851.

Michael was both a Mayor of Limerick, and a Member of Parliament (MP) in the UK Government.

His journey to politics was quite eventful, seeing him survive four shipwrecks, and another one involving a torpedo during later life, but he remained dedicated to the people he served almost until his death in 1941.

The Brick Wall - Thomas Reilly
It's a brick wall that's seemingly in Cork, Ireland, that's giving Claire a headache.

She's looking for the marriage and earlier life of a Thomas Reilly, who married Elizabeth Murphy. The challenge is that those two surnames are very common in Ireland, and she has already manually gone through all the Thomas Reilly's that she can find, leaving her with just two men, neither of whom she can prove are her Thomas Reilly.

Where was Thomas Reilly really from, and where did he marry Elizabeth Murphy?

If you think that you can help Claire with a clue or research idea, then you can contact her directly at her twitter account (@CBGenealogy), her Facebook Page, or her website. Alternatively, you can send a message via our contact form, and we'll pass it on to her.

In the meantime, Claire accepts Andrew's offer, but will he really able to help her?

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Episode Credits 
Series Four, Episode Six:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerClaire Bradley - GuestShow notes and more at: familyhistoriespodcast.com
Thank you for listening!
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.