The Family Histories Podcast The Family Histories Podcast
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The Family Histories Podcast is a show that celebrates those of us sat in archives, libraries, and spare bedrooms all around the world, tirelessly piecing together our collective social and family history.
Join author and family historian Andrew Martin as he interviews a fellow genealogy addict about how they got hooked; listen to his guest tell the life story of their most fascinatingly good, bad, or plain ugly relative; and then it's time to face 'The Brick Wall' - where it's over to the listeners to see if they can help solve their family history puzzle.
As a parting gift, Andrew offers each guest a surprise that no family history fan could possibly turn down.... a trip in his secret time machine.
Find out more at: familyhistoriespodcast.com Twitter: @FamilyHistPod Instagram: @FamilyHistPod Facebook: TheFamilyHistoriesPodcast
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S06EP01 - 'The Quilter' with Phyllis Biffle Elmore
Series Six of The Family Histories Podcast begins with host Andrew Martin meeting family historian, storyteller, and author of 'Quilt Of Souls: A Memoir' - Phyllis Biffle Elmore. She explains what got her hooked on researching family history, the value of listening to our elders, and collecting oral histories.
THE LIFE STORY - LULA HORN
Phyllis has chosen to tell the life story of her grandmother Lula Horn, born in 1883 in Sandersville, Mississippi, USA, whom she met for the first time aged 4 when she was taken to live with her.
Phyllis recalls how her grandmother made her feel welcome, which kickstarted an unbreakable bond over the telling of family history stories whilst making quilts from the clothes of ancestors.
THE BRICK WALL - LULA HORN
Returning to her beloved Grandmother, Lula Horn, Phyllis is keen to discover the descendants from Lula's aunts and uncles.
Phyllis has explored DNA matches, but despite filtering out the DNA matches from other parts of her ancestors in GEDmatch, she's been left with a few matches that she's been unable to tie in to her research. Can you help?
Who were Lula's parents?Are there modern descendants of Lula's aunts and uncles?Do you have matches against GEDmatch kit A331399?
If you think that you can help Phyllis smash through her brick wall, or you can offer a clue or research idea, then you can contact her via the email she gives in the episode or at her website www.thequiltofsouls.com. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to her.
In the meantime, Phyllis is concerned about Andrew's offer of help... but will she find it useful?
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Episode Credits:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerPhyllis Biffle Elmore - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor Petőfi
Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review. -
S06EP02 - 'The Antiquarian' with Rick Glanvill
In this second episode of Series Six, host Andrew Martin meets Rick Glanvill - a family historian, author, and tour guide, who is also the official historian of Chelsea Football Club. Andrew will be finding out how Rick got hooked on researching his family tree, how his work as a tour guide is affected by this, and how he ended up being the expert of a football club's history.
THE LIFE STORY - WILLIAM URMSTON SEARLE GLANVILLE RICHARDS
Rick has chosen to tell the life story of his third cousin, three times removed - William Urmston Searle Glanville Richards.
William, like Rick, spent countless hours researching family history, but unlike Rick, William began taking on the rich and well-to-do Victorian clients for whom he would be paid to research and write up their family history, having already written up his own Glanville family.
This all sounds impressive, but then Rick started to spot cracks in his research. Upon further analysis, he found a case of William taking a creative route to his family history work involving the defacing of records in the British Library and the Bodleian Library. This landed him in big trouble.
THE BRICK WALL - ELLEN TAYLOR
Rick needs your help to solve a mystery that's been causing him problems for years - he's trying to find his 3x Gt Grandmother, Ellen Taylor, who appears to have married Henry David Linsell... However, Rick can't find their marriage, and she can't find a correct registered birth for Ellen either.
He has a few theories of why he can't locate her; maybe Taylor was a surname from a previous marriage, maybe Ellen was a middle name, maybe Ellen or Eleanor wasn't her first name.
Fascinatingly, there is a cousin noted at the time of Ellen's death in 1890, called Harriet Copping - but where does she fit in the tree? Was she a first cousin? A second cousin? Or not even Ellen's cousin but her husband's cousin instead? All this remains a mystery.
If you think that you can help Rick solve his brick wall with a research idea or clue, then you can send him a message via his Twitter account @RickGlanvill or via the email address he gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send a message and we'll pass it straight on.
In the meantime, Rick accepts Andrew and Sándor's offer of help, but will there be penalties?
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Episode Credits:
Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
Rick Glanvill - Guest
John Spike - Sándor Petőfi
Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review. -
S06EP03 - 'The Nurse' with Clare Kirk
Our third episode of Series Six sees host Andrew Martin meet professional genealogist Clare Kirk, and he'll be finding out how she got hooked on researching her family history, why she does it for other people, what she does for Friends of Friendless Churches, and her hopes for an unusual 18th Century record in Buckinghamshire that reveals who the local cake man, rat man, and pig poker were!
THE LIFE STORY - HARRIET READ
Clare has chosen her husband's relative Harriet Read - a 'cousin' of his grandfather.
Family stories involving Harriet involved a nurse, the King, a silent movie star, a dancer, a private detective, a Baron, Joseph Merrick (known as 'the elephant man'), and a Royal pay-off to America.
However, when these stories began to collide and conflict, it was time for Clare to delve into them to determine fact from rumour and to help her husband's family to learn exactly who Harriet was.
THE BRICK WALL - THOMAS BOWEN MAULTBY
It's a brick wall in West Ealing, London that has Clare stuck - her Great Grandmother's brother was Thomas Bowen Maultby, and whilst she knows that he was born in Newport Pagnell in 1867.
Clare has been able to follow him through the census returns until 1881 when he appears as a ten year old. He then appears twice more - once, in 1915 named as a beneficiary in the Will of an aunt, and secondly as the person who seems to have lived in West Ealing, London when he purchased a plot at Hanwell Cemetery in London, where his mother was buried.
If you think you have a clue or a research idea, then you can contact Clare at her website digupyourancestors.com or via her Twitter/X account @digupancestors, alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her.
In the meantime, Clare has concerns about Andrew's help, but is she wise to be worried....?
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Episode Credits:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerClare Kirk - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiThank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review. -
S06EP04 - 'The Accused' with Sven Grewel
In this fourth episode of Series Six, host Andrew meets family historian Sven Grewel, who has been tracing his German ancestry for many years and has since become a professional genealogist. He explains how he got hooked on researching his family history, and the challenges of researching in Germany - a country that has frequently changed its borders through history.
THE LIFE STORY - JOHANN CARL MAX SABEL
Sven has chosen to tell the life story of his 2x Great Grandfather Johan Carl Max Sabel who worked as a policeman in between the First and Second World Wars. This was a dangerous time, and unfortunately whilst delivering justice as a policeman, he is accused of a crime.
He spends years fighting for his innocence against a backdrop of rising Nazism, which includes time in prison and a psychiatric clinic, as his crime gets bigger and evidence seems lacking. Something doesn't seem right!
THE BRICK WALL - KARLSTADT RECORDS
A puzzle in Karlstadt, Bavaria, Germany is causing Sven a headache, so it's time for us to try to help.
Sven's research has been troubled by the destruction and burning of records that took place during The 30 Years' War that spread across what is mostly now Germany between 1618 and 1648. For many of his family branches, this is war causes his research to hit a dead end.
One place in particular he would like to find records is the town of Karlstadt in Bavaria, but the records are either lost, mislaid, or destroyed. Sven is feeling lucky though, and hopes that a listener might just be able to help find some.
If you think that you can offer Sven some help, then you can reach out to him directly at his website svengrewel.com. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to him.
In the meantime, Sven jumps at Andrew's offer of help but will he get the information he's hoping for?
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Episode Credits:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerSven Grewel - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor Petőfi
Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review. -
S06EP05 - 'The Churchwarden' with Jackie Depelle
In this fifth episode of Series Six, host Andrew is joined by family history tutor Jackie Depelle. He finds out how she got interested in family history, how she became a full-time family history lecturer, her thoughts on how genealogists and academic researchers are working together, and how the genealogy industry could evolve in future.
THE LIFE STORY - JOHN HAYHURST DAWSON
Jackie has chosen to tell the life story of John Hayhurst Dawson who was born in 1841 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Thankfully, his middle name (which was his mother's maiden surname) allows him to be identified easily, as his father and grandfather were also John Dawson.
John Hayhurst Dawson went on to work in multiple roles within his community, including a Justice Of The Peace (a 'JP'), a businessman, held many layperson roles at his church, and was also the churchwarden. This has enabled Jackie to amass an impressive collection of documents to his name.
THE B̶R̶I̶C̶K̶ ̶W̶A̶L̶L̶ STUMBLING BLOCK - THE DAWSON FAMILY
Refuting the existence of 'brick walls', Jackie has a Dawson family 'stumbling block' that keeps her perplexed - where did the Dawson family come from?
Jackie has been able to identify a brother to the oldest John Dawson (the grandfather of John Hayhurst Dawson), named William Dawson, but beyond this, she's stuck. The earliest deed on the family home is signed on 12th December 1820, but prior to this - she's stuck in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Where did the Dawson family come from before 1820?Where did John Dawson get the money to build his house?If you think you can help Jackie with a clue or a research idea, you can contact her via her website www.yourfairladies.co.uk or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on.
In the meantime, Andrew's offer of help results in some unexpected practical advice from Jackie.... will he take it all on board?
Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review. -
S06EP06 - 'The Runaway' with Teresa Vega
In this Sixth episode of Series Six, host Andrew Martin meets family historian Teresa Vega and finds out how she got hooked on researching family history, how her background in anthropology has helped her research, her adventures with DNA testing to trace her Ramapough Lenape Nation ancestors, and her work on the Family Tree DNA Malagasy Roots project with TV's DNA Detective CeCe Moore.
THE LIFE STORY - ANTONIA 'TUN' SNYDER
Teresa has chosen to tell the life story of her 4x Great Grandmother, Antonia Snyder known as 'Tun', who was born circa 1790. Her mother's family had roots in Madagascar.
Teresa found an 1815 advert in a New York newspaper for a runaway slave - Tun. Crucially, this gave Teresa the key to solving her father's identity. Having found him, she was able to find her mother and siblings too.
Despite having been on the run from her enslaver, she does return to households of some of the big enslaver families in the area, where she is traded whilst having 13 children. She died in 1881.
THE BRICK WALL - ROBERT HENRY FISHER
It's a close-to-home brick wall for Teresa - her Gt Grandfather Robert Henry Fisher. He was born circa 1898 but was legally declared dead in the 1930s after going missing.
Whilst the death is not the point of interest, it's his origins that have spawned conflicting stories and theories - one tells of him being a descendant of Jewish traders in White Plains, New York, whilst others point to a Cuban connection.
Despite her efforts to analyse the DNA for clues about Robert's family, fascinating gaps seem to hide the answer.
Was Fisher/Fischer actually his surname?Who were his parents?Does he descend from the Dutch merchants?If you think that you have a clue or a research idea that could bring Teresa's brick wall crashing down, then you can contact her at the email address she gives in the episode, or alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it straight on to her.
In the meantime, Teresa is keen for Andrew's help, but will he be able to get her to the right place?
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Episode Credits:
Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerTeresa Vega - Guest
Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.
You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Best family history podcast I have heard, proof if it were needed that the ancestors of us ‘ordinary’ people are no less in interesting than those of the nobility.